Jack Ryan a CIA analyst who gets caught up in an international incident when Marko Ramius, Russias top submarine instructor steals Russia’s most advanced nuclear submarines, The Red October and tries to defect to the West in secret. He is disillusioned with the motherland after the death of his wife. The Russian submarine has a silent propulsion system called a caterpillar drive and for this technology to get into the hands of the West would be a catastrophe. This is the biggest scoop of military intelligence in US history. Jack Ryan is an expert in submarines and has met Ramius before at diplomatic functions. Ryan is recruited by Admiral James Greer head of the CIA to find the submarine, communicate with Captain Ramius and help him defect to the West without the Russian fleet finding out.