Soviet Naval Propaganda Move Foreseen

The Soviet Union, in an apparent bid for a propaganda coup, may soon challenge the West by scrapping up to 100 aging submarines and warships lying idle in its ports, according to the authoritative defense review “Jane’s Fighting Ships.”

The editor, Richard Sharpe, told reporters that Western navies do not have the same reserves of obsolete ships and could not easily answer such an initiative.

He wrote in the foreword to the 1989-90 edition, published Tuesday:

“Because of their traditional reluctance to throw anything away, the Soviet navy has thousands of tons of ancient ships and submarines that it could unilaterally scrap with minimal effect on its overall effectiveness.,”

Sharpe told a news conference that Moscow could easily scrap up to 70 diesel-powered submarines and 30 destroyers or frigates.

“I think the real danger is that what the Soviets are going to do next in the business of capturing the hearts and minds of the Western media is take all these reserves . . . and scrap them. It’s going to make a splendid story,” he said.