2
MEMORANDUM FOR: The Director of Central Intelligence
MILITARY THOUGHT: "The Air Forces In the New
Stage of Development of the Soviet Armedy Lt.-Geo. of Aviation S. Sinyakov andGen. of Aviation M. Kothevnikov
Enclosederbatim translation of an article which appeared In the TOP SECRET Special Collection of Articles of the Journal "Militaryoyennayaublished bv the Ministry of Defense, USSR, and distributed down to the level of Array Commander.
In the interests of protecting our source, this material should be handledeed-to-know basis within your office. Requests for extra copies of thiB report or for utilisation of any part of this document in any other form should be addressed to the originating office.
FOR THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR, PLANS:
RICHARD HELMS
Original: The Director of Central Intelligence
cc: Military Representative of the President
Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
The Director, Defense Intelligence Agency
Director for Intelligence The Joint Staff
Assistant Chief oi Staff, Intelligence Headquarters, U. S. Air Force
Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence Department of the Army
Director of Naval Intelligence Department of the Navy
Director, National Security Agency
The Director of Intelligence and Research Department of State
Director, Division of Intelligence Atomic Energy Commission
National Indications Center
Chairman, Guided Missiles and Astronautics Intelligence Committee
Deputy Director for Intelligence
Assistant Director for National Estimates
Assistant Director for Current Intelligence
Assistant Director for Research and Reports
Assistant Director for Scientific Intelligence
COUNTRY
JKCT
"The Air Forcea ia the New stage of Development of the Soviet Armedy Lt.-Gen. of Aviation S. Sinyakov anden. of Aviation H. Kozhevnikov
OF INFO:- 0
A reliable source
Followingerbatim translation of an article titled "The Air Forces in the New Stage of Development of the Soviet Armedritten by Lt.-Gen. of Aviation S. Sinyakov and Maj.-Gen. of Aviation M. Ktozhevnikov.
This article appeared in0 Third Issuepecial version of Yoyennaya Mysl (Military Thought) which is classified TOP SECRET By-tho Soviets and is issued Irregularly. It Is distributed within tho Ministry of Defense down to the level of Army Commander.0 Third Issue was sent for typesetting on
The Air Forces in tho New Stage of Development of the Soviet Armed Forces
by
Lt.-Gen. of Aviation S. Slnyakov and
MaJ.-Gen. ofozhevnikov
The well-known postulate of F. Engels on theof the armament, composition, andtroops, and their tactics and strategy, onof development of industry, findsln our Soviet reality. Thestormy growth of socialist economics andof technological progress ln allthe peoples' economy, especially in heavymads It poasible to supply the Soviet Armynew nuclear/missile weapon, whloh hasthe quality of all the types of our armedthe air forces
The Introduction of the nuclear/misslie weapon was accompaniedrocess of formation of nev opinions regarding the preparation for and conduct of modern operations and of warhole. The nuclear weapon has changed the role and place of every type of armed forces and arm of troops in armed combat, in an operationattle, by advancing to firstew, more powerful-type of armedhe missileo whom belongs the basic role of disorganizing the enemy rear, his economy, and system of governmental control, and also, of destroying the enemy's long-range means of attack.
At the sane time, it is quite obvious that no single type of armed forces isosition, if isolated from the other types of forces, to perform successfully the combat missions assigned to it. The achievement of victoryuture var vlll be possible ooly with the united efforts of all types of armed forces and with their coordinated operations on land, in the air, and on water. The interdependence of all types of armed forces and arms of troops will increase significantlyuture war, since, with the employment of missiles and aircraft, war will reach all corners of the globe, the distance between tbe rear and front will disappear in fact and the losses in military equipment and personnel will increase many fold as compared with the last war. Continual mutual assistance and cooperation will be required between all types of armed forces in fulfilment of combat tasks, as well as In materiel-technical and medical support.
Tbo air forces, owing to the availability in their composition of various types and kinds of aircraft, are capable of fulfilling diverse combat tasks, and because of their high mobility they are very closely bound to all types of armed forcea in combat operations.
