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Gorshkov's Final Words: What Do They Mean?
^nient (Features of Naval Development, ^tnodology of Objective Program Plan- sl. § °f Naval Development, Interrelation- ► 'p Arms and the Naval Art)
r°spects for Development of Principal
Sergei G. Gorshkov was a 45-year-old VlCe admiral when Nikita Khrushchev ^Pointed him commander-in-chief of the oviet Navy in 1956. At the time of his ®ath in May of last year, he had earned ”e rank of Fleet Admiral and an undisPuted position as the father of the modem 0viet Navy.
1988 a book appeared under Admiral p°rshkov's imprimatur. The Navy: Its Role, r°specfs for Development, and Employ- I.en* was issued by the Military Publishing °use in Moscow, with a title page listing ®ar Admiral N. P. V"yunenko and Cap- <^lns' 1st Rank, B. N. Makeyev and V. D.
, kugarev as its authors and Sergei Gorsh- °v as its editor. Admiral Gorshkov also 0r,tributed the book's foreword.
Ir> addition to Gorshkov's 11-page pref- fon' 1^6-page volume contains the l Jowing chapters:
a 'he Navy's Role in Warfare (The Ocean ly, a Sphere of Warfare, Special Features of aval Warfare, Naval Missions in the ^ prall System of Warfare) s Contemporary Scientific Methods of Pstantiating Prospects for Naval DeVel-
Naval Forces (General Development Trends of Navies, Prospects for Development of Submarines, Prospects for Development of Surface Ships, Prospects for Development of Naval Aviation, Prospects for Development of Logistic Support Forces and Means) ► Problems of the Navy's Employment (The Navy in Local Military Conflicts and Wars, The Navy in Repelling an Enemy Aerospace Attack, The Navy in Suppressing the Enemy Military-Economic Potential,
The Navy in the Destruction of Enemy Armed Forces)
Proceedings first brought this book to the attention of our readers last January, in a review written by Theodore A. Neely, Jr., a civilian analyst on the staff of the Director of Naval Intelligence. For this issue, we asked four naval officers with specialized knowledge of the Soviet Navy to assess Admiral Gorshkov's final salvo. Is the book an "authoritative" pronouncement of Soviet naval doctrine? Will it wield any influence on Soviet military policy? If the U. S. Navy has to sail out against the Soviets tomorrow, is there anything in this book that the Americans ought to know?
To give our readers a general impression of the book, we asked Captain Steve F. Kime, U. S. Navy, to open the discussion by selecting an excerpt from Admiral Gorshkov's foreword.
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SS / Naval Review 1989
Introduction________________
By Captain Steve F. Kime, U. S. Navy
In some ways this book was an anomaly. The Navy: Its Role, Prospects for Development, ami Employment appeared at a time of doctrinal ferment in the Soviet Union, and it probably does not represent what is acceptable to those who are, or may become, dominant in Soviet military doctrine. Certainly it would be an error for Western analysts to take the book as the accepted Soviet view of the maritime threat to the Soviet Union, of how the Soviets plan to respond to that threat, or of how the Soviet Navy will be used in the future. Much remains to be seen.
On the other hand, the book is probably a good indicator of the views of very influential Soviet naval thinkers. It is interesting that they managed to have their say, if not their way. We should heed Admiral Gorshkov’s words if for no other reason than that they are the last pronouncement of one of the most influential proponents of naval power in our era. The discussion of missions is important not because much is new but because missions are reordered, and because an attempt has been made to place old Navy wine into new “defensive doctrine” bottles. (See the comments of Admiral Brooks that follow this excerpt.)
The excerpt published here is from Admiral Gorshkov’s foreword to The Navy. While Gorshkov’s comments break no new ground, the doctrinal context in which naval policy must be made is changing. What is, in fact, remarkable is that the most influential naval spokesman in Soviet history managed to hold his course in spite of changing seas and winds. Equally interesting is that well- known naval writers were able to include nuclear war-fighting and offensive tasks in a discussion of missions, albeit in ”de' fensive” and “joint” contexts.
The book might well turn out to be n° more than the Soviet Navy’s last-ditch attempt to argue that Gorshkovian-styk- sea power remains relevant in an era o tight budgets and perestroika. At a min1' mum, it represents how respected nava spokesmen would prefer to integrate the Soviet Navy into the emerging doctrinJ context of the Gorbachev era. Regardless of whether or not this kind of thinkinf carries the day, Proceedings readers should be aware of it.
Captain Kime, a former U. S. naval attache to 1 Soviet Union, is Director of the U. S. and Intern11 tional Studies Division of the U. S. Naval Acadehh and a member of the Naval Institute's Board of Con trol.
The Navy: Its Role> Prospects for Development, and Employment
Foreword by Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union S. G. Gorshkov
”... World War II made substantial corrections to the constant rivalry of the navies of imperialist powers for proprietorship of the sea. While it was still possible prior to the war to compare, for example, the American, French and British Beets in the Atlantic or the American and Japanese Beets in the Pacific, the situation changed sharply with the end of the war.
“Having taken advantage of the fact that the Soviet Armed Forces decisively defeated the principal striking forces of world imperialism, fascist Germany and militaristic Japan, the American Navy affirmed its preeminence among the navies of imperialist powers.
“Since that time there have been steadily increasing aspirations in U. S. policy to subordinate other countries to its domination, to block the path of mankind’s social progress, to intervene in the affairs of other peoples, and to perform the functions of guarantor of an international system of exploitation and oppression. . . .
“The primary role of the American Navy as well as of the navies of satellites in aggressive military blocs consists of preparing for war against the Soviet Union from the ocean axes. This is evidenced by the direction of the American Navy’s development; the open, purposeful preparation of possible theaters of military operations (TMOs); the content and purpose of combat training of NATO Allied Armed Forces and of their maneuvers and exercises, usually held in ocean and sea areas contiguous to our territory; and the constant ocean combat duty ... of nuclear powered missile submarines and aircraft carrier striking forces.
“The submarine nuclear missile system deployed by the United States in the ocean is intended for delivering strikes from ocean depths against the most important ground targets located thousands of kilometers from the missile launch areas Over the last 25 years, the United States has created five generations of strategic missile submarines. In this same pe" riod the number of nuclear warheads aboard one missile sub marine has grown by 12 times and the missile Bight range four times. Every OHIO-Class missile submarine is armed with 24 ballistic missiles with more than 190 warheads.
“The military-strategic situation in the ocean has become especially strained in recent years. American aircraft carriers with nuclear weapon delivery platforms aboard, nuclear p0" ered missile submarines, and groupings of surface combat1111 monitor the Northeast Atlantic and Norwegian Sea, appear periodically off the shores of the Near East, and are constantly in the Pacific and Indian oceans. The United States has established over 100 naval and air bases located in various regions of the world, many of them near the Soviet Un" ion’s maritime borders.
“A strategy of ‘direct confrontation’ with the USSR on a
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