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

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those the United States uses in Vietnam, but they
have made at least one attempt to increase the fire-
power of transport helicopters. This was revealed
soldiers firing individual weapons on special mounts
from helicopters in flight.
Soviet interest in the role of armed
helicopters is suggested by various articles on the
subject and by a Soviet movie seen recently which
showed a MI-4 firing an antitank guided missile (ATGM)
at a stationary tank target. This system'is believed
to be still in a developmental stage, although there
may be a limited number in operational service.
c. Tactical Strike
Front aviation has a limited tactical
strike capability. Only 170 new-generation YAK-28
Brewer light jet bombers are in service. Over half
the light bomber regiments remain equipped with IL-2$
Beagle aircraft, most of which entered service over
15 years ago. SU-7 Fitter fighter-bombers can per-
form tactical strike missions, but in addition to the
problem of limited payload and range, the fighter-
bombers do not have radar-bombing equipment and are
limited to visual bombing tactics.
Brewers carry up to 3,300 pounds of
conventional or nuclear ordnance internally, and can
deliver these at supersonic speeds. All operational
variants of these light bombers have a blind-bombing
capability.
The aging subsonic Beagle bombers have
greater range and payload capabilities than the Brewer.
Owing to their long service life, however, these air-
craft face increasing operational limitations, and
developments in NATO air defense capabilities have in-
creased their vulnerability.
The Brewer was designed to meet the
revised Soviet requirement for a small fast force for
attacking enemy airfields, missile sites, and mobile
targets in the rear of the battlefield area. A sig-
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