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| Russian attack submarine sailed in Gulf of Mexico undetected for weeks, U.S. officials say |
| 2012-08-15 |
| A Russian nuclear-powered attack submarine armed with long-range cruise missiles operated undetected in the Gulf of Mexico for several weeks and its travel in strategic U.S. waters was only confirmed after it left the region, the Washington Free Beacon has learned. It is only the second time since 2009 that a Russian attack submarine has patrolled so close to U.S. shores. The stealth underwater incursion in the Gulf took place at the same time Russian strategic bombers made incursions into restricted U.S. airspace near Alaska and California in June and July, and highlights a growing military assertiveness by Moscow. The submarine patrol also exposed what U.S. officials said were deficiencies in U.S. anti-submarine warfare capabilities—forces that are facing cuts under the Obama administration’s plan to reduce defense spending by $487 billion over the next 10 years. The Navy is in charge of detecting submarines, especially those that sail near U.S. nuclear missile submarines, and uses undersea sensors and satellites to locate and track them. The fact that the Akula was not detected in the Gulf is cause for concern, U.S. officials said. The officials who are familiar with reports of the submarine patrol in the Gulf of Mexico said the vessel was a nuclear-powered Akula-class attack submarine, one of Russia’s quietest submarines. A Navy spokeswoman declined to comment. One official said the Akula operated without being detected for a month. “The Akula was built for one reason and one reason only: To kill U.S. Navy ballistic missile submarines and their crews,” said a second U.S. official. “It’s a very stealthy boat so it can sneak around and avoid detection and hope to get past any protective screen a boomer might have in place,” the official said, referring to the Navy nickname for strategic missile submarines. The U.S. Navy operates a strategic nuclear submarine base at Kings Bay, Georgia. The base is homeport to eight missile-firing submarines, six of them equipped with nuclear-tipped missiles, and two armed with conventional warhead missiles. “Sending a nuclear-propelled submarine into the Gulf of Mexico-Caribbean region is another manifestation of President Putin demonstrating that Russia is still a player on the world’s political-military stage,” said naval analyst and submarine warfare specialist Norman Polmar. “Like the recent deployment of a task force led by a nuclear cruiser into the Caribbean, the Russian Navy provides him with a means of ‘showing the flag’ that is not possible with Russian air and ground forces,” Polmar said in an email. The last time an Akula submarine was known to be close to U.S. shores was 2009, when two Akulas were spotted patrolling off the east coast of the United States. |
| Posted by:Beavis |
| #10 $$$ That is the story. The Russians did not send a sub out of their base without a satellite seeing it leave. And where it went, it was tracked. And surprise, it went somewhere. Please, please, send the Navy money. Pa-lease. Cry me a river. |
| Posted by: rammer 2012-08-15 22:51 |
| #9 "The fact that the Akula was not detected in the Gulf is cause for concern, U.S. officials said." I so totally believe that he would spill out something that must be top secret. What do you think is better: 1) The Russians know they've been detected 2) The Russians don't know whether they have been detected |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2012-08-15 13:23 |
| #8 I'm with Yosemite Sam on this one. Unless our SATINT and SOSUS have been SEVERELY degraded since the cold war, this sub should have been detected all the way in and all the way out. During the cold war we would have attack subs waiting behind the SOSUS line like dogs begging for dog treats. Then we'd latch on behind them and follow them wherever they went. This sounds like a funding story: "The Russians are coming! Don't cut our budget!" |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2012-08-15 12:29 |
| #7 I'm a former ASWO. I find it hard to believe that between SATINT, SOSUS and assests in the area we didn't know it was there or on its way (assuming it actually was). They may not have had a fix on it constantly but i would bet money they had datums on it within tolerances |
| Posted by: Yosemite Sam 2012-08-15 10:29 |
| #6 Why would either us or the Russians want to admit the submarine was there, and whether it was undetected? That makes no sense. There is something missing from this story. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2012-08-15 08:39 |
| #5 What if we did detect it early on? Why would we let on that we did? Let Ivan believe he's safe. |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2012-08-15 08:30 |
| #4 They'll never fire on Atlanta. Too many constituencies. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-08-15 07:08 |
| #3 From what I've read, the Coasties got it coming out. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2012-08-15 03:14 |
| #2 Claiming, it was there, but was it? The claim's as good as it being there,if you don't KNOW. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2012-08-15 01:54 |
| #1 Reminds of an old Dream-Vision of mine to the Pentagon > "ITS CALLED THE OSCAR-CLASS". |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2012-08-15 00:09 |