ABSTRACT
A formidable Soviet fleet has emerged in the course of the 1970s and 1980s. The array of submarines in Soviet service numbered 67 cruise missile attack and 136 first class attack units. The Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea claim the most Soviet naval attention. An analysis of the Soviet Navy must take into account the indispensable contributions of the Russian merchant fleet. Such a fleet certainly does serve commercial purposes. Sixty percent of Soviet imports are carried in Russian ships. Soviet merchant ships carried military cargoes to North Vietnam during the war in Southeast Asia. Substantial progress in refuelling while underway at sea has been registered by the Soviet Navy. The ability of the Soviet fleet to find United States submarines deployed in the open ocean remains limited. The division of the Soviet Navy into fleets separated by vast distances does remain a handicap.
