Abstract
The “Soviet Threat” is not an easy thing to describe in a balanced and objective fashion. The very word “threat” is emotive and subjective. First, its use presupposes that a conclusion as to the nature of Soviet power and its relationship to the West has already been made, and that further discussion will merely add detail to that conclusion. Secondly, there is the constant danger that the analyst will: (1) either overplay “the threat” in order to produce a “bogey man” for political or military psychological purposes; or that, (2) in attempting to display his “balance” and “objectivity” and to avoid being associated with a Western military or “bourgeois” outlook, he will conclude that the Soviet forces are purely self-defensive and present no “threat” at all.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
Marx-Engels “Sochineniya” (Moscow, 1953) Vol. 10, p. 535
quoted in P. H. Vigor, The Soviet View of War, Peace and Neutrality (London: R.K.P., 1975 ). Mr. Vigor’s book is essential reading for all who wish to understand the Soviet approach to war.
General Krupchenko, Voenno-Istoricheskii Zhurnal (Soviet Military Historical Journal), C. Donnelly, transl., July 1981, pp. 13 ff.
Major Wojciech Michalak, “Lotnictwo w Dzialaniach Rajdowo-Manewrowych Wojsk Ladowych” (Aviation in the Raid and Manoeuvre Operations of the Ground Forces), Z. Agar, transl., in Przeglad Wojsk Lotniczych i Wojsk Obrony Powietrznej Kraju ( Soviet Air Force and Air Defence Review ), Poland, February 1982.
Colonel Lachiewicz and Colonel Rajmanski, “Potrzeby Wojsk Ladowych w Zakresie Rozpoznania i Wsparcia Ogniowego Przez Smiglowce w Dzialaniach Nocnych” (Helicopter Recce and Fire Missions in Support of Land Operations at Night), Z. Agar, transi., in Przeglad Wojsk Lotniczych i Wojsk Obrony Powietrznej Kraju ( Soviet Air Force and Air Defence Review ), Poland, June 1981.
See General Zaitsev, Voenny Vestnik February 1979, pp. 23 ff for a definitive statement of this.
See J. W. Kehoe and K. S. Brower, “U.S. and Soviet Weapon System Design Practices,” International Defense Review, June 1982.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1983 The American Academy of Arts and Sciences
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Donnelly, C.N. (1983). Supporting Paper: Soviet Operational Concepts in the 1980s. In: Strengthening Conventional Deterrence in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-17082-1_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-17082-1_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-36024-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-17082-1
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)