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viet Union. And even this goa l is
but a means toan end. "Suprcmacy
a t sea." writcs Gorshkov. is a •·pre–
rcquisite ... f'or estabkhing the ar–
der we need." if necessa ry. "by
dominating the world. "
In his book. which now joins
nineteenth-century American Ad–
mira! Alfred
T.
Ma han's
The
ln–
jiuence
oj'
Sea
Power Upon
His101y
as a classic treat ise on seapower.
Gorshkov leaves no one doubting
who th e "enemy·· is and who the
"'imperialists" are that must be con–
tested on the high seas. The United
States is target number one
dé–
lente or no détente.
The major poi nts of Gorshkov's
200,000-word tome as summa rized
by two milita ry analysts are:
- It is the task of the Soviet navy
to achieve such st rength as to de–
prive th e oceans of their protcctive
role which they have, up until now.
a fforded th e United States. The
cmergence of a powerful bJue-wa ter
fleet. says Gorshkov. is th e "out–
standi ng event which has shattered
thc illusions of the im perialist ag-
The
PLAIN TRUTH November 1976
gressors that thcy had no st rong op–
poncnt in the sphere of naval
warf'are."
- The Soviet navy must have the
capacity for ··cutting off th e encmy's
sea transpon. enf'orcing a blockade
of the enemy's ports. bases. and
sorne coas tal arcas. [a nd even] sciz–
ing somc tcrritories." The United
Sta tcs. of' coursc. is heavi ly depcn–
dent upon imports for oil and criti–
ca1minerals for induslr).
The Soviet navy must be in a
position to play "a very big role in
local wars." according to Gorshkov.
"The mobi lity and flexibility" of the
navy hould be uti lized "to excrt
impact on
coa~tal
cou ntri cs." For
such po te nti al ac tion. airc raft
launchcd from ca rriers a re obvi–
ously indispensable.
- Finally. Ru sian eapowcr has
a "critica! role" in elimin ating impe–
rialists' attempts to con trol thc
world's oceans and their na tura l re–
sources.
U.S. avy Sccretary
J.
William
Middendorf. in a brief reference to
the Gorshkov book. sa id recently:
Novost1-
Camera
Press London
SOVIET WARSHIP
launches an SA-3
Goa
anti-aircraft
missi/e.
The soph isti–
cated Goa
missi/e is
now standard
equipment on many Soviet ships.
"Likc
Mein Kampf
which spe ll ed
out Hitlcr's in tentions. whcn the his–
tory of this age is wri tten. Gorsh–
kov's
The Marilime Power of !he
Slcue
may have been the most pro–
phetic statemcnt over the last pan
of the twentieth cen tury."
Add Nuclear Superlority,
Civil Oefense Buildup
The Gorshkov book and the visible
prcscnce of more . hips on the high
sea~
flying th e hammer and sickle is.
in turn. only one third of a fa r more
assen ivc Soviet global military pos–
turc. The other two pieces of the
picture are the clcar Soviet bid for
nuclear &upremacy a nd an cxtcnsivc
Rus~ian
civil defen e program.
On these two fron ts. the Soviets
a re making grcat headway. accord–
ing to a recent issue of
A vialion and
Space Technologr
magazine.
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