[Renfrew]

This is nonsense. There is a permanent patrol of US submarines in the Barents Sea. It is where the Russia subs need to traverse to go anywhere. We have been keeping an eye on them for 70 years.

[rlmorel]

That is kind of what I thought.

I was a bit puzzled at the characterization of them being there as a trigger point. I know these are indeed tense times, but US submarines are in no way strangers to those waters.

Perhaps it is the first time any of these media people have given it a thought. Personally, I would be even more concerned if we didn't have boats up there at times like this.

And it is a bit breathless with the line "It is not excluded that Russia will send anti-submarine reconnaissance aircraft to “monitor” US nuclear submarines when they approach their territorial waters..."

Heh, well, no duh. If the Russians still have any functioning subs, of course they would have them prowling around. I know times are tense and anything can happen, but...there is no surprise about us being there.