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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. 4 …This perceived shift in the air balance-probably caused by a combination of closer French cooperation…
  • p. 35 …an increasingly difficult a large number of cooperating headquarters. It would problem for the Pact air…
  • p. 46 …through NATO's forward air defenses in cooperation of the first two echelons at the con…
  • p. 90 …key role in the usually with the cooperation of other forces. An air front airspace management…
Top\Secret
Table 3
Estimated Numbers of Warsaw Pact Combat Aircraft
Available TMO-Wide To Participate in the Initial Air Operation
at the Outset of War in the Western TMO, mid-1983 a
Assigned Combat-Ready Aircraft . Nuclear Alert Available for
Combat Air Operation
Aircraft Rate b Aircraft Rate' Aircraft
(percent) (percent)
Moderate Force -- - - - - "- - -_
Legnica strategic air
army (SAA) ___
Attack 180 90 and 95 165 10 18 145
Fighter 135 - - - 95 130 130
Support 40 95 40 40
Vinnitsa SAA -
-Attack __190____ 10 90 170 10 18 150
Fightr 125 90 115 115
Support 40 90 35 35
Smolensk SAA - ' - -
- Attack 265 90 240 10 24 215
Support 200 90 180 180
Moscow SAA
Attack 25 __20_ 90 20 20
B)altic Fleet Air Force (AF)
Attack ___ 135 90 120 10 12 110
_Support 40 90 35 35
Polish-GDR Front Air
Force (FAF)
ttack 200 85 170 10 8 160
Fighit 200 85 170 170
Support 70 85 60 60
GSFG-GDR FAF -
Attack 395 85 and 95 370 10 35 335
Fighter 505 d - 85 and 95 460 460
Support 100 85 and 95 95 95
Czcchoslovak-CG F FA F -
Attack 55 85 130 10 12 120
Fighter 310d 8 and 95 270 270
Support_______ 65 85and95 55 55 -
Total 3,375 3,9 030 127 2.900
Attack 1,545 1,385 127 1,255
Fighter 1,275 1,145 - -,145
Support __ 555 500 500
Top eSecret 28

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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.