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Warsaw Pact Forces opposite NATO, NIE 11-14-79, Volume II, the Estimate, CIA/NFAC, 31 January 1979

Central Intelligence Agency · 201 pages · text from the file's own layer

This is Volume II of National Intelligence Estimate 11-14-79, Warsaw Pact Forces Opposite NATO, issued by the Director of Central Intelligence and dated January 1979. The National Foreign Intelligence Board concurred with it. It was the first comprehensive estimate of Pact forces facing NATO since 1971. It covers Pact doctrine, the ground, air, naval, nuclear and chemical forces, command and control, and campaign plans for war in Europe. It judges that Central Europe would be the decisive arena, and it lists Pact weaknesses in pilot training and antisubmarine warfare. The document contains no UFO material.

  • p. 114 …recently halted Soviet air operations from Conakry. These developments will obviously force the 257. Many officers…
  • p. 115 …order to keep other in establishing effective air cover over supporting lines units operational. of communication…
  • p. 185 …The Soviets could elect to provide combat forces scale commitment of manpower and materiel which to…
  • p. 187 …This force is occasionally aug- forces could not be safely transported by sea or air to…
  • p. 188 …a war, but they couldsome naval and air force weapons (including a few recently introduced Flogger…
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'Table B-5
Selected Soviel Surface Combatants and Carriers by Fleet Area a
January 1979
Northern Baltic Black Sea b Pacific Total
Aircraft Carriers
Kiev CVSG 1 - 2
Helicopter Ships
Moskva CIG - - 2 -- 2
Missile Cruisers
Kynda CG ............ 2 2 4
Kresta-I CC . 3- - 4
Kresta-I CG .............................. 6 1 - 3 10
Kara CG 6 6
Sverdlov CG .......-- - 1
Total .. ......... ................. 9 1 9 6 25
Cruisers
Chapayev CL - 1 - -- 1
Sverdlov CL 2 2 2 3 9
Total .... 2 3 2 3 10
Missile Destroyers
Kanin DDG 3 1 - 3 7
Kashin DDG - 1 9 4 14
Mod Kashin DDG 2 1 2 - 5
Kotlin DDG 1 1 3 2 7
Kildin DDG -- -
Total 6 4 14 10 34
Destroyers
Kotlin/Mod Kotlin DD. 3 2 3 6 14
Skoryy/Mod Skoryy DD 3 4 7 5 .19
Mod Kildin DD ... ......... ......... ]2 3
total ... ........................ ...... 6 7 12 11 36
Missile Frigates
Krivak 1/11 F G 5 11 3 5 24
Total . 5 11 3 5 - 24
Frigates
Kola FF .- - 1 - 1
Mirka FFL - 14 6 - 20
Petya-l FFL 3 2 3 3 11
Pctya-II FFL 1 - 5 11 27
Mod Petya-l FFL .......... ............ 3 1 1 3 - 8
liga FF 8.................................. 8 5 8 11 32
Koni FF - t - 2
Grisha FFL/WFFL .5 14 9 38
Total 40 23 39 37 139
Total Principal Surface Combatants 69 49 82 72 272
Does not include ships in reserve status but does include ships undergoing short- or long-term overhaul or conversion and on sea trials.
t Includes one Kola and two Rigas assigned to the Caspian Sea Flotilla.
Expected to transfer to Pacific Fleet.
B-10
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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 201 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.