American Media Reports on Russian Sub in Gulf of Mexico

15.08.2012 The Washington Free Beacon reported about Akula-class Russian nuclear submarine detected off the US in the Gulf of Mexico, writes Lenta.ru. The sub has spent about a month in the gulf and was detected only when leaving the zone, reported The Washington Free Beacon referring to undisclosed sources in the US state authorities.

The Russian submarine was on patrol close to American territorial waters since June till July 2012. Neither certain dates nor estimated location of the sub were specified. According to The Washington Free Beacon, the fact that US Navy failed to detect the submarine arouses concern of the US security agencies.

There are no other proves of the Russian submarine deployed in the Gulf of Mexico so far. US official authorities did not comment the incident.

By all appearances, the question is a Project 971 Schuka-B submarine (known in NATO as Akula class). These are the basic attack submarines in Russian Navy; they have lower signature comparing to previous generations of subs. In total, 15 submarines of this kind were produced; most of them are based in Northern and Pacific fleets.