Growing Soviet sea forces worry West

Press, 31 May 1977, Page 34

Growing Soviet sea forces worry West

By

ROLAN DALLAS,

NZPA-Reuter correspondent Naples

Western strategists in Italy believe their forces in the Mediterranean outgun growing Soviet sea power but they are worried about the future.

The combined navies of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, which has its southern headquarters in Naples, easily dominate the permanent Soviet force.

They include the huge United States Sixth Fleet, with its aircraft-carriers Kennedy and Roosevelt and 200 aircraft and the modern Italian fleet led by the cruiser Vittoria Veneto.

The French fleet has its carriers Foch and Clemenceau and although France does not belong to the N.AT..O. integrated command structure, its forces would join those of other members of the Western alliance in the event of an attack on it. Against the Western warships is a Soviet fleet of about 14 combat warships and nine submarines, lacking a permanent base, resting at about 15 different anchorages and serviced by ships from the Black Sea.

But the strategists fear that the Soviets could quickly reinforce their fleet from the Black Sea ahead of a conflict — and that their submarines could disrupt Western control of the sea.

They also worry that there may be no settlement of the dispute between Greece and Turkey, both N.A.T.O. members, over Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus, which led to Greece’s withdrawal from the N.A.T.O. command structure. “This really could give a greater appearance of weakness than there really is,” said American Lieutenant-General Robert McAllister, the Chief of Staff. General McAllister has another worry — that the relatively weak economies of both Greece and Turkey cannot support the high cost of sophisticated modem weapons systems.

“They have some modern features but some are

antiquated,” he said. “Its a question of catching up and keeping up.” In contrast, across the Greek border in Bulgaria and the Turkish eastern border in the Soviet Union, Warsaw Pact forces are steadily being modernised, the general adds. The senior naval officer in Naples, British ViceAdmiral Roderick McDonald, also worries about keeping up with the Russians — and keeping up with the Americans. “As the threat becomes more sophisticated it’s inevitable that the well-off countries match that threat, and they not only outstrip their less well-off allies. In a sense their units become increasingly incompatible,” he said.

Asked what form this took he replied: “We cannot talk to each other.” Modern naval communications are beyond the era of morse code and are now handled by secure voice circuits, rapid transmission of data, and fast ship-to-ship transmission of photos. “Everybody wants them, they’re jolly expensive, and its very difficult to conduct a battle without them,” he said. Admiral McDonald also worries that in any conflict the Soviet role of denying control of the sea to the West will be easier than the Western role of controlling it. “The Mediterranean is very shallow, a lot of land-locked lakes, and its water conditions for detecting and destroying submarines are particularly difficult,” he says. But in spite of their concern for the future, the strategists agree that the West is definitely in the ascendant in the region now. Commander John Dewey, spokesman for the United States Sixth Fleet, said the Americans alone have “a slim margin of superiority over the Soviets. “What they don’t have is an aircraft carrier and we have two. We have Fl 4 and anti-submarine aircraft and attack aircraft and it’s a compelling advantage,” But Commander Dewey also worries about the So-

viet Navy’s ability to repeat its performance during the Middle East War of 1973 when it boosted its Mediterranean fleet to at least 96 ships. AH Western strategists in Naples point happily to the Kremlin’s inability to find a major naval base in the Mediterranean, and one called it Russia’s “Achilles heel” in the region.

Russian ships are allowed to stop at a small base on the Syrian coast at Tartus, which has a dock and a floating dock, but elsewhere their ships bob at anchor while they are serviced.

Admiral McDonald believes this was one of the reasons why the Soviet Communist Party chief (Mr Leonid Brezhnev) and the navy commander (Admiral Sergei Gorshkov) recently visited Yugoslavia.

Soviet ships can now be repaired at one Yugoslav port but under strict supervision with all their ammunition unloaded on the dockside, and the Soviets are believed to want to improve the arrangement.

A Russian submarine was recently delivered to Libya and it was one of several,” Admiral McDonald said. “Algeria has quite a lot of Soviet equipment, too. But there is no evidence up to now that it has based or supported Soviet ships.” The strategists are happy about this development but they know • ha L th I ? i,itary Glance in the Mediterranean, one st »PPly routes v Western alliance, would change considerably if the Soviet Union managed to obtain a foothold.

Nuclear pact President Carter ha signed the treaty of Tlata lolco, which Latin America as the world’ first nuclear-free zone. Th United States recognition a the treaty, named after thi suburb of Mexico Cib where it was concluded H years ago, means it will no manufacture, use, or ston nuclear weapons in its Latif American and Caribbean tef ritories. —Washington. j