Physicist Petit Confirms Putin Nuclear Arms Bypass US Missile Shields

Jean-Pierre PETIT

Russia's new strategic arsenal is scientifically viable and neutralizes American missile defense networks by operationalizing abandoned 1960s US concepts for nuclear ramjets and magnetohydrodynamic propulsion.

AI-assisted summary of Putin's new Russian MHD weapons explained (1st part) — original source. Check the original for full context.

Source published: 2018-05-21

Key ideas

Physicist Jean-Pierre Petit analyzes Russian President Vladimir Putin's March 2018 address, concluding that the strategic weapons unveiled—including the antipodal Sarmat missile, nuclear-powered cruise missile, and nuclear underwater drone—are scientifically and technically viable. (0:00)
The 200-ton RS-28 Sarmat utilizes an antipodal trajectory across the South Pole at roughly 60 miles altitude, effectively bypassing northern-oriented US early warning radars and Ground-Based Midcourse Defense interceptors. (11:48)
Russia's nuclear-powered cruise missile revives the principles of America's 1950s Project Pluto ramjet, utilizing a miniaturized ceramic core the size of a soccer ball to achieve virtually infinite range at supersonic speeds without radiation shielding penalties. (18:56)
The unmanned Poseidon underwater drone resolves the paradox of high speed and total acoustic silence by substituting mechanical screws with magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) boundary-layer wall accelerators, potentially enabling speeds of thousands of kilometers per hour. (33:36)

Detailed notes

## Background Published on YouTube by French physicist Jean-Pierre Petit on May 21, 2018, this presentation provides scientific and technical commentary on the next-generation strategic weaponry unveiled by Russian President Vladimir Putin in March 2018. As outlined in the video description, the lecture focuses on the antipodal Sarmat missile, an infinite-range nuclear-powered supersonic cruise missile, and an autonomous underwater drone propelled by nuclear power and magnetohydrodynamics (MHD).

## TL;DR Drawing on his career as an MHD research physicist, Jean-Pierre Petit analyzes the technical mechanics behind Russia's strategic weapons arsenal in the context of nuclear deterrence and historical military doctrines. He explains how the heavy RS-28 Sarmat missile can bypass northern missile defense radars via a low-altitude South Pole trajectory, and demonstrates how a compact nuclear ramjet resurrects the United States' Cold War-era Project Pluto to enable virtually unlimited supersonic flight. Petit then evaluates the deep-diving Poseidon drone submarine, concluding that its simultaneous high speed and acoustic silence cannot function via mechanical screws, but can be fully realized through MHD boundary-layer Lorentz-force accelerators that eliminate drag and cavitation entirely.

## Atmosphere & style The presentation carries the ambiance of an intense, intimate whiteboard lecture led by an outspoken elder physicist reflecting on decades of classified and unclassified science. Petit speaks with dry wit, scientific precision, and cold geopolitical realism, punctuating fluid mechanics explanations with biting historical observations about human folly in warfare. The resulting experience feels cerebral yet quietly alarming, as abstract equations and textbook propulsion diagrams starkly connect to the terrifying reality of megaton coastal tsunamis and unstoppable nuclear vectors.

## Bulletin - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=0s) Physicist Jean-Pierre Petit analyzes Russian President Vladimir Putin's March 2018 address, concluding that the strategic weapons unveiled—including the antipodal Sarmat missile, nuclear-powered cruise missile, and nuclear underwater drone—are scientifically and technically viable. - [11:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=708s) The 200-ton RS-28 Sarmat utilizes an antipodal trajectory across the South Pole at roughly 60 miles altitude, effectively bypassing northern-oriented US early warning radars and Ground-Based Midcourse Defense interceptors. - [18:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=1136s) Russia's nuclear-powered cruise missile revives the principles of America's 1950s Project Pluto ramjet, utilizing a miniaturized ceramic core the size of a soccer ball to achieve virtually infinite range at supersonic speeds without radiation shielding penalties. - [33:36](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=2016s) The unmanned Poseidon underwater drone resolves the paradox of high speed and total acoustic silence by substituting mechanical screws with magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) boundary-layer wall accelerators, potentially enabling speeds of thousands of kilometers per hour.

## Key takeaways - [01:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=98s) Human warfare functions as a recurring thermodynamic-like dissipative process driven by geopolitical imbalances, often reignited when leadership promises clean, rapid victories via technological breakthroughs. - [04:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=260s) Global-range strike platforms and preemptive WMD delivery date back to World War II, exemplified by Imperial Japan's I-400 mega-submarines carrying Aichi M6A Seiran strike planes for biological warfare operations. - [09:36](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=576s) The unilateral US withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in 2002 destabilized Cold War deterrence, driving Russia to develop asymmetric weapons capable of neutralizing missile defense umbrellas. - [11:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=708s) The RS-28 Sarmat's 10-ton payload capacity can field 10 heavy warheads, penetration decoys, or up to 24 Avangard hypersonic glide vehicles approaching from southern polar corridors. - [18:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=1136s) Chemical supersonic cruise missiles suffer from extreme fuel penalties limiting range to roughly 300 miles, whereas a compact nuclear heat source uncouples operational reach from fuel mass. - [22:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=1324s) America's Project Pluto demonstrated static 600 MW thermal nuclear ramjets using ceramic fuel channels (BeO, UO2, ZrO2), a concept made vastly more compact by modern high-density enrichment and electronics. - [22:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=1324s) Unmanned military systems eliminate the heavy radiation shielding that previously doomed manned nuclear aircraft projects like the Convair B-36. - [31:12](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=1872s) Standard underwater propulsion encounters viscous skin friction and form drag due to water's high density, imposing an operational ceiling of roughly 50 to 70 knots on conventional torpedoes. - [31:12](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=1872s) While Soviet VA-111 Shkval supercavitating torpedoes achieve 200–300 knots by enclosing the hull in a vapor bubble, collapsing cavities generate deafening acoustic signatures incompatible with stealth. - [33:36](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=2016s) Applying crossed electric and magnetic fields creates a Lorentz force directly within conductive seawater, accelerating the boundary layer to flatten velocity gradients and completely eliminate shear drag and acoustic noise. - [35:12](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=2112s) Stewart Way's 1966 wall accelerator geometry employs periodic superconducting wiring and alternating electrodes to confine magnetic fields strictly against the hull, leaving no external magnetic signature for detection. - [39:33](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=2373s) Marine MHD drives require magnetic field strengths exceeding 10 tesla to overcome Joule heating dissipation and low seawater conductivity, a threshold previously verified by tests at the Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory. - [42:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=2561s) Detonating multi-hundred-megaton thermonuclear warheads delivered by deep-diving MHD drones along continental shelves could unleash tsunamis hundreds of meters high against coastal population centers. - [45:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=2713s) Direct rocket-driven pulsed MHD generators seeded with cesium powder offer an alternative method for generating massive, short-duration electrical bursts directly in single-use torpedo exhaust nozzles.

## Detailed walkthrough ### [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=0s) Introduction and Jean-Pierre Petit's Background in MHD Research

