12/29/2023 0 Comments Russian nuclear submarine off us coast![]() This correctly correlates to the NATO designated ‘Yankee class’, which by Soviet sources was reported operational by 1967. However, in addition to the already operational submarines, a new ‘much improved’ SSBN class was expected to come into service by 1968. Many of these submarines were also capable of firing their missiles submerged (at least it was tested). The existing strategic submarines were assessed to operate within two or three days steaming of launch areas off the United States. The strategic submarines had been around for a few years but the threat first featured prominently in NATO’s annual intelligence studies in 1967 (the SG/161 series of ‘The Soviet Bloc Strength and Capabilities’). However, a review of the NATO archives show that the early developments did not attract much attention within the central leadership of NATO (outside SACLANT). The strategic submarine build-up is generally accepted as very important for the strategies of the Cold War. Yet two years later, these studies came to prominence and were acted upon during discussions in 1967 on developing a new and more flexible NATO maritime strategy, based on two concepts, namely standing naval forces and maritime contingency forces. Two important studies produced by SACLANT in 1965 addressed the increasing Soviet naval threat – ‘Contingency Study for Northern Norway’ and ‘NATO Maritime Strategy’ – but had no immediate impact.
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