Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Geographical Constraints To Soviet Maritime Power, Brian Needham

Marine Affairs Theses and Major Papers

The aim of this paper is to identify the geographical constraints to Soviet marine power, assess their impact and explore alternatives that may be considered to reduce their detrimental effects. The paper will provide a background by addressing the recent history, status and current missions of the Soviet Navy, which is the vehicle for maritime power. The nature of the geographical constraints will then be discussed before assessing individually the impacts on the four Soviet Fleets: Northern, Baltic, Black Sea, and Pacific. Finally, some alternatives will be explored to counter the vulnerability of maritime power to those geographic constraints. It …