Quote:Swedish military 'sights Russian submarine' off coast of Stockholm



Russia denies any involvement in the reported submarine hunt

AGENCY

Monday 20 October 2014

The Swedish military said Sunday it had made three credible sightings of foreign undersea activity in its waters during the past few days amid reports of a suspected Russian intrusion in the area.
[B][B]Rear Adm. Anders Grenstad said the armed forces had observed the activity in the Stockholm archipelago and nearby coastal area, but declined to give details of an operation reminiscent of the Cold War, when Sweden's armed forces routinely hunted for Soviet submarines in its waters. [/B][/B]
[B][B]The armed forces published a photograph taken on Sunday by a passerby showing a partially submerged object in the water from a distance, but it was unclear what kind of vessel was in question. [/B][/B]

[B][B]Grenstad told reporters that he wouldn't speculate on the photograph or sightings except to say the region is "of interest to a foreign power." [/B][/B]
[B][B]The military said the intelligence operation, involving a few hundred people, began Friday. It was sparked by information "from a credible source." [/B][/B]
[B][B]Grenstad said it had no information about any emergency messages suggesting a Russian mini-submarine had run into trouble in Swedish waters and could be damaged, as reported by the Svenska Dagbladet daily. [/B][/B]
[B][B]The Defense Ministry in Moscow said its submarines and ships have been "fulfilling their tasks in the world's oceans," according to plan, Russian news agencies reported. [/B][/B]
[B][B]"There have been no emergencies or accidents with Russian military vessels," an unnamed spokesman at the ministry was quoted as saying. [/B][/B]
[B][B]Anders Nordin from the Swedish Maritime Administration said a Russian-owned oil tanker, Concord, which had reportedly been circling near Swedish waters for days, started sailing in a northeasterly direction toward Russia on Sunday morning. But it suddenly turned around and headed back in the direction of Sweden, according to Marine Traffic, a website which monitors vessels in the Baltic Sea. [/B][/B]
[B][B]Media reports said the movements of the Liberian-flagged tanker might be connected to the submarine search. [/B][/B]
[B][B]In 1981, a Soviet sub carrying nuclear weapons was stranded off Sweden's southeastern coast, causing an 11-day diplomatic standoff before Swedish authorities allowed the submarine to return home. [/B][/B]
[B][B]Swedish officials wouldn't speculate on what foreign power could be behind the suspected intrusion Friday. Last month, the Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador to protest a violation of Swedish airspace by two Russian military aircraft.[/B][/B]

Quote:

Confirms: The submarine came from Holland

Adam ropes Ning, 22, sailed outside Santahamina Monday. And met a black submarine.

Now the defense confirms that it was a foreign submarine.
- The Naval Tactical Command has analyzed the image. There is a Dutch submarine that samövade with Swedish military said Mikael Abrahamsson, information officer at the Armed Forces.




Shortly after 14 o'clock on Monday met Adam ropes Ning and his friends sail a submarine just outside Santahamina.
- It came very quickly. We were only about 50 meters from it. It was just black. It came completely open, says Adam told Aftonbladet.
When news that the defense examines foreign submarine activity in the archipelago responded Adam.
- On Monday, I thought that it was a Swedish submarine, but now I do not know if it was any other type of submarine.
- Sure to become thoughtful, considering everything that has happened.

"More pictures of the same submarine"

After the Navy Tactical Command analyzed the image so one can now conclude that it was a foreign ubått as Adama ropes Ning took pictures of.
- There was a Dutch submarine that samövade with Swedish military. We've got more pictures of the same submarine from several witnesses, says Mikael Abrahamsson, Communications Officer at the Armed Forces.
At the beginning of the week, Swedish military samövat with the Dutch fleet.
- The ship in the picture is a submarine of the so-called Walrus-class, says Mikael Abrahamsson.

Quote: But Swedish Rear Admiral Anders Grenstad told reporters that the search was prompted by a photo sent to the Defense Ministry by a man, who witnessed it surface and dive again. He said the Navy didn't single out Russia as the foreign nation behind the submarine activity."From the information we have, we cannot draw the same conclusion as the media that there is a damaged U-boat. We have no information about an emergency signal or the use of an emergency channel," he said.The admiral confirmed that a Swedish naval exercise, involving a submarine from the Netherlands, had been under way off the Stockholm coast at the time of the first sighting.

Quote:Mystery submarine sighting gives clue to Russia's Arctic ambitions

Norwegian scientists apparently spot aging nuclear research vessel, part of President Putin's plan to send 6000 troops to an area rich in oil and gas


The men said that they approached the submarine, but she sank back under the ice when they were within 100 metres of her Photo: Audun Tholfsen and Yngve Kristoffersen

By Ali Kefford

7:16AM GMT 28 Oct 2014


A chance encounter by scientists adrift on an Arctic ice floe has given the first clues to a new Cold War being played out in in the far north, where Vladimir Putin has made no secret of his ambitions to extend Russian influence.

Yngve Kristoffersen and Audun Tholfsen, two Norwegian researchers, were coming to the end of their day when they spotted something unusual on the water.

"In the evening we spotted lights at a distance," the scientists recorded in their blog for October 16.

"Turned out to be a submarine at the surface in position: 89° 17.5' N, 172° 42.9' W. We were not able to identify it."

The men said that they approached the boat, but she sank back under the ice when they were within 100 metres of her.

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They did, however, obtain several photographs which show a distinctive profile, with the outline of the fin and bulbous bow pointing to her being a Russian nuclear submarine.
She has been potentially identified as the Delta class boat Orenburg.
If so, then the scientists met an old monster, a former ballistic missile bomber which displaces 13,700 tons when submerged, and was originally commissioned into the Northern Fleet in 1981.
Later refurbished to be able to launch and retrieve a mini-submarine, she is now believed to be used for classified deep-sea research.
This chimes with last week's announcement that the Kremlin intends to create a 6,000-strong Arctic force and open bases across the ice cap, beneath which are significant undiscovered reserves of oil, natural gas and minerals.
But not all Russian submarines are aged relics, as Putin began rearming his fleet in earnest five years ago.

[SUB]Audun Tholfsen and Yngve Kristoffersen spotted the submarine poking through an ice floe (Audun Tholfsen and Yngve Kristoffersen)[/SUB]
A new generation of ballistic missile submarines is already being launched, able to prowl the deep much further afield than their predecessors.
Submarines from the Russian Black Sea, Pacific and Northern fleets are being observed much more regularly in the Mediterranean.
And last week Swedish military carried out an intense search of coastal waters for a foreign submarine, believed to be a Russian midget vessel similar to their old Pirahnas.
Whatever she was, she ultimately eluded her pursuers.
During the Cold War there were numerous tense skirmishes between Western and Soviet submarines below the Arctic cap, the details of which still remain largely classified.
"We were, at times, actually only one turn of a key away from firing," a senior naval source said.
2Some of our of commanding officers went straight to Downing Street after coming back alongside from such patrols."
The British and US submarine services who, by tradition, work extremely closely, have never dropped their guard in the intervening years.
They will now be using every intelligence-gathering technique available to them to monitor current Russian activity.
"There is almost certainly a US submarine there now," said the source.
"And if there isn't one there permanently below the Arctic ice cap, the High North will be on a periodic patrol cycle."