Book Reviews, Professional Reading & Book List

This html article is produced from an uncorrected text file through optical character recognition. Prior to 1940 articles all text has been corrected, but from 1940 to the present most still remain uncorrected.  Artifacts of the scans are misspellings, out-of-context footnotes and sidebars, and other inconsistencies.  Adjacent to each text file is a PDF of the article, which accurately and fully conveys the content as it appeared in the issue.  The uncorrected text files have been included to enhance the searchability of our content, on our site and in search engines, for our membership, the research community and media organizations. We are working now to provide clean text files for the entire collection. 

th.

^Ie Cardinal of the Kremlin

[ j, Clancy. New York: Putnam’s, 1988. | ^JPP- $19.95 ($17.95). ftp •

b ^V|eWed by Vice Admiral William E. ^Itlscy, U. S. Navy

And

h        by America-

Har ^J

A’ again!

• vn^ttle

%

-here comes Tom

in your favorite chair, adjust

>re

Vs.

reading lamp—and for the more

among us—grab your reading in —, and for a few days lose yourself Mother captivating novel by a master ^teller.

^ ^(lrtl Clancy has once again blended Conation, technology, and current j. in this case, Afghanistan and the Defense Initiative (SDI)—and _Cl)ij^{n a}n intriguing tale of espionage and _k ^nterespionage that will keep you up

Book Reviews

piqued by what is recognizable, and Clancy cultivates this exquisitely.

During a planned covert test, the Sovi­ets blast one of their low earth-orbiting satellites with a laser fired from Dushanbe in the southern Soviet Union near the Afghanistan border. The test rocks the U. S. intelligence and SDI or­ganizations and sets in motion activities to determine more specifically the status of Soviet Star Wars technology. U. S. SDI efforts are maturing, but not yet at the stage where sufficient laser power can be applied to inflict damage. Thus, the race is joined. A highly placed spy in the Kremlin. Colonel Mikhail Filitov, alias the Cardinal, and Dr. Jack Ryan, special assistant to the Deputy Director for Intel­ligence of the Central Intelligence Agency, focus their individual skills and

ti„ ’.submarine warfare; then a conventional world war; next, terrorism; ’ >n his fourth novel, Tom Clancy takes on Star Wars.

Hi tu

‘‘Ql ^ne wee hours and give you telltale •jVybags” under your eyes.

C|_a        books seem to jump from Tom

j&n_Cv,                            ~    *

itb_0u *.^s typewriter—or, since this is

l|_e j ‘t'gh technology—his laser printer. Prin_t ^{a w}hiz at getting his efforts into jeq ^VV^¹‘*^e the media still have the sub­tler before the public. Words like i^be, Star Wars, Komosol, Afghan- H ’ AS AT (antisatellite), perestroika, 5ti(] j «*«o« that populate our newsprint \ p^ev'^s*°ns are sprinkled throughout ^Lardinal. People’s interests are

talents, quite independently at first, on attempting to cool tensions and reinforce stability between the two countries. Clev­erly woven into the story line are the ac­tions of Afghan mudjaheddin—in partic­ular, one called the Archer—that build to an exciting, suspenseful event that ironi­cally affects the U. S. and Soviet technol­ogy balance. The ending is great fun with many twists and turns to tantalize, and a rousing climax.

Clancy devotees will recognize some familiar characters from The Hunt for

Red October (Naval Institute Press, 1984)—Jack Ryan, destined to become a CIA favorite like Blackford Oates of Bill Buckley fame; U. S. Navy Captain Bart Mancuso, submariner extraordinaire; Soviet Navy Captain Marko Ramius, the crafty skipper of the Red October, and the Cardinal, perhaps not so familiar then.

As I read The Cardinal, I had the feel­ing that Clancy had been a program man­ager in the SDI Organization (SDIO). He has the uncanny ability to blend fact and fiction, fragments of information with published data, and develop amazingly accurate technical descriptions. The so­phisticated technocrat may find some dis­parities, but for the most part Clancy’s discussions of early-warning satellites, communication satellites, infrared sen­sors, laser technology, facilities, weap­ons, and SDI organization are frighten­ingly precise. It is this facility of Clancy’s that has become his trademark. Independent of plot, his technical detail gets your attention and is described in terms that laymen can digest.

