ABSTRACT
Soviet nuclear strikes would be concentrated in the northern hemisphere because that is where enemy nuclear forces are located that are capable of destroying the USSR as a modern functioning society. The consequences of a Soviet nuclear attack would be much greater if the military bases at Darwin and at Cockburn Sound near Perth were attacked. A Soviet invasion of Australia itself, even if it used Cam Ranh Bay and an intermediate staging base to provide the attacking force with effective air cover and to keep its shipping operational, would involve a very difficult military operation. Soviet forces are not well designed to undertake an opposed landing on a distant continent. The Soviet Union's interest in a nuclear-free zone in the South Pacific can also be seen in the context of wanting American warships and military aircraft excluded from the territories of close US allies.
