“With its doomsday torpedo, Russia is sending a message: we can and will develop ways to get around your missile defenses. For the American people, this prospect is certainly scary.”
Over the past few years, whispers have leaked that Russia has been working on a new, powerful “doomsday” nuke. Apparently, the nuclear weapon could pack as much as 100-megatons of raw nuclear power, making it the most powerful nuclear weapon ever built. This nuke would be delivered not from the sky or space, but instead from the ocean via a long-range drone torpedo.
Now, the Pentagon has all but confirmed the existence of the program by releasing an unclassified document. The Pentagon has been referring to the weapon as “Kanyon.” Russia’s less svelte but more descriptive name for the weapon is “Ocean Multipurpose System Status-6.”
While most of the global media is focused on North Korea’s advancing nuclear program, Kanyon presents a far graver threat, being able to circumvent America’s ballistic missile defenses and delivering a payload far greater than anything North Korea possesses.
How massive is a hundred megaton nuclear bomb? Let’s put it into perspective: the Little Boy nuke dropped on Hiroshima weighed in at 15,000 tons of TNT, while the Fat Man bomb dropped on Nagasaki weighed in at approximately 21,000 tons. Russia’s newest doomsday nuke? 100,000,000 tons.
The Kanyon delivery system would allow Russia to easily strike cities that lie along the coastline, such as New York City. This doomsday weapon would be powerful enough to instantly wipe out New York City and its inhabitants. Any coastline hit by the torpedo would be uninhabitable for at least 100 years.
The most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated, the Tsar Bomba, carried a warhead half as powerful at 50,000,000 tons. When the Tsar Bomba was detonated, it created the largest nuclear blast in history. In theory, the weapon could have been expanded with the existing casing to reach 100,000,000 tons. However, the weapon was too large and difficult to deliver, making it impractical in war.
Little Boy nuke dropped on Hiroshima weighed in at 15,000 tons of TNT, while the Fat Man bomb dropped on Nagasaki weighed in at approximately 21,000 tons. Russia’s newest doomsday nuke? 100,000,000 tons.
Russia’s drone torpedo could solve that. The torpedo will be able to travel at up to 100 knots per hour (about 115 miles per hour) and as far as 6,200 miles. The torpedo would be launched from a specially built submarine. Combined, the Kanyon delivery system would allow Russia to easily strike cities that lie along the coastline, such as New York City.
The United States has advanced its ballistic missile defenses greatly over the past several years. Under ideal circumstances, the United States Aegis Missile systems can shoot down ICBMs and other targets before they exit the atmosphere and after they re-enter.
With North Korea continuing to advance its nuclear weapons program, such capabilities are taking on an ever more important role. Yet increasing protections against North Korea’s nukes could reduce the “MAD,” or “Mutually Assured Destruction” doctrine. During the Cold War, both the Soviet Union and the United States recognized that they could quickly destroy one another and the world itself with nukes. So they avoided fighting directly.
With its doomsday torpedo, Russia is sending a message: we can and will develop ways to get around your missile defenses. For the American people, this prospect is certainly scary.
