They own the Dardanelles, which kept the Soviet Black Sea Fleet bottled up.
I believe we could have kept them bottled up without Turkey. And their Baltic/North Sea fleet would never get out into the Atlantic. Their Pacific fleet has one major base at Vladivostok and we could easily take that one out. That leaves their Northern fleet and I believe our subs and airpower could keep that one in check. I’ve never considered the Russian fleet a “true” threat. Whatever did get to open waters wouldn’t last long with our hunter subs.
“Ive never considered the Russian fleet a true threat. Whatever did get to open waters wouldnt last long with our hunter subs.”
It was never designed to be. The Soviet Navy was/is still largely a “fire-And-Forget” weapon, with the mission of sea lane interdiction, not control.