Soviet rearmament with more time and foreign purchases

The Soviet navy was already building cruisers, destroyers, submarines, and capital ships before Operation Barbarossa interrupted the programme. In a longer peace, foreign suppliers may be more willing to sell machinery or weapon systems in return for money and trade. Motor torpedo boats offer a particularly plausible area of Soviet development for the Baltic and Black Sea. More time since the purges may also allow institutions to recover, although political stability remains uncertain. A prospective Soviet carrier would create a force-planning problem for other navies even if its most useful station lay outside the Baltic and Black Sea. The discussion also expects further development of Soviet airborne forces, extending the rearmament question beyond shipbuilding.