Akula!

This is coolbert:

This was a minor news item this morning. Bill Gertz as heard on the Don Wade and Roma Show, WLS talk radio 890.

Russian Akula class submarine operating in the Gulf of Mexico for some months [?] or weeks [?] undetected !

"Silent Running"

"Russian attack submarine sailed in Gulf of Mexico undetected for weeks, U.S. officials say"

"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 could not be learned whether the submarine in the Gulf of Mexico was an Akula 1 type submarine or a more advanced Akula 2."

There currently exist [?] the Akula in types I, II, and III that Akula I also existing in an improved version!

"Project 971 . . . is a nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) first deployed by the Soviet Navy in 1986 . . . There are four sub-classes or flights of Shchuka, consisting of the original seven 'Akula I' submarines which were commissioned between 1984 and 1990, six "Improved Akula" submarines commissioned between 1991 and 2009, one "Akula II" submarine commissioned in 1995 and one Akula III commissioned in 2001"

My first thought was this was an Alfa class sub but NO, Akula [Shark] is of a different breed. Lots of firepower from one warship, Akula only having a limited number available for sailing at any given moment. That Akula III the export version has been sold to India so presumably from friendly sources the U.S. may know a lot about this sub? Let us hope so.

coolbert.