Documents / FOIA release
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.
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Top tubes mounted on a rotating pedestal similar to the tive in a conventional role against point targets. Soviet SA-9. It was first observed in 1977 mounted on a forces also have the SS-12 Scaleboard and its follow-on, 3RDM-2 scout car. The A'T-6 Spiral was first ob- the SS-22, A new missile, the SS-21, is being deployed served during a firing exercise in East Germany in to Soviet units as a replacement for the FROG. The 1978 being launched from modified Hind D helicop- FROG, the SS-21, and possibly the SS-22 also can carry ters. Antitank (AT) guns and recoilless guns have not a cluster-munition warhead. received the priority in development and deploy- ment that the ATGM has in recent years. The 100- Warsaw Pact Ground Force Divisions mm AT gun is standard in Soviet units, but 85-mm antitank guns are retained in some, divisional and 31. Tank and motorized rifle divisions are the basic nondivisional AT units. tactical units of Pact ground forces.' The Pact main- tains a grand total of 217 active tank and motorized 28. NSWP forces have a wide variety of antitank rifle divisions (166 Soviet and 51 East European) at weapons including recoilless guns, AT guns from 57- varying strengths in its peacetime ground forces. The nm to 100-mm, and AT guided missiles. Except for a number of such divisions opposite NATO stands at few Czechoslovak-produced weapons, all are of Soviet 154. (See table II-3 and figure 11-7). The Soviets have origin. The East Germrans are equipped with the latest an additional 16 tank and motorized rifle divisions in Soviet 100-mm antitank gun, the T-12/T-12A, but the the Moscow, Ural, Volga, and Turkestan Military other forces retain older weapons of various calibers, Districts which could be used against NATO or which are inferior to the better Soviet weapons. NSWP elsewhere. forces are gradually improving their antiarmor capa- bilities by acquiring more ATGM launcher vehicles 32. In peacetime, Pact divisions are maintained in and manpack ATGM sets. The East Germans, Poles, various states of readiness suitable for the conduct of and Romanians, for example, have received the AT-4 limited combat operations on short notice and for Spigot. Only the East Germans are currently equipped generating large forces through rapid mobilization. to Soviet standards with Sagger ATGM launcher vehi- We classify Pact ground force divisions according to cles, but the Czechoslovaks are increasing the numbers our estimates of their peacetime manning and equip- of ATGM launcher vehicles in their forces. ment levels: 29. Engineering Equipment. The principal sup- - Category I: These divisions are estimated to have port task for the engineers is to help sustain the a full complement of combat equipment and mobility of Pact offensive forces. The Pact has devel- more than three-fourths of their authorized war- oped modern engineer and river-crossing equipment. time personnel. All divisions in the Soviet Groups With the PMP ribbon bridge, the Soviets have spanned of Forces and eight East European divisions are a river the size of the Rhine in approximately half an manned closer to wartime strength. All Category hour during exercises. The Pact also has a large stock I divisions could be brought up to strength and of ferries and tracked amphibious transporters, and a ready to move within 24 hours. variety of mine-clearing vehicles which fire rocket- propelled, explosive line charges to clear gaps in minefields. In addition, the Pact has vehicles fitted Table II-3 with mine-clearing plows, light dozer blades, and other mechanical devices. Vehicles such as these also Warsaw Pact Tank and Motorized Rifle could be used to clear rubble and obstacles. Divisions Opposite NATO * January 1979 30. Surface-to-Surface Missiles and Rockets.- The Pact arsenal of rockets and surface-to-surface In Eastern Europe In the missiles includes free rockets over ground (FROGs) Soviet NSWP USSR Total and short-range ballistic missiles. All Pact ground forces are equipped with FROGs and SS-1 Scuds, ank 16 15 22 53 which are capable of delivering conventional, as well Motorized Rifle 15 36 50 101 as chermical, and niuclear warheads. The poor accuracy *See footnote to table 11-1, following paragraph 3. See table B-1 in of these systems would make them relatively ineffec- annex 13for detailed order of battle of Pact ground force divisions. For a more detailed discussion of Pact tactical rockets and missiles, see paragraphs 159 and 160 in this chapter. sPact airborne divisions are discussed in paragraphs 36 and 37. ||-10 loTOP .~
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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 201 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.