The Soviet Navy of World War III (1979-1988)

The Soviet Navy
Preparing for World War III
(1979-1987)

By 1980 it was clear that Admiral Gorshkov's 'balanced fleet' would be capable of carrying out a variety of missions anywhere in the world. This worked well with Leonid Brezhnev's concept of ensuring the security of the Soviet Union. He felt that the best way of deterring a foreign power from attacking the Soviet Union was by establishing a large military. This would make the price of attack far too high for anyone to pay.

He also sought to expand the global presence of the Soviet Union so the he could monitor Western powers and carry the fight to their homelands if they wanted to attack. Brezhnev advanced this goal by sending military advisors and massive amounts of foreign aid to nations that could be useful to the USSR or nations that would destabilize the West. He also actively supported Communist wars of liberation around the world. The navy was to play a critical role in this new doctrine.

This policy had an immediate effect in the West who perceived it as a dangerous attempt to disrupt global stability, or as part of a Soviet effort to dominate the world. This caused a further increase in the arms race and made both sides feel more threatened by the other.

The naval budget increased dramatically and ship building increased. Special emphasis was placed on the ships designed in the mid-70's. The navy would also begin drafting plans for fighting and winning a war with the West that many on both sides feared was inevitable.

The first priority of new doctrine would be to isolate European NATO from the United States by taking control of the North Atlantic. This would cut off any reinforcements that the United States intended to send to stop a Soviet drive into Western Europe. It was a difficult mission that would require the fleet to breakthrough the heavily defended Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom gap. The burden of this task would fall disproportionately on the sailors of the Northern Fleet. The fleet was the largest and most modern of all Soviet naval formations for this reason.

The second mission of the fleet was much less aggressive. It was tasked with defending the coastal waters of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact allies. The navy was also to maintain control of the sea lanes in these same areas. In the European theater of operations these tasks were the responsibility of the Baltic and Black Sea fleets.

Defensively, the Northern and Pacific fleets would concentrate on protecting the ballistic missile submarine bastions so that the nation could maintain a credible nuclear deterrent force. The fleet would also rely on land-based aviation and cruise missiles to further augment the fleet.

This doctrine would remain in effect for the remainder of Brezhnev's rule. His successors Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko did not remain in office long enough to make any significant changes. They both shared Brezhnev's distrust of the West, and continued the aggressive foreign policy and heavy military spending.

Several events in 1985 would lead to a review of Brezhnev's war-fighting doctrine. The first was the realization that the Soviet Union would not be able to sustain the high levels of military spending that it had enjoyed in the past decade. It was causing shortages of domestic goods at home and increasing tensions with the West.

The second event would lead to new reforms. It came when Chernenko died and was replaced by Mikhail Gorbachev who proved to be more moderate in his views. Gorbachev also saw that since 1981 the United States had sought to challenge Soviet aggression anywhere in the world. The days of detente and Western indifference were long past. It also became clear that Brezhnev's policy of strategic defense had the opposite effect and only antagonized the West.

In an effort to reduce tensions and military spending the Soviet naval force posture came under review in 1985. The man who would oversee these changes was the Admiral N. V. Chernavin who became the supreme commander of the Soviet navy that year. He would spend the next few years trying to make the navy more efficient since it would have to operate with much less in the future.

The last five years of Brezhnev's rule saw a dramatic increase in Soviet naval deployments around the world. The fleet began visiting the ports of allied nations and conducted naval exercises with greater frequency. Older ships were either modernized or scrapped so resources would not have to be wasted on obsolete vessels. Maritime surveillance flights were also stepped up to keep an eye on NATO naval activity around the world.

By the mid-eighties the Soviet navy was operating regularly in all oceans of the world. It also maintained a continuous presence in the Mediterranean Sea which was strengthened in July 1981 when a two ships made the first Soviet mission to Libya. Such visits to quickly became routine during the 1980's. Regular missions into the Caribbean were also conducted from ports in Cuba. The longest of these Caribbean missions occurred in November 1982 and lasted until February 1983.

General naval readiness was constantly tested by a number of large fleet exercises. While none of these compared in scope to the earlier Okean series, they were significant in that they demonstrated a greater degree of tactical sophistication and increased experience.

The first of these took place in April 1980 and was focused mainly on the ability of the Northern fleet to break through NATO defenses and conduct operations in the Atlantic Ocean. The next major exercise occurred in Spring of 1984 and involved half of the ships of the Northern Fleet, including the Kirov battlecruiser. The largest naval exercise of the era was conducted in Summer of 1985. This involved 50 warships, 30 submarines, and 25 auxiliary ships from both the Northern and Black Sea fleets.

Other minor deployments included long term operations by led Moskva class carriers in the Atlantic Ocean, Red Sea, Barents Sea, and Mediterranean. Visits to the Arabian sea also increased, with 87 ships transiting the area in 1982 alone.

Naval reconnaissance was initially carried out by Il-38 'May' aircraft flying from bases in Ethiopia (at Asmara) and Yemen (Socotra and Aden). This enabled the Soviet navy to monitor maritime activities in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Arabian Sea. Other patrols operated from a base in Angola (at Luanda) to keep an eye on the situation in the coastal waters of West Africa.

Soviet surveillance capability was further enhanced by the signing a treaty of friendship with Vietnam in 1979. The Vietnamese allowed the Soviet navy to operate both ships and Tu-142 'Bear' aircraft from a base at Camh Rahn bay. This extended the reach of naval aviation to the whole of the South China Sea.

