A Soviet anti-convoy plan could divide targets by weapon

The limited torpedo load encourages attack submarines to prioritize the escorts that can kill them. An eighteen-weapon magazine cannot support indiscriminate attacks against every merchant hull and every defender. Once escorts are reduced, reconnaissance aircraft and satellites can maintain contact with the slow merchant formation. Missile bombers can then attack the exposed cargo ships in mass, while NATO's scarce Harriers matter chiefly because they can drive off the shadowing aircraft that sustain that kill chain.