This is a book that the armed services committees in Congress should read be­fore voting for SDI funding. Perhaps they would then authorize increased funding. Well, it may or may not be read by, or to, members of Congress; but I guarantee it will be popular in berthing compartments and wardrooms throughout the fleet. All submarines will have to have at least one book in their libraries, acknowledging the role that Clancy accords the USS Dallas (SSN-700) in his yam. And spaceniks will love it! Air Force Lieutenant General Abe Abrahamson, Director of SDIO, should be given a personalized copy. The CIA might even consider introducing it as a training manual for field operations.

The Cardinal will find a place on many bedside tables around America, and in­deed overseas. 1 wouldn’t be surprised to find copies in many dachas and kvartiras, probably owned by the KGB, in the So­viet Union.

Mr. Clancy—send us more!

Admiral Ramsey is the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the U. S. Space Command and Vice Commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Com­mand. (Proceedings's interview with Admiral Ram­sey appears on pages 147-150 of this issue.)

terns—especially the more sophist'¹ variety—are illegal under the _}

Conventions. These critics argue robot would be unable to recognize

here to stay. They cannot do every¹

tif^e

War Without Men: Robots on the Future Battlefield

Steven M. Shaker and Alan R. Wise.

Volume II of the Future Warfare Series.

Perry M. Smith, General Editor. London: Pergamon-Brassey’s, 1988. 196 pp. Photos. Figs. Bib. Ind. $19.95 ($17.95).

Reviewed by Lieutenant Colonel Wayne A. Silkett, U. S. Army

War Without Men is an occasionally alarming and completely engrossing treatment of a technology promising—if not guaranteeing—to put more military people out of work than any number of arms control agreements. An encyclope­dia of “combat robotics,” the book gives the first comprehensive treatment to the subject of unmanned military vehicles and weapon systems. In these highly readable pages, robotics authority Steven Shaker and engineer Alan Wise address worldwide research and development in military robotics and the military’s past, present, and potential use of robotics on land and in the air, sea, and space. They consider every type of conflict in which robots might take a role, from terrorism to nuclear war. It is a tall order, but the authors have filled it admirably.

Shaker and Wise define robotic weap­ons as “autonomous, semiautonomous and teleoperated artificial systems or ve­hicles” performing military missions “appropriate for human beings.” Satel­lites, space probes, automatic pilots, and cruise missiles are robotic systems, but robotics do not stop there.

Many strategists predict robotic sys­tems will figure prominently in any future large-scale war. The most persuasive evi­dence of this remains the celebrated Is­raeli operation in 1982 in the Bekaa Val­ley, Lebanon. There, Israeli remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs) deceived Syrian radars and transmitted air-defense fre­quency information to airborne jammers. Israeli fighter planes then shot down 79 Syrian aircraft and destroyed 19 surface- to-air missile (SAM) sites, at the cost of one Israeli aircraft. It was a stunning vic­tory for machines, and unmanned ma­chines were the foremost heroes.

These machines are “gaining intellects hinged to the computer chip.” They are “solutions to problems,” even answers to dreams. Robotic systems are available that are smaller, cheaper, safer, more re­liable, and more survivable than the manned machines they replace.

The question “what can robots do?” is no longer as valid as “when will robots be available to do it?” Technology is catching up very fast. Already robotic systems can or soon will be able to per­form reconnaissance, attack, communi-

Glitches notwithstanding, mechanical warriors such as this Pioneer RPV will one day do most of man’s fight­ing for him.

cations, electronic warfare, security, explosive ordnance disposal, sabotage, transport, and aircraft rearming and re­fueling functions. They can carry out decoy, area suppression, antiarmor, anti­radar, and anti-SAM operations. They can rescue submarines, lay and dispose of mines, and perform underwater construc­tion and recovery. They can operate in environments lethal to humans and are invulnerable to battle fatigue, fear, and fluctuations in morale.

