Move the capital to Denver!
Yes, that would certainly save the capital, but how well would the US do if it were to lose both coastlines for the next ~300 years, due to radiation levels? These weapons are a recognition of the fact that in the modern world deterrence doesn't require total annihilation. Even the destruction of 6 major coastal cities, and ~50-100kms of coastline around them would be an unacceptably high price for
any foreign adventure the US could possibly seek to undertake.
On an additional note, apparently they will not only carry nuclear warheads but be nuclear-powered. This is interesting in light of the work currently being done on mobile nuclear power plants for the Russian military.
Three concerns IMO
1- is this propaganda or a realistic weapon?
Both, from the looks of it. They've been working on something with deepwater unmanned vehicles.
2- leaks say speeds up to 100kph? What would countermeasures be?
Good questions. Russian commentators are saying "unstoppable" but I'm hoping our def-pros here will have a better answer.
3-if realistic, given budget constraints and where the price of crude and value of Ruble stand, realistic timeframes to field?
Well it's a question of trade-offs. The Putin government would sooner raise retirement age, and cut spending on healthcare and education, as well as potential additional taxes, then sacrifice the re-armament program. At least that's how it stands right now. This should tell you that if push comes to shove, and they feel they
need this to ensure that BMD can never reliably stop the Russian arsenal, then they will make sure it gets funded.
But let's not forget the two subs in question (09851 and 09852), as well as the current testbed (the Sarov) are all experimental one-off designs. If they were serious about deploying this in a major way, they'd need a whole new class of nuke subs. Strategic Nuclear Submersile Carriers. Then again, they may not need many of these things. The paper in the "leaked" video shows one to carry 4 and the other 6. Add to that whatever the Sarov can carry, even if just a couple, and 12 of these might be enough to guarantee deterrence.12 major coastal cities destroyed, and their immediate surroundings contaminated would certainly be too high a price to pay. And if some of the targets hit are major naval bases, and not just cities, this could cripple the USN on one theater at least.
In other words, this may end up being just 2-3 subs with a new experimental weapon (possibly two separate weapons actually, hence the two separate and rather different subs with different numbers of potential submersiles). It all remains to be seen.
