Russian Subs Patrolling Off East Coast of U.S.

[CastleBravo]

WASHINGTON — A pair of nuclear-powered Russian attack submarines has been patrolling off the eastern seaboard of the United States over recent days, a rare mission that has raised concerns inside the Pentagon and intelligence agencies about a more assertive stance by the Russian military.


“I don’t think they’ve put two first-line nuclear subs off the U.S. coast in about 15 years,” said Norman Polmar, a naval historian and expert on submarine warfare.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/wo...trol.html?_r=1

[TarJak]

It's good that your navy knows that they are there. Not so good that they are there in the first place, but then they have to be somewhere.

[Rilder]

How much for a ride?

[claybirdd]

How much you wanna bet we have had a pair of 688i's trailing them since they crossed SOSUS?

[Sea Demon]

Originally Posted by claybirdd

How much you wanna bet we have had a pair of 688i's trailing them since they crossed SOSUS?

In a perfect world, we were aware of their departure and tracked them from the Gap all the way to the US East Coast via many methods.

Of course this is not a perfect world, and the Akula is one mean machine. At any rate, I'll bet it's giving many of our naval personnel some great training opportunities.

I'm willing to bet you're right about those 688I's.

[Aramike]

Originally Posted by Sea Demon

In a perfect world, we were aware of their departure and tracked them from the Gap all the way to the US East Coast via many methods.

Of course this is not a perfect world, and the Akula is one mean machine. At any rate, I'll bet it's giving many of our naval personnel some great training opportunities.

I'm willing to bet you're right about those 688I's.

The Akula's the best they got, but it's supposedly no better than a flight 1 688 boat.

[Takeda Shingen]

The flight II Akulas are widely considered comparable to the Improved 688's, not the flight I's. The Russians have, for the most part, closed the decade-wide noise gap that was so prevalant in the Cold War.

[AVGWarhawk]

They are sitting off our shores listening to our rock and roll music. Sure, there are two subs out there. I wonder how many US subs are off Russia coast?

[Franklin Van Valkenburg]

I dunno about those 688is trailing them... under this administration, the Russian captains were probably invited over for a drink!
"Bring Vodka!"

On a serious note... I hope we're trailing them... and I'm sure that we knew where they were every step of the way. Its the fact that we tracked them here and realized they intended to prowl off the Eastern seaboard for a couple of days.
I wonder what they're going to do with the Yuri Dolgoruky when she's commissioned. One also has to wonder how accident-prone she is too. I heard she was rushed through construction.

[Jimbuna]

How very reassuring for the two Russian commanders to at least know that the US will be quick to respond should they face difficulties.

[Tchocky]

Good to know that everyone's getting practice tailing each other.

[SteamWake]

No one has asked the obvious question..... Why?

[Takeda Shingen]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

No one has asked the obvious question..... Why?

I think that no one has asked the question because the answer is obvious: The Russian leadership wants to send the message that Russia is, once again, big and strong and 'back on the scene'. They knew the subs would be detected, but the real point was to demonstrate to the West that the Russian navy, after being virtually laid up for the last fifteen years, was back in business. They've got a new submarine and are using their old ones.

[Kapitan]

Its probably nothing new to be honest russians have probably been patrolling the waters all along, even after the break up theres still some tension between the two.

[Max2147]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

No one has asked the obvious question..... Why?

For the same reason that we've probably had subs patrolling off of Murmansk for years.