Manned, powered flight was only 15 years old when unmanned, explosive­laden aircraft—flying bombs (today we call them cruise missiles)—became reali­ties. The U. S. Navy successfully flew such a robot in March 1918, and an Army version followed six months later. World War I ended, though, before either could be used in combat. The German Navy, however, did use unmanned, radio- controlled torpedo boats in World War I, some of them even directed from sea­planes. The Allies never confirmed Ger­man claims of the boats’ success against shipping; nevertheless, it was clear that the robotic concept worked.

World War II combatants made greater use of robotic devices, especially radio- controlled target drones, radio-controlled aircraft full of explosives (one such ex­periment killed President J. F. Kennedy’s brother in 1944), minitanks (the German “Goliath”), and probably the most fa­mous of all World War II unmanned sys­tems, the German V-l and V-2 rockets. During the Korean War, Air Force F-80s and Navy F6Fs flew as drones. The les­sons learned from these early trials were incorporated in the first serious U. S. RPV effort, reconnaissance drones di­rected against mainland China beginning in 1963.

A more ambitious robotic effort oc­curred in 1972, when a Navy test pitted an unmanned Firebee drone, remotely piloted from the ground, against a manned F-4 Phantom. The RPV executed 6-G turns without losing altitude and evaded Sparrow and Sidewinder missiles while scoring several “kills” against the F-4.

The Navy has long been a pioneer in employing robots on, above, and bel® the sea. For 30 years it has devoted si? nificant effort to unmanned subsurfr^ce recovery programs. The earliest of these" the cable-controlled underwater reco^v® vehicle—began in 1958 and recovered, U. S. Air Force hydrogen bomb l°^st' the Mediterranean in 1966 and rescued manned minisub in 1973. And it was unmanned tethered minisubmersible ® recently took the stunning interior ph°* of the Titanic 12,500 feet beneath ¹ surface.

If robotic systems are hardly new,^nel ther is resistance to them. Shaker a Wise cite particular resistance from u¹ j tary quarters most likely to be aff|^ct (read “replaced”)—pilots, ship ^ca\ tains, and decision makers. Tugging every unmanned air, sea, land, or sp^a robot is the question; Will the man ‘ ^s in the loop”? For many military Da ^ the authors claim, no issue relating robotics is more important.

For some time to come, most “lo°P^s will continue to include a person, ^eSPj daily the teleoperator. Even m° j though, pose challenges to traditi⁰^ organizational patterns and leader^ norms. Physical fitness, age, and g^en _e may play negligible roles in >^u ^ teleoperator selection, training, and ^e^, ployment. The idea of human opera may seem comforting, but the “man _v, the loop” is not without serious d* backs: Data links will be prime tafg and system operators even more so-

Particularly thought provoking >^s Without Men's coverage of robotics ponents who claim that unmanned ,

• ia^te° :e^va

;apf.

son trying to surrender, thus violating provision that combatants allow the ponent to lay down his arms. . _r0- Meanwhile, work continues on ®^l . botic fronts. Some systems are in P¹ j_r. some, such as robotic rotary-winger craft and lighter-than-air systems. aD the latter stages of development. Ot ,_p such as unmanned frigates and destiW.^ for convoy escort, are still on the dra

boards. Sophisticated robotic system*

tn"^r

to be sure, and it will be a very long y, before they replace many soldiers. ^ ors, and airmen. But if time '* anyone’s side, it is on the side ⁰ machine.

ff $

Colonel Silkett serves on the arms control ^ Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers, Europ' is a frequent contributor to Proceedings.

yearly e i et

yyj                                       —***vo migin otviitiivuu

°nlv       believes that convoys are the

^ef|ective ■ •                                ■      •

submarines might overwhelm us.

offs

ⁿ>st0,

^ensivi

submarine attacks, as Win-

^l*es _sh^a^'^unts of desperate convoy bat-

'"ⁿan ^ab°^ut the middle of 1942, the ^C°^ver th! ^aat* ^enough submarines at sea to ^entire convoy area, so that eva-

the

"■as

j^TRA at Sea

212° "^,'^nton- London: Leo Cooper, 1988. f'Din'u' ^^lotos' Gloss. Ind. Order directly ^tae P^u*⁵'‘^s*^{ler at} 1^0 Shaftesbury _R ^nue. London, UK, WC2H 8JL.

