The mysterious Belgorod submarine is a powerful weapon in the naval arsenal of Russia, drawing global attention these days due to the strategic capabilities and threats that this kind of capability brings. This Oscar-class guided-missile submarine was refitted under Project 09852 and could carry six Poseidon nuclear torpedoes with a warhead of 100 megatons each. Its deployment in the Arctic, and possibly other places, has just brought about some important concerns among NATO and other international military observers.
The Northern Fleet, based in the Arctic, is an integral part of Russia’s naval capability, hosting its nuclear sea-forces. It is situated so close to NATO territories that there can be no letting of the guard. In 2021, a Borei-class submarine remained hidden under the Arctic ice cap for two months, increasing NATO’s concerns over the increased level of Russian submarine activity, reminiscent of Cold War levels.
Much of these concerns have focused on the Belgorod, which is equipped with the notorious Poseidon torpedoes. The Poseidon is reportedly about two meters in diameter and twenty meters long—about the size of a small submarine. But because it can travel underwater, circumventing the detecting systems of most missile defenses, it represents a formidable threat. As one expert says, “It’s the lack of reliance on satellites and the fact that it literally goes underneath missile defenses, that make it a slow but inevitable death.”
Speculation regarding the role of Belgorod in the events involving the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipeline incidents at the beginning of October 2022 was not in short supply. Yet, other sightings of the Belgorod in the Barents Sea at the end of September made it, in the words of Sutton, “impossible for her to have been in the Baltic at the time of the attacks”. All this finally sets to rest the rumors of the disappearance of the submarine, though the strategic significance it holds still manages to show it as a significant concern for European navies.
The Belgorod is capable of more than merely acting as a staging platform for this nuclear armament. It plays a mothership role for different crewed and unmanned submersibles, among them the deep-diving Losharik. This extends the mission capabilities of the Belgorod to encompass scientific expeditions, search and rescue, and even warfare on the seabed.
First unveiled in 2015, the Poseidon torpedo is one of the key elements underpinning Russia’s new nuclear deterrence doctrine. Powered by a miniaturized nuclear power plant, Poseidon is said to be capable of reaching a speed of some 100 knots with a range of about 10,000 kilometers and at operational depths of up to 1,000 meters. The purpose of carrying a several-megaton-class nuclear warhead seems to be to cause massive damage to coastal cities.
Though most experts consider Poseidon to be a psychological weapon designed for nuclear signaling, in general, the background of development and deployment of Poseidon has to do with Russia’s more general strategy of ensuring a high degree of nuclear deterrence capability. The development of Poseidon and Belgorod came as a response to the enhancement of the U.S. ballistic missile defenses, which were supposed to penetrate these differences and give Russia strategic advantages.
These recent operations of Belgorod in the Arctic, including sightings in the Barents Sea, are an example of the constant strategic maneuvering now afoot between Russia and the West. To military expert Sutton, “basically, virtually all of Russia’s naval movements have to be viewed as part of a much larger strategic game between Russia and the West.” The Belgorod, with its advanced capabilities and strategic significance, still remains one of the important pieces within this complex geopolitical puzzle.