The entire surface fleet had evolved considerably during the 1970's, but it was to become even more capable in the years that followed. It may have lagged behind the West in some area, but was rapidly catching up.

By 1981 the fleet was operating four carriers. Two of these were the modern Kiev class. This was further increased with the commissioning of a third Kiev in 1983, while a fourth one was also under construction. Work on a new 50,000 ton carrier was also under development. It would be the first Soviet carrier capable of using conventional fixed wing aircraft.

Cruiser programs were also heavily emphasized. The first of the powerful Kirov class battlecruisers were introduced in 1980, with a second ship joining the fleet four years later. The fleet would be further enhanced by the addition of the Udaloy, Slava and Sovremenny class guided missile cruisers. All three of these ships were designed to counter the threat posed by NATO carrier battle groups on the high seas.

A number of new frigates were also put to sea in the 1980's. The most common would be of the Krivak class. Nine of these would be Krivak III variants that would serve with the KGB boarder guards in the coastal defense role. The other major frigate of the era was the Koni class which was produced between 1978 and 1984. The ship was for exported to Cuba, East Germany, and Yugoslavia in an effort to bolster the fleet strength of allied socialist nations.

The destroyers of the Soviet navy were the only class of ships to see a reduction in total number, as the older ships of the Kotlin, Skory, and Kildin classes were retired from service.

The Soviet submarine force underwent many changes in the early 1980's as attempted to modernize while keeping its quantitative advantage over the West. The older Yankee and Hotel class missile submarines were to be withdrawn from service beginning in 1980. Replacing them would be the modern Delta III and Delta IV boats. These submarines carried 16 ballistic missiles of either SS-N-18 or SS-N-23 type.

The early 80's would also see the appearance of two huge nuclear powered submarines - the Typhoon and the Oscar classes. The Oscar was a guided missile submarine designed specifically to seek and destroy NATO carrier battle groups. Its over-the-horizon cruise missiles allowed the boat to engage these targets at great distances. Yet even these mighty submarine paled in comparison to the massive Typhoon class that first went to sea in November of 1980. The Typhoon mounted 20 SS-N-20 three-stage missiles, each of which carried 10 MIRV warheads. When it was introduced there was no submarine like it in the world.

The diesel fleet was not ignored during this time. The Kilo class provided the Soviets with a boat that was quiet and modern. A dozen were built during the first half of the decade. Others were made for export to allied nations. Reductions in the diesel fleet included a number of boats from the early Cold War. The first of these were the Zulu class boats that were all stricken in the early 1980's. The Romeo and Whiskey class submarines would follow. By 1982 only 60 Whiskey class boats remained. Even the reliable Foxtrot class saw its numbers decline.

The naval air force formed a critical part of Brezhnev's offensive doctrine. The force was made more efficient in the early 1980's when its air-defense duties were transferred to the air force. This left 1,200 aircraft to perform the traditional tasks of maritime reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare, and to perform anti-shipping missions.

Anti-submarine operations were enhanced in the mid-1980's with the introduction of the Ka-27 'Helix' helicopter. This aircraft featured a new dipping sonar that its predecessor lacked. New cruise missiles helped make aircraft like the Tu-22M 'Backfire' more effective over longer ranges.

The Soviets also began paying more attention to maintaining secure communications with their fleet submarines at sea. This would allow them to maintain constant control over the boats (particularly the ballistic missile submarines) in the event of war. The introduction of the Bear-J in 1982 gave them this capability. It was equipped with a GLONASS satellite navigation systems and a very low frequency antennae to establish a secure reliable connection between Moscow and the submarine fleet.

In the early 1980's the Soviet Naval Infantry was re-organized to fit the new offensive Soviet doctrine. The results of this change gave each Naval Infantry motor rifle division much greater organic firepower in the form of more medium tanks and artillery of all types. Mobility was also emphasized, as the new multiple rocket launchers and tube artillery were all self propelled.

In the European theater, the troops of the Northern and Baltic fleets were tasked with supporting the army as they advanced into Western Europe by conducting landings in Norway, Denmark, and even Iceland. Their mission would be to seize air fields and to out maneuver NATO forces in the area. The mission of the Pacific Fleet troops was even more difficult. If war began, the 8,000 men based at Vladivostok were tasked with seizing the Japanese northern islands. Operations against the Japanese island of Hokkido itself were also planned.

The force was well prepared for its new role in spite of its small size. It gained more experience in using the powerful Ivan Rogov class amphibious assault ship, and added many more landing craft and air cushion vehicles to its inventory. By 1983 there were no less than ten variants of the Polnochny LST, of which there were seventy in service. Naval fire support would continue to be provided by the Sverdlov class cruisers. Perhaps the most startling development was the deployment of the massive Promornik Class air cushion vehicle which could carry two tanks, or four PT-76 light tanks along with a detachment of Naval Infantry. It also had its own anti-aircraft armament in the form of AGS-630 30mm guns and formed a powerful addition to the landing force.

By the end of the era the troops of the Naval Infantry began replacing their distinctive black uniforms with camouflage fatigues. These were based on the M-81 airborne uniform used in Afghanistan. They were much more comfortable and better suited to modern warfare. The M-68 pattern black uniforms were retained for garrison duty and parades.