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WOBLDWA!CH
An Overview of Major News Events and Trends
NATO'S NERVOUS
NORTH
Our correspondenr in L ondon, Da vid
Price, reports on Moscow's mi/itGiy
bui/dup in the Arctic Ocean area:
"The most importan! strategic threat
to the Western allia nce at present,' '
according to Gene ral Sir J oh n
Sharp of NATO , is the bu ildup of
Sovie t nava l and military forces on
Russia's Ko la península, just ove r
the border from the nort hern tip of
Norway. In this once-barren Arctic
region, the focus of wh ich is the ma–
jor port of Murmansk, the Soviet
Union has based a substantial part
of its nava l and strategic nuclear ca–
pa bility.
Besides two a rmy div isions and a
naval infantry brigade, the Kola re–
gion is home base to approx ima tely
200 combat ships, 180 submarines,
200 nava l patrol aircraft, 300 figh ter
bombers, 2 ba tterics o f middle–
range rocke ts, and about 10 under–
ground rocke t-launchi ng pads. Th e
new ly developed long-range Rus-
SOVIET SUBMARINE
on maneuvers in a snow-co vered Arctic fjord. Some 70%
of the Soviet Union's strategic submarine f/eet is based at Murmansk on
Russia's Kola Península.
4
sian "Backfire" bomber is a lso
based on the Kola pení nsula.
All in all, the Kola península can
be described as the most heavily for–
tified region in the world, according
to NATO Secretary Gener al Joseph
Luns.
Threat to Atlantic Links
lt
is not just the size o f the A rctic
arsenal tha t is worrying NATO offi–
cials . W ith 70% of the Sov i e t
Union's strategic subma rine ftee t
based the re, a vital pa rt of NATO
strategy has had to be completely
rethought.
In the past it was ass umed that
with the naval preponderances of
the Uni ted Sta tes and NATO , Al–
Jied forces would con trol the Atlan–
tic and the North Sea if Western
Europe were a ttacked . T his cannot
be so easily taken for gran ted today.
The ma in part of the subma rine
f!eet at Murmansk is designed for
t he hunter-killer ro le, and toge ther
with a fteet of 100 major surface
raiders,
it
could sink Allied ships
ca rrying reinforcemen ts and mili –
tary equi pment to Europe from
No rth Amer ica. NATO stra tegy
calls fo r Allied troops to hold t heir
positions aga inst a Soviet attack in
the crucia l period until t hese rein–
fo rcemen ts arrive. Without th e vita l
No rth Atlantic lifeline secured, an
invad ing East bloc a rmy cou ld
make a clean sweep across Nort hern
and Central Europe.
On the other side of the coi n,
be ing based in the Arctic region has
a major d isadvantage for the Sovie t
su rface ships. As winter sets -in, the
f!ee t is confined to narrow fjords
containing the ports of Pechenga
(formerly Finnish Petsamo) a nd
Murmansk on the sho rt 70-mile
stretch o f coastline that is ice-free.
Submarines , of course, are not as
restricted by the ice, but the large
fl eet of 400 ships mus t be home por–
ted tiUthe ice recedes.
The
PLAIN TRUTH Oecember 1976