Why Britain rarely confirms submarine detections

Clarke says Britain generally avoids confirming either successful tracking or failure to detect a foreign submarine. He argues that routine disclosure would give away information useful to the submarine's operators. In his interpretation, an explicit public announcement would be an exceptional warning rather than ordinary reassurance. The preceding attempt to count Yasen-class boats includes corrections and uncertainty over trials, so it does not establish a dependable fleet inventory. The central point is his explanation of why public silence cannot establish whether tracking occurred.