Documents / FOIA release
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.
“Indian Air Force”2 pages
b. Military Airlift Capabilities VTA-Airborne lift capabilities have mproved teadily_ ine9_ 59 whenmodernization begian VTA-Abn now has 760 aircraft, including some 630 AN-12 transports. These aircraft could, on a single mission, lift airborne assault elements totaling about 8,400 men with supporting equipment to a radius of 760 to 920 nm or a range of 1,200 to 1,440 nm depending on the number of each AN-12 variant available and the manner in which they are loaded. A force consisting of the most improved variants'of this aircraft could lift at least 1,800 paratroops with supporting equip- ment to a radius of 1,500 nm. The AN-12 can airlift major items of specialized equipment such as artillery, certain short-range surface-to-surface missiles, antitank weapons, assault guns, and rocket launchers, but cannot carry tanks and other similarly bulky equip- ment. These aircraft are well suited for airlift missions to a range covering all of Europe and much. of Asia and Africa. The ability of VTA-Abn to respond to special situations is constrained by the number of transport aircraft which must be held in the USSR to meet other high-priority objectives, including various war contingencies. However, out-of-country airlift operations using 100 to 125 AN-12's--about one-fifth of the VTA-Abn strength--have become common. The limited range of the forces' mainstay--the AN-12 Cub medium transport--militates against truly large-scale long-distance airlift operations. Some of the AN-12's have been modified, however, for extended-range missions. One such version can carry small contingents of troops and equipment or high-priority cargo to as far as 4,200 nm without a refueling stop. Soviet capacity for distant airlift will not be improved significantly until the early 1970's when an appreciable number of AN-22's become available. The aircraft is entering service, and 30 to 60 could be assigned by mid-1972. There are - 51 - TOP''SERET
Not linked to a story yet.
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.