[Myrddin]

Sub launched nukes are a much bigger threat than ICBM. Almost no hope of nailing them in "boost" phase. Time of flight is short because they move close to the target. It would be a darn shame if a few of those refurbished boats experienced a hull failure.

[judicial meanz]

The good thing is the Golf class is a well known adversary submarine class to the USN, and I doubt those things would be capable of being overhauled and operating in a reliable fashion after all the neglect they suffered.

The bad news is they could cut those tubes and the periphery out and put them on essentially any vessel that is deep draft and floats, as the Reuters article points out Hipshot posted.

If they did put it on a merchant ship hull, the USN could take it out in a few minutes, max.

Those guys are plain nuts.

[Imperialist]

"Sub launched nukes are a much bigger threat than ICBM."(Myrddin)

Heard some stuff recently about German U-Boats getting re-supplied during WWII off the shores of NJ, along the Hudson River, near Hoboken, across the river from NYC. The Light House Inn, or Bar, or something like that. An unidentified U-Boat was found 60 miles off shore from Point Pleasant, NJ recently by amerature divers.

I agree subs are a real danger. HipShot mentioned that NK has the most subs right now? How many subs does NK have? What class of subs? Small subs are available as luxury yachts these days for a few million dollars, as well. "In 1996, there were over fifty private submarines operating around the world, serving approximately two million passengers that year." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine)

Private subs are more dangerous than ICBM's or tourist helicopters right now, IMHO.