US Fears Russia Building Drone Sub That Can Blow Up American Coastal Cities

Officials from the US Department of Defense claim Russia is building a drone submarine which will be equipped with nuclear weapons against US harbors and coastal cities, media reported on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Defense Department has code-named the drone "Kanyon," according to the report.

"This is an unmanned sub that will have a high-speed and long-distance capability," the Washington Times quoted an anonymous Defense Department official as saying.

However, the official noted the development of the drone was far from reaching the testing phase.

The unmanned underwater vehicle, or UUV, will be equipped with megaton-class warheads that could potentially blow up "key ports used by US nuclear missile submarines" in places such as Kings Bay, Georgia and Puget Sound in Washington State, the Defense Department was quoted as saying.

Officials also claimed that the alleged Russian weapons platform would serve as an autonomous submarine strike vehicle capable of carrying "tens" of megatons in nuclear warheads, with a destructive power greater than the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs.

Further details about the reported Russian nuclear UUV program have been guarded by the US government, the report said.