The presentation opens with an examination of the landmark address delivered by Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 1, 2018, in which he unveiled an arsenal of sophisticated, next-generation strategic weaponry. While Western observers, particularly within the United States, immediately condemned these systems as a severe threat to international security, French physicist Jean-Pierre Petit approaches the subject through a scientific and technical lens. Petit introduces himself and his credentials, noting that during the 1960s and 1970s, he led research on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) electrical generators. Displaying archival photographs of his former laboratory, he points to a shock tube—a specialized pneumatic gun designed to blast high-velocity, high-temperature, high-pressure plasma bursts through strong magnetic fields to generate pulses of electrical power lasting tens of microseconds. Petit explains that the core focus of his scientific career was finding methods to suppress and cancel turbulent plasma instabilities under these extreme regimes.

```mermaid flowchart LR accTitle: MHD Shock Tube Generator Operation accDescr: Diagram showing how a high-energy shock tube fires plasma through a magnetic field to generate electrical power. subgraph ShockTube["Shock Tube Driver"] A["High-Pressure Burst"] --> B["High-Velocity Plasma"] end subgraph MHDChannel["MHD Interaction Zone"] B --> C["Magnetic Field B"] C --> D["Plasma Instability Cancellation"] end subgraph Output["Power Output"] D --> E["Microsecond Electric Pulse"] end ```

---

[01:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=98s) The Dissipative Nature of War and the Blitzkrieg Illusion

Stepping back from direct technical analysis, Petit reflects on the fundamental mechanisms that generate warfare. Drawing an analogy to thermodynamics and fluid mechanics, he suggests that just as atmospheric pressure differentials between distant regions inevitably resolve through violent, dissipative storms, human wars function as recurrent, natural dissipative processes sparked by geopolitical, economic, and sociological tensions. The First World War bogged down into years of horrific attrition where heavy artillery inflicted catastrophic human and material devastation on both sides. Yet, merely twenty-one years later, Adolf Hitler convinced the German populace to march into another global conflict.

Petit emphasizes how easily populations can be seduced into forgetting past butcheries when military leaders promise an entirely new paradigm of warfare. Hitler marketed the *Blitzkrieg*—a “lightning war” engineered to secure massive territorial and strategic gains with minimal casualties by leveraging superior technological and mechanical power. Initial campaigns in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and France appeared to validate this illusion, prompting jubilant crowds to hail Hitler as a military genius upon his return to Berlin. However, once the campaigns in Britain and the Soviet Union stalled and Allied strategic bombing flattened German cities, the devastating reality became undeniable. Reflecting on this bitter historical turn, Petit remarks: “Once the German towns were gone bird by English and American airplanes it was too late to say oh I'm sorry I think that the lighting war was not such a good idea.”

---

[04:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=260s) Preemptive Strikes and Mass Destruction: Japan's I-400 and Unit 731

The evolution of modern total war advanced significantly in 1941, when Imperial Japan operationalized two foundational doctrines: the preemptive strike and weapons of mass destruction. Petit highlights the attack on Pearl Harbor as an effort to neutralize the United States Navy before it could mount an offensive. Concurrently, Japan developed biological warfare capabilities through Unit 731, established in Manchuria under the command of General Shiro Ishii—a program secretly planned and organized fifteen years before open hostilities commenced. To deliver these catastrophic pathogens directly to the American mainland, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto devised the *Sen-Toku* I-400 class mega-submarine.

Measuring as the largest non-nuclear submarines ever constructed, each I-400 vessel was equipped with a watertight cylindrical hangar housing three folding-wing Aichi M6A Seiran strike aircraft, launched via an onboard compressed-air catapult. Analyzing technical documents captured by the US military in 1945, Petit scrutinizes the claims regarding aircraft turnaround times: - Assembly with dual pontoons required roughly 45 minutes. - Assembly without pontoons took a mere 15 minutes. - Catapult carriages engaged directly with the fuselage structure rather than the float pontoons.

Petit dismisses the conventional narrative that the Seiran was designed to land on water alongside the submarine to be hoisted back aboard by an external crane during combat missions. He argues that surfacing near hostile coastal waters at night, assembling the craft, catapulting it, and lingering to recover it with a crane was operationally absurd. In reality, the Seiran was designed as a one-way, non-return chemical and biological delivery vehicle, with the jettisonable pontoons used solely for testing. Yamamoto planned a fleet of 18 such submarines carrying 54 biological strike planes capable of circumnavigating the globe to unleash pandemics across American cities. The plan was averted only because Imperial Japan ran out of structural steel and raw materials late in the war. Through this historical case, Petit demonstrates that global-range strike platforms and mass casualty weapons are not twenty-first-century innovations.

---

[09:36](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=576s) Nuclear Deterrence and the Breakdown of the ABM Treaty

Turning to contemporary strategic dynamics, Petit notes the existence of roughly 9,000 active nuclear warheads worldwide. Extrapolating from the horrific environmental and human damage caused by conventional depleted-uranium munitions, he underscores that even a single modest 100-kiloton device represents several times the destructive yield of the Hiroshima bomb. Despite this staggering destructive capacity, Petit paradoxically frames the situation as reassuring: direct major-power war has remained functionally impossible for seventy-three years due to the balance of terror and Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD).

```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: Breakdown of Strategic Nuclear Balance accDescr: Flowchart tracing the shift from the ABM Treaty to Russian asymmetric strategic weapons development. subgraph ColdWar["Cold War Stability"] A["1972 ABM Treaty"] --> B["Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)"] end subgraph USAction["US Shift"] C["Post-9/11 Threat Doctrine"] --> D["2002 US Withdrawal from ABM Treaty"] D --> E["Global ABM Deployments & Space Defense"] end subgraph RussianResponse["Asymmetric Countermeasures"] E --> F["Russian Fears of Neutralized Deterrent"] F --> G["Development of South-Pole Trajectories & Hypersonic Weapons"] end B -.->|"Destabilized by"| D ```

This equilibrium began unraveling following the attacks on the American homeland in September 2001. In response, President George W. Bush announced in 2002 that the United States would unilaterally withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty to construct a global missile defense shield against rogue actors. This move immediately raised alarms in Moscow, where planners feared American interceptors—and potential space-based weapons capable of blinding satellites—would nullify Russia's nuclear deterrent. Washington dismissed these concerns, assuring Moscow that the missile shield was directed solely against rogue states like Iran. Recalling Ronald Reagan’s earlier rhetoric regarding the Strategic Defense Initiative, Petit quips: “Remember what Ronald Reagan said at United Nations all space lasers are designed to destroy flying saucer not Russian satellites but you know how the Russian are there are suspicious by Nature you can't dim frankly with them.”

---

[11:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=708s) Ballistic Trajectories and the Antipodal Sarmat Missile

Petit details the mechanical vulnerabilities inherent to classic intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). During launch, an ICBM relies on a rocket boost phase lasting under two minutes; however, this phase produces a colossal infrared plume that is instantaneously detected by space-based early-warning satellites. Following burnout, the missile follows an unpowered ballistic arc along a geodesic great circle connecting launch and target points:

Because traditional Russian ICBMs had an operational range of roughly 7,000 miles, their trajectories invariably passed over the Arctic, leading the United States to concentrate its Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) radar and interceptor sites along northern corridors like Alaska and California. To neutralize this architecture, Russia developed the heavy liquid-fueled RS-28 Sarmat missile. Weighed down by a massive propellant fraction needed to reach the energy thresholds of a low-altitude 60-mile suborbital path, this 200-ton rocket can fly along an antipodal trajectory across the South Pole, approaching North America from unprotected southern vectors. The Sarmat boasts a 10-ton payload capacity configured to carry: - 10 heavy thermonuclear warheads weighing one ton each. - A combination of warheads, active decoys, and radar-penetration aids. - Up to 24 Avangard hypersonic glide vehicles capable of agile high-speed maneuvers.

---

[15:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=949s) Putin's Nuclear-Powered Infinite-Range Cruise Missile

The presentation shifts to the most radical strategic system revealed in Putin’s speech: cruise missiles powered by onboard nuclear propulsion. While standard ballistic missiles trace predictable elliptical arcs through space, this new class of weapon circumvents the ballistic paradigm altogether, rendering established midcourse interceptor architectures irrelevant.

Petit includes Vladimir Putin’s own words from the broadcast describing the strategic logic: “We've developed a new strategic weapons that don't use ballistic trajectory at all which means that missile defense will be useless against it this is what I'm going to tell you about now this new kind of weapon promising weapon systems that Russia has developed using new unique technology designed by our engineers.” The Russian design integrates a miniaturized, ultra-compact nuclear power plant into an airframe comparable in dimensions to conventional cruise missiles like the Russian Kh-101 or the American BGM-109 Tomahawk. Unconstrained by chemical fuel supplies, the weapon possesses effectively infinite global operational range and can fly low-altitude, unpredictable routing profiles to skirt terrain and evade all existing air and missile defense networks.

