“Today is a significant event for us – the heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser Khabarovsk is being launched from the renowned Sevmash shipyard,” Defence Minister Andrei Belousov said after Navy Commander Admiral Aleksandr Moiseev smashed the traditional bottle of champagne into the hull of submarine.

The Defence Ministry confirms on Telegram that the new submarine will carry robotic weapons systems “for various purposes.”

The Poseidon is a post-doomsday weapon unlike any ever seen in any previous arms race. Formed like a giant torpedo, the weapon is nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed, and can allegedly travel down deep with intercontinental range.

Little was known to the public about the new submarine before it was unveiled on Saturday.

Construction started in July 2014, long before Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin in 2018 announced that his engineers were developing a nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed second-strike unmanned robotic vehicle that is supposed to travel across the Atlantic or Pacific to hit coastal targets in the United States.

Earlier this week, Putin said a successful test of the Poseidon, including a start of the reactor, was done. The test likely took place in the Kara Sea, east of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic.

For now, photos released from the ceremony only show the rear part of the submarine. In design, the stern section of the hull looks similar to the Borei-A class ballistic missile submarines that have been rolled out from the same ship hall.

The pump-jet system, with what seems to be a ducted propeller, was partly covered. The Sevmash shipyard has posted several photos from the ceremony on its VKontakte page.

Defence Minister Belousov underlined that the submarine “still has a series of sea trials to complete.” In recent years, new nuclear-powered submarines have been test-sailing for at least a year before they are handed over to the Navy.

Construction of a second vessel in the class, to be named Ulyanovsk, started in 2017. Nothing was said on Saturday about when this submarine will be rolled out.

Each of the submarines can allegedly carry six Poseidon weapons. It is likely that one will sail with the Northern Fleet and the other with the Pacific Fleet, although that is not officially confirmed.

During testing and development of the Poseidon drone, the rebuilt Oscar-II class submarine Belgorod has been used, along with surface vessels like the Akademik Aleksandrov and the Zvezdochka. The diesel-electric submarine Sarov has likely also been involved in the development program of Russia’s nuclear-powered subsea robotic weapons systems.