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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. 83 …local coastal areas in conjunction with air and ground forces and for protection of Soviet interests…
  • p. 100 …A Soviet naval surface force conducted a goodwill cruise into the Indian Ocean which involved port…
TOPSi R-ET
would be intended to reinforce and replenish the
forces in the central region or elsewhere. Initially
it would probably include those forces in the western
USSR which were not committed to the Fronts and
which are organized into field armies in peacetime.
We believe that the two tank armies
in the Kiev MD, each of which currently has four
Category II divisions, would constitute the core of
the strategic reserve. One additional Category II
division, not assigned to either army, would probably
also be available. Both armies have combat support
units including Scud brigades, artillery brigades,
engineer regiments, and probably surface-to-air
missile units.
Both armies and the additional divi-
sion could probably be available for deployment from
their present locations within about two weeks.after
mobilization began. Two Category III divisions in
Kiev MD would not be available.
5. Mobilization and Deployment
Mobilization of men and vehicles on a
large scale and the rapid deployment of forces into
the European central region are essential prereq-
uisites of Warsaw Pact preparations for war. In
peacetime the Soviets and their Eastern European
allies keep only about two-thirds of their ground
forces at sufficient personnel and equipment strength
for immediate combat. These consist mainly of the
Soviet forces in Germany and Poland plus a part of
the Czech, East German, and Polish tactical units.
A few additional Soviet forces in the
western USSR are also kept ready for deployment into
Central Europe. The rest of the combat and combat
support units would have to be filled up with men
and vehicles and moved up to 600 miles westward
before they could be used. Furthermore, most of
the Front rear services organization and a large
part of the field army service support would have
to be mobilized to support the deployment and com-
bat use of the Eastern European divisions and the
Soviet reinforcement.
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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 115 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.