On this day: Soviet military operation ‘Behemoth’ began

The Russian nuclear submarine Novomoskovsk is seen docked in Severomorsk, 1998.

The Russian nuclear submarine Novomoskovsk is seen docked in Severomorsk, 1998.

AP
It was seen as a possible scenario for nuclear war with the U.S.

On Aug. 6, 1991 the Russian Northern Fleet launched operation “Behemoth 2” - demonstrating that its ballistic missile submarine was capable of firing all of its missiles at once (within five to seven seconds of each other)

The Delta-IV submarine K-407 Novomoskovsk - under the command of Captain Second Rank Sergey Yegorov - was chosen for this operation.

It took three minutes and 44 seconds to launch all 16 R-29RM missiles, with the submarine shedding 650 tons of weight in the process.

The operation was seen as a possible scenario for nuclear war with the U.S.

Two years earlier, on the same day, operation “Behemoth 1” was launched. The Delta-IV class submarine K-84 Yekaterinburg attempted to launch all 16 of its missiles at the same time, yet the operation failed after a fuel leak caused a fire.

Read more: ‘Black hole’: What makes Russia’s newest submarine unique?

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