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
The SNAF TU-95 units now oper- ate regularly on reconnaissance missions against US carrier forces, and LRA participation in this type of activit has been substantially reduced. The combat radius of the TU-95--about 3,500 nm refueled--provides the SNAF with a' capability for supporting surface and submarine attacks far at sea. TU-16 Badger reconnaissance units assigned to the Northern and Pacific fleets provide a medium-range reconnaissance capability to back up the TU-95's. In the Baltic and Black Sea fleet, the primary reconnaissance capability is represented by the two TU-22 Blinder regiments. In addition, the TU-16 unit based in the UAR provides a reconnaissance capability in the Mediterranean. Prior to the for- mation of this unit, Soviet naval operations in the Mediterranean lacked any form of air support under peacetime conditions. The ASM-armed TU-16's form the principal striking power of the SNAF. With approxi- mately 70 Badger B's (two AS-5's) and 210 Badger C's (one AS-2) the SNAF has enough TU-16's to carry about 345 ASM's, each with a range of 100 nm or better. In addition, there is the possibility that some SNAF TU-22's are or will be equipped with the high-performance AS-4 missile. The ASM-armed force was developed mainly for attacking US attack carriers. The combat radius of the ASM-equipped TU-16 is sufficient for the aircraft carriers to be engaged before they are close enough to Soviet territory to launch strike aircraft, if timely reconnaissance information is available. SNAF TU-16 units regularly practice aerial refueling, indicating an intention to engage the carriers as far out as possible, and exercise activity indicates that the SNAF would attack with relatively large numbers of aircraft in an attempt to saturate the carriers' air defenses. - 92 - TOPE1~
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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.