Description:The growth ot Soviet naval and maritime strength has been one of the most dramatic mili-tary developments of the post-war period, es-pecially from the perspective of American secu-rity interests. From the end of Wurld War II until the early 1970s, the United States main-tained unquestioned naval supiemaly, provid-ing one of the Wests primary shields against the threat ot aggression and affording greai flexibility in lorcign policy.