The Soviet cruiser mission combined peacetime prestige with a wartime role outside the defended bastions. In the strategic interpretation given here, ships beyond those areas would lack reliable support and were expendable to an extent. Their task was to cause enough trouble to distract NATO forces from concentrating against the bastions. Large hulls supplied space for workshops and support facilities, allowing a cruiser to repair components and keep operating independently. That endurance had a limit: the ship could not manufacture replacement missiles or shells.
Notable Point · 37:05-38:21
Soviet cruisers beyond the bastions
Large Soviet cruisers could sustain machinery and repair components away from support, while their ammunition supply imposed a hard limit.