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/specialCollection/SovietandWarsawPact/1961/1961-12-18.pdf

Central Intelligence Agency · 28 pages · text from the file's own layer

This Central Intelligence Agency memorandum to the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, dated December 1961, sends a verbatim translation of a Soviet article from the TOP SECRET version of the journal Military Thought. The article, "The Theory of Military Art Needs Review" by Colonel-General A. Gastilovich, appeared in the first 1960 issue. It argues that nuclear missiles call for short "blitz" wars, smaller ground forces and missile troops as the main arm. It has no UFO content.

1110 SE RE7'
VGK missile troops completely chnoge the mature of opera
ground troops, the navy, and aviation.
It woult be naive to think that the enemy will be incapable of
delivering similar powerful nuclear strikes spinet the territory of
countries of the Socialist Camp and first and Ifort against the
territory of the Soriet Unica. liut such strikes will not be ab.le to
knock these countries out of the wr.
The superiority of the socialist structure with its econamic
potentialities and politiosl thity of peoples . will enable countries
or the Socialist dap to withstand the first nuclear strikes of the
enemy. This is further favored by the enormous territory, the
insilseustible Unman resources, and a relatively great dispersics of
inthistrial and administrative captors. The laperielist bloc does
act lave each possibilities. ree this reason, in panarrag the
country for the possible launchine of ear by aggressors, es mat first
of all utilise the advantages of our socialist system so as not to
give the enemy the possibility at recovering after our retaliatory
nuclear strike.
Of course es at take into account the coosepences or the
first powerful enemy nuclear strikes. As it appears to us, they
will nuke themselves felt, fL.st of all, by the fact that in the
first operatics of the initial period of the ear, a substantial rein-
forcement or troops in theaters of military operetioos cannot be
especied by bringing vp forces and spetymmrt from the depth of the
country.
• elder those condition, it appears absolutely necessary to us
to review seriouely certain tenets of am sanitary etrategy
ceasing the length of a contemporary war end the member of armed
forces participetiag in it.
The couple of the capitalist canstries ammThilated in the
first days of the ear will hardly evoke enthusiess in the rtemiming
countries for its prolceiptice. Ws Nast take into account the
amormona morel shock to peoples, not to speak or the huge nsterlel
losses end the boom victims. Xt la sufficient to sayers figures
at hymen losses in precious ware with expected losses during the
course of the "%rot days or even the first beers of • contemporary
ear for the pleture to became claw.
The losses at 33 earring canaries dogleg the tour peers or
ikeld ilsr I totaled 10 malice persons killed and 311 Billie persons

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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 28 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.