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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. 16 …Europe primarily to support the Combined Baltic Sea Fleet, (thc FRG. Dcnmark the Nethertands, and Belgium…
  • p. 32 …303}5 12-54 Smolensk strategic air army and the Baltic Sea Fleet egional opera- air…
  • p. 42 …between the twostrategic zone and the North Sea. Most primary sectors a series of operational phases…
  • p. 44 …would be carriers operating in the North Sea. This mission aircraft in the open, but the…
  • p. 50 …Sea Fleet-also a Western TMO asset-is responsible for targets in the North Sea, We…
  • p. 51 …The depth of airstrikes Sea. Medium bomber targets are not likely to bewould be limited by…
  • p. 52 …Sea Fleet 0 35b 5the FEBA (including Denmark and the polish-DR Front 75 25Baltic Sea…
  • p. 54 …missile strike air division of the Baltic Sea Fleet AF have nuclearof the Smolenk SAA. e…
  • p. 57 …a Targets within the strike demarcation line except those covered by the Baltic Sea Fleet. b…
  • p. 62 …doing, they would seal off the Baltic Sea, securing the establishment of a penetration corridor through…
  • p. 63 …Sea a rrq sit fodee tn na a foce th r andr securingF}the sea ar…
  • p. 64 …as joint operations between the Combined Baltic Sea Fleet and the - coastal (normally Polish-GDR) front…
  • p. 65 …and missile force of the Combined Baltic Sea Fleet in supporting capabilities and are heavily dependent…
  • p. 66 …and could be\ajrcraft fromn the Baltic Sea Fleet The Blinder recon---objects of final reconnaissance…
  • p. 79 …and possibly aircraft carriers in the North Sea front air force-usually the fifth front in…
To, Secret
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Participants;The initial air defense operation would to anticipate far enough in advance the approximateinvolve more aircraft than any other operation, as it timinos.uh quent massed NATO air raids.probably would use all Pact fixed-wing aircraft and
ground-based air defense forces in the TMO0. We
estimate that the Pact probably would have available With extensive reinforcement, however, including afor the first phase of the operation about 3,000 total of five first-echelon fronts, no nuclear reserveaircraft at the start of a war, assuming a force force, and the inclusion of medium bombers based indisposition of three first-echelon fronts and two sec- the USSR, the first massed sortie could conceivablyond-echelon fronts, remnforced by the Legnica and contain more than 4,000 aircraft. In contrast, with noVinnitsa air armies. We believe that the first phase reinforcement and a large nuclear reserve force, asprobably would have to be conducted without th few as 2,000 aircraft could-Darticipate in the firstmedium bombers of the Smolensk air army and tAe massed sortie (table 2)
Baltic Fleet, but that later phases could include over J
500 additional aircraft from these forces. Participa-
tion of medium bombers in the later phases of the air
defense operation would depend on the Pact's ability
Top Secret 20

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