VOL. IV (XXI) 2009 - Departamentul de Filosofie si Stiinte ale ...

110 PUBLIC RELATIONS DISASTER AS A PARTICULAR SYMBOL OF POWER
serious because monitoring for a whole week (!) a brand new US nuclear
aircraft carrier is not a game 1 .
It is clear that for Russia the Oscar II class was suppose to play the
fundamental role in the new policy of nuclear deterrence after the end of
Cold War. After 1991 it was very clear that the long range deterrence patrols
with boomers like those from Typhoon class was no longer a viable option for
a country which entered so fast and so deep in military and political decline.
And this because those long range deterrence patrols with Typhoon class
ballistic nuclear submarines was becoming too expensive for a country which
already started to have major financial difficulties. And, we must mention
here that for the Russia the poor maintenance of its nuclear submarines in
the post soviet era, due to lack of founds, had also a dramatic environmental
effect 2 . After the collapse of USSR the poor economic situation in Russia
had a very serious impact upon ex-soviet nuclear submarines deterrence
fleet and the Oscar II class can be seen as a desperate initiative to bring
Russia’s deterrence capabilities back on high seas. Also it can be seen as an
effort trough which Russia was tried to adapt its deterrence policy to the new
political climate brought between United States and Russia after signing
SALT II (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) treaty in 1991. This because Oscar
II class is not a boomer designed for a long range underwater deterrence
patrols, like it was the case with Typhoon class, but a shooter, armed with
nuclear warheads and ready for total tactical naval engagement with United
States from beneath the waves. For the Russians the Oscar II class type of
attack submarine is second to none within their nuclear submarine force,
comparable only with the US Navy Los Angeles class nuclear submarine,
and is clear that the loss of that particular sub in August 2000 was a major
blow for a military power which still was working very hard in order to regain
its past glory and strength.
1 www.fas.org online resource (Project 949A Antey / Oscar II)
2 Clay, Rebecca – “Cold War Hot Nukes” in Environmental Health Perspectives
Journal, Volume 109, Issue 4, National Institute of Environmental Health Studies,
2002, Gale Group.