Man, when Russia wants to build something big, new and hi tech acomplished they always get it done even with their other life problems out there...

Love this unscripted style-from a man who really knows his stuff. Great work mate.!!!

Russia has just introduced a new submarine class, the Moskva.

Ah so you're the guy from that submarine site!? I must say every time I ended up on there because of those fantastic renderings and drawings I was stricken by the effort and passion. Wonderful content!

You should be very pleased with the videos you put out. All of your stuff is independently verifiable and you clearly mark the basis of your analysis on what is reasonable rather then what draws the most clicks. I hope you continue to do these as long as you feel you have something to contribute since they are an excellent digestable format for those who don't have the time nor technical experience to do all the legwork needed to come to the same conclusion.

Poseidon is a fleet killer. It can manouver itself into a position deep below a carrier battle group and effectively take it out enirely without having to worry too much about countermeasures, interception, fallout, etc. Theoretically it could capsize anything above it and leave nothing on the surface but bubbles.

This is such a crazy submarine system! I feel like the reason the Russians have built this is because they can. Whether or not there is an obvious immediate need or advantage to these submarine systems, the only way to keep up expertise in building and operating these things is to keep on making and operating them.

Poseidon is an autonomous, AI-capable, nuclear-reactor powered weapon which once launched, can patrol the oceans on its own indefinitely, or lay low for years in the deep, evading detection. If a few dozen are released, then for the enemy sailing the oceans is a huge risk - its like walking on a minefield where the mines have brains and can corner you.

I have a theory, The belgorod's loshark, has a secondary function besides espionage. It is meant to dive extremely deep and recovery a spent or deactivated nuclear powered torpedo. Say the russain deploy the weapon debace they fear nuclear escalation, to generate second strike capability in case russia itself, and its other traditional nuclear delivery systems, are destroyed. But war is averted, and well you can't exactly back this huge torpedo back into its tube, like regular test torpedos you need someone to go dive down and recover it. Hence loshark.

Have you considered the Belgorod's "torpedoes" are not true torpedoes at all. But rather nuclear powered drones. Designed to be deployed and loiter/linger indefinitely until recovered by the Loshark (or similar daughter sub).

Mr Sutton...I've just discovered your channel and now regard it as the gold standard. Excellent level balanced presentation with superb detail. Thank you for all your hard work.

Nice submarine guys. Just be careful loading those torpedos, okay?

Perhaps the primary goal is providing deterrence against a carrier battle group with those large nuclear torpedoes? Russia knows it will always be outnumbered at sea so this makes even a small fleet a threat to a larger cbg. For e.g. during the 1971 Bangladesh war of Independence, Task force 74 was about to enforce a no fly-zone over India but the presence of a smaller Soviet fleet(with a nuclear sub) drove up the risk factor and the cbg did not get involved.

Yeah wow, seeing the "mini-sub" is 70m long really puts this monster into perspective.

I think Belgorod is a poseidon carrier with the goal of making sure no navy can aproach Russia. In their propaganda Poseidon is an antonomous torpedo that can lie in wait or patrol for years but I think they are much too scared of it being hacked stolen or just malfunctioning to operate it like that. In all likelihood they will carry it on the Belgorod and release it for direct attack or ambush of an entire fleet battle group. Its large enough to carry a nuke of any size so we really are talking taking out an entire fleet and it need only be stealthy enough to hide its launch point and get close enought to the fleet for it to be unable to dissperse when it enters final aproach at top speed. While such an attack would kill tens of thousands it will only kill soldiers and cannot be mistaken as an attack on the population like a balistic missile lauchned at a fleet could. Basically saying yeah we took out your navy now you cant invade us. What are you gona do nuke our cities you know what happens next right?

You do not come across informative documentaries like these very often this needs to go viral

Great video - :) @ 20:30 ish, I'd argue that the carrier strike group attacking feature of Poseidon is one of it's main functions, alongside its tactical coastal strike one. Consider that the nuclear warhead is used in more than one way, and tsunami generation is one of the primary attack uses ie very effective at coastal destruction and human life loss, and overwhelming ships with artificial waves. Furthermore the detonation of a large nuclear weapon below a carrier ground(100m's below) would initially generate devastating pressure waves(killing all humans nearby and damaging naval structures), but more importantly the vapourisation of the surrounding water, combined with the pressure waves and cavitation would greatly reduce any regional water bouyancy, so in effect it is an optimised weapon for this role, especially considering its AI control. Bloody terrifying!

