In 1984, Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius (Connery) commands Red October, a new vessel featuring a caterpillar drive rendering it undetectable to sonar. Ramius leaves port on orders to conduct exercises with the submarine V.K. Konovalov, commanded by his former student Captain Tupolev (Skarsgård). Once at sea, Ramius kills political officer Ivan Putin (Firth), the only man aboard besides himself who knows the sub's orders. He then burns the orders, replaces them with counterfeit orders, and commands the crew to head toward America's east coast to conduct missile drills. The American submarine USS Dallas, on patrol in the North Atlantic, briefly detects Red October but loses contact once Ramius engages the silent drive.