ABSTRACT
The Soviet Union now has some 285 submarines available for attacks on shipping, of which 70 are nuclear propelled. When dealing with fast targets, such as nuclear submarines, or fast surface craft, attack submarines need as an efficient plotting and control system as does a surface ship. This chapter discusses the use of submarine-launched strategic missiles. It is intended here to outline some of the details of the submarines and the missiles themselves. Launch orders, of course, come from the centre of government, wherever it may be, so there must be first-class communications with submarines on patrol. Submarines have now reached a high degree of silence, e.g. their passage through water has been made as silent as possible, but high speed can still give a nuclear away at times and more effort will be put into measures to ensure silent running. The ballistic missiles submarines are constantly being improved, primarily by giving them longer range missiles.