Considering all the info about the state of the Russian fleet that has leaked the last few months I wouldn't be surprised if this thing barely works and will spend 90% of its service life in drydock

The size and depth of Poseidon would suggest its primary ability is not to attack surface vessels. It is more likely that a massive underwater detonation off the coast of California could trigger an earthquake and also a tidal wave to take out a large part of the west coast or a similar attack on NYC.

On the Poseidon: I think we'd have to do some calculations, because following it's role as a tactical nuclear weapon, it attacking fleet groups makes sense. The ship that gets hit by it is in my opinion destroyed. And many people say correctly, that a normal fleet group is spread too far apart for it's explosion to be a danger to other ships. However, I imagine that the waves on see, generated by the Poseidon might be enough to capsize most ships in the same fleet group. I mean that's heavily dependent on the force of the explosive as well as on the types of ships. But I also imagine that this might be for targeting ports. The submarine could be at a safe distance and fire it and basically render an entire military port useless.

Awesome video! So happy you’ve decided to make this content, you’re a gem.

What a gold mine! Absolutely riveted all through! Thanks for your time and effort on this!

This is so interesting and just pleasant to watch , no clickbait or annoying stuff , all youtube should be like this , keep going !

I strongly doubt those 20.000 tons work as supposed. Probably a death trap for the crew.

Amazing overview, it basic covers all that is already sure about this complex project

Anyone else feel like watching Hunt for Red October after watching one of H I Sutton's wonderfully narrated videos?

To me it seems like a WW III war fighting weapons platform, with the Belgrod itself being that big mainly to host the Poseidon "torpedos" and to carry the "mini" sub. I would expect the Belgrod to position itself to start deploying the mini sub to begin taking out earth based communications lines between NATO and the U.S. (which in a general war would be done in conjunction with attempting to take out our satellites at the same time) and then when the U.S. Carrier Battle groups arrive on scene in the northern Atlantic the Poseidon which I will assume is some sort of housing device (a miniature autonomous sub if you will) for a cluster of small tactical nuke torpedoes would locate said carrier groups and then carry out multiple autonomous torpedo attacks. I don't see a point to having it be some sort of second strike nuke weapon, that makes no sense at all and there is also no need to have it be so big if it is just a lone torpedo meant to sink a carrier, as much smaller nuke torpedoes exist that will do that job just as good and much cheaper (a Ph.D. Aerospace Engineer who works for a large American defense contractor's Missile Systems company.

Awesome video, love the calm details, not an ounce of sensationalism, just facts, or best guess on available information. No biased propaganda for either side! Keep it coming!!!

HI. Found your website many years ago. Love submarines and military tech. I’m currently active duty cryptologist so I love see all this osint content. I think you by far have the best content. Loving the content being moved to YT!

Imagine a torpedo with multiple possible modalities; sub to sub, or sub to surface or sub to surface to air to land. Such a weapon would need to be very large to house the required navigation and propulsion capabilities for any possible modality.

This and the USS Jimmy Carter are unbelievably fascinating vessels and I hope that someday we can know what battles they are fighting under the ice

Your voice is calm and relaxing, plus no music... I fell asleep two times 😅

Belgorod sounds like a final boss

That is a beast to launch, the displacement when launched will really shake the boat up with every launch

i would love a size comparison with other submarines.

The "Posiden" weapon has crazy capabilities. When you think about a 25 megaton explosion going off in or near a major port city (NYC, London, LA, etc.). It would be very difficult to identify the source of the disaster (Russia, China, North Korea).

This was built as both torpedo and cruse missile. The problem has been contamination and malfunction contamination I mentioned earlier. The test was done 2 years ago and one within a year while engines tested and problems in every even and radiation contamination recorded.

Great stuff! Subbed (no pun intended)

Thank you for the well-written content.

Always rock solid info and to the point. Enjoy your hard work that you put i to these videos.

Nothing at that level is ever leaked by mistake. Belgorod will be to large for a deep dive too much straight area. Absolutely crap for spying but it could be a forward communication rig for hypersonic weapons or other late directional weapons hence the thrusters to maintain position and launch stability.

