A longer-lived Soviet Union is the premise for a possible American response to the Kirovs. The suggestion is that US strike cruisers, or a comparable large nuclear cruiser, might then have been built. Older American nuclear surface ships were approaching replacement, creating another reason to consider such a project. This remains a counterfactual judgment about procurement.
Notable Point · 4:12:04-4:12:53
A surviving Soviet Union might have revived US strike cruisers
The possible revival of a large US nuclear cruiser depends on the counterfactual continuation of the Soviet Union.