European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 18, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday july 18, 1988 the stars and stripes Page 9 soviets reduce naval operations cutback May reflect budget problems Washington not the soviet Union has Cut Back on overseas naval deployments and has stopped carrying out ambitious naval exercises far from soviet territory according to top american and soviet military officials. Marshal Sergei f. Fakhr Omeyer the chief of the so Viet Union s general staff told reporters at a Pentagon news conference this past week that the cutback was a example of Moscow s new Effort to develop a purely defensive military doctrine. Senior american military leaders have suggested that the cutback primarily reflects budgetary concern sin Moscow and does not necessarily portend an important change in soviet military strategy. There is no question that we have seen less Forward naval deployments said adm. William j. Crowe jr., chairman of the joint chiefs of staff who said that the change appeared to reflect soviet Cost cutting  said the change in soviet Navy operations was still under review by government intelligence experts. Other experts on the soviet Navy have speculate that the changed pattern of deployments and naval exercises May also reflect a soviet Effort to project Amore benign image in Western Europe and Asia. The decline in soviet operations represents a rever Sal of a Long trend. Soviet naval operations grew considerably from 1965 to 1984, the Peak year for the russian Fleet according to United states Navy figures. According to the Navy the wartime role of the soviet Navy has been the largely defensive one of keeping american warships from approaching soviet territory and protecting those soviet missile firing submarines that Are deployed close to the soviet Union. But the growth in soviet naval operations also provided Moscow with an important Means to extend it political influence in the third world according to a 1985 report by the office of the chief of naval operations. The latest . Figures however show that there has been a significant decline in the deployment of soviet naval forces since 1984. The decline affects deployments of soviet destroy ers frigates corvettes logistic ships attack submarines and submarines that carry nuclear tipped Ballis tic and cruise missiles. According to the . Navy the soviet Fleet deployed an average of 46 submarines each Day in 1984 in 1987, the soviets deployed an average of 25 submarines each Day. In 1984, the average soviet deployment of warships on a Given Day was 31 warships in 1987, the average was 24 per Day. In a noteworthy change the soviets did not Send naval task Force to the Caribbean last year. This was the first time in this decade that Moscow has not sen such a Force to the Caribbean. The . Navy has previously cited such visits a important demonstrations of Moscow s support for Fidel Castro the cuban Leader. There were also fewer flights to Cuba and Angola of ear naval reconnaissance aircraft than in previous years. The director of naval intelligence rear adm. Wil Liam o. Studeman told Congress that last year the soviets conducted naval operations close to the soviet Mainland a departure from pre-1986  soviet marshal Sergei f. Fakhr Omeyer. Says reduction part of defensive doctrine those earlier exercises have been a particular concern to american military planners. In 1984, for example the soviet Western Fleet con ducted its largest exercise Ever. The exercise involved More than 140 surface ships More than 40 submarines and involved simulated attacks by soviet Navy and air Force bombers on targets Well out into the Atlantic according to the 1985 . Navy report. The soviets have also Cut Back on the deployment of old missile firing Yankee class submarines that have been deployed off the american coast moving some of these submarines closer to Europe to compensate for the elimination of soviet medium Range missiles under the new missile Accord. Now such submarines Are Only occasionally deployed off . Coasts Pentagon officials say. Despite these changes . Navy officials assert that there has been no obvious change in soviet ship building plans which were Well under Way when Mik Hail s. Gorbachev became communist party general Secretary. And the soviet Navy continues to conduct escort operations in the persian Gulf and maintains a Small number of ships off West Africa near Angola. Administration experts and specialists outside the government have offered different explanations for the change. Studeman who is leaving his Post to head the National Security Agency has cited budgetary pressures As Well As increased emphasis by soviet planners on improving the Navy s capability to conduct operations close to Home. The soviet military for example has been making increasing use of its Navy in conjunction with air Force units to improve the soviet Union s ability to defend adm. William j. Crowejr. No question there Are less deployments itself against attack by bombers and cruise missiles Studeman said in his congressional testimony. Norman Polmar an expert on the soviet Navy said the changes Are due to near term budgetary concerns and Gorbachev s efforts to modernize soviet Indus  he is trying to show that the soviet Union can Deal with the West in a responsible Way and the earlier exercises could have been considered provocative by some he added. But Polmar stressed that there were no apparent changes in soviet shipbuilding plans. Studeman also told Congress that the deployment of american sea launched cruise missiles could prompt the soviet Union to again put additional emphasis on developing the ability to engage Western units far from soviet territory. He said that the Range capabilities of the cruise missiles could Force the soviets to adjust their Corre lation Offe Rees for engagement of Battle groups farther from the soviet  Norway s defense minister Johan Jurgen hoist said this past week that the changes in soviet naval deploy ments could Stem from budgetary pressures a Basic reassessment of strategic needs or reconsideration of the political value of keeping naval units deployed throughout the world. In his congressional testimony Studeman also said that while soviet planners continue to upgrade their air and naval installations at Cam Ranh Bay in Viet Nam their abilities to project military Power Are limited. Soviet forces abroad such As those at Cam Ranh Bay Vietnam or in Ethiopia South Yemen Cuba or the South Atlantic Are still too few and too weak to enable the soviets to engage in any significant Power projection particularly Over a prolonged period Stu deman said. British  want to know what s in a name London a the old fashioned tradition in the House of com Mons of addressing friends and foes like As honorable gentlemen and la Dies has come under attack from opposition lawmakers who want their col leagues to speak Plain  three left Wing members of the opposition labor party tabled a motion in the commons last week challenging the archaic forms of address and urging members to use surnames to Aid communications. The motion said the use of names willbe especially important when the 650 member House of commons allows Tele vision cameras to film debates for the first time As part of a six month Experiment starting in october. By tradition Only the speaker of  is allowed to address members by then names. The rest of the member must use various honorable forms of address depending on the person. Members of the same party Are honorable  opponents Are Honora ble gentlemen or honorable  members of the privy Council who serve As senior advisers to Queen Eliza Beth ii Are right honorable gentlemen or ladies. Members who Are Queen s Counselor the most senior lawyers Are honorable and Learned and those with distinguished military service Are honorable and  John Hughes one of the labor Law makers who sponsored the motion said the Way things Are now done people watching television would t have the faintest idea what is going on and who i being referred to. We should Call each other by our real  but conservative lawmakers led by sir Bernard Braine denounced the idea As Claptrap arguing that without such courtesies civilized debate in the com Mons would disappear. Fellow tory John Browne said thesis one of the fascinations of the place and would Appeal to to  motions in parliament Are almost never debated serving mainly As an expression of opinion or a form of pressure. This one is Likely to be referred to the procedure com Mittee of the House which will shortly begin an inquiry into How the ancient traditions of the commons should be modernized so viewers can understand what is Hap pening when the to cameras Are admitted. Our committee is looking at All aspects of procedure that will be seen in the House and obviously forms of address must be an aspect of that procedure said sir Peter Emery the committee s conservative chair Man. In the House of lords the unelected upper chamber of parliament whose proceedings have been televised for several years Peers still address each other As the Noble lord or Noble