Posted June 04, 2011
BACKGROUND
*taken from HARPOON's battleset description
The Norwegian sea is the rectangular area enclosed by Iceland, Norway, Greenland, and the north polar icecap. It is essentially a closed body of water. It can be entered from the north by going under the ice cap or around North Cape, and from the south through the straits between Greenland, Iceland, and the United Kingdom. This latter entrance is often called the "GIUK gap".
All of these entrances can be mined, patrolled, and otherwise monitored by today's sophisticated electronic sensors.
If the Soviet Union and NATO ever go to war, the Norwegian Sea will be one of the most fought over bodies of water in history. The geography of the Atlantic and each side's strategic goals in wartime make this almost inevitable.
NATO has based its strategy on a defensive war, slowing down and attriting (using slow unit-by-unit destruction) the Soviets until they are convinced that the terrible risk they took was in vain, and they cannot fulfill their war aims. The only problem with it is that the massive Soviet Army can probably win unless massive reinforcements from the US get across to Europe quickly. Ninety-five percent of these American and Canadian troops, weapons, and supplies would have to come by sea. There are not enough aircraft in the world to move it all by air.
It takes a fast ship four or five days to cross the Atlantic, a slow ship twice that long. The war material must be unloaded at a busy port and then moved on an overloaded and probably besieged transportation system to the front. Starting the stream of reinforcements early and smoothly is one of NATO's top priorities. In concert with this effort to move supplies, NATO naval forces would be attempting to attack Soviet forces as they advanced along the Norwegian coast (the "Northern Flank"), pinning down Soviet Naval forces and perhaps even putting them on the defensive. This might draw valuable Soviet assets away from the central front.
Finally, NATO submarines would attack "The Bastion". This is a semi-enclosed area of water, such as the Kara Sea, or under the ice, where the Northern Fleet's ballistic missile submarines would hide, escorted and shielded by nuclear attack subs, Soviet ASW aircraft, and hunter-killer groups of Soviet ASW surface ships. [These same NATO subs could also conduct Tomahawk strikes on Soviet bases on the Kola Peninsula.] Soviet strategy is not the mirror image of NATO's. The Soviet Navy's most important mission is to support and protect the ballistic missile subs, in their Bastions, keeping them secure until they are needed, or for use as a bargaining chip for post-war negotiations.
Their second priority is to defend the homeland from strikes by NATO. To do this they will try to detect NATO units as they enter the Norwegian Sea, classify them (so that they can determine the probable threat they pose), and attack them with submarines and aircraft.
Next, they will support the Army's efforts in Norway, trying to gain sea control along the coast and providing air cover and "sealift" or cargo support. The Soviet Navy could easily support a series of small "coast-hopping" assaults, each one outflanking the defenders.
Finally, they will send submarines and long-range aircraft into the Atlantic to attack the supply convoys that NATO will send across. Although the convoys have a high priority for NATO, it is much lower for the Soviets since only a few submarines sent into the Atlantic will force NATO to commit strong forces to escorting convoys. Consider the fact that fourteen German U-Boats were able to sink 450 Allied ships between January and July of 1942!
This may change, though. Soviet and NATO doctrines are both moving away from a nuclear (short) war to a conventional (long) war strategy. The longer the war, the greater the importance of sea lines of communication become.
Both side's missions will draw them into the Norwegian Sea. It is the buffer between two enemy fleets, the highway to enemy waters, and a goal in itself.
*taken from HARPOON's battleset description
The Norwegian sea is the rectangular area enclosed by Iceland, Norway, Greenland, and the north polar icecap. It is essentially a closed body of water. It can be entered from the north by going under the ice cap or around North Cape, and from the south through the straits between Greenland, Iceland, and the United Kingdom. This latter entrance is often called the "GIUK gap".
All of these entrances can be mined, patrolled, and otherwise monitored by today's sophisticated electronic sensors.
If the Soviet Union and NATO ever go to war, the Norwegian Sea will be one of the most fought over bodies of water in history. The geography of the Atlantic and each side's strategic goals in wartime make this almost inevitable.
NATO has based its strategy on a defensive war, slowing down and attriting (using slow unit-by-unit destruction) the Soviets until they are convinced that the terrible risk they took was in vain, and they cannot fulfill their war aims. The only problem with it is that the massive Soviet Army can probably win unless massive reinforcements from the US get across to Europe quickly. Ninety-five percent of these American and Canadian troops, weapons, and supplies would have to come by sea. There are not enough aircraft in the world to move it all by air.
It takes a fast ship four or five days to cross the Atlantic, a slow ship twice that long. The war material must be unloaded at a busy port and then moved on an overloaded and probably besieged transportation system to the front. Starting the stream of reinforcements early and smoothly is one of NATO's top priorities. In concert with this effort to move supplies, NATO naval forces would be attempting to attack Soviet forces as they advanced along the Norwegian coast (the "Northern Flank"), pinning down Soviet Naval forces and perhaps even putting them on the defensive. This might draw valuable Soviet assets away from the central front.
Finally, NATO submarines would attack "The Bastion". This is a semi-enclosed area of water, such as the Kara Sea, or under the ice, where the Northern Fleet's ballistic missile submarines would hide, escorted and shielded by nuclear attack subs, Soviet ASW aircraft, and hunter-killer groups of Soviet ASW surface ships. [These same NATO subs could also conduct Tomahawk strikes on Soviet bases on the Kola Peninsula.] Soviet strategy is not the mirror image of NATO's. The Soviet Navy's most important mission is to support and protect the ballistic missile subs, in their Bastions, keeping them secure until they are needed, or for use as a bargaining chip for post-war negotiations.
Their second priority is to defend the homeland from strikes by NATO. To do this they will try to detect NATO units as they enter the Norwegian Sea, classify them (so that they can determine the probable threat they pose), and attack them with submarines and aircraft.
Next, they will support the Army's efforts in Norway, trying to gain sea control along the coast and providing air cover and "sealift" or cargo support. The Soviet Navy could easily support a series of small "coast-hopping" assaults, each one outflanking the defenders.
Finally, they will send submarines and long-range aircraft into the Atlantic to attack the supply convoys that NATO will send across. Although the convoys have a high priority for NATO, it is much lower for the Soviets since only a few submarines sent into the Atlantic will force NATO to commit strong forces to escorting convoys. Consider the fact that fourteen German U-Boats were able to sink 450 Allied ships between January and July of 1942!
This may change, though. Soviet and NATO doctrines are both moving away from a nuclear (short) war to a conventional (long) war strategy. The longer the war, the greater the importance of sea lines of communication become.
Both side's missions will draw them into the Norwegian Sea. It is the buffer between two enemy fleets, the highway to enemy waters, and a goal in itself.
