Sorry for the thread drift on time lines, I was just bringing up that something really implausible (T2k division Cuba) can enhance gaming options.
As much as we may want realism any one of us can say history changed at any point. Maybe in some gaming world Kennedy survived and opened up China instead of Nixon. China might have had an additional 10 years to try to reach technological parity. And of course if we don't want to cover all the details on how things got where they are, there is always the standard response "A wizard did it"
As for the navy disparity, if those ultra fast torpedoes were ever able to carry a guidance system that could really be a rude awakening for the Naval force on the receiving end.
(my goodness I have added multiple new potential thread drift possibilities in my effort to end one)