^VlCVVed by Norman Friedman

Th' •

‘ⁿtell'^S *^{S 3 histor}y °f the effect of naval o'^ce, particularly code-breaking, lane ⁶ War II naval war in the At- s_0r, f such, it carries important les- _sub* today’s U. S. Navy, both in anti- ^and k^{nne war}f^are strategy and in the use

The^USe '^nte^*S^encc- AS\y ^pnma7 connection to current tty_een^S!^rategy >s probably an analogy be- ^c°de k ^sui’^marine location provided by fi_ncjj ^r®^aking (and by radio direction- 81 and the location the Navy hopes

_of^X*A succeeded because yy.’ • • technical arrogance.

¹' wp f_au f_{or same}

as                by underwater systems such

($0_S|   ®         sound surveillance system

qugjti 1; For John Winton, the great liati_0nⁿ *^{S w} bet her such location infor- gr°_u ’               exploited by hunter-killer

If       ’ ^makes convoying less important.

getb_v^answer’^s yes, then the Navy can no, ^ ^w'lh relatively few escorts. If it is _JrW^en ^e United States does not have &attl_e ^e_fⁿ°^u^b escorts to fight a future $0vj_et ° , be Atlantic, and even a few

solution to a submarine -oiQrv ^e’ ^a P⁰*ⁿt he has made before in a it h_erg ^c°nvoy operations. He repeats ^carry ’ °^ut his history of the battle may thidJU'te _a different message. Until but th_e ^ 'be U-boats hunted in packs, are_a ^ere too few to cover the entire •herefo ^{ae conv}oy routes. The convoys riariiy f^{C Usct}i location information pri-

^e^^ectof°^{r eVaS}'⁰ⁿ’ ^ant* ^ma'ⁿ P^os't*^{ve C}°ncent ^COnv°ying seems to have been to ^couid [^{ate merc}hant ships so that they "biere v.^CVatie 'b^e U-boats effectively. ^C°ⁿcent^{Cre not enou}gh escorts to fight off toi]’, ^Iated submarine nttarlrs as Win-

en

^S|0n

*a_{s a} ' ⁿ° longer possible. The result ubsis: Convoys had to fight ^akg. ^{e su}b-ridden waters, but their ^C(->rn_e «**■ allowed the Atlantic to be- ^niy ^ merchant-ship killing ground. ^y43 did enough escorts materi­alize to turn these battles into an opportu­nity for killing off the U-boats, and only then did the convoy strategy really suc­ceed. At about the same time, escort car­riers capable of exploiting code-breaking and direction-finding data also appeared, so that it cannot be clear whether hunter- killer groups or reinforced escort groups were more effective.

All of this is very clearly laid out, al­though I differ with Winton’s conclusion. Weak escorts still seem to equal large numbers of sunken merchantmen, and the United States probably cannot buy enough adequate escorts. And nuclear submarines make matters much worse.

Winton also discusses the series of Al­lied errors in using code-breaking infor­mation, which several times seemed likely to betray the secret that the German codes were being read. Remarkably, de­spite several naval disasters, the Germans always preferred to believe that spies or traitors had given away their plans (never their codes). That might have been be­cause they arrogantly imagined that their codes were unbreakable.

It also may reflect a more general human tendency not to believe the worst, and therefore never to suspect that the mail is indeed being read. After all, until the Walkers surfaced, it appears that the United States assumed that its codes were secure. For example, reports that Soviet ships turned up near U. S. submarines were always attributed to either coinci­dence or (by skeptics) to the existence of some unknown Soviet submarine detec­tor. It later turned out that the detector was a telephone in the hands of John Walker. In retrospect it seems remarkable that a country so very successful in read­ing others’ signals was so unwilling to accept the possibility that through treason its own were being read.

It seems, then, that ULTRA succeeded because of human nature, particularly technical arrogance. Will we fall for the same reason?

