Page:NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE SURVEY 18; CZECHOSLOVAKIA; MILITARY GEOGRAPHY CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110011-1.pdf/14

 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110011-1

'''FIGURE 9. In the intermontane basins of the Eastern Highlands vehicular movement between valleys is restricted by steep grades at passes and by snow cover from mid-November to early April (U/OU)'''

airborne operations are best in summer. Rugged terrain makes conditions generally unfavorable for construction of new airfields, and much cutting and filling would be required even in valleys and basins. Construction materials are generally available.

Conditions for irregular forces operations are generally unfavorable. The best areas are upper forested slopes of mountains and dissected hills. Movement of small groups would be easy on the sparse network of improved and unimproved natural-surfaced roads. Routes are usually of better quality in valleys and basins than in hills and mountains. Movement on foot would be slowed by steep, forested slopes and by miry soils or snow cover from mid-November to early April. Good concealment from air and ground observation and cover from flat-trajectory fire would be provided by forests and rugged terrain. Urban and rural buildings are located primarily on lower slopes and in valleys and basins, areas where food and shelter are most available. The small number of drop zones and landing sites would make supply by air difficult.

C. Strategic areas (C)

There are six areas of strategic important (Figures 10 and 41) in Czechoslovakia: the capital city of Prague, the Ostrava-Karvina complex, and the areas around the cities of Bratislava, Brno, Plzen, and Kosice. Each is important for political, economic, industrial, military, or transportation reasons and, as such, is a potential military objective.

1. Prague

This strategic area (Figure 11) contains Prague (population 1,086,000 in 1973) by far the country's largest city and its principal center of administration, industry, transportation, science, commerce, and culture (Figure 12). It is the capital of the country, of the Czech Socialist Republic, and the administrative center of Stredocesky Kraj (Central Bohemian Region). It is also the country's political and military center and the control point for international affairs. The country's and the Czech Republic's governing organs and its highest military, defense, and telecommunication organizations have headquarters in Prague. The city also contains the country's largest concentration of manufacturing enterprises and contributes about 10% to the total national output. Products of its highly diversified machine building plants, which account for one-half of the city's industry, include much of the production of heavy machinery such as compressors, dredges, turbines, generators, transformers, alternators, boilers, cooling units, water treatment plants, piping, ball bearings, semiconductor rectifiers, mining equipment, diesel locomotives, railroad cars, heavy trucks, aircraft and aircraft engines and components, streetcars, diesel engines, and transmission gear. Also of national significance are plants producing machine tools, electrotechnical, electronic, and telecommunication equipment, computers, medical equipment, precision instruments, automobile accessories and tires, and pharmaceuticals. Billeting capacity in the strategic area is about 6,000 troops. The international civil airfield west of the city is capable of sustaining long-range bomber operations; two military airfields, one 6 miles north, the other in the northeastern outskirts, are capable of sustaining long-range and intermediate-range bomber operations, respectively.

The city is the focus of important highways and the principal center of both national and international rail routes; there are 10 major classification yards in the city and its environs. Thirteen large and significant bridges span the navigable Vltava River, linking major east-west transportation routes. Inland port facilities have an average annual turnover of 2 million metric tons. Czechoslovak Airlines links Prague with over 50 cities in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America. Prague is the seat of 12 college-level educational establishments and the site of the country's largest and most prominent science and research institutes. It is

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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110011-1