WDR and NDR reveal Russia's secret 'Skythen' programme to station nuclear-armed Skif missiles on the seabed
German broadcasters WDR and NDR, after a months-long investigation citing Western intelligence sources, reported on May 21 that Russia is developing a secret programme codenamed "Skythen" to station nuclear-armed ballistic missiles on the seabed at depths of several hundred metres, where they would be hidden from NATO detection and remotely activated in wartime. The system pairs the 96-metre Severodvinsk-based vessel "Zvezdochka" — and possibly the special submarine "Sarov" — with a modified "Skif" missile derived from the submarine-launched "Sineva", with a reported range of several thousand kilometres and first tests said to have taken place "several years ago." The Pentagon studied an analogous concept codenamed "Orca" in 1980 before abandoning it, and the 1971 Seabed Treaty bars such emplacement in international waters but exempts a state's own coastal regions — the broadcasters said Russia would place Skythen in its own waters.
WDR and NDR reported on May 21, after a months-long investigation citing Western intelligence sources, that Russia is working on a secret military programme codenamed "Skythen" to station nuclear-armed ballistic missiles on the seabed. The German broadcasters, whose findings were carried by tagesschau, said the missiles would sit at depths of several hundred metres and could be remotely activated, with the resulting hidden launch platforms hard for NATO to detect or strike in wartime. WDR and NDR said their team had analysed satellite imagery, Russian scientific databases and historical documents and interviewed serving military officers and outside experts.
Intelligence services have monitored a Russian vessel known as the "Zvezdochka" in connection with the project, the broadcasters reported. The "Zvezdochka" is a 96-metre long, 18-metre wide specialised ship based in Severodvinsk, the shipbuilding city on the White Sea in north-west Russia. It is built to move heavy equipment on the open sea with cranes and loading ramps, including in icy northern waters. A special submarine called the "Sarov" may also be involved in the programme. The missile being developed for Skythen, the broadcasters wrote, has been identified by NATO as the "Skif" — a modified version of the "Sineva" missile that arms Russian submarines, reportedly capable of being launched from the seabed and of reaching ranges of several thousand kilometres. First tests are said to have taken place several years ago. Viktor Bondarev, the former commander-in-chief of Russia's Aerospace Forces, told a Russian news agency in 2017 that "Skif missiles, which hide on the seabed, are part of the arsenal of the Russian armed forces."
Helge Adrians, a naval officer and guest scientist at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), told WDR and NDR that the seabed approach would allow Russia to maintain nuclear deterrence with a smaller submarine force. "Positioning intercontinental missiles on the seabed and keeping them operational has two significant advantages, in my view," Adrians said. "First, neutralizing them appears very difficult. Second, this procedure offers the possibility of saving submarines and their personnel." The broadcasters noted that the Pentagon had studied an analogous concept in 1980 under the codename "Orca" — a missile silo anchored at the seabed that would detach, rise to the surface, and release the missile in case of war — before abandoning it, citing difficulties in transmitting data to weapons at the seabed and in testing their readiness without revealing their location.
The 1971 international Seabed Treaty prohibits the emplacement of nuclear weapons on the seabed in international waters but does not cover a state's own coastal regions. The broadcasters said the Skythen project would involve placement in Russian waters, where the treaty's prohibition does not apply. NATO and Russia's defence ministry declined to comment on the project, the report said; the Russian embassy in Berlin replied that it had no information about the matter.