In fact, missile troops equipped exclusively with poworful combat means can at any time of the day and irrespective of weathor conditions penetrate the air space of the enemy relatively freely and strike all of his stationary and low-mobility targets on land and water. But these troops urgently need to have aerial reconnaissance information on tbe targets of operations and on the results of their strikes.
The ground troops, despite their increasedand penetrating ability, require the assistance of other types of armed forces, particularly aviation. The WS, Jointly with missile troops, can successfully strike the approaching enemy reserves and disrupt his communications. Military aviation participates directly in tho combat and in the operations of ground troops by supporting and covering thorn In cooperation with other
of troops. For tho ground troops and for all other types of armed forces, reconnaissance aviation la and will be for the immediate future the only means of ensuring tbe receipt of reliable information on tho activities and intentions of the enemy in the depth of his rear and on all close approaches to the front, Just as military transport aviation is and will bo the most mobile means of transporting troops and cargo.
The troops of PVO of the Country aro interested in' the neutralization and destruction of enemy means of aerial attack, especially of his missiles of all systems while still at their places of concentration and at their bases. It la quite obvious that only missiles and aircraft can neutralize and destroy enemy means of aerial attack at the locations of their concentration and bases. Fighter aviation and guided antiaircraft missiles of fronts, by delivering strikes against an aerial enemy in flight into the depth of the country, cooperate significantly with the troops of the PVO of the Country in the fulfilment of the Important task assigned to them of covering the territory of the country from air strikes.
The navy, using submarines and missile-carrying surface vessels, can operate successfully against the enemy's ocean and sea communications only in close cooperation with reconnaissance and missile-carrying aviation. Effective combat with enemy aircraft carriers and miss lie-carrying vessels. Just as with constantly maneuvering objectives, is possible in modern conditions only by aircraft armed with missiles of the "air-to-vessel" class.
It is quite likely that the enemy fleet, having received the signal of combat alert during the threatening period, will leave its stationary bases and will proceed to tbe vast sea and ocean spaces. Because of this, it will be practically impossible to catch military vessels at their bases through the launching of the first strike with the "surface-to-surface" (zemlya-zemlya) class of missiles. From
this it becomes quite clear that destruction of enemy aircraft carriers and missile-carrying vessels will have to be carried out by the forces and weapons of missile-carrying aviation and submarines.
Consequently, the air forcesype of armed forces must be separate and complete, becauseuture war they will have to perform tasks in cooperation not only with one type of armed forces but concurrently with all of them. Therefore it is impossible to agree with the opinion of Colonel-General A. Gastilovich, regarding the expediency of transferring the long-range aviation to the navy, which was expressed in the articleTheory of Military Art Needs Review".1
In examining the problems of combat use of our VVS, and also in determining its role and place in modern operations and in warfarehole, it Is advisable to proceed from the need to secure close cooperation between all types of armed forces, without which it is impossible to achieve success in modern armed combat.
It is known that the air forces, owing to the transferumber of their combat missions to the missile troops, have lost their monopolistic position in the destruction of many enemy objectives, especially those located on other continents. In this connection, the VVS sphere of operations ln the intercontinental field has narrowed, but in theaters of military operations and in front troop operations it has significantly widened.
In tho present article it will be advisable to examine certain already partially determined trends and directions in the combat use of the various types of aviation ln modern operations. It is necessary to do this because the appearance of missile troops has generated many varied interpretations of combat use of aviation ln modern operations and in warfarehole.
1. Special Collection of Articles of the Journal
irst Edition, ago 6.
In order to understand more correctly the peculiarities of combat use of WS under the new conditions, we will begin with an examination of the qualitative changes which have occurred recently in aviation and of the combat characteristics of WS, which derive from the nature of the various types and arms of aviation.