[17:02](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=1022s) Putin's Nuclear-Powered Cruise Missile Announcement

The presentation opens with recorded footage of Russian President Vladimir Putin addressing the Federal Assembly, detailing a breakthrough strategic weapon designed to bypass global interception networks. Putin asserts that traditional missile defense barriers are rendered obsolete by this system, noting that late in 2017, the Russian Federation conducted a successful test launch at its central proving ground. This test validated a cruise missile powered by an onboard nuclear power unit that achieved its designated altitude and flight profile. Consequently, Russia announced the commencement of industrial-scale manufacturing for this entirely new category of strategic weapon: an intercontinental missile propelled by a nuclear reactor.

```mermaid flowchart LR accTitle: Operational Concept of the Nuclear-Powered Cruise Missile accDescr: Sequence diagram illustrating ground launch, booster separation, and infinite-range cruise. subgraph Launch["Launch Phase"] A["Ground / Naval Launcher"] --> B["Solid Rocket Booster"] B --> C["Booster Ejection & Reactor Startup"] end subgraph Flight["Cruise Phase"] C --> D["Ramjet Air Intake (Mach 3.6)"] D --> E["Reactor Core Heat Exchanger"] E --> F["Nozzle Expansion & Thrust"] F --> G["Maneuvering Flight (Unlimited Range)"] end ```

The accompanying video demonstration depicts the weapon navigating terrain and altering its flight path arbitrarily across the globe, looping around defense arrays rather than following a predictable ballistic trajectory. Because it relies on a nuclear thermal source rather than a finite reserve of chemical fuel, its operational radius is virtually boundless. Putin underlines the unprecedented nature of the capability, declaring:

> “As you understand, this is unheard of and nobody else has such a system in the world.”

He observes that while rival nations may attempt to duplicate the technology in the years ahead, Russian engineers will have advanced to newer defense concepts by the time foreign equivalents emerge.

---

[18:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=1136s) Subsonic vs. Supersonic: The Legacy of Project Pluto

Analyzing Putin's claims, Dr. Jean-Pierre Petit examines the aerodynamic and propulsion constraints of cruise missiles. Standard systems like the American BGM-109 Tomahawk carry an operational range of roughly 1,500 miles while flying strictly at subsonic speeds. Flying supersonically with conventional chemical kerosene engines burns fuel at a prohibitive rate, which sharply compresses operational reach. While supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles exist—such as the P-700 Granit carried by Soviet-designed Oscar-class (Kursk) submarines—their folding wings and massive propulsion units were tailored to burst toward carrier strike groups at the expense of endurance, capping their practical engagement range at roughly 300 miles.

With a compact nuclear heat source, however, fuel mass ceases to dictate operational range. Dr. Petit argues that the Russian weapon is almost certainly supersonic:

> “I think that the Russian missile is supersonic in effect: why do you limit the velocity if you have as much energy as you want from your nuclear reactor?”

He contextualizes this breakthrough by tracing its lineage back to the United States between 1955 and 1961 under Project Pluto. Pluto aimed to build a Supersonic Low-Altitude Missile (SLAM)—a low-flying, unpiloted ramjet running without combustion fuel. Instead of mixing jet fuel with compressed air, Pluto’s ramjet ingested atmospheric air at Mach 3.6, compressed it via shockwave deceleration to 21 bars while raising its temperature to 500 °C, and then routed it directly through a nuclear reactor core. Superheated to 1,200 °C inside the reactor, the expanding air blasted out through an exhaust nozzle to produce sustained supersonic thrust. The original American SLAM concept was an imposing 26-meter-long, 26-ton behemoth equipped with vacuum-tube avionics and designed to fly across hostile territory delivering two-megaton thermonuclear warheads before cruising indefinitely to contaminate the ground below.

---

[22:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=1324s) Reactor Design, Shielding, and Operation of a Nuclear Ramjet

Dr. Petit contrasts the early post-World War II attempts to design crewed nuclear aircraft—such as testing modified Convair B-36 Peacemaker and B-29 airframes—with an unmanned missile. Manned nuclear aviation foundered on the severe weight penalty of heavy lead, water, or tungsten shields required to shield the aircrew from neutron and gamma radiation. In an unmanned cruise missile, this problem vanishes entirely:

> “When we deal with unmanned aircraft, with nobody aboard, all those problems disappear.”

Before firing, an unactivated reactor produces minimal radiation. The fission chain reaction is safely suppressed using neutron-absorbing cadmium control rods. While Project Pluto’s Tory reactor was a massive one-cubic-meter cylinder displacing tons, advances in modern nuclear materials enable a contemporary reactor core to measure roughly the volume of a football.

```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: Nuclear Ramjet Reactor Thermal Cycle accDescr: Diagram of air entering inlet, heating through ceramic core, and exhausting out the nozzle. subgraph Intake["Inlet Conditioning"] I1["Ambient Air Intake (Mach 3.6)"] --> I2["Conical Shock Compression: 21 bars, 500 °C"] end subgraph Core["Nuclear Core Heating"] I2 --> C1["Hexagonal Ceramic Tube Bundles (BeO, UO2, ZrO2)"] C1 --> C2["Core Heat Absorption: 1,200 °C"] end subgraph Exhaust["Nozzle Dynamics"] C2 --> E1["Expansion Through Convergent-Divergent Nozzle"] E1 --> E2["High-Velocity Jet Exhaust Thrust"] end ```

The flight sequence begins on a launcher with cadmium control rods inserted into the core. A solid rocket booster accelerates the missile from a standstill up to its ramjet operating regime around Mach 3.6. Simultaneously, protective aerodynamic inlet caps eject, the cadmium rods withdraw, and prompt criticality initiates inside the core. The incoming ram air passes through hundreds of tightly packed hexagonal ceramic fuel channels composed of beryllium oxide, uranium oxide, and zirconium oxide. At the Nevada Proving Grounds, the Americans tested this architecture extensively in the late 1950s using the static Tory II-A and Tory II-C engines. High-pressure air reservoirs fed the reactor for up to 300 seconds at a thermal power output of 600 megawatts, verifying the viability of an air-breathing nuclear ramjet before intercontinental ballistic missiles rendered Project Pluto obsolete. Dr. Petit concludes that Russia has resurrected this half-century-old American concept using modern materials, compact electronics, and lightweight reactor construction.

- Project Pluto ran from 1955 until its cancellation in 1964. - Static tests achieved 600 MW thermal output using stored preheated, compressed air (500 °C at 21 bars). - Tory fuel elements were fabricated from extruded ceramic tubes (BeO + $\text{UO}_2$ + $\text{ZrO}_2$) bundled into 38-tube hexagonal assemblies. - Modern high-density enriched cores allow equivalent thermal performance inside a footprint the size of a soccer ball.

---

[28:16](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=1696s) The Intercontinental Nuclear Drone Submarine

The focus shifts next to Vladimir Putin's announcement of an unmanned, nuclear-powered underwater drone—later known as the Poseidon / Status-6 oceanic multipurpose system. In his speech, Putin describes an autonomous submersible capable of cruising at extreme oceanic depths across intercontinental ranges. Putin claims its cruising speed drastically exceeds that of any operational attack submarine, modern homing torpedo, or surface combatant, while remaining invulnerable to detection and acoustic interception.

Putin highlights the tactical versatility of the system, asserting it can be fitted with conventional or high-yield thermonuclear payloads to eliminate coastal fortifications, naval bases, and carrier strike groups. A compact, high-output marine reactor completed testing in December 2017. According to Putin, this reactor is roughly one-hundredth the volume of a standard nuclear submarine power plant while yielding higher shaft-equivalent power.

Dr. Petit identifies a stark hydrodynamic paradox within Putin's claims, summarizing the listed specifications: 1. Deep-submergence capability. 2. Unprecedented high-speed cruising. 3. A reactor 100 times smaller than standard naval reactors yet more powerful. 4. Total acoustic silence.

He questions how these engineering traits could possibly coexist, exclaiming:

> “Silent! No kidding! All that together, how is it possible?”

If the drone relied on a conventional propeller or pump-jet as depicted in the official Russian briefing animations, driving an underwater hull at extreme speeds would create massive cavitation and acoustic noise, making silent operation impossible. This leaves only two possibilities: either the official presentation is active disinformation, or the propulsion system operates on physical principles radically different from mechanical propulsion.

---

[31:12](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=1872s) Limitations of Conventional Torpedoes and the Supercavitating Shkval

To explain why mechanical underwater propulsion hits an absolute speed ceiling, Dr. Petit examines fluid resistance. Water has a density approximately 1,000 times greater than air, creating intense viscous skin friction and form drag on submerged bodies. During World War II, standard naval torpedoes were restricted to roughly 40 knots (around 70 km/h) over a practical run of 1 to 2 kilometers, requiring a full minute or more to reach their target. Modern heavyweight torpedoes with advanced guidance and high-energy chemical propellants have stretched engagement ranges to 50 kilometers, but typical speeds remain pegged around 50 knots, with brief sprint bursts reaching only 60 to 70 knots (100–120 km/h).