Winton’s book makes fascinating reading. My only complaint is that he fails to list any sources—or, for that mat­ter, any acknowledgements. Almost cer­tainly he worked from a combination of archival material and the new British his­tory of World War II intelligence (British Intelligence in the Second World War, three volumes, Cambridge University Press), but it is difficult to be sure. Were that omission corrected, surely this would become a most valuable text for future naval leaders.

Dr. Friedman is a noted naval analyst and author and writes the “World Naval Developments” column for Proceedings.

Impress Them With Your Intelligence

^Weapons Information at your Fingertip

Weyer’s Warships¹ of the World 1988/89

Edited by G. Albrecht Foreword by Norman Palmar

"XWyer’s earn high marks... a quality work well worth its price."

—Dr. R.L. Scheina U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings "Packed with data, photos, and drawings of every ship afloat... a definite advantage over the hernia-producing British rival, Jane’s Fighting Ships. ”

— The Hook

•         Over 1600 scale line drawings (plan and profile), and over 900 photos of every ship class in every navy in the world.

•         Dual Language: English and German

•         Only *78.95. Half the price of Jane's. 730pages. Portable 5” x7V4”. Flex-cover. ISBN: 0-933852-75-4.

Third Edition

International Defence Equipment Catalogue 1988/89

An Indispensable Reference!

•         Three large, full-color volumes including suppliers of ships, submarines, aircraft, ar­moured vehicles, artillery, supporting equipment, and defense services

•         Uses the Federal Supply Classification (FSC) system, with its 99 materiel groups and 616 materiel classes

•         Multiple indexes, explanations of NATO’s organizations, and detailed procurement procedures of selected countries.

1,152 pages. 8 Vi” x 11 Vi". 2500 colored illustrations. 1500 products. 1100 en­tries from over 600 firms.

ISBN: 0-933852-80-0.

*190.00 (3-volume set)

The Western World’s Weapons Systems

Order Tbdayl NT *              Call or write:

The Nautical and Aviation Publishing Company of America

101 West Read Street, Suite 314-P Baltimore, MD 21201 (301) 659-0220

By Lieutenant Commander Thomas J. Cutler, U. S. Navy

Adi

sniTr^a' New Empire: The Life j. ^areer of George Dewey

g,,*¹ Specter. Columbia, SC: University of Notes _R^ar“^{lina Pre}ss, 1988, 227 pp. Photos. ^J|2.95 ^Ind- ^$24'⁹⁵ ($22.45) hardcover.

Note! ^C_Ii‘^rolina Press, 1988. 227 pp. Photos.

(2 a, ^B|b- Ind.

_Poc ^($H-65) paper.

life _an^ ⁰ⁿ 'Admiral George Dewey’s public

_at,l_e Particularly on the period from the rj_an Manila Bay onward, eminent histo- dei_aii_s°^naM Spector reveals the fascinating of the N ^tae               'America’s only “Admiral

old we ^avT• ” Dewey was more than 60 years nati₀n I", ^{0e rose} ^^rom obscurity to become a life had °^ero’ ^and yet those late years of his

B,

awards, grants, and internships designed pri­marily or exclusively for veterans or active- duty military personnel and their dependents. Numerous indexes and a logical layout make this book simple to use, and it lists a surprising number of sources of aid.

Grumman: Sixty Years of Excellence

Bill Gunston. New York: Orion Books, 1988.

160 pp. Photos. Ind. $19.95 ($17.95).

With a venerable line of aircraft to its credit, including the F-14 Tomcat, the A-6 Intruder, and the F4F Wildcat (which New York Times correspondent Foster Hailey described in 1943 as having done “more than any single instru­ment of war to save the day for the United States in the Pacific”), the Grumman Corpora­tion has a proud and interesting history. Through words and photographs, this book follows the company from its modest begin­nings in a garage in Baldwin, New York, to its position as the leader in today’s space-age technology. Along the way, it captures both the human and the corporate dimensions of this aerospace industry giant.

Handbooks to the Modern World: The Middle East

Michael Adams, editor. New York: Facts on File, 1988. 873 pp. Maps. Tables. Ind. $45.00 ($40.50) paper.

