AP sources: Russian subs patrolling off East Coast

AP sources: Russian subs patrolling off East Coast

www.breitbart.com

WASHINGTON (AP) - Defense officials say two nuclear-powered Russian attack submarines have been patrolling in international waters off the East Coast for several days.
The officials tell The Associated Press that while they haven't seen such unusual activity since the Cold War, the military is not overly concerned.

(visit the link for the full news article)

This headline was just featured at the Drudge Report. Apparently, from the tone of military officials featured in the article, this is a no big deal.

Really?

They say the Russians have a right to conduct naval exercises and are operating according to international law.

U.S. Northern Command would not comment on any details of the Russian submarines movement. But in a prepared statement, Northern Command spokesman Michael Kucharek acknowledged the patrols and said that the U.S. has been monitoring the two submarines.

Two senior defense officials provided details on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence.
www.breitbart.com...

www.breitbart.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Must have lost a submarine. Most likely a Typhoon class sub with intention of defecting to the U.S., hence why the Russian attack boats are patrolling near the east coast of the U.S.

Originally posted by deltaboy
Must have lost a submarine. Most likely a Typhoon class sub with intention of defecting to the U.S., hence why the Russian attack boats are patrolling near the east coast of the U.S.

I'm rather ignorant of military protocol for other nations.

Would they send their destroyers to actually destroy a potential defecting submarine from their own country? Or, is it more to apprehend the military personnel and prevent the sub from becoming accessed by the US military?

reply to post by MOFreemason


Big deal.. here in the UK we get russian bombers flying into our airspace every couple of weeks and a fighter flying over Scotland each week.

There is also the occasional dreadnought in the north sea, i've even seen the bombers when i visited some family in Scarbrough, pretty cool to watch the RAF fly out to sea to escort the bombers back

[edit on 17/05/09 by Raider of Truth]

I'm of the opinion the Cold War hasn't ended yet, what do you guys think?

Originally posted by MOFreemason

Originally posted by deltaboy
Must have lost a submarine. Most likely a Typhoon class sub with intention of defecting to the U.S., hence why the Russian attack boats are patrolling near the east coast of the U.S.

I'm rather ignorant of military protocol for other nations.

Would they send their destroyers to actually destroy a potential defecting submarine from their own country? Or, is it more to apprehend the military personnel and prevent the sub from becoming accessed by the US military?

MOFreemason, they are not within our water so to speak. They are outside of the 10 miles from shore. And what do you think we do with our subs? We call sailors on subs bubble heads because they stay under for weeks without surfacing. Yes, those Russian subs would destroy defecting Russian sailors on subs or ships with orders to do so from their command in Moscow. Period.

[edit on 4-8-2009 by GI_WOLVES]

Originally posted by Donnie Darko
I'm of the opinion the Cold War hasn't ended yet, what do you guys think?

Officially the cold war is over, but on the other hand not completely over.

Originally posted by Donnie Darko
I'm of the opinion the Cold War hasn't ended yet, what do you guys think?

I'm of the opinion the Cold War was nothing but a front for two nations as they started to use the Nazi technology that they both stole.

Only they were much too large for us to invade and take over when they fell, however, if we fall and Russia and China both decide to take us over, we'll be in for a hell of a fight.

reply to post by MOFreemason


Sending ASW surface vessels is too highly public. Better to have subs hidden beneath the water to destroy the defecting sub.

Probably just tracking naval activity.

C'mon, don't you think we have a couple SSN's lurking just outside Russian waters?

I'd bet you big bucks we do

Well it's possible they're in place in order to make the most of upcoming events in the works that may render the US weak and confused. And it's just as possible their presence is entirely routine. Only time will tell, as it usually does, but if anything does happen contributing to Russian involvement I feel we can expect it before or around August 23.

let's not forget they refuse to say what weapons the sub might/are carrying...

I thought submarines were supposed to be stealth? How do we know they are there? Is it because the report is bogus, or we can detect them?

Originally posted by breakingdradles

Originally posted by Donnie Darko
I'm of the opinion the Cold War hasn't ended yet, what do you guys think?

I'm of the opinion the Cold War was nothing but a front for two nations as they started to use the Nazi technology that they both stole.

Only they were much too large for us to invade and take over when they fell, however, if we fall and Russia and China both decide to take us over, we'll be in for a hell of a fight.

true

reply to post by C0bzz


Stealth does not mean undetectable or untouchable, just hard to detect or find.

Media 101 - how to create exciting news out of not-so-exciting news:

Take "Russian submarines undergoing exercises in the Atlantic" and call it "Russian subs patrolling off East Coast of US".


Of course the US military isn't concerned - there is little to be concerned about. Russian navy needs to conduct exercises, and it just so happens that during the last 15 years it could not afford to. Now it can. This is why it is viewed as "unusual activity". It is unusual in a sense that it hasn't been observed recently, but there is nothing strange or unexpected about it. The same goes for Russian long-distance bomber crews exercising beyond Russia's borders.

Originally posted by deltaboy
Must have lost a submarine. Most likely a Typhoon class sub with intention of defecting to the U.S.

Why would Russians defect to the US - it is not like US has jobs or money for them with this economy. They are better off going to China. Or maybe they are actually going to the Bahamas - where they can chill on beach.

And Typhoons haven't really been active for the past decade. I think only one is deployed, and it is undergoing some repairs and testing.

Originally posted by deltaboy
hence why the Russian attack boats are patrolling near the east coast of the U.S.

Yeah - but how are they going to catch a sub which is heading to the Bahamas?

Yeah Cold War is supposedly over but we also get regular air space violations by Nato and Russian aircraft. They poke around and play cat and mouse games, nothing serious.

Doubtful that they would be ballistic missile subs - Russian doctrine is to base their ballistic missile subs in "boomer bastions" - protected areas close to home such as the Barents Sea.

Their carrier, Kuznetzov, was actually designed not for power projection, like US carriers, but to protect these bastions.

Most likely they are performing SIGINT missions, and especially collecting passive sonar data on US naval activity.

I'd also argue that the Cold War is over, and what we are seeing now is normal field exercising and intelligence gathering.

We do the same kind of thing, every day.

Any modern blue water naval power does.



[edit on 8/4/09 by xmotex]

Originally posted by MOFreemason

Originally posted by deltaboy
Must have lost a submarine. Most likely a Typhoon class sub with intention of defecting to the U.S., hence why the Russian attack boats are patrolling near the east coast of the U.S.

I'm rather ignorant of military protocol for other nations.

Would they send their destroyers to actually destroy a potential defecting submarine from their own country? Or, is it more to apprehend the military personnel and prevent the sub from becoming accessed by the US military?

Am I the only one to see The Hunt For Red October other than Deltaboy? I'm guessing that the commander of the "defecting sub" must be named Captain Marko Ramius and bear a striking resemblance to Sean Connery. That's one of my all time favorite movies.

Edit to add: OK, CuriousSkeptic got it too.

[edit on 4-8-2009 by tallcool1]