Late 20th century submarine technology has absolutely nothing to do with the theoretical ability or lack thereof of our B-29's to penetrate Russian aispace and deliver the bomb without staggering losses of aircraft and crew in the immediate post WWII environment. If you were shooting for a non-sequiter, you hit the 10 ring.
For starters the comment about the Russian/Soviet submarines was to point out one of thousands (millions if you count individual lives lost) of reasons why we are not better off for having let the Soviets run amok. As to its relevance to Soviet technology in general, it speaks volumes. Below is a list of all Cold War era Submarine accidents that I could find in a reasonable amount of time.
Some of the more interesting statistics are the number of subs with all hands lost Russian 8 (technically 9, but one of them, the B-37, killed 10 Russian sailors on an adjacent parade ground
)
Americans 2
Number of nuke subs irretrievably (to date at least) on the bottom of the sea: 8
Number of those Russian: 4
Number of those American: 2.
Why does this matter? Well, because in everything the Russians/Soviets ever did, they did it poorly, and with cobbled together technology. They were constantly overrated in virtually all of their pursuits; so much so - it could be argued - that we weren't even able to predict the subsequent demise of the Soviet Union. Those who held that the Soviets were invulnerable (as you seem to) told us that everything in the good ol' Rodina was as great as ever. I don't doubt for a minute that they thought them capable of a six decade long "Hot War" as well.
Submarine
[*] Nationality Date Type of Accident
USS Sea Robin (SS-407) [?] American 22 October 1948 Man Overboard
USS Cochino (SS-345) [1 from Cochino/6 from Tusk (during rescue)] American 26 August 1949 Fire
S-117 [All] Russian 15 December 1952 Unknown
USS Pomodon (SS-486) [5]
American 21 February 1955 Explosion
Vengeance [Russian] (M-200) [All]
Russian 21 November 1956 Collision
M-256 [28] Russian 26 September 1957 Fire
USS Stickleback (SS-415) [0] American 30 May 1958 Collision
USS Cutlass (SS-478) [1] American 1 June 1958 Man Overboard
USS Sargo (SSN-583) [1] American 14 June 1960 Fire
K-8 [3 injured] Russian 13 October 1960 Reactor Accident
S-80 [All] Russian 27 January 1961 Foundered
K-19 [8] Russian 4 July 1961 Reactor Coolant Leak
B-37 [122] Russian 11 January 1962 Torpedo Explosion
USS Requin (SS-481) [1] American 21 September 1962 Work Accident
USS Thresher (SSN-593) [All] American 10 April 1963 Foundered
USS Grayback (SSG-574) [1] American 27 August 1963 Fire
Picuda (SS-382) [2] American 18 April 1967 Man Overboard
K-3 [39] Russian 8 September 1967 Fire
K-129 [All] Russian 11 April 1968 Explosion
USS Scorpion (SSN-589) [All] American 21 May 1968 Unknown
K-27 [9] Russian 24 May 1968 Reactor Accident
USS Chopper (SS-342) [0] American 11 February, 1969 Diving accident
USS Guitarro (SSN-665) [0] American 15 May 1969 Flooded Pierside (during construction)
K-8 [All] Russian 11 April 1970 Fire/Sank
USS Tautog /K-108 American / Russian June 1970 Submerged Collision [0 killed]
K-19 [28] Russian 24 February 1972 Fire
USS Sturgeon (SSN-637) [1] American 25 August 1972 Man Overboard
USS Plunger (SSN-595) [1] American 01 December 1973 Man Overboard
USS Dace (SSN-607) [1] American 20 August 1976 Man Overboard
K-47 [8] Russian 26 September 1976 Fire
USS Ray (SSN-653) [0] American 20 September, 1977 Underwater Grounding
USS Grayback (SS-574) [5] American 14 January 1982 Diving Personnel Accident
K-122 [?] Russian 21 August 1981 Reactor Accident
K-123 [?] Russian 08 August 1982 Reactor Accident
K-429 [17] Russian 24 June 1983 Flooding
K-131 [13] Russian 18 June 1984 Fire
K-431 [?] Russian December 1985 Reactor Accident
USS Nathaniel Greene (SSBN-636) [0] American 13 March, 1986 Underwater Grounding
K-219 [4] Russian 06 October 1986 Explosion
USS Ulysses S. Grant (SSBN-631) [2] American 6 April 1987 Man Overboard
USS Bonefish (SS-582) [3] American 24 April, 1988 Fire
USS Barbel (SS-580) [?] American 1 May 1989 Flooding
Komsomolets (K-278) [42] Russian 07 April 1989 Fire
K-192 (ex. K-131) [?] Russian 25 June 1989 Reactor Accident
USS Baton Rouge (SSN-689) / Barracuda American / Russian 11 February, 1992 Collision [0]
Kursk [All] Russian 13 August, 2000 Explosion
USS Greeneville (SSN-772) [0] American 9 February, 2001 Collision
USS Dolphin (AGSS-555)[0] American 21 May 2002 Flooding
USS Oklahoma City (SSN-723) [?] American 13 November 2002 Collision
USS Hartford (SSN-768) [0] American 25 October 2003 Grounding
[*] Indicates number of dead.
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No one that I know of ever suggested that deep penetration of Russian airspace would have been neccessary. I also have no idea how the Russians could possibly have known that we had only a few nukes in our inventory, nor how they would have used such knowledge to convince the Russian people to engage us in 60 years and counting worth of hot war.
But no one needs to take my word for it. They only need ask themselves that if the Russians were so formidable (dying if we take even the low figure of 4 to 1 against their enemies) and so resourceful (that gigantic chunk of steppe, taiga, and tundra they've carved out for themselves) why then did they lose so completely? It's true that everything they ever touched turned to crap, but that was no less true in 46-47. Come to think of it, other than those dolls that stack together, their less than adventuresome space program, and (some) AK-47s, I can't think of much they make that works.
'Nearly a hundred million lives were wasted in/on the Cold War.' And your preference would have been what?
You already know my preference. You haven't become that befuddled over a simple argument have you?