Documents / FOIA release
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.
“Cooper”4 pages
Top 3ecret Operational Formation. A grouping of tactical forma- (for example, ftghter-bombers and some SRIBMs) tions assembled to conduct an operation. The Soviets that, although subordinate to operational-level con- use this term to describe armies (including air armies mandcrs, arc intended to be used to strike targets at and presumably front air forces), which comprise operational and tactical depth. They use this term also several divisions, independent units, and rear services more generally to refer collectively to the front, army elements. The Sovicts sometimes refer to fronts and division, and lower levels of command lcets as operational formations but more often char- or to describe a piece of acterize them as operational-strategic'(because they equipment that is used at both the operational and are larger than armies and can be assigned strategic tactical levels. missions). Similarly, the Soviets sometimes refer to corps as operational formations, but usually describe Regimental Sortie. A Soviet term for a unit of them niore specifically as being operational-tactical in measure used to express the magnitude of flight character activity in operational and logistic planning. We believe that the number of aircraft sorties needed to Operational Reconnaissance. Intelligence collection make up a regimental sortie i probably equal to the primarily in support of the planning and conduct of authorized (table of organization) strength of each front and army operations. The Pact would perform type of air regiment. Hence, for a fighter regiment operational air reconnaissance mostly against the authorized 40 aircraft, 40 aircraft sorties by any second-echelon forces of NATO's frontline army combination of available aircraft would constitute one corps and army groups and against air forces, nuclear regimental sortie. forces, command and control centers, and other rear area installations in the area of the planned front Sortie. One flight by one aircraft. The sortie rate is operation. The initial front operations in the Western the average number of flights made by each aircraft TMO probably would be planned to a depth of 400 to in a unit during a 24-hour period. The computed 600 kilometers. Front air force and forward-deployed sortie rate can vary, however, depending on whether strategic aviation operational reconnaissance squad- the unit strength is based on operationally ready rons would erform most of these missions, aircraft, assigned aircraft, or authorized aircraftI Strategic. The highest level of military theory, com- Operational Reserves. Forces and material that arc mand, and planning in the Soviet hierarchy of mili- withheld as second-echelon resources by Warsaw Pact tary concepts. The term "strategic" applies to the fronts and armies and by NATO army groups and Soviet national-level command authorities and to the army corps, rather than being committed to battle as high commands of the main TMOs, as well as to the part of their subordinate first-echelon divisions, goals, missions, and military plans formulated by those authorities. Strategic military goals and mis- sions are directly linked to Soviet national policy Operational-Strategic. A Soviet term sometimes used objectives, and their attainment in war would result in to describe fronts and fleets, which arc operational a radical change in the military and political situation formations bw which can be assioned stratee mis- in a TMO or in the war as a whol l sions Strategic Air Army. A Western synonym for the cumbersome Soviet term "air army of the Supreme Hligh Command," which denotes any of the five numbered air armies of strategic aviation. The five strategic air armies arc equipped primarily with Operational-Tactical. A Soviet term used to describe bombers and would normally operate in wartime corps-size formations, which are smaller than armies (operational) but larger than division. (tactical). The Soviets also use the term to refer to weapon systems 83 To 'Secret
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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.