What did the 350-submarine Soviet total mean?

Did the Soviet Union really have about 350 operational submarines in 1980, and what did that number show?

Keith Speed confirmed roughly 350 nuclear and non-nuclear submarines excluding reserves, but the aggregate mixed boats of very different range and capability.

An MP cites a Defence Secretary's letter counting about 350 Soviet nuclear and non-nuclear submarines, excluding reserves, and Keith Speed confirms the figure. The total conveyed the scale of the force but did not make every boat equally useful. Later discussion asks how many were smaller or coastal types, and the exact composition remains uncertain. Older Whiskey-, Foxtrot-, and Romeo-type boats could still possess meaningful range, so dismissing them all would be misleading. The numerical pressure and the capability caveat both belong in an assessment of the Soviet submarine threat.