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home-based combat aircraft in regimental or greater strength. Others support trainers, transports, or helicopters in large numbers and are used for periodic deployment exercises, and five serve only as deployment bases having no home-based aircraft. Also, certain of the large nonpermanent-surface fields are used regularly for short-term deployment exercises, with temporary support equipment deployed in place during periods of use. Others are used at irregular intervals, and some have no known use. The large graded-earth ships are military training areas have been developed in recent years, but their ultimate purpose has not yet been discerned. It is likely that they will serve logistics aircraft rather than fighter deployments.

Active and passive defenses are present at most airfields. Since 1967, when aircraft-revetment construction began, a program of hardening airfield facilities has been underway, first at airfields occupied by the Soviet Air Force and in 1972 at East German Air Forces bases. Hangarettes, each capable of housing one jet fighter aircraft, are for the most part concrete arch structures bunkered with earthen embankments and equipped with heavy metal doors. The usual number of such structures is 40 per airfield. However, at some Soviet-occupied fields there are only 10 hardened hangarettes, but these are larger types, and their basic structure is steel frame rather than concrete arch. Antiaircraft artillery and/or surface-to-air missile sites are on or near most active military airfields.

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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R00020011022-9