Research for Nuclear Powered Ballistic Missile Submarines

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Strategic ASW and the Conventional Defense of Europe
April 1, 1987
The leadership of the U.S. Navy has recommended that the United States seriously consider the option of attacking Soviet ballistic missile submarines during the conventional phase of a major war. While the vocal debate rages on in the United States, the allies of the U.S. in Europe and elsewhere have been publically silent. This paper addresses some of the questions which might be at the center of the debate. Its purpose is not to seek conclusive answers, but to clarify--for example to point out that the U.S. has no interest in attacking Soviet missile-carrying submarines except on behalf of the security and integrity of the Alliance.
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U.S. Declaratory Policy on Soviet SSBN Security: 1970 to 1985
October 1, 1984
U.S. defense officials have often said that the Soviet Union expects Western Antisubmarine Warfare (ASW) forces to attack its Ballistic Missile Submarines (SSBNs) and thus is prepared to defend them in war. These Soviet expectations may have been encouraged by U.S. declaratory policy on the subject--that is, the totality of official and other authoritative statements on strategic doctrine and policy, ASW technology and programs from which Soviet observers reach conclusions about U.S. intentions. This paper reviews U.S. declaratory policy between 1970 and 1985 to determine specifically what that policy has been and then to infer what it has probably meant to the Soviets. It concludes that throughout this period official U.S. declaratory policy has implied an intent to engage in strategic ASW and that the Soviets have had strong reasons to believe that their SSBNs have been and will continue to be targets of U.S. ASW forces.
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Possible Counterforce Role for the TYPHOON
June 1, 1982
This paper cites several articles by Soviet authors which imply that Soviet SSBNs have a strategic counterforce role over and above those assigned to them in the past.
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ROLES AND MISSIONS OF SOVIET NAVAL GENERAL PURPOSE FORCES IN WARTIME: PRO SSBN OPERATIONS?
February 1, 1981
This paper deals with the relationship between general purpose forces force levels and capabilities and the nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine security issue from the Soviet point of view.
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