Russian Nuclear Sub Patrols In Gulf of Mexico Undetected

So much for Obama's reset with Russian. Next he is cheering the cutting of the defense budget and dismantling of our nuclear deterrent.

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.

[snip]

“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.

Those submarine patrols raised concerns at the time about a new Russian military assertiveness toward the United States, according to the New York Times, which first reported the 2009 Akula submarine activity.

The latest submarine incursion in the Gulf further highlights the failure of the Obama administration’s “reset” policy of conciliatory actions designed to develop closer ties with Moscow.

Instead of closer ties, Russia under President Vladimir Putin, an ex-KGB intelligence officer who has said he wants to restore elements of Russia’s Soviet communist past, has adopted growing hardline policies against the United States.

Of the submarine activity, Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas), member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said, “It’s a confounding situation arising from a lack of leadership in our dealings with Moscow. While the president is touting our supposed ‘reset’ in relations with Russia, Vladimir Putin is actively working against American interests, whether it’s in Syria or here in our own backyard.”

The Navy is facing sharp cuts in forces needed to detect and counter such submarine activity.

The Obama administration’s defense budget proposal in February cut $1.3 billion from Navy shipbuilding projects, which will result in scrapping plans to build 16 new warships through 2017.

The budget also called for cutting plans to buy 10 advanced P-8 anti-submarine warfare jets needed for submarine detection.

In June, Russian strategic nuclear bombers and support aircraft conducted a large-scale nuclear bomber exercise in the arctic. The exercise included simulated strikes on “enemy” strategic sites that defense officials say likely included notional attacks on U.S. missile defenses in Alaska.

Under the terms of the 2010 New START arms accord, such exercises require 14-day advanced notice of strategic bomber drills, and notification after the drills end. No such notification was given.

A second, alarming air incursion took place July 4 on the West Coast when a Bear H strategic bomber flew into U.S. airspace near California and was met by U.S. interceptor jets.

That incursion was said to have been a bomber incursion that has not been seen since before the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

[snip]

http://freebeacon.com/silent-running/

 

I'm sure there a couple of Ohio class subs in Russian waters as we speak, calm down, the Russians are not coming!

 

Maybe if we didn't have most of our navy in the persian gulf or far east, we could actually do what our military is supposed to do and defend our own country.

And don't be naive. The defense establishment is worried sick that they will lose funding if the automatic budget sequester hits. Stories like this don't appear by accident. I note the article is written to make it seem like the sub cruised up the florida coast, took in the sights at New Orleans, then buzzed a few oil rigs off texas, but it is actually quite vague as to where the sub was, except in "strategic US waters", which could mean off the coast of venezuela.

 

See, there he is again, that AAA we were once asking to start his own blog, before he was bitten by the right wing zombies.

Maybe it was just a scratch, AAA, fight it, man, fight it!!!!

 

+1


I agree with AAA here.AAA's post on Ryan was nearly identical to mine.Captain Obvious also seems to be coming to his senses lately

 

Me, naive? Not likely. It says it was in the Gulf of Mexico but doesn't mention how they eventually determined how or where it patrolled.

They are selling this class of sub and the next version to countries like Venezuela and possibly Iran which does make this troubling.

Putin is testing Obama. Fortunately, we won't have to worry about that in a few months.

 

The Cap'n is having some fun. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

The russians would have never dared come close if there was no Iraq war which was caused by zionism. The aids to Israel and to zionism should be cut and given to the military who need it and deserve it.

 

The Russians are here already and they came through JFK. . . . remember ''birther lawyer '' Taitz ?

 

there are also statements on the net saying Pravda says there are missiles in Cuba.