Soviet naval power in the Pacific

Abstract

Challenging conventional wisdom on several points, Derek da Cunha sets out the factors that have spurred the build-up of Soviet naval capabilities in the Pacific since the late 1970s and analyzes the evolving mission priorities of the Soviet Pacific Fleet. Da Cunha argues that contemporary Soviet fleet exercises indicate a marked departure with regard to prospective wartime missions from those emphasized during Exercise Vesna - the worldwide Soviet naval exercise in 1975. He hypothesizes how the Soviets might be expected to fight a major war in the Pacific and counters the notion that geography must grossly weigh against an effective wartime employment of their navy - hard evidence supports the position that in war the Soviets would turn possible geographic liabilities into assets.