A United States Navy carrier strike group, just chilling off the shore of Florida (they say training, I think they’re having a vacation), start seeing something on the radar and they’re all, “say what?” Turns out it’s a Russian sub, hanging out in international waters.
The submarine in question was one of the Russians’ Sierra-2 submarines, which are nuclear powered, but doesn’t carry ballistic missiles — only torpedoes and anti-submarine weapons.
Earlier in the year, Moscow had indicated they were going to ramp up their deep-water patrols, and this appears to be the follow-through of their planning. The US Navy tripped over themselves to let everyone know that the sub never entered US territorial waters, never even came close, and wasn’t following any ships.
And the sub didn’t come close to any of our bases and showed no indication it was looking for anything specific. If anything, the Department of Navy suggests, they were just hangin’ out. Sightseeing, even. I mean, right now it’s really frickin’ cold in Russia. If I lived in Russia, I’d go to Florida, too.
Of course, now we’re following the sub, and we have been for a couple of weeks. The Russians are probably annoyed by this, but what can you do?
Really, I just think we’re getting bored and now we’re playing a big ol’ game of hide-and-seek until something we like catches on fire.
I’m certain that the stakes are ridiculously high, but every time I hear stories like this my brain just immediately goes to Hunt For The Red October or Crimson Tide. Really, I just want to see Sean Connery and Gene Hackman square off. Hunt For The Crimson Tide. Someone get on it, make a mashup.
Question: Seriously, how good are those movies? I miss Gene Hackman. I wish he would come back to acting.
