
// Pathways to Peace and Security. 2018. No 2(55). P. 132-136
Abstract. The article’s focus is on the effect of large and extra-large autonomous underwater vehicles with nuclear weapons on board on global military balance. Currently, three states, including Russia, are developing and manufacturing such vehicles for military purposes. Further development of such vehicles can lead to development of vehicles with increased capacity able to carry more diverse range of weapons. If China follows the Russian example and develops its own autonomous underwater vehicles, this could provoke the USA to further escale the underwater arms race. Such escalation could potentially involve other states, such as India. Military autonomous underwater vehicles are especially dangerous for those states that have large populations and economic potentials concentrated along their coast lines. If AUV race escalates, one could expect development of interceptors for such underwater vehicles that, in its turn, could contribute to further underwater arms race.
Keywords: arms race, autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), strategic weapons, Russia, USA, China, “Echo Voyager”, “Poseidon”, “Qianlong-3”, nuclear power plant
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