The genre was possibly already well developed in the 70s - see Alfred Coppels Thirty-Four East (1974) and The Dragon (1977). And Forsyths The Devil's Alternative (1979), Erdmans Crash of 79 (1976), or borderline cases like Avalanche Express (1976). Maybe also Hacketts first attempt should also count as 70s novel (published in 1978). And I'm sure there were many more.
Interesting additions for the 80s could be a french attempt in an all-out WWIII novel, La 6ème colonne. Si les Russes attaquaient by Francois from 1980.