In 1977, the Soviet Union breached this barrier by deploying the VA-111 Shkval supercavitating rocket torpedo. The Shkval achieved speeds of 200 to 300 knots by isolating its hull from liquid water entirely:

```mermaid flowchart LR accTitle: Supercavitation Physics on the VA-111 Shkval accDescr: Nose gas generator expelling hot gas to create a steam bubble, enclosing the rocket hull. A["Forward Gas Generator / Nose Cavitator"] -->|"Ejects Hot Rocket Exhaust"| B["Forms Gas/Vapor Bubble"] B --> C["Hull Enclosed in Vapor Cavity"] C -->|"Friction Drops Drastically"| D["Solid Rocket Motor Accelerates to 200–300 Knots"] ```

By venting high-pressure rocket exhaust through a specialized nose cavitator nozzle, the weapon vaporizes the surrounding water and wraps itself in an envelope of gas and steam. Because the torpedo moves through low-density vapor rather than liquid, frictional drag collapses. Steering is managed by thrust-vectoring guide vanes and control wires spooled from the aft hull. Dr. Petit notes that while supercavitation produces dramatic underwater velocities, it creates a deafening acoustic signature: rocket combustion and collapsing vapor cavities create enormous noise detectable across ocean basins. A supercavitating drone could never be described as silent, confirming that Putin’s weapon must rely on an alternative mechanism.

---

[33:36](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=2016s) Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) Propulsion and Boundary Layer Control

Dr. Petit points to magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) as the physical solution to the high-speed underwater stealth paradox. Popularized in Tom Clancy's 1984 novel *The Hunt for Red October* and its subsequent film adaptation starring Sean Connery, the concept of a propeller-less, silent submarine is rooted in genuine physics dating back to Stuart Way’s foundational 1966 patent on electromagnetic marine propulsion.

When an object travels through a viscous fluid, drag originates primarily within the boundary layer—the thin sheet of fluid directly contacting the vehicle’s skin. Because fluid molecules adhere to the hull surface, the relative velocity at the wall drops to zero. This velocity gradient causes a continuous transfer of negative momentum into the hull, generating tangential shear stress and skin-friction drag.

By applying crossed electric ($\vec{E}$) and magnetic ($\vec{B}$) fields within the electrically conductive seawater, an electromagnetic Lorentz force ($\vec{J} \times \vec{B}$) can be applied directly to the fluid inside the boundary layer:

> “Now we introduce a force field acting on the boundary layer due to electromagnetic force: if this force field produces a constant velocity profile, there is no gradient, there is no momentum transfer, no total shear force, the drag is annihilated.”

```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: MHD Boundary Layer Modification accDescr: How crossed electric and magnetic fields suppress boundary layer gradients to eliminate drag and noise. subgraph Conventional["Classical Hydrodynamics"] C1["Zero Velocity at Wall"] --> C2["Steep Velocity Gradient"] C2 --> C3["Viscous Shear & Friction Drag"] C3 --> C4["Boundary Layer Turbulence & Noise"] end subgraph MHD["MHD Field Application"] M1["Electrically Conductive Seawater"] --> M2["Crossed E and B Fields"] M2 --> M3["Lorentz Force (J x B) Accelerates Boundary Layer"] M3 --> M4["Flat Velocity Profile (Gradient = 0)"] M4 --> M5["Zero Shear Drag & Silent Laminar Flow"] end ```

By accelerating the boundary layer to match the ambient flow velocity, velocity gradients drop to zero. Momentum loss vanishes, drag is eliminated, and the vehicle glides through the sea without turbulence or pressure fluctuations. Increasing the electromagnetic force further accelerates the fluid beyond the free-stream velocity, transforming the entire hull surface into a silent, solid-state electromagnetic thruster that operates without propellers, moving parts, cavitation, or acoustic noise.

[35:12](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=2112s) Stewart Way's Wall Accelerator and Periodic Field Geometry

Jean-Pierre Petit reviews the core physics of fluid acceleration: by the action-reaction principle, accelerating the fluid eliminates drag and drives the body forward. Consequently, reaching extreme velocities requires moving the fluid within the thin boundary layer surrounding a submarine or an aircraft. Re-examining the patent of American physicist Stewart Way, Petit explains the design of his wall accelerator:

```mermaid flowchart LR accTitle: Wall Accelerator Cell Architecture accDescr: Periodic superconducting wires and alternating electrodes generate Lorentz forces parallel to the hull.

subgraph Geometry["Boundary Layer Configuration"] direction TB W["Superconducting Wires (Embedded in liquid He)"] -->|"Generates periodic B-field"| B["Concentrated B-Field (Doubled near wall, drops off rapidly)"] E["Alternating Electrodes (Linear strips)"] -->|"Alternating polarity"| J["Current Density J (≤ 1 A/cm² to prevent electrolysis)"] end

subgraph Force["Lorentz Force Generation"] direction TB B --> L["Lorentz Force: F = J × B"] J --> L L --> Prop["Unidirectional Thrust Vectors (Parallel to wall, cancels drag)"] end ```

The system uses yellow wires to generate a magnetic field displaying a periodic pattern from one cell to the next, with the field reversing direction across adjacent cells. At points indicated in red, field intensity is doubled compared to that produced by an isolated wire. Crucially, the magnetic field drops rapidly to zero away from the wall; at a distance roughly equal to the spacing between two wires, its value becomes almost negligible. This configuration concentrates both the magnetic field and magnetic energy tightly against the hull.

Parallel sets of linear green electrodes have alternating polarities. Moving from cell to cell, both the magnetic field direction and the current density vector reverse simultaneously. Applying the right-hand rule shows that the resulting electromagnetic Lorentz force ($\mathbf{J} \times \mathbf{B}$) creates vectors that run parallel to the wall, oriented continuously in the same direction. Stewart Way noted in his 1966 patent that the wiring should be fabricated from superconducting material submerged in liquid helium.

- Stewart Way built and demonstrated a 3-meter-long working model in Santa Barbara during the 1960s. - Way's original design made only a portion of the submarine hull active, leaving the remainder passive and generating induced drag because he did not fully unify propulsion with complete drag cancellation. - A conventional rudder and tail fins are unnecessary on an MHD submarine; steering and pitch can be controlled simply by modulating the Lorentz force intensity across different sections of the hull. - Petit notes: “Way would have given a better efficiency to his MHD submarine if the whole hull would have been covered by his wall accelerator system.”

---

[39:33](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=2373s) Efficiency Limits, Seawater Conductivity, and the Yamato 1

Examining Way's experimental setup, Petit highlights its severe efficiency constraints:

- Way generated his magnetic field with batteries, yielding around 150 gauss (0.015 tesla). - His model moved at just 40 cm/s. - Lorentz force scales with magnetic field $B$ and current density $J$. - Current density in seawater is capped at roughly $1\text{ A/cm}^2$ to prevent water electrolysis. - Seawater has poor electrical conductivity, causing heavy thermal dissipation via the Joule effect. - Efficiency—the ratio of hydrodynamic propulsive power to total electrical power consumed (including Joule losses)—amounted to roughly one-millionth in Way's prototype.

Turning to historical developments, Petit discusses the Japanese experimental ship *Yamato 1*, launched in 1992. Propelled by Faraday MHD thrusters, the vessel still experienced passive hull drag. It utilized superconducting magnets producing 4 tesla with an electrical current of 2,000 amperes, achieving a speed of 8 knots and a thrust of roughly 1 metric ton.

Petit illustrates the physics using a boat propeller analogy: electric current corresponds to propeller rotational speed (RPM), while magnetic field strength corresponds to the pitch of the blades. When the magnetic field is too weak, the motor spins blades with an almost flat pitch angle: “so you don't move so much and you heat the water of the lake.” In the same way, the *Yamato 1* ended up primarily heating seawater rather than generating efficient thrust. Calculating efficiency thresholds under fixed current densities reveals that an effective marine MHD propulsion drive requires magnetic field strengths of at least 10 tesla.

- During the 1990s, the Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory conducted marine MHD propulsion experiments using 8-tesla fields. - Japanese and Chinese research teams have pursued projects targeting 15-tesla field strengths. - Petit remarks with sarcasm on the stance of his own country: “France, as usual, has chosen careful watching and waiting position.”

---

[42:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=2561s) Putin's Unmanned Nuclear MHD Submarine and Megaton Tsunami Warheads

Evaluating the strategic weapon systems announced by the Russian leadership, Petit states his assessment bluntly:

> “To sum up, I would say that President Putin tell the truth on scientific and technical ground: it is perfectly possible to build an unmanned submarine propelled by nuclear energy.”

Because the craft is an unmanned, fully submerged missile system, it requires no heavy radiation shielding for human operators, enabling a compact hull geometry. Unactivated nuclear reactors emit negligible radiation prior to startup. Furthermore, MHD flow control has been known since the 1970s to suppress boundary-layer turbulence completely, rendering the vessel noiseless. Because the magnetic field remains confined to a thin boundary layer and falls to zero outside, the vehicle leaves no external magnetic signature for airborne or naval magnetic anomaly detectors (MAD) to track.

Equipped with a comprehensive MHD wall accelerator, such a drone submarine would combine extreme agility with speeds outperforming conventional cavitation torpedoes like the Russian Shkval:

- Petit projects: “I think such craft could cruise at several thousand kilometers per hour.” - The craft can support massive payloads, potentially armed with thermonuclear warheads in the several-hundred-megaton range. - Detonating a warhead of that yield along a continental shelf could generate tsunamis hundreds of meters tall to destroy coastal metropolises such as New York or San Francisco. - Confronting this devastation, Petit reflects: “Well, this is horrible, but nuclear weapons must be horrible—it's a key of the deterrence.” - Petit concludes that Russian engineers took scientific and technical foundations laid by American researchers over half a century earlier and brought them to operational maturity.

---

[45:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=2713s) Rocket-Driven Pulsed MHD Generators and Hypersonic Outlook

Nuclear reactors are not the only method for generating immense bursts of onboard electrical power. Petit explains that rocket combustion energy can be converted directly into electricity via explosive or pulsed, self-excited MHD generators. He notes that such systems have been deployed in Siberia for geophysical probing. Because MHD accelerators and MHD generators share the same reversible physical principles, the exhaust nozzle of a rocket-powered torpedo can be converted into an onboard generator:

