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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. 20 …Unlike NATO, the Warsaw Pact does not have theater headquarters in being in peacetime, although hardened…
  • p. 21 …control of the Western and Southwestern TVD headquarters-often called High Commands by the Soviets. The…
  • p. 26 …links could be established to theater-level headquarters and to supporting strategic cornmands. Communications, between Moscow…
  • p. 35 …Surprise in the known: ' Soviet view can be achieved through many means- Administrative Structure HeadQuartered in…
  • p. 55 …The Soviets Headquarters in Moscow and are considered strategic maintain a total of 15 such divisions…
  • p. 72 …PO A ; re -t { - Black Sea Fleet ROMANI A -UGM (Dsevastopo - BUGRAFleet Caspian headquarters Black Sea…
  • p. 74 …Readiness from Naval Headquarters in Moscow, from fleet Home Waters 40 Operable headquarters,.or by command…
  • p. 114 …reported to fleet headquarters, a practice we did not 259. Forward Basing. To support their worldwide…
  • p. 117 …Some do not have Ground Forces headquarters; some have d. Not all have naval commands. Military…
  • p. 118 …in Soviet maritime strategy is the MTVD, headquarters in being in peacetime. Hardened com- the Maritime…
  • p. 119 …The headquarters staffs and communications after full mobilization; a more typical front would support elements of…
  • p. 122 …Representatives of the Headquarters of the 14. The Soviets intend to maintain centralized con- Warsaw Pact…
  • p. 182 …The number of older ballistic missile subma- links could be established to theater-level headquarters rincs…
  • p. 183 …communications system for use between major fixed headquarters. 108. Logistic Support. Improvements in the logis- tic…
PREFACE
This National Intelligence Estimate was prepared primarily to
satisfy the need expressed by US policymakers and planners for a
reference document that would record current estimates of Warsaw
Pact forces and intelligence judgments about the way ,these forces would
be employed in a war with NATO. It is intended to provide a baseline
for any further studies comparing NATO and Pact forces.
This NIE is the first comprehensive estimate of Warsaw Pact forces
opposite NATO since 1971. It is the first to attempt an analysis of Pact
campaign plans for the European theaters of military operations and
the first to integrate naval forces into these campaigns. It deals
primarily with conventional forces and operations; it describes nuclear
forces but provides only limited treatment of theater nuclear operations.
The NIE is in two volumes. This volume presents a detailed
discussion of Pact doctrine, theater forces, and operational concepts for
war in Europe. It also describes the main developments and trends in
Pact theater forces and discusses those issues which bear most directly
on the capabilities of Pact forces to perform their missions. Volume I is
a summary of the Estimate.
The Estimate provides, particularly in its graphics, a great deal of
information concerning the technical performance characteristics of
Warsaw Pact weapon systems. This information is for general reference
purposes only. More detailed data on characteristics of Pact weapons
can be found in separate publications prepared by the various agencies
within the Intelligence Community.
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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.