Documents / FOIA release

OSR Contribution to NIE 11-14-68, Soviet and East European General Purpose Forces, CIA/DI/OSR, October 1968.

Central Intelligence Agency · 115 pages · text from the file's own layer

This is an October 1968 contribution by the Central Intelligence Agency's Office of Strategic Research to National Intelligence Estimate 11-14-68 on Soviet and East European general purpose forces. It covers Warsaw Pact war plans for Central Europe, the effects of the Czechoslovak crisis, and the doubling of Soviet forces on the Chinese border since 1965. It also assesses ground, tactical air, naval and coastal defense forces. The text does not mention UFOs or unidentified aerial phenomena.

  • p. 5 …Capabilities . . . . 102 a. Afloat Support 102 C. Sea ift . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4 5. Eastern European Naval Forces…
  • p. 83 …Naval Forces The Soviet Navy's historic .missions-- defense against seaborne attack, interdiction of sea lines…
  • p. 91 …about 60 aircraft --based in the Baltic Sea area where their limited range is not a…
  • p. 92 …helicopter carrier Moskva, which is now undergoing trials in the Black Sea. - 89 - TOP-Si CRETZ
  • p. 95 …In the Baltic and Black Sea fleet, the primary reconnaissance capability is represented by the two…
  • p. 98 …bases--Soviet submarines based in the Black Sea are making patrols in the Mediterranean for as…
  • p. 100 …the Baltic, and 53 in the- Black Sea. Such forces how- ever, have limited antiair and…
  • p. 107 …but about two-thirds are in the Baltic and Black seas. Because of the - 104 - TOPSEGRFT
  • p. 108 …Only limited convoy defense exercises have been noted, in the Northern and Black Sea fleet areas…
  • p. 109 …and is very low in the Black Sea, where, the Soviet Navy carries the main responsibility…
  • p. 110 …Both of these tasks would be carried out on the high seas away from Soviet peripheral…
  • p. 112 …These carriers, designed primarily to provide a sea- borne platform for ASW helicopters, could presage the…
TOP'8FGRET
The Czech forces include three field
armies and a tactical air army. There are two field
armies in the western part of Czechoslovakia, each
_ ___ _.-.. .. ., ._~ -A '._~. z r x~=_ ld .ci rc._ _. - 0--- '$"° -...------The
sions and their support units are probably manned at
70 percent strength or better and are sufficiently
equipped for combat. In an emergency, these units
were expected to deploy into.combat without rein-
forcement. If time permitted, however, they were
to be filled up with. reservists.
The third Czech army, located in.
eastern Czechoslovakia, is in cadre status. The
cadres of four divisions, each at 15 to 30 percent
of wartime strength, are consolidated under two
commanders in peacetime for economy. The combat
equipment for all four divisions and the army support
units is stored in eastern Czechoslovakia, but only
about half of the wartime requirement of wheeled
vehicles is on hand. In an emergency, the Czechs
planned to fill up the army and divisional units
partly with reservists. The necessary additional
wheeled vehicles along with their drivers were to
be requisitioned from the civilian economy.
the
Czechs planned t pe re nr moniizai on in
three days. In that time they expected to deploy
their two western armies into combat and assemble
the army from eastern Czechoslovakia. We believe
that the Czechs would probably have been capable
of deploying their two western armies within three
days or less.
Their plan. to complete the mobili-.
zation and deployment of the third army and of the
Front support organization in this time period was
less realistic since it would have depended on the
successful completion of complex procedures. These
would include the transfer of numerous officers and
NCO's from terminated peacetime activities and their
integration into the Front and army organization,
and the mobilization of some 40,000 reservists and
as many as 10,000 vehicles. The completion of this
mobilization, which was never fully tested, might
have required a week or more.
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TOP BEGRET

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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 115 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.