In the air forces, as in the other types of armed forces, the nuclear/missile weapon is becoming the basic type of weapon of strategic, long-range, and front bombers and is gradually being assimilated by fighter-bombers and fighter-interceptors. Data on the quantity and combat capabilities ofhe carriers of nuclear bombs and missiles of the "air-to-surface" and "air-to-air"re the basis for allin answering the question of the combat complement and the structure of combat formations of aircraft, getting them to the targets of operations, evaluating WS combat capabilities, and organizing control of them. Missiles of the "air-to-surface" class, which can be launched from strategic aircraft locatedistance of upms from the target, ensure the destruction of specific objectives from long distances without the need for aircraft to penetrate the enemy PVO zone. atter of fact, the mother aircraft (samolet-nosltel)issile-carrying aircraft (samolet-raketonosets) and the commonly used term "bomber" will obviously^ disappear with time from our military lexicon arid"will"': be replaced with the termppearance of the aircraft-missile carrierthis is the most important qualitative change that has taken place ln the WShaseduction ln the combat complement of aviation operational formations (obyedinenlye) and large units (soyedlneniye) and, at the same time, even more effective execution of combat tasks. The determining factor is no longer the quantity of airplanes carryingtrikearget, as it was ln the recent past, but their-quality; for example, their capability to carry nuclear weapons and, under conditionstrong enemy PVO, to locate moving targets quickly and to destroy them.
Ia fighter aviation tho guided-missile weapon of the "air-to-air" class is acquiring increasing significance, and is becoming the main type of weapon of modern fighters. This weapon permits the destruction of aerial targets in all weather conditions at distancesimes greater than the fire range of existing modern aircraft cannon and ensures tho intorception and destruction of aerial targets on approaching courses and from the forward semicircleeredney polusfery) . Tho guided-missile weapon and the supersonic fighter flight speedms/hr ensure the destruction of enemy cruise missiles, aircraft, helicopters, and aerial balloons.
Military-transport aviation is being equipped with new heavy freight capacity and with faster aircraft and helicopters capable of transporting troops and freight not only within the limits of one front and one theater of military operations but also between different theaters of military operations.
In the very near future, major qualitative changes will occur in reconnaissance aviation. This process will acquire an ever larger scope by its being equipped with new manned and pllotless cruise reconnaissance vehicles (bespilotnyy krylatyynd also with night-vision apparatus and automatic transmission-of reconnaissance Information from the aircraftcreens of the appropriate command
The increased speed, flight altitude and other features of our aircraft as carriers of nuclear weapons, and also the improved capabilities of active and passive PVO means, are connected with the successful mastery of all types of jet engines (turboprop, turbojet, ramjet, rocket). In comparison with conventional aircraft, they possess much greater thrust with lighter weight, and they impart to an aircraft, whether with liquid..or solid fuel, exceptionally great speed which has not as yet been fully exploited, and in addition they have unlimited altitude. The appearanco of aircraft with atomic engines will ensure the possibility of flights of unlimited distance.
Electronics are far from being- the least element influencing the basic qualitative changes in our WS. Radioelectronlc apparatus has made it possible to achieve more effective guidance of manned and pilot-less moans of attack and defense than was possible previously. In manned equipment, electronics has brought about the realization of complete or partial automation, without which the flight of aircraft (Including bombers) would havo been inconceivablerow at modern supersonic speeds. Radioelectronlc apparatus permits control from tho ground or from the mother aircraft of pilotless cruise missile flights.
The further development of aviation weapons will permit us, in the next few years, to have ballistic missiles of the "air-to-surface" class along with cruise missiles, within tho armament inventory of supersonic strategic and long-rango bombers.
At the present time the question of tho need for creating rocket aircraft has become acute. uture war, rocket aircraft, combining the combat characteristics of missiles and aircraft, and piloteduman, willighly important role in space (kosmos) combat and in the destruction of the most important objectives on distant continents. The creation of rocket aircraftost immediate and completely practicable task in the development and construction of our air forces. There is no doubt that rocket aircraft, as an absolutely new and longer range weapon of tho WS, will find broad applicationuture intercontinental war.
These are the qualitative changes taking place in our air forces and representative aspects of future development in military aviation.
Let us examine those combat characteristics of the WS which are inherent to them alone and which retain their importance In the"new phase of the development of the armed forces. Among these combat characteristics should be listed:
-the high mobility and capability of the WS to perform rapid maneuver with piloted means on operational and strategic axes and in theaters of military operations;
-the capability of carrying out Independent search for and preliminary reconnaissance of targets assigned for destruction and of annihilating them either when they are on the move or when stationary;
-the ability to retarget more rapidly than other means, while airborne, against new targets which suddenly appear or against targets whose locations have changed;
-the capability to observe the enemy's operations rom the air, to discover his intentions, and to transmit the reconnaissance information.Immediately to the command posts of all types of armed forces;
-the capability to support an airborne troop landing and to provide rapid air transport for troops and freight for any distance.
