Technical Mastery: Soviet Naval Engineering, Propulsion, and Shipbuilding

Deep beneath the surface of Cold War naval competition lay a technological arms race that would determine the fate of global maritime supremacy. This ninth volume of Cold War Soviet Naval Intelligence exposes the classified assessments that kept Pentagon officials awake at night during the most dangerous decades of the twentieth century. These declassified CIA documents reveal the true scope of Soviet naval engineering capabilities that American intelligence agencies desperately sought to understand. From revolutionary nuclear propulsion systems emerging from closed shipyards to advanced reactor technologies that challenged Western assumptions, Technical Mastery presents the unvarnished intelligence reports that shaped U.S. naval strategy for generations. CIA analysts dissect Soviet shipbuilding programs with forensic precision, documenting technological breakthroughs that forced America to accelerate its own nuclear submarine development. Each intelligence assessment captures the urgent reality facing U.S. commanders: the Soviet Union was rapidly closing the technological gap that had long ensured American naval dominance. Volume 9 of this landmark 10-volume series delivers the technical intelligence that drove the underwater dimension of superpower rivalry. Open these pages to discover what American intelligence knew about Soviet capabilities and when they knew it.