The Soviet Navy

Abstract

The rise of the Soviet Navy over the past twenty years has been one of the most remarkable and certainly remarked upon developments of the post-war era. Because of it, the Soviet Union is a global power as well as a superpower. The sea now plays a more important role in Soviet defence than ever it has before. Nevertheless Soviet naval planners continue to operate under severe constraints and these are more likely to get worse than better in the foreseeable future. In common with all the other parts of the Soviet military establishment, the Navy suffers under a grossly inefficient administrative and governmental system and an economy whose performance deficiencies are becoming steadily more apparent with each passing year. While it may be true that defence is accorded a higher priority in the Soviet Union than it is in most other countries, politico-economic reality limits Soviet defence resources to the extent that painful and possibly controversial choices have to be made in the Soviet Union as elsewhere.