Nuclear Strike Targets in Scotland

Russian targets in Scotland
Source and date unknown

The following list of Cold War Targets was published in a Glasgow newspaper sometime in the 1970s. We only have this piece of the page, the actual date and paper are unknown.

If anyone seriously thinks Faslane or Coulport puts them at risk, consider that the reality is that EVERY government office in the land was (is?) a nominated strike. Should a nuclear strike occur, you could pretty much wave goodbye to mainland Britain, let alone Scotland.

• Glasgow, Prestwick and Aberdeen airports
• Holy Loch, Faslane, Coulport, Glen Douglas
• Arrochar, Auchendennan, Loch Long , Rosneath
• Glen Fruin, Garelochead, Greenock
• Bishopton, Bothwell Hagh, Cambuslang (Dechmont)), East Kilbride (Calderglen)
• Hamilton (Cameronians), Helensburgh, Inchterf, Kirkintilloch
• Kirk O' Shotts, Lanark (Winston Barracks)
• Machrihanish, Dunoon, Toward
• Benbecula, Lewis, Dounreay , St Kilda, Kyle of Lochalsh
• Perth, Dundee, Edzell, Kinloss, Lossiemouth, Leuchars
• Mormond Hill, Pitreavie
• All TA and similar establishments

Auchendennan refers to the location of a fuel depot near the better known Glenmallan jetty, used to transfer munitions from the nearby Glen Douglas Munitions Depot.

Decades later, many of these seem obscure. Even at the time, some would have been considered obscure. However, in 2000, the invasion of Iraq was supposedly based on current, definitive intelligence, so it's worth comparing the difficulty with which local Soviet agents could obtain and transmit target information to their masters in the days of the Cold War, compared to the relative ease with which similar information can be transferred today.

Soviet mapping

The Soviets had highly detailed maps of Britain, sometimes more detailed than that of Ordnance Survey, and sometimes stolen from Ordnance Survey, who are reputed to have considered suing for copyright infringement (but OS does that to everyone, even the British taxpayer who finances their maps, but still has to pay to use them).

• Soviet Mapping of Britain

Reference Documentation

Probable Nuclear Targets

From de-classified documentation relating to targeting:

Nuclear Targets in the UK

From Struggle for Survival. Governing Britain after the Bomb, by Steve Fox

Conventional attack targets

From the same source as the above listing:

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