Two pressures act on NATO at once. Soviet forces protecting ballistic-missile submarines near their northern bases would require difficult, high-end anti-submarine operations, while ships already deployed abroad could raid merchant traffic and force Allied task groups to respond. Nuclear attack submarines could still push through the gap to attack convoys while diesel boats and surface forces defended the bastions. This creates a strategic dilemma: concentrating on the main northern fight leaves distant raiders active, while chasing raiders weakens the main theatre.
Notable Point · 1:49:02-1:58:13
Soviet bastions, raiders, and the Allied allocation dilemma
A Soviet bastion defence could protect strategic submarines, while dispersed surface ships and nuclear submarines created costly choices for NATO elsewhere.