Pepsi Once Had the Sixth Largest Navy in the World

Did you know that Pepsi, the soda company, once commanded the world’s sixth-largest navy? No, that’s not a typo.

This fizzy tale begins in 1972, when Pepsi became the first American consumer brand to break into the Soviet Union. Because the ruble wasn’t accepted internationally, a traditional payment setup was off the table. So instead, Pepsi bartered with the USSR—trading its cola for Stolichnaya vodka, which it could sell in the U.S.

Capitalism, meet vodka-fueled communism.

But things got complicated in 1989. After the U.S. slapped sanctions on Russian goods following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the vodka-for-Pepsi pipeline dried up. That’s when Pepsi’s CEO Donald Kendall found himself back in Moscow, trying to negotiate a new deal with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

The USSR still couldn’t pay in cash, so they got creative. Wildly creative.

The Soviets offered Pepsi a bunch of military ships—17 submarines, a cruiser, a frigate, and a destroyer. The vessels were decommissioned and needed major repairs, but on paper, PepsiCo was briefly a maritime superpower.

For a short time, the soda company technically owned more naval hardware than some countries. Experts even say that, during this fleeting window, Pepsi possessed the sixth-largest navy in the world.

Of course, Pepsi had no plans to start patrolling the high seas with Mountain Dew torpedoes. They sold the ships for scrap metal to a Swedish company, pocketing about $3 million in the process.

So, the next time someone asks what your favorite soft drink is, just remember: Pepsi once had a fleet of submarines.