On the 1st of May 2022, on a Sunday evening primetime, when most of the people are resting in their houses watching TV. Dmitry Kiselyov came out on the Russian state TV 1 (Rossiya-1) (Россия-1) and told his viewers that Russia is capable of wiping out the UK off the map with nuclear weapons.
According to Dmitry Kiselyov, a nuclear underwater drone attack by Russia’s “Poseidon” may result in a 500-meter (1640 ft) tidal wave of radioactive seawater engulfing the UK. “There’s no way of stopping this underwater drone,” Dmitry said along with a video simulation showing the missile heading toward the coastline.
He adds: “This wave also carries extreme doses of radiation. Having passed over Britain, it will leave what is left of them in a radioactive desert, unfit for anything for a long time.”
He also stated another weapon that is capable of doing the same effect, but this time not underwater, but an intercontinental ballistic missile called Satan-2.
You can watch the video translated into English here:
This might seems like it’s the personal opinion of the television presenter, but this idea looks like it is not the first time been said by the Russian media. The Russian state TV host Vladimir Solovyov had previously stated the same thing on the 27th of April 2022, but this time focusing only on the hypersonic intercontinental ballistic missile, Satan-2.
Are these claims true? Does the Russian Army have weapons that would ‘wipe out’ a complete civilization with its people and also the land? What are the Poseidon torpedo and the Satan-2 weapons? And what are the counter measurements that the UK has against these threats?
Poseidon Torpedo
What is the Poseidon underwater drone, also known as Status-6 or Kanyon? It is a massive nuclear-powered autonomous torpedo with a nuclear payload that is capable of striking anywhere in the world. Its first public appearance was in September 2015.
The little information we have about it comes from a Russian TV leak in 2015 about a government attempt to build an underwater nuclear drone. A leaked draft of the Pentagon’s Nuclear Posture Review in 2018 recognized Russia’s development of a “new intercontinental, nuclear-armed, nuclear-powered, undersea autonomous torpedo.”
The Poseidon drone will be launched using a K-329 Belgorod nuclear submarine that could carry up to 6 Poseidon drones.
Poseidon is one of the six strategic weapons of Russia declared by Putin in March 2018.
Poseidon Torpedo Specs:
- Mass: Up to 100 Metric Tons
- Length: Up to 20 m (64.5 ft)
- Diameter: Up to 1.8 m ( 5 ft and 8 inches)
- Blast yield (bomb power): 2 Mega Tons (source 1, source 2)
- Operational range: At least 10,000 km and some say Unlimited Range
- Maximum depth: At least 1 km (3250 ft)
- Maximum speed: Up to 100 knots (185 km/h – 115 mph). However, it is arguable to have a maximum speed of 70 knots
RS-28 Sarmat Satan-2
The RS-28 Sarmat, or the Satan-2 as the West calls it, is a hypersonic intercontinental ballistic missile that has been under development since 2009 and is planned to be finished in 2022.
Satan-2 is also one of the six strategic weapons of Russia.
Satan-2 Specs:
- Mass: 208.1 Metric Tons
- Warhead: 10 heavy or 15 light MIRV warheads
- Length: 35.5 m (117 ft)
- Diameter: 3 m ( 9 ft and 8 inches)
- Operational range: 18,000 km (11,000 mile)
- Maximum speed: Mach 20.7 (25560 km/h – 15882mph)
UK Reply
After this threat by the Russian media to “wipe off” the UK from the map, the British media responded by declaring that the Royal Navy laser weapons would “wipe off” the Russian hypersonic missiles.
What are these ‘laser weapons’ that the British media are talking about? And how powerful are they?
Dragonfire Laser Weapons
In an Express report titled “Royal Navy’s £130m laser can wipe out Putin’s hyper-sonic missiles in seconds,” British media said that the British laser weapons would be installed on ships and blast a high-energy light beam that can be used to detect and kill enemy drones.
Prior to this, the British Ministry of Defense set aside $137.7 million to develop three “directed energy weapons” (DEWs) for use against ships, planes, helicopters and armored vehicles.
Experts have previously said that DEW might be used against hypersonic missiles since it travels at speed close to the light and hence could be used to knock down hypersonic missiles.
Laser and radiofrequency weapons are powered by electricity and do not require ammo. Moreover, laser weapons may take out the computers and electronics of a potential attacker in a matter of seconds.
