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The Missions of the Soviet Navy

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The Sea in Soviet Strategy

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Abstract

Past and present Soviet naval construction, exercises, deployments and writings suggest a mission structure which looks like that shown in Figure 7. These nine missions are not arranged in any particular order of priority and are presented in an unwholesome mixture of Western and Sovet terminology for greater clarity. However, because they determine the state’s capacity to survive and prevail in war, the fleet’s war tasks are in a sense ‘more important’ than its peacetime ones. Of the six wartime missions, those which most directly influence the outcome of the war on land are the most important, because in the Soviet view, wars are fought basically about land and are largely won or lost upon it. A state’s capacity to prosper in peacetime will reflect its capacity to prevail in war. In peacetime, the fleet can be used in a variety of ways to advance the interests of the state and to help provide the conditions for the advance of international socialism.

Functions of the Soviet Navy

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Notes and References

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  1. Bryan Ranft
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  2. Geoffrey Till
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© 1989 Bryan Ranft and Geoffrey Till

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Ranft, B., Till, G. (1989). The Missions of the Soviet Navy. In: The Sea in Soviet Strategy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-09464-6_7

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