```mermaid flowchart LR accTitle: Rocket-Powered MHD Generator Mechanism accDescr: Rocket exhaust seeded with cesium drives an MHD nozzle generator to power hull drag cancellation.

A["Solid/Liquid Rocket Motor"] --> B["Combustion Gas Flow (~3,000 °C in nozzle)"] C["Cesium Powder Seeding"] -->|"Increases ionization & conductivity"| B B --> D["MHD Generator in Nozzle (Faraday/Hall configuration)"] D -->|"Pulsed high-power electricity"| E["Hull Wall Accelerator"] E --> F["Turbulence & Drag Cancellation"] ```

Seeding propellant with cesium powder boosts electrical conductivity at nozzle temperatures approaching 3,000 °C. Petit concedes that extreme thermal conditions give the nozzle a short operational lifespan, but notes that torpedoes are single-use disposable weapons where long service life is irrelevant. Such technologies remain heavily classified.

Wrapping up the first part of the lecture series, Petit signs off by previewing the next video, which will cover Russian hypersonic cruise missiles flying between Mach 10 and Mach 20.

## Notable quotes > [42:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=2561s) Well, this is horrible, but nuclear weapons must be horrible—it's a key of the deterrence. — Jean-Pierre Petit

> [18:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=1136s) I think that the Russian missile is supersonic in effect: why do you limit the velocity if you have as much energy as you want from your nuclear reactor? — Jean-Pierre Petit

> [42:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY&t=2561s) President Putin tell the truth on scientific and technical ground: it is perfectly possible to build an unmanned submarine propelled by nuclear energy. — Jean-Pierre Petit

## Mentioned Vladimir Putin, Jean-Pierre Petit, Adolf Hitler, Shiro Ishii, Isoroku Yamamoto, Unit 731, I-400 class submarine, Aichi M6A Seiran, George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, RS-28 Sarmat, Avangard, Kh-101, BGM-109 Tomahawk, P-700 Granit, Project Pluto, Tory II-A, Tory II-C, Poseidon / Status-6, VA-111 Shkval, Tom Clancy, The Hunt for Red October, Stewart Way, Yamato 1, Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory

## Video description Scientific and technical comments about the new Russian weapons. The antipodal Sarmat missile. The infinite range nuclear-powered supersonic missile. The nuclear and MHD propelled unmanned submarine. To promote scientific analysis from Dr. Petit : https://www.paypal.me/JeanPierrePETIT

[Source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn8b3E9oUHY)

中文简报

物理学家佩蒂证实普京核武器可绕过美国反导系统俄罗斯的新型战略武器库在科学上切实可行，并通过落实美国在20世纪60年代放弃的核冲压发动机和磁流体推进概念，化解了美国的导弹防御网络。结合自身作为磁流体动力学（MHD）研究物理学家的职业生涯，让-皮埃尔·佩蒂在核威慑与历史军事理论的背景下，分析了俄罗斯战略武器库背后的技术机制。他解释了重型RS-28“萨尔马特”导弹如何能够通过低空南极弹道绕过朝向北方的导弹防御雷达，并论证了紧凑型核冲压发动机如何重现美国冷战时期的“冥王星计划”，从而实现近乎无限的超音速飞行。随后，佩蒂对深潜“波塞冬”无人潜航器进行了评估，得出的结论是，其同时具备的高速与声学静音特性无法通过机械螺旋桨实现，但完全可以通过彻底消除阻力和空化的MHD边界层洛伦兹力加速器来达成。物理学家让-皮埃尔·佩蒂分析了俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京2018年3月的讲话，得出的结论是，所公布的战略武器——包括对跖点弹道萨尔马特导弹、核动力巡航导弹和核水下无人潜航器——在科学和技术上都是切实可行的。 (0:00) 200吨级的RS-28“萨尔马特”采用穿越约60英里高度南极的对跖点弹道，有效地绕过了朝向北方的美国预警雷达和陆基中段防御拦截系统。 (11:48) 俄罗斯的核动力巡航导弹复兴了美国20世纪50年代“冥王星计划”冲压发动机的原理，利用足球大小的小型化陶瓷反应堆堆芯，在不受辐射屏蔽惩罚的情况下以超音速实现近乎无限的射程。 (18:56) 无人驾驶的“波塞冬”水下潜航器通过采用磁流体动力学（MHD）边界层壁面加速器取代机械螺旋桨，化解了高速与完全声学静音之间的矛盾，有可能实现每小时数千公里的速度。 (33:36)

Source quotes

[42:41] Jean-Pierre Petit: Well, this is horrible, but nuclear weapons must be horrible—it's a key of the deterrence. [18:56] Jean-Pierre Petit: I think that the Russian missile is supersonic in effect: why do you limit the velocity if you have as much energy as you want from your nuclear reactor? [42:41] Jean-Pierre Petit: President Putin tell the truth on scientific and technical ground: it is perfectly possible to build an unmanned submarine propelled by nuclear energy.

