Word: sovietizing
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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What are the Russians up to? NATO commanders do not know the answer, but they do know that the new Soviet presence has radically changed the Mediterranean equation. Only ten years ago, when Nasserite terrorists were trying to overthrow the government of Lebanon, its President, Camille Chamoun, could reassure a doubting Cabinet minister: "If things get too tough, I can call for the Sixth Fleet, just like this . . ." And the President snapped his fingers. Chamoun did call for help; the U.S. Sixth Fleet landed its Marines. Lebanon proceeded to settle its affairs without further outside interference. Russia's Nikita...
Impact on Israel. In those days, the Mediterranean was considered an American lake, and the Soviets had just begun to awaken to the potentialities of seapower. In the early '60s, the Soviets began to build up their navy all over the world (TIME cover, Feb. 23). Now the U.S. must reckon with the Soviet force in the Mediterranean-and so must the Israelis. When Soviet-made Styx missiles, fired from a torpedo boat by Egyptians, sank the Israeli destroyer Elath off Port Said in an incident in October 1967, the Israelis dared not retaliate directly for fear of hitting...
...recent weeks, the Soviets have put yet another x into the equation. To the Soviet eskadra (squadron) in the Mediterranean, which has numbered as many as 52 ships, including two cruisers, ten submarines and six intelligence-collecting trawlers, the Russians added an entirely new kind of vessel on the face of the oceans-a multipurpose, missile-firing helicopter carrier. The Russians so far have built no Western-style aircraft carriers because they consider them vulnerable to missile attack. In stead, into the Mediterranean glided the Moskva, a sleek 25,000-ton vessel that combines the features of a cruiser...
Altering the Balance. In the opinion of U.S. strategists, the Soviet Mediterranean force, lacking big aircraft carriers, would be no match for the Sixth Fleet, with its 50 combat ships, including two carriers and two cruisers, 200 aircraft and 25,000 men. The Russian squadron in the Mediterranean is, in fact, smaller than the Italian navy. But as U.S. Admiral Horacio Rivero, commander of NATO forces in Southern Europe, notes: "While the Soviet flotilla is a potential military threat, its greatest importance is political and psychological. The number of ships is not too important. The presence of one ship...
...coup attempt in Egypt or Syria, a blockade thrown against Israel for Egypt, a pro-Soviet political upheaval in Albania, a Soviet power play against Yugoslavia-all are situations in which the Soviets could use their new seapower with unpredictable results. Some Western strategists worry that the friendly neighborhood presence of Russian ships may tempt the Arabs to take foolish chances soon against Israel, in the belief that the Russians would rush to their aid if Israel lashed back in force...