The thing about these extreme designs is they're more likely to get something wrong, which is evident by their safety record. Edit: I'm not dissing them btw, their submarines are among the best in the world though they tend to go overboard with designs, Alpha class for example didn't care about their noise level but it was extremely fast and was even automated with a crew of 16 in the 1970s, armed with a Supercavitating torpedo...it's so interesting to see how naval philosophies differ.

Imagine if we put all this effort into making life for everyone better

You mention poseidon is a nuclear powered unit and everybody seems to assume that means it has a reactor on board. It's far more likely that it's powered by an RTG than a reactor. That would then beg the question, is it capable of the high speeds sustained, or, does it use the RTG to charge batteries in order to give it ability for bursts of speed, and if so, how long is that burst ? Still capable of operating for decades without refuel of any type, but the RTG is a much smaller power source than a full on reactor running a pressure system. Another benefit of the RTG over a reactor, it's silent, not just quiet, it's silent. It can sit on station for years undetected by acoustics.

6:39 Ive seen this scene before. Skip Tyler said it looks like a magnetohydrodynamic drive.

Mr. Sutton, please consider my request for a Comparison between MESMA AIP, Fuel Cell AIP, Sterling AIP and Lithium Ion Battery tech, with pros and cons of each. How long do you think the shelf life of each tech would last? Considering from a perspective of an Indian viewer when their rivals Pak has a MESMA AIP, and soon will have Sterling AIP, while India is yet to acquire even one, and P75I has a few variety of AIP options on the table. Regards

I can’t believe they have the nerve to keep building these while they haven’t properly disposed of their old subs. Nuclear reactors just piled up in the port channel rotting away.

Unbiased. Extremely rare nowadays.

Isn't the Moskov Russia's BIGGEST submarine?

Here is the to me scariest theory about what Poseidon could be. Poseidon is part of the Perimeter Sytem (the Dead Hand) and is the final stage of the doomsday sequence of Perimeter. This could be the origin of "Status 6". It seems certain at this point that Poseidon can remain at sea autonomously for a very long time. IT can carry any payload imaginable. For use within Perimeter a cobalt salted nuclear device would be the most devastating. Depending on how well Poseidons brain is, it could receive weather data from remaining russian satellites and detonate at a position under air currents to maximize distribution of the cobalt across the to-be-devastated landmass. This could for example depopulate most of north america and make it totally inhabitable for more than 150 years. It's extremely plausible use case, taking into account that russia is extremely concerned to lose first strike capability due to the NATO missile defense, invalidating any deterrent potential of the russian arsenal (this is the main motiviation behind Satan II as well). Issues with this theory are, that first and foremost someone has to be mad and an absolute monster to consider building a cobalt salted weapon. And its is questionable if Perimeter would be able to communicate to an underwater recipient with its functionalities (the command missile etc). So while a very plausible scenario and one that is fit to give you sleepless nights, knowing that it is mostly switched off because even the russians are afraid of its reliability. And if Belgorod carries 4 or 6 of thses weapons, nothing stops the russians to have 5 fleet killer poseidons and 1 dooms day device. Or any combination that keeps you awake at night.

The vessel was relaid in December 2012. Due to chronic underfunding, its construction was suspended then resumed at a low rate of progress.

Thanks for the update. Good that the Belgorod project did not go to waist after the collapse of the URSS.

Poseidon would make for a more effective fleet killer than a second strike anti-port facilities weapon IMO. The launching sub wouldn't even need to get close and multiple weapons could be coordinated to attack multiple different fleets at once, loitering across projected paths. Do that and you basically reduce America's/NATO's power projection considerably. If you include attack subs tracking/targeting SSBNs with their SSGNs poised to hit various shore based targets, this could be a devastating first strike. Overwhelming your opponent on multiple fronts with shear force of numbers, piece of cake for Russia. Not to mention what the Army and Air Force could also do.

Belgorod, with Poseidon torpedoes, is an awesome first strike weapon. Did you consider this idea?

Great vid!

Its the Alycorn. Everyday we draw closer to the crazy world of Ace Combat.

Excellent video as usual, terrifying topic though. What would be a reasonable guesstimate for the maximum yield of the thermonuclear device? It is just as massive for a (contemporary) nuke as Poseidon is for a torpedo...

So, the important question - does anyone make a 1/700 model of Belgorod yet?

Very informative. Have been fascinated with the Losharik program and the hydronauts there - so that was a nice add there.