Original transcript

[0:00] in this video I will try to give some [0:02] scientific and technical comments about [0:05] the talk that the President Vladimir [0:09] Putin gave in 2018 March the first where [0:17] I presented a series of very [0:20] sophisticated and impressive new Russian [0:24] weapons I am French my name is [0:27] jean-pierre petty I was in charge in 60 [0:33] 70s a project of MHT electrical [0:39] generators here you have a picture of my [0:42] laboratory this is what is called a shot [0:46] to the shock tube is a kind of gun that [0:50] shoots a burst of plasma high velocity [0:55] high temperature high pressure and his [0:59] plasma pass through a magnet in D and [1:03] this produce electrical power during a [1:08] tense of microseconds most of my work [1:12] was devoted to the cancellation of [1:16] plasma instabilities [1:18] but let's be back to the subject of this [1:21] video many people especially in United [1:26] States consider that this set of new [1:30] weapons presented by Vladimir Putin a [1:33] threat for international security before [1:38] I would like to present some [1:41] consideration about such phenomena what [1:45] is called a war what's a war what does [1:49] it come from it comes from your [1:52] political tensions considered to distant [1:56] places on the earth where the [2:00] atmospheric pressures were different can [2:03] expect that a strong will oq which is a [2:07] dissipative process by analogy we could [2:11] consider that the wars [2:13] form some sort of dissipative process [2:17] recurrent and natural so that the First [2:22] World War arose from economical and [2:28] social erekle tensions and it bugged [2:33] down during years most of the terrible [2:38] damages human and materials came on both [2:43] sides from the heavy artillery we [2:47] couldn't ask why a guy like and of ether [2:53] succeeded to take his people in a new [2:56] war only 21 years later this simple [3:01] acceptance people forget the trench [3:05] warfare what that was horrible well that [3:08] suggests now it's very different it's a [3:11] lighting war with the new kind of war I [3:15] have just invented will get fantastic [3:18] advantages human advantages and [3:22] territorial advantages with few human [3:26] and material casualties due to our [3:30] fantastic human and material superiority [3:34] this was experimented with much success [3:37] in Poland Czechoslovakia and France so [3:41] German people was delighted when he came [3:45] to Berlin Hitler was welcomed by the [3:50] people either military genius but later [3:55] is a sink tunnel badly in England and [3:59] Russia you know the story once the [4:02] German towns were gone bird by English [4:07] and American airplanes it was too late [4:10] to say oh I'm sorry [4:12] I think that the lighting war was not [4:15] such a good idea in 1941 the Japanese [4:20] implemented the concept of pre-emptive [4:24] war that was attacked to Pearl [4:28] they attacked American Navy because the [4:33] salt there again will attack them soon [4:36] so they wanted to print up that and the [4:41] second concept to implement it was the [4:45] concept of weapons of mass destruction [4:49] this corresponds to Japanese project [4:53] called Project 731 settled in Manchuria [5:00] and ruled by the general he all that [5:04] stuff was planet and decided 15 years [5:09] before the Japanese taught in the war [5:12] against in States the giant submarine [5:16] e400 was a brainchild of the Admiral [5:21] Yamamoto who was in charge of the [5:25] Japanese Navy where he 400 could host [5:30] three airplanes sarin in his anger and [5:35] put it in action in 45 minutes using a [5:40] catapult on the image you may also see a [5:45] crane that was supposed to be used to [5:48] pick the airplane after the flight and [5:51] to take it back to the server here you [5:55] have a closer view of the draw of the [5:58] anger when this unit was captured by [6:03] Americans in 1945 in the available [6:08] technical notes we can read that the [6:11] airplane could be assembled in 45 [6:14] minutes if we include there are two [6:18] pontoons but if we don't use it [6:21] only 15 minutes would be necessary on [6:25] technical sketches you can see that [6:27] airplane was linked to the catapult by [6:30] an assembly and not by the pontoons it's [6:34] obvious that these four tools were used [6:38] just for tests [6:40] imagine a real mission soumarin goes to [6:43] the surface close to the coast by night [6:46] the parts of the plan are assembled and [6:50] then it is catapulted who could imagine [6:54] that this airplane after this mission [6:57] ended could get back to the submarine we [7:01] peaked and proteins and alga no kidding [7:06] it's important to me as a configuration [7:09] of the airplane is the following [7:11] and after catapulting the assembly was [7:15] dropped as a conclusion the sarin was a [7:19] chemical airplane nothing else now look [7:23] at that plane [7:25] could you imagine that with this big [7:29] submarine and 144 sailors aboard you [7:34] cross all the Pacific Ocean to bring [7:36] close to the coast and even to the [7:39] eastern coastal states and a plane for [7:43] no return flight which will bring 500 [7:48] pounds bomba it makes no sense it's [7:52] obvious that things very beginning since [7:55] the thirties this project e400 conceived [8:00] both spies for Japan arrow Ito and by [8:05] his faithful Admiral Yamamoto the great [8:10] hero of Japan was closely related to the [8:15] unit 731 germ warfare Yamamoto had [8:21] ordered the construction of 18 a 400 [8:26] submarines which would have carried no [8:30] less than 54 biological weapons enough [8:35] to create disaster overall America keep [8:40] in mind then since beginning since the [8:44] thirties Yamamoto had designed his [8:47] brainchild a 400 submarine in order to [8:51] make it able to do [8:53] Rowntree all around the earth so Japan [8:57] could master the world you know [9:00] something if they didn't use it it was [9:03] just because it was not finished in time [9:06] they had no steel they are no matter to [9:09] make the submarines but if she had it do [9:13] you really think they would have [9:14] hesitated to send its planes over the [9:18] country United States and make millions [9:21] of death I have just made this [9:24] parenthesis forward in order to shoot [9:27] you that science concept of mass [9:29] destruction weapons and planetary [9:32] weapons is not new now we arrive to the [9:37] today's situation you are supposed to [9:39] know that we have 9,000 nuclear warhead [9:43] over whole world if you want to think [9:46] about the possible consequences just [9:48] consider what you can make with depleted [9:51] uranium weapons [9:53] well you multiply this by billions and [9:58] you have a very weak idea of the [10:00] possible consequences even with the [10:03] smallest bone just 100 kilotons the [10:07] tense of your oshimen [10:09] bomber well this is a good news yet our [10:12] war is simply impossible so that we did [10:15] not experience a global world war since [10:19] seven three years due to the well known [10:22] balance of terror in 2011 America [10:26] suffered a terrible impact in its own [10:30] territory it never happened since the [10:34] American Civil War [10:36] so that President George Bush decided [10:39] that now America should face threat from [10:43] any part of the world from any country [10:46] so that in 2002 he decided to pull [10:50] America out of the anti-ballistic [10:53] missile treaty that was signed in 1972 [10:58] it was immediately a deep matter of [11:00] concern for the ocean there argue that [11:03] extension of the ABM system to [11:06] to his country would completely servants [11:09] Russia in addition has said that the [11:12] ambient system based in space could be [11:15] used to destroy the satellites but the [11:18] American replied immediately don't be [11:20] afraid it's just against Iran not [11:22] against you remember what Ronald Reagan [11:26] said at Unitas stations all space lasers [11:29] are designed to destroy flying saucer [11:31] not Russian satellites but you know how [11:35] the Russian are there are suspicious by [11:39] Nature you can't dim frankly with them [11:42] well now look what was their answer to [11:46] this situation what is ballistic Messiah [11:51] it is rocket propellant the time during [11:55] the first is a nation is very short no [11:59] more than two minutes but during that [12:01] time the infrared emission is so high [12:04] that this is immediately detected by [12:06] satellite [12:09] - John - points a and B on the surface [12:13] of the earth there are two possible [12:16] choices inscribed along the geodesic [12:22] these two paths are inscribed in a plane [12:26] that contains the center C of the sphere [12:30] the trucks of such path corresponds at [12:34] what we call a great circle of the [12:36] sphere for example say a quarter is a [12:39] great circle until now to pass through [12:43] the target corresponding to the shortest [12:46] one it corresponds through the green [12:49] curve [12:50] and the maximum altitude is around 800 [12:55] miles the trajectory is a parabolic and [13:00] correspond to minimum expense of solid [13:03] fuel to the trajectory of a ballistic [13:07] missile from Russia to United States [13:10] pass over the North Pole is a range of [13:15] Russian mystique Messiah was close to [13:18] 7,000 mile [13:20] for these reasons American ground-based [13:24] antibiotic Masai was located mainly in [13:27] the northern part of the continent [13:31] your first observationally second [13:34] trajectory which is much longer and pass [13:38] over the South Pole so that all American [13:44] anti-ballistic misallocated in the [13:46] northern part of the country becomes [13:49] inefficient [13:51] then the trajectory becomes a circle [13:57] the density of the atmosphere becomes [14:00] negligible above 50 miles so that it's [14:04] possible to have a ballistic pass at an [14:08] altitude of 60 miles [14:12] on another hand the detection by the [14:15] warning radar net comes later [14:21] of course it requires larger velocity [14:25] and larger amount of propellant so the [14:31] rocket will be heavier [14:36] consideration my son summit which [14:39] weights 200 tons [14:42] it has 10 tones payload which can be [14:46] composed of 10 heavy warhead waking each [14:50] one