For several decades, a “quiet war” has been waged in the oceans, during which the Russians prepare their pennants for a possible fight. This opinion was voiced by the Polish edition of Defense24.
When 28 April 2020 years Suffren, first nuclear submarine of the Barracuda type, sailed from the port of Cherbourg, by a strange coincidence, two Russian surface ships were nearby - the Boyky corvette (project 20380 with displacement 2 250 t) and "Academician Paschin" tanker (project 23130 with displacement 14 000 t). France immediately suggested, that the Russians came specifically to carry out a spy mission. Her goal was to collect data on a new generation of French submarines.
Wherein, as Defense24 points out, no one questions the right to stay of Russian surface ships in the area: here, at the mouth of the Seine, natural bay located, used by seamen for several hundred years as a waiting place or refuge in the event of severe storms.
According to the publication, Russian goal was to obtain the acoustic and magnetic signature of the Suffren submarine. Although doubts are voiced about the possibility of doing this operation on the side of the entire French fleet: saturated accompaniment of the submarine with other pennants caused a powerful "noise". However, the Russian Navy could additionally use submarines - for example, Shark type, or miniature submarines.
From the words of Defence24, the presence of Russian ships near Cherbourg is further evidence of reconnaissance, whose data can increase the chances of destroying the enemy.
Barracudas are an undeniable challenge for the Russian fleet, from here interest in such units is quite understandable […] For if positive reviews are confirmed, then no Suffren will be for the Russian beast, he himself will become a hunter for Russian submarines
– It concludes Polish edition.
