Sweden prepared to use 'armed force' in search for elusive 'Russian submarine'

ALL content used in this not-for-profit blog remain the property of their respective owners.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/swedish-military-prepared-to-use-armed-force-as-search-for-russian-submarine-continues-9810495.html

Sweden would be willing to use force against a foreign submarine believed to have entered the Stockholm archipelago, a senior military official has reportedly said.

There was growing anger in Sweden after the military admitted the submarine – suspected to be a Russian vessel – was not the first to have been detected over recent years. The previous cases were not made public.

Rear Admiral Anders Grenstad, deputy chief of joint operations, told BBC News: “If we find the submarine, the captain of the ship has the possibility to use weapons to get it to stop whatever it is doing.

“We hate the fact that we have something in our waters – or we believe something is in our waters.”

He added that he did not know which country owned the submarine, saying: “Everybody is speculating .”

Russian defence ministry officials have denied claims that a Russian submarine got into difficulty in the waters off Sweden and issued a distress signal.

The military spokesman Erik Lagersten confirmed some naval assets, including the corvette HMS Visby, had returned to a base for “maintenance”. He added that the search had now entered “a partially new phase” but denied suggestions the search was being scaled back.

The Swedish military launched the hunt on Friday after receiving what it described as credible reports of foreign underwater activity in waters between the islands that extend from Stockholm, into the Baltic Sea.

Russian media has claimed Sweden is overreacting. The Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper suggested the submarine hunt could be a ploy staged by the Swedish military to boost its defence budget, which has undergone a series of cuts since the Cold War.