Russian TV Airs 'secret' Nuclear Weapon Status-6

Russia's state-controlled TV has aired a confidential government document that describes plans for a new nuclear-armed torpedo known as Status-6.

The oceanic multi-purpose weapon system is designed to destroy important economic installations of the enemy in coastal areas and cause guaranteed devastating damage to the country's territory, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, reported.

The broadcasted video also revealed from the document that the weapon system would cause radioactive contamination to make coastal areas unsuitable for military or economic activity for a long time.

Developed by Rubin- a submarine design bureau, the torpedo has range of 10,000km (6,200 miles) and depth of trajectory is "up to 1,000m" (3,300ft). It would, apparently, be launched by nuclear-powered submarines of the 09852 "Belgorod" and 09851 "Khabarovsk" series.

Torpedo also called as "robotic mini-submarine", travelling at 100 knots (185km/h; 115mph), which would "avoid all acoustic tracking devices and other traps".

The video was shot over a military officer's shoulder during a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, and broadcast on NTV and Channel One.

"It's true that some secret information was caught by the camera and therefore it was subsequently removed. We hope this will not happen again." Mr Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in response to media querries.