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Corrections to "Russians Are Coming"

Unfortunately some paragraphs in my article on superpower contention were transposed in last week's 'Salient'. I would be grateful if you would publish the following correction:

Global Naval Strategy

A fairly complete picture of superpower rivalry is gained from considering global naval strategy.

The US is located between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The Panama Canal links its Atlantic and Pacific fleets. When its fleets sail from the Atlantic towards the east, or from the Pacific towards the west, the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean form intermediate pivots. With these pivots under US control. US naval fleets can coordinate with each other in the various oceans.

The Soviet Union is working to break up US naval deployment and bring the pivots under its control. Should it control them. Soviet fleets can coordinate with each other To the west, they can support Warsaw Pact forces on the European continent, subjecting West Europe to pincer attacks from land, sea and air. To the cast, they can sail into the Pacific, link with the Soviet Pacific fleet, deal first with the US Pacific fleet, second with Japan and then with other Asian countries.

To this end, the Soviet navy first entered the Mediterranean permanently in 1964. From an average of 5 ships then, the Black Sea-Mediterranean fleet stands at 65 surface warships and 25 subs.

The Soviet Union entered the Indian Ocean for the first time in 1968. Its presence has risen from 600 warship-days in 1969 to 3000 warship-days in 1975. If amphibious and support ships are added, the total was 7000 ship-days (equivalent 19 ships) in 1975, down from 10.000 ship-days in 1974. The individual striking power of the ships is being steadily improved.

The Indian Ocean task force of about 4 warships, often a missile-armed cruiser, a couple of destroyers and a sub or two, peels off the Pacific fleet and enters the Indian Ocean through the Straits of Malacca. The USSR insists that these straits must he 'internationalized' and kept for 'free passage 'so that it retains easy a access to the Indian Ocean from the Pacific.

At the end of 1975, the US Indian Ocean task force could refuel at 18 friendly ports, compared with 13 for the Soviet Union. Since 1969 most countries on the periphery of the Indian Ocean have recewed frequent and often prolonged, visits from Soviet naval units.

Apart from its base at Berbera in Somalia, the Soviet Union has do king facilities of Aden, Bosta, Umm Oscar, Bombay, Madras and Chittagoing. In addition it has mooring buoys outside the territonal waters of So otra, the Seychelles and the Chagos Archipelago.

In addition, the sentence referring to the Murmansk base should read: "The Murmansk base has been expanded and the White Sea-Balts canal widened to allow destroyers to pass through and link the Soviet Northern and Baltic fleets."