Mobility to one degree or another is alsoof other types of armed forces, but in the WS it is notable for the fact that military aviation is capable, by maneuvering rapidly with piloted combat equipment, to ensure its immediate entry into combat. This should be emphasized particularly because under conditions of great destruction of railroad andcommunication lines, relatively speedyof separate fronts and active theaters of military operations with forces and weapons from other axes will be possible only by combat aviation, if we do not consider implementation of maneuver by fire of ballistic missiles of operational-strategic designation. ours after receiving the order and notification of combat alert, aviation large units and units of the WS can (depending on the types of aircraft) take off and carry out the assigned combat task in the direction or in the theater of military operations indicated to
them. If, in thi3 event, the aircraft areituation of "ground alert" (dezhurstvo na aerodrome) the time will be decreased to IS toinutes. It is absolutely clear that no other type of troops will be able inhort time to maneuver eveningle theater of military operations.
A remarkable combat characteristic which only aviation possesses is the ability to combine Independent search by aircraft crews for the assigned targets and the estruction of them by nuclear and conventional weapons.
In reality, we all recognizeuture war willighly maneuverable and destructive character. The troops, in order to escape enemy nuclear activity, will constantly strive to change location. The troops operating in the first strategic echelon will require more frequent reinforcement and the uninterrupted delivery of materiel means (ammunition, fuel, food) from the rear areas. All this, in the final analysis, will resulttream of freight trains, numerous vehicle columns, and flights of transport aircraft and helicopters from the rear area to the front. If it were to be calculated, one could confirm the factroup. armies in the Western theater of military operations can have up toercent of its Installations mobile. It can be expected that during combat operations at least half of the enemy armed forces will'be'iii^'i constantly mobile status. Combat against such mobile objectives can be carried out principally by aviation and partially by missile troops. In this event, missiles of the "surface-to-surface" class require the.precise coordinates of each target, and with moving objectives, as is known, they change constantly. Therefore missiles can destroy mobile targets only on the basis of previously calculated coordinates, in narrow defiles, at road crossings, and also at loading and unloading places. All moving objectives can be most reliably destroyed, only by piloted aircraft, whose crews need only information as to the area in which moving enemy troops and equipment have been detected.
Tho ability to see tho envoy from the air and to observe his activities Id both the deep and close areas of the rearthisharacteristic peculiar to aviation. It is difficult to overestimate lt, if ve consider that without reconnaissance Information, vhlch is obtained with the aid of aviation, it would be impossible to carry out modern operations.
As concerns airborne troop landings and the rapid transport of troops and freight for any distance, irrespective of the availability and condition of roads, aviation still remains the only means forof such tasks. The noed for military-transport aircraft and helicopters is continually increasing in all types of armed forces, but under conditions of mass use of nuclear/missile weapons, aircraft and helicopters vill in many Instances be the only means to provide for the maneuverability of the troops and for timely materiel-technical supply to them.
On the basisrief analysis of the qualitative aspects and the combat characteristics of our WS, lt Is possible to determine their combat tasks in varfare.
In the not too distant past, air forces, as is known, were responsible for three basic tasks:
-the disruption of tbe military-economicthe
-the struggle for supremacy in the air;
-cooperation with the ground troops and the navy In the successful conduct of operations.
In the past war all of these missions verefulfilled by the Soviet air forces. This is especially apparent, for example, In the fulfilment of the second and third tasks by them.
As is knovn, in the middle of the summer3 our aviation wrested ths Initiative from the hands of the enemy in heated combat and, after winning the
battles for the Kuban and at Kursk, firmly secured supremacy in the air. By uninterrupted support and cover of the ground troops, our aviation actively cooperated in the destruction of the armed forces of Fascist Germany. The TVS activities againstnetworks, military-industrial targets, airfields, and groupings of troops, transformed aviation during the course of the waractor of strategic significance. Even after the war and right up to the appearance of missilehe TVS were actually the strategic means of combat and were the main striking force capable of subjecting the deep enemy roar to destructive nuclear action.
