The Soviet Union had potential domestic yard capacity and technical relationships with Italy, Britain, and the United States. It had considered ordering ships abroad and could draw on those contacts for information even if the battleships were built domestically. Such construction would probably take many years, with the eventual designs still uncertain. Building the infrastructure to support those ships could also improve maintenance of other capital ships, including transferred vessels such as Royal Sovereign.
Notable Point · 3:13:00-3:14:05
Soviet battleships depend on foreign technical links
Existing foreign technical links could support a slow domestic battleship program and the infrastructure needed to maintain it.