Russia hopes to destroy key U.S. harbors and coastal cities through a secret drone submarine that is being developed, according to news reports Tuesday.
"This is an unmanned sub that will have a high-speed and long-distance capability," a Pentagon official told
The Washington Free Beacon.
But the development of the weapon — known as a developmental unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) — is years away from a prototype and testing, the official said.
Under the program, named "Kanyon" by Pentagon officials, the drone would carry warheads with "megaton"-sized nuclear bombs that could destroy critical ports used by U.S. nuclear missile submarines, the Free Beacon reports.
These include ports in Kings Bay, Ga., and Puget Sound in Washington state. A megaton equals one million tons of TNT.
A nuclear blast from such a submarine "would create massive damage over wide areas," according to the Free Beacon.
"The Kanyon represents another example of Russia’s aggressive and innovative approach to the development of military capabilities against U.S. and Western interests," Jack Caravelli, a former CIA analyst who specialized in Soviet and Russian affairs, said in the report.
"The possible yield of the warhead, in the megaton class, clearly is an attempt to inflict catastrophic damage against U.S. or European naval facilities or coastal cities," he said. "Nations vote with their resources, and the Kanyon, along with an expanding number of other military modernization programs, indicates the priority [President] Vladimir Putin places on military preparedness against the West."
A Pentagon spokeswoman declined to comment to the Free Beacon on the secret program.
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