<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"     In the wake of Russia&amp;#039;s physical and cyber invasions of Georgia, Westerners (and others the world over) are being reminded of Russia&amp;#039;s military might. Though today Americans may be more concerned about Russian hackers than about an Iron Curtain, during the 1970s Russia&amp;#039;s military\u2014and naval\u2014strength was very much on our minds. In September 1972, PM reported on the growing strength of the U.S.S.R.&amp;#039;s navy, and what the U.S. would have to do to fend it off.   In 1970, Soviet Russia staged Exercise Okean (Ocean), then the most ambitious global exercise ever attempted by a naval power, coordinating some 200 ships to operate in task forces under a unified command. &amp;quot;It was an effective reminder\u2014intended especially for the United States\u2014that the U.S.S.R. was no longer content to be simply a land power,&amp;quot; PM reported. The Soviets had been outbuilding the U.S. Navy at a rate of about three to one since 1961, an effort that was intensified after the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. Admiral Hyman Rickover, then chief of the Navy&amp;#039;s nuclear submarine program, warned that unless the U.S. made moves to match Soviet buildup, it was in danger of becoming &amp;quot;the number two naval power.&amp;quot;   The Soviets had a lot going for them. Their submarine fleet was by far the world&amp;#039;s largest, with about 340 nuclear and conventional craft to America&amp;#039;s 137. Most formidable was the Y-class sub, nearly identical to the American Polaris submarine in size, speed and ballistic-missile capability.   But it was in the cruiser division that the U.S.S.R. really held an edge. Outnumbering the U.S. Navy 25 to nine, the Kynda-class guided-missile cruisers were armed with surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), cruise missiles, torpedoes and antisubmarine weapons. Russia also unveiled another cruiser, the Kresta, in 1964. It weighed more than 6000 tons and could travel faster than 30 knots. The Kresta featured turbojet-powered Shaddock missiles with a 400-mile range.   In addition to having a large, young fleet, the Soviet navy was making its presence felt on both U.S. coasts as well as at Cienfuegos, Cuba, where it established a submarine base.   Despite these strengths, PM declared that the U.S. Navy was still the most powerful in the world. The U.S.S.R. had submarines in numbers, but PM wrote that the U.S. was &amp;quot;far ahead of the Russians in the technology of submarine detection.&amp;quot; The U.S. also had the Russians beat in terms of the number of attack and helicopter carriers employed by the Navy. Today, the U.S. has the largest navy in the world.   PM&amp;#039;s military coverage continues today: check out our comparison of Russia&amp;#039;s air, land and sea arsenals to Georgia&amp;#039;s. \u2014Daniel Tam-Claiborne   RELATED STORIES \u2022 PLUS: The Match-Up Between Georgia and Russia  \u2022 Q&amp;amp;amp;A: Georgia-Russia Cyber Warfare Blogger Explains All!  \u2022 GALLERY: Browse 101+ Years of Classic PM Covers!   "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/a3515/4277742/>