Nice video you seem to be very knowledgeable in submarines and I find this very informative though idk if you like to review subs from games such as is in gta online ( such as the kosatka) and see how real or fictional it is and how it we’ll fare in a real world scenario Wish you the best in your KZfaq career

There are two types of Poseidon torpedoes. Type 6 is the WMD, the smaller one is the tactical one. Present data showcases test systems, and not the final product. The tactical one is capable of annihilating carrier groups and in pack formation, is capable of crippling fleet yards and with some modification, taking beach heads for invasions. The main type is capable of carrying upto 150MT and thus can execute last resort missions including but not limited to destabilizing continental shelves and turning target nations waters into nuclear wastelands. The DSMs are meant to keep track of precise ocean currents and predict where to strike and when to strike. As for Belgorods, well, they're just motherships for these missions. I think there's a few submarines currently well masked within the projects that would enhance prowling and stalking capabilities, thus ensuring that opposing fleets and ships cannot track them. Likely built to resemble the target's friendlies.

All this talk about a tsunami or gigantic wave created by this poseidon thing are just hilarious...underwater tests have been carried out for many years in the Pacific and none have generated anything aside from the initial explosion water surge that very quickly subsides...and 10 months later than this video, the belgorod is still under construction, far away from sea trials....

Originally Poseidon was supposed to be a doomsday device, carrying upwards of 50-100mt yield for coastal annihilation. But I am not sure such a large thermonuclear device can be fitted into a torpedo of this size. Maybe modern tech has managed to shrink down what is essentially a Tsar Bomba into a small enough size?

Very unique video material. I’m a fan!

how do you manage this.. wow... i wouldn't have the patience to do this myself but this is amazing how you infer and piece together so much information..... i don't even feel unsafe about this to be honest i know the importance of the balance of power, i guess if we where to mess about with this sub we would be destabalising the world

So great stuff as always, but curious question….russia definitely tends to build more extreme weapon types (not just subs), but does that make them actually better? History tells us for the most part, they aren’t better but is the new modern Russian stuff now different?

Excellent video. Question how much cost Belgorod vs Typhoon estimate?

Im thrilled to see what they made! It opens my mind to make even better than.

I like how Russian technology keeps changing into becoming more and more focused on crew survivability.

Could Russia's giant torpedo be used to stalk American aircraft carriers, follow them around the world. Giving them the ability to take out multiple carriers at the same time?

Honestly, your channel is better than Drachinifel already... At least in terms of actual content and subject. I can easily see this becoming a 500k+ subscriber channel within the next few years.

“They really built this, it’s not a prototype or anything?”

In terms of why the weapon was built, I've heard a few things since you made this video which might improve our understanding of the motive, all from generally reliable sources, although, of course, how would anyone be sure without actually having a look under the hood? First, I've heard it is a salted bomb, perhaps with a Cobalt casing (the problem with a cobalt bomb on a torpedo is that it could have a very heavy casing, so there could be literally tons of cobalt in the casing). I've heard it's actually 200 megatons, not 100. I've heard that it is specifically intended to generate a tsunami. The thing about a 500 meter tsunami, the height estimated from a weapon of that size, is that it would negate essentially all fallout shelters and continuity of government shelters, as all would be flooded and buried in tons of sand/earth and debris,, and if there were survivors, and it was a salted bomb, the flood water, and most of the fresh water in the area, would be so radioactive you could not come in contact with it for more than a few minutes, for years after the blast, and the entire flooded region would not be inhabitable for up to 100 years later. It is possible that the Cobalt-60 could be mostly all directed towards the shore. I have heard that the weapon is meant to be detonated on the sea floor, perhaps in harbors, which would make sense, if you wanted to create a wave by reflecting the energy off the sea floor up and out. Depending on topography, reliable sources have estimated that a 100 megaton blast could have caused flooding 1,000 miles inland. A tsunami of that size could affect hundreds of miles of coastline. Based on all of this, I would argue that the weapon was built as not just a negation of US missile defense and an undersea carrier killer, but primarily to make it clear that the Russian deterrent will end our civilization for generations, if we ever go to war with Russia. In light of current events, I believe the message is, Russia can enforce its sphere of influence regionally, and even if they would lose a conventional war, NATO cannot fight a war with Russia, under any conditions, or even provide certain kinds of aid to Russia's allies, or else Poseidon while shake their cities to the ground, wash away all memory that their enemies had ever been, and curse the ground they walk upon for a thousand years, so nothing will grow there, and anyone who eats of the fruits or drinks of the waters of the accursed land will perish. I suspect that's why they built it. But, if the Russian felt war was inevitable, it could also be a first strike weapon, allowing them to concentrate all ICBMs and cruise missiles on more inland targets. It is my understanding that, without a human crew, the torpedo not only travels at great depths, but it can also travel very slowly, around 3 knots, regardless of how long it takes to get there. Traveling so slowly and so deep could make it possible for the torpedo to be extremely stealthy, so it might be possible to use them as the first strike, and send them across the ocean in advance, with the 100 mph sprint only being employed if they are detected or if they wish to sprint through enemy defenses to their target. In fact, they may have already forward deployed Poseidons to western harbors, just in case, and the Belgorod may have the capacity to retrieve those forward deployed torpedoes at a later date. Such a system might have the ability to go dormant on the sea bed for years.