Dragonfire melting metal in seconds
In 2023, the new DEW systems will be tested aboard Royal Navy ships, and if effective, they might be deployed to frontline forces within a decade. Ministry of Defense (MoD) released a video of the deadly technology, which showed the 50kW laser cannon destroying metal in only a matter of seconds in 2019.
Can these Weapons Wipe Out the British Isles Off the Map?
Now the most important question that came to my mind while watching these videos and reading the news: Can these Russian weapons really wipe the UK and Ireland off the map? And Could the UK respond and defend its coastlines using its laser Dragonfire defensive weapons?
The answer to both questions is NO!
Russian Limitations
1- Belgorod Submarine is not Ready:
Regarding the Poseidon drone itself, the weapon is unknown if it is ready or not. Some experts say it is ready for deployment, and some say it is not.
However, what seems certain, is that the submarine that is responsible for carrying and launching the Poseidon is still not ready. HI Sutton, the owner of Covert Shores blog and an expert on submarine technology, shows in one of his tweets a satellite picture showing the Belgorod Submarine in dry dock, meaning that it is still not ready.
***UPDATE***
— H I Sutton (@CovertShores) May 3, 2022
Despite #Russian State TV threats of destroying UK (and Ireland?) with a Poseidon nuclear torpedo, the only Poseidon submarine is actually in dry dock. Image from a few days ago but confident Belgorod is still unavailable. The submarine hasn’t been commissioned yet pic.twitter.com/iyqK4nYhYF
2- Poseidon Power Exaggeration:
If you have watched the video above, you should have noticed the presenter when he said that it has a warhead of 100 megaton blast yield or bombing power. That’s insane! The Hiroshima bomb was about 15 kilotons, so he is telling us that the Poseidon drone is delivering more than 6,000 times the destruction power delivered by the Hiroshima bomb!
We all know he is exaggerating and making Russian power look enormously powerful than their opponents. The power of the Poseidon, as stated before and from multiple sources (one more source), is just 2 megatons. We are not saying this is nothing. It is still powerful! It is more than 100 times the force packed by the Hiroshima bomb!
However, this amount of power will definitely not cause a 500-meter tsunami. During the cold war, many trials were taken to cause tsunamis using nuclear weapons, but it turned out to be difficult, and you need an enormous amount of power, which is not available with the Poseidon.
3- Poseidon’s effects on the coastline:
We are sure now that this weapon will not be able to submerge the British Isles with water caused by a 500-meter tsunami. Even if we were wrong and this weapon is that much powerful, this part of the earth is rich with high mountains that are up to 1343 meters high, meaning that many parts of the British Isles will be intact.
However, Poseidon will be able to destroy a whole coastline city if it reaches there. With 2 megatons of blast yield, this weapon will cause radioactive seawater flooding over the coastline cities and a large radioactive cloud over the sea, leading to the complete destruction of life in this area.
UK Limitations
1- Too Early:
Even though the laser weapon that the UK is developing is lethal and could be a turning point, it is still early to talk about. These weapons should be tested between 2023 and 2025. After that, there might be some modifications that will be conducted before it is sent to the frontline navy.
This means that we might see these weapons used by the British Navy within a decade.
2- Power is a Concern:
This laser weapon is shown to be producing up to 50kW of power and melts metal within seconds. Now considering the Poseidon, this torpedo is said to be made of titanium.
Knowing that the cast iron has a melting point of 1204°C (2200°F), and the titanium has a melting point of 1668 °C (3034°F), this means that the laser weapon would need more time when facing the titanium.
Moreover, destroying a nuclear missile near your shores is nothing better than it hitting its target. Nuclear radiation would eventually reach its target, leading to disasters.
Conclusion
Even though this analysis of the situation might look horrifying, I would say that no one is going to use his nuclear weapons any soon (I hope even in the future). No one would be able to use a nuclear missile to hit a specific target and isolate the others. The damage will spread easily throughout the world.
We hope that these media talks remain in the media and will never become a reality.
Looking at what data we have now, Russia will not be able to use the Poseidon any soon because the submarine Belgorod is not ready yet. And if used, it will never be able to cause a 500m tidal wave tsunami that will “wipe out” the UK from the map, as Dmitry Kiselyov claimed.
What do you think of this threat that is spread through the Russian media nowadays? Would you believe that these nightmares will become a reality one day? Please share with us your thoughts in the below comments section.
