Russia is strengthening its military might in the Arctic and testing its newest weapons in a region freshly ice-free due to the climate emergency, in a bid to secure its northern coast and open up a key shipping route from Asia to Europe, CNN reports.
Weapons experts and Western officials have expressed particular concern about one Russian 'super-weapon,' the Poseidon 2M39 torpedo. Development of the torpedo is moving fast with Russian President Vladimir Putin requesting an update on a "key stage" of the tests in February from his defense minister Sergei Shoigu, with further tests planned this year, according to the CNN agency.
It is stated that the torpedo is powered by a nuclear reactor and intended by Russian designers to sneak past coastal defences -- like those of the US -- on the seafloor. The device is intended to deliver a warhead of multiple megatons, according to Russian officials, causing radioactive waves that would render swathes of the target coastline uninhabitable for decades.
CNN also reported, that satellite images provided to the agency by space technology company Maxar detail a stark and continuous build-up of Russian military bases and hardware on the country's Arctic coastline, together with underground storage facilities likely for the Poseidon and other new high-tech weapons. The Russian hardware in the High North area includes bombers and MiG31BM jets, and new radar systems close to the coast of Alaska. The Russian build-up has been matched by NATO and US troop and equipment movements.
High-tech weapons are also being regularly tested in the Arctic area, according to Russian officials quoted in state media and Western officials. The Tsirkon and the Poseidon are part of a new generation of weapons pledged by Putin in 2018 as strategic game-changers in a fast-changing world.
In addition, another concern was expressed t Moscow's apparent bid to influence the "Northern Sea Route" -- a shipping lane that runs from between Norway and Alaska, along Russia's northern coast, across to the North Atlantic.