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city and second largest machine building center (Figure 22). About 60% of all industrial workers in this strategic area produce heavy machinery, including machine tools (the largest plant in the country is at Kurim), mining and metallurgical equipment, machinery for the chemical, woodworking, and food industries, substation equipment, diesel engines, pipes, bridges, bearing, pumps, presses, cranes, tractors (all of the country's output), railroad cars and road construction machinery. There is significant production of guided missile components (at Adamov) and of small arms. Other nationally important plants manufacture telecommunication equipment, measuring and other precision instruments, office equipment, and textiles (about one-fourth of the country's output). There is a military academy providing college-level training for career officers, billeting facilities for about 2,000 troops, and extensive ammunition and weapons storage facilities. A joint military and commercial airfield, capable of sustaining intermediate-range bomber operations and a reserve field used by military helicopters, both connected to each other by taxiways, are southeast of the city. Brno is an important junction of railroads and highways which provide access to other cities in the country and to a number of crossing points into Austria.

5. Plzen

This strategic area (Figure 23) is located in and around Plzen (population 151,000 in 1973), the administrative center of Zapadocesky Kraj (West Bohemian Region) and its largest industrial (Figure 24) and transportation center. It is the site of the Skoda Works, one of the largest heavy equipment plants in Europe which, during the past World Wars, was one of the major armament producers. At present it is the country's leading producer of large machine tools, lathes, boring mills, hydraulic presses, rolling mills and other metallurgical equipment, crankshafts, gear boxes and wheels, bridges, construction machinery, pumps and compressors, mining machinery, and sugar refineries. It also produces turbines, generator (over 40% of the country's total), equipment for transformer stations, nuclear powerplants, electric motors, electric locomotives (the only producer in the country), trolley buses, and artillery weapons. More than 35% of the output is exported. The enterprise has its own steelmaking facilities. Other plants in the area are engaged in manufacturing plastics, cellulose, paper, and paper products, in mining and processing of kaolin, and in beer brewing. The strategic area is the focal point of roads and railroads in western Czechoslovakia, providing access to other large cities in the country and to West Germany. The city is the site of an Army division headquarters and has billeting facilities for about 4,500 troops. Dobrany Airfield, 5 miles southwest, is a home base for fighter aircraft.

6. Kosice

This strategic area (Figures 25 and 26) focuses on Kosice (population 158,000 in 1973), the administrative center of Vychodoslovensky Kraj (East Slovakian Region) and its major industrial, transportation, and military center. The second largest steel complex (Figure 27) in the country, based on Soviet iron ore, is about 7 miles southwest of the city. Its steelmaking capacity in 1973 was 2½ million metric tons or about ⅓ of the national production. When at full capacity of 4 million tons (expected in 1975), it will be the largest single steel mill in the country. Products include rolled sheets, pipes, steel structures, and bridge components. Other plants produce machine tools, ordnance equipment, equipment for the chemical and food industries, and refractory materials; the production of these materials is based on the extraction and processing of major deposits of magnesite in the vicinity. The city is a major railroad and highway junction for international traffic, primarily with the U.S.S.R.; the rail line from the steel complex to the east is broad gage and integrated into the Soviet rail net. Military installations include the only military pilot school in the country, and a joint military and civil airfield capable of sustaining intermediate-range bomber operations.

7. Other important areas

In addition to the six principal strategic areas, other significant areas of major industrial, military, or transportation importance are shown on Figure 41 and described in Figure 28.

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