Documents / FOIA release

Warsaw Pact Air Forces: Support of Strategic Operations in Central Europe, CIA/DI/SOVA Intelligence Assessment, January 1985.

Central Intelligence Agency · 95 pages · text from the file's own layer

This Central Intelligence Agency Directorate of Intelligence assessment, dated January 1985, examines how Warsaw Pact air forces would support large strategic operations in Central Europe. It concludes that the Soviets see NATO air power as the greatest threat to a Pact ground offensive. They revised their air supremacy plans in 1980 and 1981 to use sector-concentrated raids and a defensive air operation. The assessment also finds that heavy aircraft losses and limited deep attack capability would remain serious problems. The document has no UFO content.

  • p. 6 'op\Secret %writingsindicate that the newly created wartime theater high command headquarters was designated as the…
  • p. 10 …appendix D wartime of high command headquarters in the most important TMOs as extensions of the…
  • p. 23 …of the initial aircommand, front, and army headquarters, to allow operation also emphasizes the need to…
  • p. 31 …be conducted under the direction of the headquarters of the Sovict Air Defense Forces in Moscow…
  • p. 35 …increasingly difficult a large number of cooperating headquarters. It would problem for the Pact air defense…
  • p. 49 …day during a rapidly presumably high command headquarters would plan moving Pact offensive. Thus, for example…
  • p. 90 …protection for aviation formations and army aviation headquarters airborne and amphibious operations and for strike elements…
  • p. 91 …Front air forces headquarters and corps-size groupings of tactical-level forces. Oper- would coordinate and…
  • p. 93 …Tactical forces ducted for the General Staff and the TMO high have headquarters staffs of limited…
  • p. 94 …Intelligence collection per- formed for ground army and division headquarters, primarily to support the planning and…
Top'°Scret
Table 2
Estimated Numbers of Warsaw Pact Combat
Aircraft Available To Participate in the Initial Air
Defense Operation in the Western TM-O, Mid-1983 a
Assigned Combat-Ready Aircraft Nuclear Alert Available forCombat ________________First
M-assed
Aircraft Rate s Aircraft Rate Aircraft Sortie
(percent) (percens)
Moderateforce_.___..__.
Legnica strategic air
army (SAA)
Fgt s r-5 95 130 -
Attack 0 90 and95 165 10 18 45
Support - - 40 95 -0 -0Vinnitsa SA A- - -- - -
Fightttr 125 90._.... _.._...._____.. ISA tc90 -1 - -1Attac- -------.-.. _._.._...._.._.-0 90 170 10 8
Support 40 90 35 35
Blaltic Flect Air Force (AtF) -- ---- - -. _
Attack 75 d 85 and 90 65 - 10 -
Polish-CDR FrontAi - -- ~ --- --- °-- - _-
Force (FAF)
Fighter 850 ---------- _-..--- -- 700--- - --
Fig te 50-- 8 5 174 0 _ _ _ _46
Attack 200 85 - 170 t0 - - 8 31
Support i70 85 60 - ---
GSFG-GDR FAF--
Fighter 80 5 nd 95 260 -2 --
--9585 and 95 760 0 35
Attack 30 0 12 120
---------------------------------. _... 0------ -------- ---- 35 335---
Support 65 85 and 95 55 -- - -
Second-echelon national air-___..--
defense (NA D)
Fighter 335 85 285
lorussian FA8 n
Fighter 35 90 120 -- t -
Attack 45 90 40 - --
- -- .-- -°- -- - ---- -- - ----- -- -- -- - - -- -
Carpathian FAF---
Fighter 159 1010Attack 605 90 55 ---- 55
Fighter 135 -- -
Attack i,300 ----- 1 0
Support 315 85 285 9,0
--- -,6 2850
17 - onSecrei

Not linked to a story yet.

About this file

FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 95 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.