The equipment plan was revealed by the Russian Navy when it announced the test program of the Belgorod submarine carrying the Poseidon nuclear super-torpedo.
According to the announcement, the test program for the Belgorod submarine and the Poseidon torpedo will be completed in September 2021. The ship is now fully equipped, and factory-grade testing has also been performed.
“The nuclear reactor has been started aboard the Belgorod. The mooring tests are underway. Then there will be factory and state tests. By September, the ship must be completed.” entire test cycle, “the Russian Navy said in a statement.
Super nuclear submarine Belgorod.
“Upon completion of testing and entry into service, the first Belgorod will be us on the Northern Fleet. Then the Pacific Ocean will be the next area for the Belgorod and the Poseidon nuclear torpedo to appear.” , the source added.
Under this plan, the Russian Navy will give priority to equipping a total of 32 nuclear torpedoes for the Northern Fleet and the Pacific Fleet. All of these weapons will be fired from the Khabarovsk-class Belgorod nuclear submarines.
The Belgorod submarines are capable of detecting sea and air targets at a distance of hundreds of kilometers, making them more likely than the Yasen and Borei-class ships.
Talking about the reasons for prioritizing Belgorod and Poseidon for the two regions above, especially the Arctic, the source said, stemming from the increased US operations in the Arctic, especially the move to bring the USS. Harry S. Truman at the end of 2018, dispatched planes to hunt underground and reinforce military bases in this area.
The US has decided to spend $ 1.3 billion to reopen Adak airport and deploy the P-8A. The small runway located on Adak Island in the Aleutian Islands chain is the westernmost airport that can accommodate passenger aircraft in the United States. This small airport currently welcomes 2 flights a week of Air Alaska.
Fully known as the Adak Naval Aviation Facility, this small airport has been commercially operated since the withdrawal of the US Navy in 1997. But due to the increasing activity of Russia and China in the Arctic, the US decided to increase the ability to patrol the North Pole.
“The airport has the fuel facilities that Air Alaska currently uses to fuel its aircraft. The airport also has defrosting facilities that we can use to wash P-8A aircraft with fresh water”, a representative of the US Navy said.
“Russian friends are starting five runways and 10,000 Spetsnaz soldiers (in the Arctic) for search and rescue operations. China has also increased its presence there,” he added. are there “.
In addition to airport renovation and P-8A, the US Department of Defense has also publicly sent the F-35 stealth fighter to Alaska. However, the US military admitted, to compete with Russia in the Arctic, such investment is not enough. To do that, the US needs to have a strong enough icebreaker fleet, but that is not possible for the US at the moment.
As the US currently has only two outdated icebreakers, the Pentagon still has to rely on them to carry out its missions. The US has ordered a new series of icebreakers, but this will take time and they will wait years to have these modern icebreakers.
Meanwhile, Russia has a powerful fleet of icebreakers. First of all, it must be remembered that Russia has a good tradition of arming icebreakers on its own. During the 30s of the last century, during the development of Project 51 Russia created icebreakers and equipped them with some 130 mm and 76 mm caliber cannons, as well as heavy machine guns. All of these warships participated in the military operations of the Great Patriotic War and survived.
These experiences were later used to design nuclear icebreakers. These new types of icebreakers can be equipped with a four-barrel 45 mm automatic gun, ammunition cellar and other equipment. All weapons and ammunition for Soviet nuclear-powered ships were carefully stored in ports.
The Arctic project’s icebreakers can carry two AK-726 twin-barreled 76 mm cannons and four AK-630 six-barrel 30 mm assault rifles. Along with that, the Russian Navy has also started the process of testing with the new generation nuclear-powered icebreaker Ivan Papanin equipped with cruise missiles.
Therefore, it can be said that the Russian icebreaker fleet is the most powerful in the world. So, competing with Russia in the Arctic is almost impossible for the US right now, especially when Russia retrofits Belgorod submarines and Poseidon nuclear torpedoes.
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