MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said Russia has successfully tested a nuclear-powered submersible drone with unlimited range.

During a televised meeting with servicemen while visiting a military hospital, Putin said the "nuclear-powered" automatic unmanned submersible vehicle 'Poseidon', which is "much more powerful" than Russia's most advanced prospective ‘Sarmat’ ballistic missile, was successfully tested on Tuesday.

He said the Poseidon drone was launched from a mother submarine and is equipped with a nuclear power plant 100 times smaller than the reactor of a strategic submarine.

Putin also said that the Sarmat missile would soon enter combat duty.

“There is no other platform like the Sarmat in the world. We don’t have one on duty yet. But it will go operational soon,” he said.

Referring to last week's successful test of the unique nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile with unlimited range, Putin said its reactor is a thousand times smaller than that of a submarine and uses electronics developed for space technology.

On Sunday, during a televised meeting with the chief of defence staff and senior military commanders, Putin had said that during recent nuclear force drills, the Burevestnik remained airborne for 15 hours and covered 14,000 km during successful trials.