MOSCOW – Vladimir Korolyov, commander in chief of the Russian navy, shedsome light on the country’s new underwater drone, calling the new machinepractically invincible.

The new unmanned sea vehicle, equipped with a new nuclear engine, isvirtually impossible to intercept, Korolyov told a recent press conference.

He said that the new apparatus will have an effectively unlimited travelrange and will feature a low noise profile and high maneuverability. Thisall will allow the new weapon to stealthily approach targets.

“The new targeting system being developed specifically for this weapon willallow for the underwater devices to autonomously approach targets anddestroy them with high precision.

The weapon “will allow the navy to complete a wide spectrum of tasksin remote maritime zones and in water areas in the vicinity of enemyterritory.”

The drone will be introduced into the navy once all testing is complete,the navy chief said. Testing is underway and “there are no doubts that[Russian] engineers, scientists and military-industrial workers willsuccessfully complete the task.”

“I’d like to underscore that all elements of the system are manufacturedusing only Russian parts,” Korolyov also noted.

On March 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave his annualstate-of-the-nation address to the bicameral Parliament, the FederalAssembly, in which he presented a set of new Russian weaponslink>, includinghypersonic missiles, extremely long-range intercontinental ballisticmissiles, weaponized lasers and an underwater drone.