After the appearance of missiles ofoperational-tactical designation, theradically. Missiles, possessing thereach any distant target strongly defended bymeans, will be able to fulfil the mostmissions. They will be used primarilymain axes, where the most Important largeenemy objectives are located,antiaircraft guided missiles. Despite this,overlook the fact that the enemy has manyobjectives, and that there are areas whichscreened by an effective PVO. Naturally, itto use long-range and strategic bombers ini.
Therefore, the firstisruption and reduction of the military-economic potential of the enemy -which was previously tha responsibility of the WS, has now passed in significant degree to the missile forces. The very contents of this task have changed. It hasore decisive character and consists now of the mass and rapid destruction and annihilation of tha most important targets of the enemy's rear. In fulfilment of this broadened task, the air forces, in the new conditions, take an active part by concentrating their efforts on the destruction of targets mainly ln directions not well covered by PVO means.
The secondhe fight for air supremacy -as one of the most important missions previously assigned to the WS, has lost its earlier significance due to the appearance of missile troops. But in its place there hasew, even more complicatedhe struggle against enemy nuclear/missilo means of attack, which, in its significance to warfare, acquires paramount importance. Its significance flows from tho colossal increased destructive might of nuclear/missile weapons. uturetubborn,bitter struggle will develop between tho warring sides for nuclear superiority and for more effective exploitation and use of nuclear weapons for more rapid achievement of strategic goals. Both sides will vigorously seek to locate the antagonist's nuclear/ missile weapons and to destroy them immediately. It can be confidently stated that whoever resolves this task faster will win tho battle and, consequently, the war. For this, it is necessary to havo in constant readiness, not only missile troops, but also military aircraft and means ot aerial reconnaissance that are capable, at the start of the war, to survey all corners of the globe that are enveloped by war, and later to carry on constant observation of the enemy on land and water.
In this connection, the task of the struggle, with the.enemy's nuclear/missile means of attack becomes the primary one for our missile troops. The air forces willost active part in its fulfilment.
The third most Important task of the W3 -cooperation with the ground troops and tho navy in theiremains fully Intact under the new conditions. Military aviation takes part in cover and support of troops from the air, in the battle with the enemy's means of nuclear/missile attack and his reserves, in support of airborne troop landings, and in air transport of troops and freigbt.
4
The fourth task of theombat against enemy transport oporatlons via his ocean, sea, land,and air communication routes. Under the new conditions of waging war, this task will undoubtedly assume an operational-strategic scope.
The fifth task of theerial reconnaissance. This WS task is becoming, in its operational-strategic significance, no less important than all the other tasks. Therefore lt seems expedient to us to raise aerial reconnaissance to the category of the Independent and most important tasks of the air forces.
These are the combat tasks which must be fulfilled by the air forces in modern warfare with consideration for the existing capabilities of aircraft and tho immediate prospects for receipt of new aircraftinto the armament. The many-sided nature of WS tasks resulting from the new conditions also pro-determines the need for long-range, front, and military-transport aviation within its composition.
Lot's oxamino the apparent and already partially determined new trends and directions in the combat use of various types and kinds of aviation under conditions of wide use of mlesile weapons in the conduct of operations hy the ground troops in the Initial periodar.
Tho experienceumber of aviation exercises carried out Jointly with the troops of PVO of the Country indicates thats first massive strike against the enemy in the beginningar oan be executed immediately following the first missile salvo, but that aorial reconnaissance must start fulfilling Its assigned tasks simultaneously with the initiation of the first launch of missiles. The subsequent activities of long-range and strategic bombers,-and cruise missiles with nucloar warheads, will similarly bo carried on between tho missile salvoes (strikes). equence of operations of the missile troops and of the WS creates for the WS two quite new situations, oneositive, tho secondegatives nature.
Missile troops, simultaneously with the destruction of assigned enemy targets by nuclear warheads, Inevitably destroy and annihilate the forces and weapons of his antiaircraft defense and thereby disrupt tha only control system for enemy antiaircraft missiles and fighter-interceptors. This assists the long-range and strategic bombers to overcome enemy PVO.
