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

OP SES4EMT
force through mid-1970. Although some additional
MIG-21 and SU-7 aircraft may be delivered, both are
expemete toe -re-achp-ea- depioymerrt- irr.his-period= at-
a level not signficantly greater than the present.
An increase in the overall force level is expected
to occur during this period as a result of a continu-
ing buildup of forces on the Sino-Soviet border.
In addition, deployment of Soviet aircraft to Czecho-
slovakia may cause an increase in the force level.
Soviet fighters drawn from air defense units have
been'stationed at airfields in Czechoslovakia. If
these aircraft remain at their present locations
for a prolonged period, they will be subordinated to
a TAF command. Further additions near the end of
this period are expected'with the introduction of
the first of a series of new-generation tactical air-
craft, currently in developmental testing.
New aircraft entering service with
Front aviation in the early 1970's are expected to
reflect current Soviet thinking as to the role of
aircraft in support of ground operations. Although
most of the earlier concepts underlying the force
are still held, there are indications of some re-
vision of Soviet military theories, accompanied by
shifting emphasis among the tasks of tactical aviation.
One- of the most significant recent
developments is a growing acceptance within the Soviet
leadership of the possibility of nonnuclear conflict.
In addition, tactical strike operations and aerial
reconnaissance are viewed as increasingly important
in a modern war, whether nuclear or nonnuclear. These
developments are expected to influence the deployment
of new aircraft beginning about 1970.
The increased mobility and depth of
action characterizing a modern ground war have led
Soviet military planners to stress -the importance of
tactical strike operations. Lectures and articles
have emphasized that in modern warfare the fluidity
and sharp changes in the situation bring about a
great number of moving targets which are best attacked
by aircraft. These same factors result in increased
importance of tactical battlefield reconnaissance.
A recent article in a Soviet military journal specified
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ThP r1D JFT