The recent vanishing of the Belgorod of Russia, a submarine, from its Arctic port, has raised eyebrows in and out of NATO military circles. This state-of-the-art nuclear-powered ship, armed with the fearsome Poseidon “doomsday” weapon, has not operated out of its base in the White Sea since early October 2022.
Relaxation was impossible when it came to Russian submarine activity. It has never been limited to its coastal waters, stretching over huge distances and often making an appearance in some of the far-flung parts of the globe. This potential threat, spanning the world, is one of its comprehensive ideas. This fact gives such a strategic advantage to the mode, allowing it “to vanish” under the waves exactly for this purpose. Of course, the increased activity of Russian submarines, and especially that of the Arctic, was giving rise to alarms similar to those of the Cold War.
The nuclear sea forces, home to the Northern Fleet of Russia—are just off the coast of the Arctic, right outside the NATO territory. A Borei-class sub remained submerged under the Arctic ice cap for two months in 2021. “We’ve seen more activity from Russian submarines than we have since the days of the Cold War,” explained one NATO official while blasting the heightened Russian submarine activity.
The Belgorod accepted into the ranks of the Russian Navy in July 2022, is one of the lines of development of the strategic weapons program for President Vladimir Putin. The 600-ft.-long submarine is believed to be armed with about six Poseidon nuclear weapons, a nuclear-powered deep-diving midget submarine for seabed warfare, a rescue submarine, and regular torpedoes. The Poseidon, also referred to as the “doomsday” weapon, is the largest torpedo in the world—almost two meters wide and about twenty meters long. Will be able to cause catastrophic damage to coastal cities, as it can elude defenses against missiles when traveling underwater.
There have been rumors circling about Belgorod’s involvement in the Nordstream 1 and 2 pipeline incidents that took place in early October 2022. Military analyst H.I. Sutton, however, confirmed that while the Belgorod “would be suited to carry out such an attack,” it was observed in the Barents Sea during the last days of September, making it impossible for it to have been in the Baltic at the time of the attacks.
Already, the disappearance of the Belgorod has stirred speculations about its current whereabouts and potential activities. According to Rebekah Koffler, a strategic intelligence expert, the Russian submarine has one of the best stealth capabilities in the world. In the past, they passed unnoticed on America’s shores. She added that the Poseidon weapon would only be fired as a last resort if there was a direct conflict with Russia.
The Poseidon, a nuclear/conventional warhead carrier, can cause tsunamis and radioactively contaminate vast water areas. This deployment is a big concern for NATO because it will be stealthy and can reach extreme depths and speeds. Upon initial estimation, its payload was thought to be 100 megatons, which has been revised to two megatons but is still more powerful than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The 180-meter Belgorod is the longest nuclear-powered submarine ever built and, unlike other submarines, had been specifically modified to carry the Poseidon torpedoes. An alarm was issued by NATO when the vessel went missing from its radar at the height of increasingly harsh Kremlin rhetoric over nuclear confrontation with the West. The Belgorod reappeared in the Arctic in October.
According to a brief published by the United States Congressional Research Service, Russia envisions assigning the Poseidon drone to four submarines: two in the Northern Fleet and two in the Pacific Fleet. Each of these is expected to carry eight drones. This point was emphasized in the 2022 Nuclear Posture Review conducted by the Biden administration: Poseidon at work in Russia forms a huge strategic threat since it exists outside the scope of current nuclear weapons treaties.
As military expert H.I. Sutton aptly summarized, “Virtually all of Russia’s naval movements have to be viewed as part of a much larger strategic game between Russia and the West.” In this high-stakes game, ending with possible catastrophic consequences, the Belgorod and its Poseidon weapon are right at the center.