Russian Subs Patrolling Off East Coast of U.S.
WASHINGTON — A pair of nuclear-powered Russian attack submarines has been patrolling off the eastern seaboard of the United States in recent days, a rare mission that has raised concerns inside the Pentagon and intelligence agencies about a more assertive stance by the Russian military.
The episode has echoes of the cold war era, when the United States and the Soviet Union regularly parked submarines off each other's coasts to steal military secrets, track the movements of their underwater fleets — and be poised for war.
But the collapse of the Soviet Union all but eliminated the ability of the Russian Navy to operate far from home ports, making the current submarine patrols thousands of miles from Russia more surprising for military officials and defense policy experts.
"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 submarine warfare expert.
The submarines are of the Akula class, a counterpart to the Los Angeles class attack subs of the United States Navy, and not one of the larger submarines that can launch intercontinental nuclear missiles.
According to Defense Department officials, one of the Russian submarines remained in international waters on Tuesday about 200 miles off the coast of the United States. The location of the second remained unclear. One senior official said the second submarine traveled south in recent days toward Cuba, while another senior official with access to reports on the surveillance mission said it had sailedaway in a northerly direction.
The Pentagon and intelligence officials spoke anonymously to describe the effort to track the Russian submarines, which has not been publicly announced.
President Obama spoke by telephone with President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia on Tuesday, but it was not clear whether the subject of the submarines came up, although another source of friction between the two countries did. Mr. Medvedev called Mr. Obama to wish him a happy birthday and the White House said the president used the opportunity to urge Russia to work through diplomatic channels to resolve rising tensions with Georgia.
The submarine patrols come as Moscow tries to shake off the embarrassment of the latest failed test of the Bulava missile, a long-range weapon that was test fired from a submarine in the Arctic on July 15. The failed missile test was the sixth since 2005, and some experts see Russia's assertiveness elsewhere as a gambit by the military to prove its continued relevance.
"It's the military trying to demonstrate that they are still a player in Russian political and economic matters," Mr. Polmar said.
One of the submarines is the newer Akula II, officials said, which is quieter than the older variant and the most advanced in the Russian fleet. The Akula is capable of carrying torpedoes for attacking other submarines and surface vessels as well as missiles for striking targets on land and at sea.
Defense Department officials declined to speculate on which weapons might be aboard the two submarines.
While the submarines have not taken any provocative action beyond their presence outside territorial waters of the United States, officials expressed wariness over the Kremlin's motivation for ordering such an unusual mission.
"Anytime the Russian Navy does something so out of the ordinary it is cause for worry," said a senior Defense Department official who has been monitoring reports on the submarines' activities.
The official said the Navy was able to track the submarines as they made their way through international waters off the American coastline. This can be done from aircraft, ships, underwater sensors or other submarines.
"We've known where they were, and we're not concerned about our ability to track the subs," the official added. "We're concerned just because they are there."
Once among the world's most powerful forces, the Russian Navy now has very few ships regularly deployed on the open seas. Moscow has contributed warships to the international armada searching for Somali pirates. In addition, a flotilla of Russian warships participated in exercises with Venezuela last year.
Update, from Carl again:
Canada tracking Russian subs off East Coast
By Murray Brewster (CP) – 18 hours ago
OTTAWA — The air force has sent a surveillance plane to keep tabs on two Russian attack submarines cruising off the East Coast in a patrol that harkens back to the Cold War.
The nuclear-powered subs were first spotted in international waters off Georgia on Aug. 5, raising eyebrows, but no sharp response from either the U.S. or Canada.
Defence sources say it's believed the Akula II Class warships have since moved north, and remain outside of Canadian and American territorial limits, which extends 12 nautical miles into the ocean.
It's unclear whether Canada took the initiative to have a CP-140 Aurora patrol plane watch the vessels, or whether there was a request from the U.S. Northern Command which tracks submarines.
A spokesman for Canada Command, the Ottawa-based military headquarters in charge of continental defence, downplayed the surveillance mission and refused to discuss details, describing it as "routine" for the patrol aircraft which have spent most of their nearly 30 year career as submarine hunters.
"We don't talk about ongoing activity, especially if it's a surveillance flight," said Lt. Noel Paine. "We don't discuss any activity of vessel of interest - or any area that (the aircraft) is flying."
The Russian patrol comes as the navy prepares to conduct an anti-submarine exercise in the Arctic this month.
It also comes just a few days after Defence Minister Peter MacKay criticized Moscow over a planned exercise to drop paratroopers on the North Pole this summer.
On Tuesday, MacKay was quick to point out that the submarines had not done anything threatening, but said it's all part of a pattern of "Russia flexing its muscle" on the world stage.
"For a variety of reasons, to demonstrate our commitment to sovereignty, we're watching to ensure we know what is happening along our coastlines," he said in a telephone interview from his Nova Scotia riding.
"Anything that comes near sovereign Canadian territory, we are going to react."
MacKay's hawkish comments have in the past been dismissed by critics as the stale rhetoric from the Cold War, but defence insiders say they point to a mounting frustration within the Conservative government over Russia's wilful attitude when it comes to testing the boundaries of other countries.
The Kremlin often doesn't give any warning.
American officials say Moscow did not notify them about the submarine excursion - the first of its kind since the end of the Cold War.
It is another sign of stepped up Russian military activity, which has included several flights by strategic bombers that have brushed up against Canada's Arctic border - but not crossed over.
Last February, Canadian fighter jets scrambled to intercept an approaching Russian bomber less than 24 hours before U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Ottawa.
As with other cases, the long-range Bear bomber did not enter Canada's airspace but the two CF-18 fighters had to order the plane to "back off."
The Arctic, with its prospective mineral wealth and ill-defined borders, has become an area of intense competition among Canada, Russia, the United States, Denmark and other countries.
The Kremlin caused a stir this year by declaring it was creating a special military force to protect its oil and natural gas interests in the Arctic - a plan that Russian Ambassador Georgyi Mamedov claimed was twisted out of context by Western governments.
Last year, the Russian navy conducted an exercise with Venezuela in the Caribbean, in what was the first deployment of Russian ships to the Western Hemisphere since the Cold War.
Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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