A Russian spy ship patrolled 30 miles offshore a U.S. Navy submarine base in Connecticut on Wednesday in what that state’s congressman called an effort to test the resolve of the new Trump administration.
A U.S. defense official told CNN the SSV-175 Viktor Leonov sailing in international waters is outfitted with a variety of high-tech spying equipment designed to intercept signals intelligence. Fox News first reported the ship’s location.
The official noted it is not the first time the ship has been deployed off the coast of the U.S. The Leonov carried out similar patrols in 2014 and 2015 off the Florida coast, and such missions were more common during the Cold War.
Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., a member of the House Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, said the ship was spotted about 30 miles from the Naval Submarine Base New London, located in Groton, Conn. It is the Navy’s primary East Coast submarine base.