MOSCOW, February 10. /TASS/. Factory trials of Russia’s nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) Poseidon from a multi-purpose ocean system will begin in summer 2019, a defense industry source told TASS on Sunday.

"The successful tests of Poseidon’s nuclear-powered energy unit opened the way to conducting at-sea factory tests of the vehicle. The tests will begin in favorable weather conditions this summer," the source said.

On February 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin reported the end of the key stage of testing for the strategic unmanned underwater vehicle Poseidon. In late December last year a defense industry source told TASS that the testing of the UUV’s nuclear power unit was underway at sea at the moment. The source noted that the reactor had been mounted on the hull of the operating vehicle.

Putin first said about the unmanned underwater vehicle with the nuclear power unit in his address to the Federal Assembly in March 2019. The president reported that these UUVs will be equipped with both conventional and nuclear payloads and will be able to destroy enemy infrastructural facilities, carrier groups and other targets.