tone [14:53] another formula his tenten's payload can [14:57] be composed of warheads plus system [15:01] designed to defeat anti-ballistic system [15:05] this my science can also be equipped [15:09] with 24 impersonate gliders about God [15:28] Zermatt will be equipped with sunny [15:34] high-yield assistance with capabilities [15:39] for bidding missile defense systems this [15:45] new system can be used under any [15:48] conditions now putting presents an [15:52] infinite range cruise missile powered by [15:57] is not at the end we've developed a new [16:01] strategic weapons that don't use [16:04] ballistic trajectory at all which means [16:08] that missile defense will be useless [16:12] against it this is what I'm going to [16:16] tell you about now this new kind of [16:18] weapon promising weapon systems that [16:21] Russia has developed using new unique [16:24] technology designed by our engineers one [16:28] of such system is a small super-powerful [16:32] nuclear energy system that can be [16:36] deployed in a cruise missile like x101 [16:43] Russian missile or US made Tomahawk [16:46] missile [16:49] yet there is basically no limit to its [16:51] range it's a small missile with [16:55] unlimited range and unpredictable [16:57] trajectory that can avoid all intercept [17:02] barriers cannot be intercepted by [17:05] existing or future missile defense [17:08] systems late in 2017 at the central [17:14] testing ground of the Russian Federation [17:16] we had a successful test launch of this [17:19] newest cruise missile with the nuclear [17:24] power energy unit and it achieved [17:30] altitude so now after the successful [17:34] test we can start manufacturing this new [17:37] kind of weapon a strategic nuclear [17:40] weapon system with a missile carrying a [17:43] nuclear power energy unit let's now [17:46] watch this video [18:18] at the revision but on the magazine this [18:23] is how it avoids defense barriers it has [18:28] unlimited range so it can keep going [18:30] like this forever maneuvering as you [18:36] understand this is unheard of and nobody [18:39] else has such a system in the world they [18:43] may create something similar in the [18:46] future but by that time our guys will [18:48] come up with new ideas as well cruise [18:56] marks are propelled by nuclear energy is [19:00] it subsonic or supersonic let's go back [19:04] to the American tokamak as the typical [19:07] cruise massage with 1500 miles range [19:14] it's basically subsonic it could not be [19:18] supersonic because it would require too [19:21] much fuel [19:21] some countries have supersonic cruise [19:25] missile [19:26] mainly the ocean where the range is [19:29] reduced by a factor of five twenty years [19:34] ago the Russian acquired a submarine [19:36] like the course with a lot of granite [19:39] supersonic muscle you can see our wings [19:44] and ten plane we have folded before to [19:47] be put in a tube such munsi were [19:52] designed to attack aircraft carriers but [19:55] the range was limited to 300 miles let's [19:59] go back to the Declaration of the [20:01] president poutine [20:02] I think that the Russian massage is [20:06] supersonic in effect [20:08] why do you limit the velocity if you [20:11] have as much energy as reward from your [20:14] neutral reactor this ID is not new it [20:18] was developed by the American between [20:22] 1955 to 1961 correspond to the project [20:28] Pluto Pluto is a slam [20:32] a supersonic low altitude missing now [20:39] let us see how it work it's very simple [20:44] it's similar to a shtetl reactor instead [20:48] of eating the air by the heat produced [20:51] by the combustion of the fuel it is [20:54] heated when it passes through the core [20:56] of a nuclear reactor at the inlet the [20:59] air arrives at atmospheric pressure and [21:03] Mach 3.6 this compressed to 21 bars and [21:08] heated at 500 degree centigrade through [21:12] the shock wave in the rector's the [21:14] temperature grows to 1,200 degrees then [21:18] this hot hair is ejected through a [21:22] nozzle and accelerated and his producer [21:24] net first let's have a look inside Pluto [21:30] we find a large place for avionics [21:34] remember we are at the end of the 50 so [21:39] aboard computer working with lamps you [21:43] have a large place for the weapons Bay [21:47] Pluto was supposed to cross a very very [21:50] large territory and to drop two megatons [21:53] bombs on cities industrial centers it [21:59] was 26 meters long and white at 26 tons [22:04] after the Second World War the American [22:07] thought about putting a nuclear reactor [22:11] aboard an airplane in order to make it [22:14] fly the airplane had grown alert on the [22:19] left of the b-29 that dropped the atomic [22:23] bomb of Japan and on the right to be 36 [22:29] peacemaker with six mutter a nuclear [22:34] reactor could provide a tremendous [22:37] amount of energy both prime was a weight [22:40] how to protect the crew from the [22:43] radiation neutron flux [22:45] gannets looks but when we deal with [22:49] unmanned aircraft is nobody aboard all [22:53] those problems disappear before a [22:56] nuclear reactor would be activated it [23:00] emits almost no radiation before [23:04] activation the neutron emission may be [23:06] inhibited by absorbing bars of cabin [23:11] solute across my cell waiting 26 turns [23:15] was ground-based [23:18] in this new cruise massage presented by [23:22] put him in March the new clarity should [23:26] be as small as a football balloon with [23:31] such small size or five enough matter it [23:36] could be operated from an airplane groan [23:39] basis or from cheek no let's think what [23:43] it could look like he is a Russian [23:47] muscle before launching it is equipped [23:51] with cap and a booster director is not [23:56] active because the cadmium ball in a [23:59] yellow are still in place the absorb [24:03] neutrons and prevents the efficient to [24:06] develop immediately after launching the [24:11] cap is removed as a booster is fired at [24:17] the same time the cadmium bars are [24:20] removed the fission chain reaction can [24:23] start the reactor becomes active rapidly [24:29] due to the boosters action the massage [24:33] gets is cruise velocity about Mach 3 [24:39] point 6 through the front conical [24:43] shockwave the air is heated to 500 [24:48] degrees centigrade and then it crosses [24:52] the core of the reactor whose [24:55] temperature is 1200 degree centigrade it [24:59] is eated and expanded in the nozzle to [25:04] get the trust in the reactor of the [25:09] proto mesial the elements were [25:12] assembling that way one against the [25:15] other [25:16] they were of small air flow channels [25:19] made of ceramic barium oxide uranium [25:24] oxide and zirconium oxide the air could [25:28] flow in [25:30] be heated on this picture you can see [25:33] such elements there are gadget together [25:37] to form X agonal elements composed by 38 [25:42] tubes we have no picture of the full [25:45] size to reactor this correspond to a [25:49] smaller model where the system was [25:51] tested this is a shimmer of the [25:55] full-size Tori reactor you recognize [26:00] they examine all elements and you have [26:04] shield to protect the guidance system [26:09] from gamma rays and you can see on the [26:12] left the cadmium bars what was a [26:15] full-size of the bottle the technical [26:18] note says diameter 1 metal length 1 [26:23] meter a cubic meter of Elune this is now [26:27] a picture of the two reactor full-size [26:30] the inlet is on the left at the inlet [26:35] some pre heated air was injected at 500 [26:40] degree centigrade and compressed at 21 [26:43] bars in order to simulate the flight [26:46] condition the test time was limited by [26:49] the available compressed air this test [26:53] time was extended up to 300 seconds for [26:58] the 600 megawatt nuclear generator [27:01] cooled by hair so that one considered [27:06] that motor of the micelle Pluto was [27:10] operational in 1957 the Pluto program [27:15] was a quite serious project but it was [27:19] also the International Geophysical Year [27:22] and there was a strong phenomenon that [27:27] changes the landscape at this time yuuna [27:31] state uses Vanuatu rockets to studies [27:36] higher atmosphere [27:38] in Russia the rocket Samira r7 was [27:45] already operational as a conclusion I [27:50] would say that what prison put it said [27:53] is really true the Russian own [27:59] long-range supersonic Mossad propelled [28:03] by nikla energy they have just been [28:07] inspired by a project developed by the [28:11] American half a century ago well let's [28:16] go back to talk of Putin what else we [28:21] have [28:22] unmanned submarines that move at ultra [28:29] deep levels intercontinental II with a [28:33] speed that is much much higher than the [28:36] speed of modern submarines torpedoes and [28:40] even the fastest surface ships this is [28:44] just fantastic we are no it's less and [28:56] there is no defense system in the world [29:00] today that can cope with such subsurface [29:05] vehicles they can be equipped with [29:07] conventional or nuclear weapons [29:10] attacking coastal defences and [29:14] infrastructure facilities December 2017 [29:20] we've completed testing this new [29:22] innovative nuclear propulsion system for [29:26] this unmanned surface vehicle it's [29:30] extremely small and at the same time its [29:37] size is a hundred times less than a [29:40] regular submarine and at the same time [29:42] it's more powerful let's summarize what [29:48] Putin says about [29:50] fantastic underwater drone one it goes [29:56] very deep - it cruises at very fast [30:00] velocity 3 it is 100 times smaller than [30:05] a mother submarine while it is more [30:08] powerful but for it is silent [30:14] no kidding [30:16] all that together how is it possible [30:20] something is absolutely sure if this [30:24] submarine massage would correspond to [30:27] the video given by protein 1 you see [30:33] this small Simran drone who is a spoof [30:39] or propers and if it goes so fast it [30:44] will not be silent enough [30:56] so it seems to me that there are only [30:59] two possibilities either proteins lands [31:03] as there he does not and if he doesn't [31:07] how does it work if you want to move an [31:12] object into water the prom is a drug is [31:16] a friction water is a thousand