Those big front doors remind me of the caterpillar drive!

Just caught this OSINT brief today. Brilliant work, much appreciated.

This was a fantastic video! I subbed! Tx

No other country beats Russia in submarine construction. They’re just awesome.

Reagan (1983) "we got the Strategic Defense Initative, called Star Wars program!" Obama (2009) "now we got the THAAD system!" Putin (2018) "let me introduce you to the POSEIDON torpedo..."

I'm getting a distinct "T-14 Armata-/Su-57- Syndrome" from this thing.

That wasn't a leak, that was on purpose, they wanted NATO to see that. ;) Edit: Ah I see you think the same!

Russian MOD explicitly explained why this new torpedo class was developed. They are not hiding this aspect and purpose. Apart from being a reliable "second-strike" element, it also offers difficulty in both detecting and neutralising. Consequently this can be both a defensive tool and an element of "first strike" or "preventative strike" component. So it is a multi-purpose, multi-role tool. And they are not hiding why they developed this new class of weapon. The main reason is NATOs expansion to Russian borders and direct threats posed to existing "deterrent". So, it is both logical and rational move to ensure effective umbrella against aggressors such as NATO. Disclosed technical info also includes arming this torpedo with "cobalt charge" as well as other variations.

I wish the Russian Federation and the United States of America could be friendly. I wish we were allies instead of rivals. Imagine a world where international law is upheld by the strengths of both our mighty nations. Maybe someday we can put our differences aside and work together.

The reason why Belgorod's propeller is covered is based on the diameter & number of blades, you can calculate a sonar return. Meaning ur new sub is identified b4 it hits the water.

Brilliantly narrated, clearly passionate and well informed. Thank you for your hard work i very much enjoyed that.

What if that monster of a torpedo is a vessel for a short range icbm , pops up from half way around the world in your local harbour and nukes your capital city or other important installations.

It will probably run out of fuel and float belly up on some beach somewhere ☺️

"Extreme" submarine? Do the US have "extreme" carriers flying "extreme" aircraft?

Merci pour ce bon moment.

If these Russian submarines are such a threat, why don’t they use their missile launch capability in Ukraine?

The idea of shooting the Poseidon torpedo from a sub seems stupid… it has infinite range and it’s supposed to just dink around in the ocean waiting for a target… why not launch it from ANY PART of russia at anywhere on earth and save the total cost of this money pit?

Superb! And what a mighty creepy machine! I had never heard about this before.

That torpedo... It's basically Pearl Harbor in a can.

We, Russians, call these weapons - wonderwaffle. Sudden day weapons. They are truly amazing and terrifying.

Here is an interesting question: why do Soviet and Russian nuclear powered submarines require a water scoop to cool their reactors whereas Western nuclear powered submarines do not?

Fascinating. Thanks for posting.

Looks like a really huge target. Hope it’s stealthy enough.

Sorry to mention the obvious, many of Belgorod’s missions are to maintain and defend Russia’s extensive developments and a few crewed bases, on the seafloor around northern arctic circle. Yes, other nations have paper claims to the seafloor, but Russia owns it by virtue of being able to occupy and defend the areas they have claimed. Russia also claims and can defend the northern sea routes being cleared of ice, thanks to warming waters there. Belgorods in those areas equates to ownership.

It's time for the Russian crews to all surface and turn their subs over to the Norwegians, English, Japanese and Americans.

On the _Losharik_ diagram, It looks like the sphere containing the nuclear reactor is completely separate from the spheres containing the crew.

Interesting, Thanks for informative vid!!!