The Soviet Navy actually available in 1980 included numerous attack and cruise-missile submarines and a large surface force. Many conventional submarines were best suited to nearby defensive or regional work, while nuclear boats could threaten Atlantic convoys and carrier groups. The decisive enabling change was logistical: Soviet at-sea replenishment capacity grew from roughly 40,000 tons in 1971 to about 200,000 tons by 1980. That expansion gave Admiral Gorshkov's fleet a much stronger basis for sustained presence and commerce raiding far from Soviet ports.
Chapter · 2:24:53-2:29:25
Soviet fleet scale and the logistics of global reach
Large submarine and escort inventories mattered, but the fivefold growth of Soviet replenishment capacity made distant wartime raiding far more credible by 1980.