Russia can create the world’s first unmanned nuclear submarine, writes Forbes.
The publication notes that the U.S. does not yet have the technology to develop such weapons.
The article states that the advantage of the U.S. submarine fleet is the autonomy of submarines and the large team that serves them, while the Russian submarine teams are less numerous.
“However, if the robotics revolution starts pushing the world to create submarines without a team on board, Russia will have an advantage”, – says the publication.
Forbes also drew attention to the submarine Poseidon, which is being created in Russia. In particular, the authors call it a weapon, as it does not provide for return to the base after the strike. The publication reminds that the Poseidon is equipped with a nuclear power plant and a powerful nuclear warhead, because of which it was nicknamed among Western journalists “Doomsday weapon”.
In addition, the article mentions a stand-alone submarine reactor designed for continuous operations. For example, the Malachite design bureau proposed to use it on submarines, which would make the propulsion system fully autonomous, while the team would be engaged in other tasks.
Thus, Forbes notes, today Russia has an opportunity to connect nuclear turbine generators with the drone technology to create the world’s first impact uninhabited nuclear submarine.
The publication stresses that such a drone may be less effective compared to the existing submarines, but it will definitely be cheaper. Such submarines will also have unlimited mission duration.
Forbes summarizes that Russia will have these technologies much earlier, as the existing Western nuclear reactors were designed for submarines with a team on board and it will take considerable time and money to build a new reactor.