times [31:20] dancer Sam here during the last World [31:24] War the speed of the torpedo was around [31:28] 40 knots 70 kilometers they could eat a [31:33] target at a distance of one or two [31:36] kilometers the average travel time was [31:41] around one minute or more modern [31:44] torpedoes with classical propeller [31:48] system don't go much faster [31:51] their range has been increased up to 50 [31:55] kilometers with a south guidance system [31:58] and a velocity around 50 knots for [32:01] shorter distances can be extended to 60 [32:04] 70 knots hundred kilometers per second [32:09] hundred 20 no more in 1977 the Russian [32:13] deploy a rocket-propelled [32:16] torpedo with a speed of 200 knots [32:19] possibly extended to 300 knots the idea [32:23] was to make the torpedo to cruise in [32:25] vapour instead of water in order to [32:28] reduce drastically the drama this [32:30] torpedo is wired [32:32] whydid you can see the four wires coming [32:36] from the arms deployed just after the [32:39] launch the torpedo is surrounded by a [32:43] cloud made of mixture of case and [32:46] vaporized water the hot case produced by [32:51] a small rocket is ejected at the front [32:54] part of the torpedo through that hole [32:56] you see how the direction of a injection [32:59] can be modified by two roads which gives [33:03] the torpedo high maneuverability [33:06] I explained it all that in my website [33:09] twelve years ago well it goes faster in [33:15] fact but the trial top it was a terribly [33:19] noisy it doesn't correspond to the talk [33:23] of Vladimir poutine so back to this [33:28] fantastic weapon presented by President [33:31] Putin the question remains how does it [33:35] work [33:36] you probably remember the movie The Hunt [33:41] for Red October [33:43] based on 1984 novel of Tom Clancy with [33:49] shankari in that movie the right October [33:54] is supposed to be a Russian submarine [33:57] fast and steals the secret can be found [34:02] for example in the patent of Stuart way [34:08] 1966 [34:10] for any object moving in a food the drug [34:15] due to frictions comes from what is [34:18] called the boundary layer in this [34:21] relatively similar the velocity of the [34:25] fluid with respect to the object tends [34:28] to zero at the world there is a transfer [34:33] of negative momentum to the wall the [34:37] result is a tangential force a drag now [34:43] we introduce a force field acting on the [34:47] boundary layer due to electromagnetic [34:49] force if this force field produce a [34:55] constant velocity profile there is no [34:59] gradient there are no momentum transfer [35:02] no total soul force the drug is [35:05] annihilated [35:08] now if the force field becomes stronger [35:12] we accelerate the fluid action-reaction [35:17] principle [35:19] we get- dragged the body is accelerated [35:26] so to which high velocity it is just [35:31] necessary to move the fluid in the same [35:34] layer surrounding a submarine or an [35:36] airplane [35:37] we'll see that further now let's go back [35:42] to the pattern of the American Stewart [35:46] way the wool accelerator in yellow wire [35:52] that produces a magnetic field [35:55] see feature a in Figure C corresponding [36:01] magnetic pattern we see that it is [36:05] periodic from cell to the next cell the [36:11] direction of the field is reversed in [36:16] the places indicated in red you notice [36:21] announcement of the field its intensity [36:25] is doubled with respect to the field [36:28] that will be created by a single wire on [36:33] another hand notice that the filters [36:37] rapidly to zero out of the plane at a [36:41] distance equivalent the distance between [36:44] two wires its value becomes almost [36:49] negligible so that this configuration [36:54] concentrates the magnetic field and the [36:57] magnetic energy close to the wall on [37:02] future a green a set of linear [37:07] electrodes here again you see that the [37:13] polarity of the electrode is alternated [37:20] and figure D long right [37:25] you will see that from a cell to the [37:28] next both the magnetic field direction [37:30] and the current density [37:33] direction are periodically reversed so [37:37] that the electromagnetic force ji Crosby [37:41] see the fingers rule on the life-forms a [37:48] set of vectors parallel to the wall see [37:53] on the right the red arrows all oriented [37:57] in the same direction in addition in his [38:01] pattern in 1966 see what web preside [38:06] that the wire should be made of [38:08] superconducting material embedded in [38:11] liquid helium see Figure B what happened [38:18] in the 60s when still what were [38:21] presented is 3 meters long model in [38:24] Santa Barbara some preliminary remarks [38:29] in the sub brain of the ward way there [38:32] is only a portion of the hull which is [38:36] active the rest of the hell is passive [38:40] and induce drug seems that way did not [38:44] integrate the two functions combining [38:48] publishing and drug cancellation in [38:52] addition assume rain as a tail unit it [38:57] is no longer necessary image this marine [39:00] can have a high maneuverability just [39:04] modifying the strength of the Lorentz [39:08] force on site so let's remove said tell [39:13] finanza errands wherever you are [39:17] well would have given a better [39:19] efficiency to his image d sermon if the [39:24] wall hull would have been covered by his [39:28] wall accelerator system anyway let's go [39:33] back to his formula the magnetic field [39:37] was produced by a battery and the B [39:40] value was around 150 goals hundreds of [39:44] Tesla [39:46] the velocity was 40 centimeters per [39:49] second the Lorentz force is proportional [39:52] to the be feed and to the current [39:55] density J this loss is limited to 1 [39:59] ampere per square centimeter in order to [40:02] avoid electrolysis of the water the [40:06] electrode connectivity of the seawater [40:08] is poor so there is a strong dissipation [40:12] by dual effect the efficiency is a ratio [40:18] between the poverty water to propulsion [40:22] divided by the total power including [40:25] Joule effect for the model of savate [40:28] where the efficiency was around 1 [40:31] millions very much in 1992 the Japanese [40:38] built a multi boat called Yama 2 1 [40:42] it was propelled by faraday imagery [40:45] first earth [40:49] so the drug of the hell was still [40:52] present they use a superconducting field [40:56] for Tesla the total electrical intensity [41:01] was 2000 our pairs then they reach it [41:05] velocity of 8 knots with a trust of one [41:09] tom imagine a propulsion in sea water [41:14] can be compared to the propulsion with a [41:18] board the intensity is a number of turn [41:24] of the propeller and the magnetic field [41:28] corresponds to the pitch of the blades [41:31] if the magnetic field is too weak it's [41:34] equivalent to try to prop about the [41:38] motor coupler to a propeller was blade [41:42] have a very small pitch angle so you [41:46] don't move so much and you eat the water [41:49] of the lake [41:51] similarly the ammeter one heated the sea [41:56] water if we look at the prison formula [42:00] we easily can compute then there is a [42:05] threshold with limited current density [42:08] it corresponds to a magnetic field [42:11] around 10 Tesla during the 90s at the [42:16] Francis beater magnet laboratory some [42:20] experience of Marin publishing were [42:23] achieved with a Tesla field Chinese and [42:27] Japanese of project wizard 15 Tesla [42:31] fields France as usual as frozen careful [42:37] watching and wetting position to sum up [42:41] I would say that President Putin tell [42:44] the truth on scientific and technical [42:48] ground it is perfectly possible to build [42:52] an unmanned submarine proble by negra [42:57] energy before activation the nuclear [43:01] reactor as [43:03] usual emits no radiation if it is a [43:06] submerge mesial it is not necessary to [43:11] put shield against radiations so the [43:16] craft will be relatively small and [43:18] compact since the seventies we know that [43:23] imagie proportions crest no turbulence [43:27] and is perfectly no is less notice that [43:32] the magnetic field is stronger only in a [43:36] sin boundary layer and negligible [43:39] outside so that magnetic direction don't [43:44] work a system of MHD wall accelerator [43:49] will give it high maneuverability and [43:54] very high speed probably much higher [44:00] than the speed of the torpedo jalawla [44:04] I think subscribed could cruise at [44:12] several thousand kilometers per hour a [44:18] submarine can carry a very heavy [44:21] warheads so I would say that such admin [44:26] and submarine could carry heavy nuclear [44:31] weapons sizing several hundreds megatons [44:36] able to create several hundred meters [44:40] high tsunami that could destroy in New [44:44] York or San Francisco well this is [44:48] horrible but nuclear weapons must be [44:52] horrible it's a key of the deterrence as [44:56] a conclusion it seems that again the [44:59] Russian have developed a work initially [45:03] done by American half a century ago all [45:08] that supports president Putin's claims [45:13] anyway nuclear energy is not the only [45:18] way to produce tremendous amounts of [45:21] electrical energy the ocean I've shown [45:25] that the energy provided by a rocket [45:30] could be converted into electrical [45:33] energy using a pulsed MHD generator with [45:40] self-excitation here in action in [45:44] Siberia for geophysical purpose [45:48] MHT accelerator is also MHD generators [45:54] such machines are reversible so you can [46:00] perfectly transform the nozzle of a [46:05] rocket-propelled torpedo into an [46:09] electrical generator and use this [46:12] electricity to cancel the drag just add [46:17] cesium to the border in order to rise a [46:20] collectivity and admit that the [46:24] temperature in the nozzle could be very [46:27] high 3,000 degrees centigrade to get [46:31] good electrical conductivity of course [46:33] your nozzle will have a very short [46:36] lifetime but Torpedo are not designed to [46:40] have a long life such subject is rather [46:44] classified well we arrived at the end of [46:49] this first part of this video devoted to [46:52] the new Russian weapons in the next I [46:57] will talk about flying mesial hypersonic [47:02] my 1020 okay bye-bye