But in this connection, during the courseissile strike, the necessity arises to transit sir space heavily contaminated with radioactive fallout. Therefore, the probability of air-crewsone of radioactive contamination significantly increases at night and with adverse weather conditions, during daylight, when visual determination of the limits of the radioactive cloud is almost impossible.
These two circumstances strongly emphasize the need for continuous coordination between the respective headquarters of the missile troops and of tho air forcea. It must be oxpressed primarily In the assignment of targets of the operations, inime schedule for the missile strike and for mother aircraft, and ln the determination of altitudes for the burst of nucloar charges. In practice lt Is possible to coordinate missile and aviation operations against enemy targets in the same arealottedingle board which reflects the combat capabilities of the missiles and aircraft being used.
For the air forces, even under tbe new conditions, the basic method of operations ln the Initial periodar will be the execution of powerful massive strikes, with subsequent transition to operations by small groupsroad front following the missile strikes.
The form of operational employment of the WS under conditions of the Initial periodar remains the airassive strikes with its entire strength. In Its content, the air operation willomewhat different nature than previously. In the first place, lt will be carried out under conditions
of wide use of missiles; because of this, its duration will be sharply reduced and the immediate task can be fulfilled by the initial massive strikes, as the experience of training exercises indicates. In the second place, tbe air operation will be carried out by the entire or the major portion of the foroes of long-range aviation, with the participation of front aviation. In such an operation the decision regarding the fulfilment of asslgnod tasks will ordinarily be made by the Commander-in-Chief of the WS. In the third place, the targets and areas of operations of the WS in an air operation will be determinedigher command, depending upon the operations of the missile troops.
One of the main conditions for fulfilment of tasks by long-range and strategic bombers, as regards ths destruction of targets In the enemy rear areas, is their successful overcoming of enomy PVO means. Vide use of low flight altitudes by bombers, and the use of passive and active Jammingre highly effective. It was determined during training exercises that the percentage of aircraft attacked by enemy fighters in daylight at high altitudesimes greater than at lower altitudes and at night lt was quite Insignificant. Destruction of aircraft by guided antiaircraft missiles during low altitude flights is limited by the combat characteristics of themissiles. Thus, absolutely clear-out determination was made of the direction of the use of existing long-range and strategic bombers against targets located In theaters of militaryt night and at low altitudes. Low altitudes are becoming the basic operational altitudes for long-range and front aviation.
The training exercises carried out this year confirm tbe assumption that during the execution of tho first retaliatoryingle echelon operational formation of long-range aviation forces and theof the pro-frontal zoneroad front are the baaic form of operational maneuver.
Those are some of the new tendencies and trends ln the combat use of the WS In conditions of the wide utilization of missile troops during the Initial periodar.
Let us examine definite directions in air operations when fulfilling tasks in cooperation with the ground troops in their operations.
It is known, that of all the types of aviation, front aviation plays the main rola in the operations of the ground troops; during the recent past it has undergone major qualitative and quantitative changes which have resultedignificant impact on the nature of the tasks performed by front aviation. For example, with the appearance of nuclear weapons, the main content of the air struggle with the enemy's means of attack changed from the destruction of enemy aircraft in general to the destruction principally of thecarrying nuclear weapons and missiles and also of assembly bases and nuclear weapons storage areas; in the air support of troops-it has become the destruction of atomic artillery, various missile equipment, and of highly mobile, constantly maneuvering enemy reserves.
Therearticularly sharp change ln these tasks due to the appearance of missiles of various designations in the armament of troops;esult, front bombers and fighters began to execute their basic missions ln conjunction with the missile troops and to concede to missile troops the main role in the use of nuclear weapons against stationary surface targets and against aerial targets.
By dint of these circumstances, front aviation, having conceded the main role to missiles, began to haveart in the performanceumber ofn the struggle with the means of aerial and missile attack, in the screening of troops andof the rear area of the front, and in the struggle with the enemy's reserves. The special province of front aviation operations remains air support of troops and the conduct of aerial reconnaissance.
