GIUK gap stands for the Greenland-Iceland-U.K. gap. This is an imaginary line drawn across the shortest distances between these landmasses which, if defended, can prevent forces from the north (i.e. Soviet/Russian) from getting into the Atlantic ocean, which NATO and especially the U.S. Navy strongly feels is their territory. During the Cold War, this area was likely the scene for numerous instances of 'tag' between NATO and Soviet submarines; several instances of bumping occurred when a Soviet submarine being a tad too aggressive managed to get inside a NATO battle group formation; in at least one case, a U.S. CVN is known to have struck and sunk a Soviet submarine, although no official announcement of such was made.

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