Military Model Scene

Title: From Julietts to Yasens
Author: Alejandro A. Vilches Alarcon
Publisher: Helion & Co
ISBN: 978-1-915070-68-5

A new addition to the Europe @ War series (number 22) from Helion and Co, this one examining the Development and Operational History of Soviet Cruise-Missile Submarines, 1958-2022. An 88-page soft-cover book in the usual style for this series.
Only the Soviet navy developed the SSG/SSGN (conventional or nuclear powered) submarines equipped with tactical cruise missiles, designed as a counter to the powerful aircraft carriers of their primary perceived enemy. Not strategic weapons, carrying long range ballistic missiles, but submarines armed with tactical anti-ship missiles, a cheaper solution than trying to build up their own fleet of super-carriers. In what is essentially a chronological sequence, the book takes us through the development of various classes of these submarines, their equipment, and the weapons systems they carried. The US/NATO countermeasures to them are also mentioned. While the Soviets thought of them as class numbers, we are more familiar with their NATO reporting names, going from Whiskey, Julietts, Echo, Echo II, Papa, Charlies and Oscars. Plenty of archive photos illustrate the text throughout, both colour and black & white. In the middle of the book is a section of colour plates, with fine profiles of different classes, along with their missiles and crew uniforms. Along with this are stories of various accidents they had over the years, some well known, such as the loss of the Kursk, among others. I found the numbers of operational cruises undertaken while part of the old Soviet Union, and since by the Russian Federation, quite enlightening. The costs of operating submarines is clearly a limiting factor, with one of the most recent to enter service having taken 20 years between start of construction and eventual launch.
I think the Soviet submarines were one of the bogeymen of the Cold War era and for those of us who have an interest in them, this new book makes for some very interesting reading. I enjoyed it.
Thanks to Helion & Co for the review copy.

Robin