It is essential toumber of nev situations in the combat use of front aviation in ground troop operations. The struggle vith enemy means of aerial and missile attack is now plannedrontal scale, since tbe missile troops of the front take an active part in lt in addition to aviation. Upon aviation falls the principal responsibility of destroying newly detected enomy means of aerial attack,hose targets which are on the move and which will not bo destroyed by missilos. The performance of this task by aviation will be resolved by the method of calling up aircraftosition of "ground alert" or "airborne alert".
In scroening of troops and installations of the rear areasront, nev conditions have also been created vhlch permit more effective resolution of this problem. The more important installations of the front aro screened by antiaircraft missiles. Row-ever, troop, army, and front antiaircraft guided missiles are*still able to destroy only the aerial targets locatod at insignificant distances from the missile positions; these means cannot destroy enemy missile mother aircraft at the limits from which they drop their missiles of the "alr-to-surface" class. Fighter-Interceptors, with their high maneuverability, are capable of meeting the aerial enemy and destroying him with guided weapons while he is still on distant approaches to the line of the front and to the lnatallations being screened.
Taking into consideration the combat characteristics of antiaircraft guided missiles and of fighter aircraft, it is advisable to organize cooperation betveen them along the following lines.
First, zones of operations in area and altitude must be delineated botween guided missiles and fighters. In doing so, it is desirable to assign toono of combat operations ahead of the front line to tho dopth of possible Interception within the radius
of operationair ofeyond the range limits of antiaircraft missiles (ZUR). When operating ln the same area with ZUR, it is advisable to assign low altitudes to fighters wherever guided missiles are still limited In their operations.
Secondly, it is necessary to distribute targets of operations between fighters and antiaircraft guided missiles. Fighter-Interceptors must destroy principally mother aircraft, cruise missiles, flghter-bombers, military transport aircraft, helicopters and aorlal balloons, antiaircraft guided missiles, cruise (krylataya) missiles and pilotless missilesnd also all the other manned and pilotless means that manage to break through the covering screen of fighters into tha air space of tbe front.
Thirdly, it ia necessary to set up demarcation of areas of operations between the air large units that cover the troops and those that cover installations in the rear area of tho front. Taking into account that under the newront air army may bavo no more than two fighter divisions, It is advisable to assign one divisionajor part of its forces to cover tho front tank army which is. operating ahead and out of contact, and tho secondover the other troops of the front and the installations in the rear areas. Further, it is advisable to set up demarcation of operational areas between the fighter divisions.
In air support of ground troop operations, the need to use aircraft against mobile targets becomes especially clear, since they do not all have precise coordinates, and the majority of them do notlearly defined radar contrast.
In this connection, it has been deemed expedient to carry out air support of combined-arms armiesentralized method of allocating to armies, In
accordance with the decision of the front troopefinite number of flights (vylet) of fighter-bombers with nuclear bombs, without making the fighter-bomber subunits and units subordinate to the army. Support of the tank army that is operating separately from the main forces of the front is best accomplished by allocating designated aviation units of bomber and fighter-bomber aviation for this. Tho basic type of fighter-bomber and bomber operations inhe air support of troops will be the method of operations on request.
From tho above-mentioned facts it is possible to conclude that the basic method of operation for all types of aviation in the execution of combat missions under the new conditions is the method of operations with subunits and small groups of airplanes called up for air support from the command, or forward, control postondition of ground or air alert. Along with this, front aviation will participate in the execution of massive nuclear strikes against missile, air, and other enemy moans of attack, not on the scale of an air army, as it was before the appearance of missiles, but on tho scaleront. This means that in modern conditions the massive strikeront function.
A number of now postulates have also arisen in the conduct of aerial reconnaissance. Theof the reconnaissance mission has become an integral part of the operational decision. By its nature, aerial reconnaissance simultaneously fulfils, lt would seem, two'missions. The first and main one -the detection of enemy missile and nuclear means of attack, with the aim of ensuring direct effect on them by the missile, aviation, and artillery forces. The secondhe continuous observation of all of the enemy's forces and weapons with the aim of planning combat operations for thehour period, day or night.
Such are the new concepts and characteristics which have been determined recently in training exercises which were carried out by the air forces, both independently and jointly with tho ground troops.
Original document.
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