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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…
Table B-6
Soviet Naval Combat Aircraft, by Fleet Area
January 1979
Northern Baltic Black Sea Pacific Total
Aircraft for Reconnaissance/Electronic Warfare
TU-95 Bear D b ......... ..... ............ 25 -- 20 45
TU-22 Blinder C - 3 3 - 6
TU-16 Badger D/E/F/K d 20 - -17 37
TU-16 Badger H/J e 11 9 7 12 39
AN-12 Cub B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 2 2 2 2 8
Total ............... 58 . 14 12 51 135
Strike Aircraft
Backfire B . - 24 17 - 41
TU-16 Badger C 68 28 46 51 193
TU-16 Badger G 22 8 47 77
TU-22 Blinder A - 20 21 - 41
Total 68 94 92 98 352
Tankers
TU-16 Badger 22 21 13 27 83
Fighters/Fighter-Bombers
SU-17 Fitter C/D - 38 - - 38
YAK-36 Forger V/STOL 13 - 20 - 33
Total 13 38 20 - 71
ASW Fixed-Wing Aircraft
BE-12 Mail . 22 12 25 34 93
IL-38 May 18 9 - 20 47
TU-142 Bear F 19 - - 12 31
Total .......... . 59 21 25 66 171
ASW/Beconnaissance Helicopters
MI-4 Hound - - 5 5
MI-14 Haze ..... ... 16 16 - 12 44
KA-25 Hormone A .... .... .............. 34 10 70 38 152
KA-25 Hormone B b 6 5 7 8 26
Total ........ 56 31 77 63 227
Grand Total Naval Combat Aircraft . 276 219 239 305 1,039
Does not include some 70 aircraft of numerous types in a training role-primarily in Black Sea area (r about 120 transport aircraft and
105 transport helicopters which support Soviet Naval Aviation.
b Configured for surface surveillance and target acquisition support for Soviet cruise missile ships and submarines.
Configured for PHOTINT.
d Configured for PHOTINT or ELINT.
Configured for ECM.
t Configured for SIGINT.
8 Carries bombs or one, two, and possibly three AS-4 ASMs.
h Carries one AS-2 ASM, or 2 AS-5 or AS-6 ASMs.
Carries bombs and/or two AS-5 or AS-6 ASMs.
I Free-fall bombers only.
k Carried aboard Kiev-class carriers.
Amphibian.
B-11
top ce-

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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.