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Unproven claims overshadow Russia's bluster over two new weapons

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The Russian nuclear submarine Orel ("Eagle") arrives at its base in Murmansk Province in April 2017. Russia claims to be testing invincible weapon systems underwater and in the air. [Russian Defence Ministry]

The Russian nuclear submarine Orel ("Eagle") arrives at its base in Murmansk Province in April 2017. Russia claims to be testing invincible weapon systems underwater and in the air. [Russian Defence Ministry]

Russia is bragging about and making dubious claims regarding two weapons undergoing testing that supposedly no foe will be able to withstand, even as it professes peaceful intentions around the globe.

The Kremlin has begun testing an underwater nuclear weapon that Russian President Vladimir Putin is describing as "invulnerable" to enemy defences, the state-run TASS Russian News Agency reported Tuesday (December 25).

The Poseidon, previously known as the Status-6 Oceanic Multipurpose System and which NATO calls Kanyon, is an unmanned vehicle reportedly capable of carrying nuclear warheads. It owes its name to a Russian poll conducted in March.

"Underwater trials of the nuclear propulsion unit of the Poseidon drone are under way in an expanse of sea protected from the reconnaissance means of a likely enemy," a Russian defence industry source told TASS.

Completion of the Poseidon is expected sometime during the 2018-2027 Russian armament programme, the source said.

Unproven claims

Meanwhile, at a cabinet session Wednesday (December 26), Putin praised "unqualified success" in testing the hypersonic Avangard missile.

"All of the system's specifications and its performance have been confirmed," he said. "I repeat, the test was a success."

The Russian army will receive the new Avangard intercontinental strategic system, capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional payloads, starting in 2019, he said.

Putin earlier said the Avangard would render existing missile defence systems obsolete, according to AFP.

"This is a major event in the life of the Armed Forces and probably of the country," he told the cabinet Wednesday. "Russia now has a new strategic weapon system."

The Russian press and government have made plentiful claims of both the Poseidon and the Avangard's destructive power, although so far they have not backed up those assertions.

Eventually the Poseidon will be capable of carrying a 2-megatonne warhead capable of destroying entire naval bases, according to TASS.

Putin boasted about both weapons in his state of the nation speech March 1.

"There is simply nothing in the world now capable of withstanding them," he said of the still then-unnamed Poseidon.

Of the Avangard, he said, "This system is capable of intercontinental flight at supersonic speeds in dense layers of the atmosphere in excess of Mach 20."

Such claims have been widely ridiculed by defence analysts and observers as far-fetched and politically motivated.

'Not threatening anyone'

In the same speech to parliament in which Putin claimed Russia was developing such purportedly unstoppable weapons solely for defence purposes, he also professed his country's peaceful intentions.

"We are not threatening anyone, not going to attack anyone or take away anything from anyone with the threat of weapons," he said.

Putin has made no secret of his facetious approach towards nuclear security.

Putin joked on October 18 that in the event of a nuclear exchange, "We, as victims of aggression, as martyrs, will go to heaven. [The aggressors] will simply die because they won't even have time to repent."

Meanwhile, Russian troops are fighting in Ukraine and Syria and occupying a fifth of Georgia's territory.

Moscow has also come under fire for its repeated violations of the the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, prompting the United States to threaten to leave the treaty if Russia does not dismantle its missiles in breach of the 1987 agreement.

"We strongly support the finding of the United States that Russia is in material breach of its obligations under the INF Treaty," NATO's 29 foreign ministers said in a joint statement earlier in December.

Meanwhile, Russian officials this month said they would not allow inspectors to examine a controversial nuclear missile that violates the INF treaty.

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12 Comment(s)

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It is boasting

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Yet another Kremlin Spooky cartoon.

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The Americans have already admitted themselves that the Avangard and Poseidon render them defenseless. Serai, what kind of rubbish do you publish?

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Putin has also surprised the world with the speed of the Avangard missile. Almost nine km a second. It is a good thing that one doesn't have to care too much about the laws of physics to make cartoons ))

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You do know how to make people laugh! ;)

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Russia is evil.

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Quit writing rubbish. Your "highly likely" made us sick already!

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Therefore there's no proof in order not to cast a shadow over this illusory joy. Otherwise it would be hard to distract people from the looming poverty. Russia can't manufacture modern weaponry already because Russian society has become totally dumb. Their trumpeted Armata [the newest Russian tank] has been a failure just like their "fifth-generation jet fighter", the product of PAK FA. [Russian acronym for "prospective aeronautical complex of front-line air forces]

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You moron, where did it fail?

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Keep moving forward, Russia.

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Keep farting, Russya

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