Hidden Beneath The Waves: The New Nuclear Threat From Russia And China

The useful part

While much of the world is watching drones transform the battlefields of Ukraine and the Middle East, another military revolution is taking place largely out of sight. Russia and China are rapidly developing underwater nuclear capabilities designed around one of the most important principles of nuclear warfare: survival. A nuclear submarine that disappears beneath millions of square miles of ocean presents a completely different problem.

How it works

• Both Moscow and Beijing are investing heavily in making that problem much more difficult for the United States.
• The nuclear-powered submarine Khabarovsk reportedly began sea trials in Russia's White Sea in August.
• Reports indicate that Khabarovsk could eventually carry as many as six Poseidons.
• Poseidon is unlike the ballistic missiles that dominated Cold War nuclear planning.
• It is essentially an enormous autonomous underwater vehicle powered by its own nuclear reactor and capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

What to take from it

Russian claims surrounding the weapon have often been dramatic and should be treated cautiously, but...

Details worth keeping

Missiles sitting in fixed silos can be targeted. Russia's newest contribution is particularly ominous.