Russia’s Nuclear Drone Submarine

Russia’s new submarine drone has been code-named “Kanyon” by Pentagon officials. This is further evidence that while Obama is working to reduce nuclear arms in America, Putin is working hard to build more.

Moscow nuclear threats worrying

Robert Kehler, who retired two years ago as commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, said development of a robot underwater nuclear strike vehicle could be part of what he termed a “troubling” Russian strategic nuclear buildup.

“Overall, we were watching the Russian nuclear modernization effort very carefully,” Kehler said in an interview. “And that effort was finally starting to put forces in the field.”

Kehler said he was not “particularly bothered” by the Russian nuclear buildup as long as Moscow stays within the limits of the New START arms treaty. The treaty limits the United States and Russia to 700 strategic missiles and bombers and a total of 1,550 deployed strategic warheads. The retired four-star Air Force general said he was unaware of the Kanyon drone program.

However, recent threats and belligerent statements by Russian leaders about using nuclear weapons are compounding concerns about Moscow’s arms buildup.

“That was disturbing as well, their rhetoric,” Kehler said. “Again, that said something about how nuclear weapons fit in their national security. From their perspective, they’re saying, ‘We still need these weapons.’”

Putin has stated publicly that he is willing to use Russia’s nuclear forces in response to Western opposition to the military annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea.

Pavel Felgenhauer, a Russian military analyst, said he has not heard about the Kanyon program. “But such things could have easily been developed during the Cold War and may be still being developed or modernized,” he said.

Felgenhauer said a nuclear drone submarine would involve launch from a mother sub and would require getting close to a target, something he said would result in a “semi-suicidal” bombing run.

Russia has researched exotic nuclear weapons concepts in the past, including underwater blasts aimed at creating massive tsunamis, like those caused by undersea earthquakes, he said.

However, Felgenhauer said he does not believe the underwater nuclear drone would be a mainstream weapons development program for Moscow.

Based on Soviet nuclear torpedo

Norman Polmar, a naval analyst and author, said the Kanyon could be based on a Soviet-era nuclear torpedo disclosed in his 2003 book, Cold War Submarines.

Both the Russian navy and its predecessor, the Soviet navy, have been innovators of undersea systems and weapons. “These efforts have included the world’s most advanced torpedoes,” Polmar said. “Early in the nuclear age, the Soviets began development of a massive torpedo for attacking coastal cities and ports.”

The T-15 torpedo was about 75 feet long and was capable of carrying a high-yield thermonuclear warhead some 15 miles underwater, something Polmar called “a truly innovative concept.”

The Navy is developing UUVs as well, including some capable of conducting strike operations. No details of the Navy’s underwater drone program could be learned.

A 2004 Navy study on the subject lists nine functions for underwater drones, ranging from intelligence gathering to anti-mine warfare to special operations delivery and “time critical strike.”

“Warfighters need the ability to strike time critical targets at precisely the right moment in battle,” the Navy study said. “UUVs can perform some of the necessary functions for [time critical strike], for example, clandestine weapon delivery or remote launch.”

“Stealth and long-standoff distance and duration allow a UUV to be an effective weapon platform or weapon cache delivery vehicle for TCS missions.”

The UUV is part of a major nuclear modernization by Russia that includes a new class of ballistic missile submarine called the Borey-class, and a new submarine-launched missile, the Bulava.

Two new intercontinental ballistic missiles are being deployed as well, along with development of three more new ICBMs, including a replacement for the SS-18 and a new rail-mobile missile. A new strategic bomber is also under development, and there are reported plans to restart production of the Tu-160 Blackjack bomber.

Russia is also developing a new long-range, air-launched nuclear-tipped cruise missile, the KH-101, which will be capable of hitting targets in the United States from launch areas within Russian airspace.

The threat that Russia is beginning to (and might already pose) to the United States is a serious one. While the Navy is currently working more unmanned technology, nothing has been put in development to combat this threat, should it surface in American waters. With any luck America won’t be completely helpless by the time President Obama’s second term is up in January.

Source: freebeacon.com