Swedish Helicopter Fires at Suspected Foreign Submarine

A Swedish navy helicopter dropped depth charges and fired anti-submarine grenades Wednesday at what appeared to be a foreign submarine detected in coastal waters, the military said.

The weapons were used after several days of indications of “unidentified alien submarine activity” in Tore Bay at the northern end of the Bothnia Gulf that divides much of Sweden and Finland, defense staff spokesman Jan Tuninger said.

There was no indication that anything was hit, he said, and the search continued early today.

Tuninger did not say what country was suspected of being responsible for the intrusion. A Soviet submarine ran aground near a major Swedish naval base in 1981. In 1982, Sweden lodged a strong protest accusing the Soviets of violating Swedish waters with their submarines. There have been several suspected intrusions by foreign submarines since then.