ABSTRACT
As students of war and believers in dialectical materialism, modern Soviet military theorists appreciate the accelerated pace of contemporary war, and the potential impact of modern weaponry on its course and outcome. They realize the importance of time and the broadened spatial dimensions of global war. Most important, they understand the increased importance of surprise, particularly at strategic and operational levels, and the decisive effects it has on friend and foe. As a leading Soviet military theorist, Colonel V.E. Savkin, wrote in The Basic Principles of Operational Art and Tactics (1972):
The ways and methods of achieving surprise are very diverse … Depending on the concrete conditions of the situation, surprise may be achieved by leading the enemy astray with regard to one’s intentions, by secrecy in preparation and swiftness of troop operations, by broad use of night time conditions, by the unexpected employment of nuclear weapons and other means of destruction, by delivering a forceful attack when and where the enemy does not expect it, and by employing methods of conduct and combat operations and new means of warfare unknown to the enemy.
