The 1947 Soviet programme paired fifteen Project 23 battleships with ten Project 69 battlecruisers, while the broader plan counted three older battleships as well. Britain's 1942 plan listed twenty-one capital ships, so the Soviet target would not have been evaluated in isolation. Britain, the United States, Germany, and Japan would all have adjusted their own programmes. Each response would shrink the advantage promised by the original Soviet total. A fleet sufficient on paper could become inadequate before it entered service.
Notable Point · 1:05:57-1:08:14
Why capital-ship targets provoke an arms-race response
A target of twenty-five new Soviet capital ships would have changed the requirements facing Britain, the United States, Germany, and Japan.