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. 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…
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The number of.very light utility.
transports.will decrease as obsolete models are
retired, but others such as the twin-engine AN-14
lse_t._som-e_f_the~reduction--He~licap-t
strength is expected to remain high. Models which
either have entered, or may enter service at any
time are the MI-8 Hip, MI-2 Hoplite, the KA-26
Hoodlum, and the KA-25K.
8. Future Posture
The size and disposition of the Soviet
ground forces over the next few years.will probably
be influenced strongly by how the Soviets view their
requirements for defense in Central Europe and by
their political relations with China. In the after-
math of the Soviets' intervention in Czechoslovakia
and their probable loss of confidence in the Czech
military. contribution to the Warsaw Pact, they will
probably make some permanent changes in the strength
and disposition of Soviet forces in the West. The
buildup of ground forces opposite China, which has
probably already doubled the force in that region,
is likely to continue through the early 1970's unless
the political situation in China moderates substantially.
There are current indications that the
Soviets are establishing at least four more divisions
in 'the Sino-Soviet border region--all of them in the
two operational groupings which they are developing
in the southern.Maritime Territory and the south-
eastern Transbaykal. The Soviets may be aiming for
the eventual development of a Front in each of these
two regions since a Front is an essential element .
of Soviet organization for extended joint operations..
If so, they might, in the next few years., create at
least one additional field army in the southern
Maritime Territory and also develop their forces in
the Transbaykal and eastern Mongolia into two or.
more field armies and a tactical air army.
In the west, the Soviets will probably
take measures to ensure the continued availability
of strong, reliable forces on their southern flank
in the central region. These measures, which may
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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.