This work will prove invaluable for those seeking a better understanding of the volatile Middle East. It addresses each nation in the region twice: once in a factual overview of the relevant statistics, and a second time in an ana­lytical article written by an expert on the par­ticular nation. The volume thus covers impor­tant political issues as well as the historical, social, and economic data.

SI The Merchant U-Boat: Adventures of the Deutschland, 1916-1918

Dwight R. Messimer. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1988. 288 pp. Photos. Notes. Bib. Ind. $24.95 ($19.96).

Responding to an effective British blockade during World War I, the German high com­mand devised a unique plan: a submarine de­signed to carry cargo. The story of this unusual vessel, including her two trips to the United States for critical supplies of nickel, is here recounted in exciting detail. Meticulously re­searched and fdled with revealing and enter­taining anecdotes, The Merchant U-Boat also provides an insider’s view of World War I in­

an

"_U[ I 'mportant impact upon the Navy— to _c„ ^y during his lifetime but for many years

lot

cottie.

^ralia s War in Vietnam

“till; p

222 p_D p^S'• Boston: Allen & Unwin, 1987.

^(S3U5)         ^0S- ^MaPS- Notes. Bib. Ind. $34.95

Off •

Poli_Cj^la® ^a detailed account of the strategy, Tasie P ’ ^and experiences of the Australian served⁰^^{6 dur}iⁿg the ftve-and-a-half years it tHented'¹¹ Vietnam War, this well-docu- tered a ^S’!^u°y ^ana'yzes the problems encoun- ^ring this controversial venture.

The p

East a • ^^ar Begins in Asia: American ■liip_an(^Slan Policy and the Fall of the . ^ae Empi-"

Mi

b^nivcrsit?^!^1Cchio- ^{New York:} Columbia ^B|h. I_nd^y^^ress- 1988. 205 pp. Gloss. Notes.

Boc_u ^{525 00} <^$22-50).

*^cholaH⁸ °^{n tlle last} year of World War II, this

. S. ^{y tre}atise examines the transition in "'ar wdH ^ldy ^^rom total war with Japan to cold ^Vi°Usl_v "^e ^^oviet Union. Drawing upon pre- ^i,h im_Dr,^Untai^JP^ed sources, Gallicchio provides i'UstWjj. ^I'!^{ant an}alysis of the origins of U. S.

S. _D |^S'^an Policy. Its detailed attention to Ehi_na ^0cy toward Korea, Indochina, and |h°_Se        '^akes this work essential reading for

'^l,volvo ° ^{Want t0} understand U. S. postwar ^emem in Asia,

^"aric^-

W^a,,^Aid ^^or Veterans, Military 19^9 ^e and Their Dependents 1988-

h^3il An_n

I^Ood p^Chlach'er and R. David Weber.

254 *^t^’ Reference Service Press,

Thi_s ^Pp- ^Charts. Bib. Ind. $32.50.

^I;sts ^COjdprehensive volume contains detailed ^scholarships, fellowships, loans,

telligence-gathering operations, discusses American attitudes toward the war and its par­ticipants, and reveals for the first time the full story behind a complex network of secret agents and dummy companies called Etap- pendienst.

Morale: A Study of Men and Courage

John Baynes. Garden City Park. NY: Avery Publishing Group, 1988. 286 pp. Photos. Maps. Append. Notes. Bib. Ind. $10.95 ($9.85) paper.

Painstakingly recreating the lives, times, and battlefield conditions of the unit known as the Cameronians who fought at Neuve Chappelle in France in the first major British offensive of World War I, John Baynes has written an ex­cellent military-sociological analysis of the factors that inspire men to fight under difficult circumstances. The Cameronians entered the battle with 900 men; after six days 143 re­mained. Morale reveals how that intangible quality is instilled, how it is sustained, and what important effects it can have.

On the Wrong Side: My Life in the KGB

Stanislav Levchenko. Elmsford, NY: Pcrgamon Press, 1988. 245 pp. $18.95 ($17.05).

In a memoir that author Tom Clancy describes as “a fascinating spy story,” Stanislav Lev­chenko reveals the details of life in the Soviet Union and, more specifically, in the KGB. He