WARSAW PACT JOURNAL: FROM THE EXPERIENCE OF USING COMPUTER EQUIPMENT IN THE CONTROL OF TROOPS AND NAVAL FORCES

• Document Type: FOIA
• Keywords: WARSAW PACT
• Keywords: ARMED FORCES
• Keywords: TROOP CONTROL
• Keywords: WARSAW PACT STATES
• Collection: CIA Analysis of the Soviet Navy
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0001459993
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: June 19, 2017
• Document Release Date: June 19, 2017
• Case Number: SC-2007-00006
• Publication Date: August 21, 1980

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20505
21 August 1980
NEMORANDIN FCR: The Director of Central Intelligence
FROM : John N. McMahon
Deputy Director for Operations
SUBJECT : WARSAW PACT JOURNAL: From the Experience of
Using Computer Equipment in the Control of
Troops and Naval Forces
1. The enclosed Intelligence Information Special Report is part of a
series now in preparation based on articles from a SECRET Soviet
publication called Information Collection of the Headquarters and the
Technical Committee 0? the Combined Armed Forces. This article provides an
overview of the use of equipment to effective
problem-solving in the control organs of the East German armed forces. The
use of a mobile subscriber center in the army and a common computer system
by the other services as principal means for doing so are elaborated upon.
Execution times are provided for computer calculations on radar field
parameters, radiation and meteorological conditions, marches, engineer
preparation, minesweeping, and other operations. This journal is published
by Warsaw Pact Headquarters in Nbscow, and it consists of articles by
Warsaw Pact officers. This article appeared in Issue No. 18, which was
published in 1979.
2. Because the source of this report is extremely sensitive, this
document should be handled on a strict need-to-know basis within recipient
agencies. For ease of reference, rgports from this publication have been
assigned the Codeword
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Distribution:
The Director of Central Intelligence
The Director of Intelligence and Research
Department of State
The Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Director, Defense Intelligence Agency
The Assistant to the Chief of Staff for Intelligence
Department of the Army
Director of Naval Intelligence
Department of the Navy
The Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence
U. S. Air Force
Director, National Security Agency
Deputy Director of Central Intelligence
Director of the National Foreign Assessment Centex
Director of Strategic Research
Director of Scientific and Weapons Research
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Intelligence Information Special Report
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COUNTRY EAST GERMANY/WARSAW PACT
DATE OF
INFO. 1979
SOURCE
SUBJECT
DATE
21 August 1980
WARSAW PACT JOURNAL: From the Experience of Using Computer Equipment
In the Control of Troops and Naval Forces
Documentary
Surnmary:
The following report is a translation from Russian of an article from
a SECRET Soviet publication called Information Collection of the
Headquarters and the Technical Committee at the Combined Armed Forces.
This journal is published by Warsaw Pact Headquarters in Mbscow, and it
consists of articles by Warsaw Pact officers. This article, written by
General-Mayor G. Kunze of the East German Army, provides an overview of the
use of computer equipment to promote effective problem-solving in the
control organs of the East German armed forces. The establishment of a
mobile subscriber center in the army in 1978 to make effective use of
stationary computers is elaborated upon, as is the use of a common computer
system by the other services. Execution times are provided for computer
calculations on radar field parameters, radiation and meteorological
conditions, marches engineer preparation, minesweeping, and other
operations. The author advocates the development of systems of
minicomputers for use by ground troops, as well as further program design,
staff training, and computer use prioritization throughout the services.
This article appeared in Issue No. 18, which was published in 1979.
End of Summary
Comment:
Gerhardt Kunze was promoted to the rank of General-Leytenant in
September 1979. Ranks of one-star (general-mayor andtwo-star
(general-leytenant) general officers are given in Russian for nationals of
countries following the Soviet system.
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From the Experience of Using Computer Eauipment in the
Control of Troops and Naval Forces
by
General -Mayor G. KUM
Deputy Chief of the Man Staff of the National People's Army
of the German Democratic Republic for the Mechanization and
Automation of Troop Control
Since the start of the 1970's the National People's Army and the
People's Navy of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) have begun using
mobile and stationary electronic computers to control troops and various
forces and means. Computers have been receiving the widest use for the
solution of operational-tactical and rear services problems during
command-staff and field exercises, as well as in carrying out staff
training sessions in the large units.
The goal of the present article is to share the experience of using
computer equipment to increase the effectiveness of the activity of control
organs in operational formations and tactical large units of the branches
of the armed forces.
The Ground Forces, which possess mobile computer centers (posts), have
designed and repeatedly employed in exercises the appropriate programs
intended for solving operational-tactical and rear services problems, as a
result of which the effectiveness of the control of formations, large
units, units and subunits has significantly increased. (A list of these
problems is shown in Table 1.)
During the exercises YUG-76 /south/, SEVER-77 /north/, YUG-78 and a
series of others, definite experience was successfully built up in the
organizational and technical measures and in the mathematical training of
staff officers that were necessary to introduce a field (mobile) automated
system of troop control. Therefore, at the present time no significant
difficulties are arising in the solution of problems on computers, although
errors are sometimes still committed in filling in data cards and in the
card-punching process.
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Table 1
List of the Operational-Tactical Problems Which are Solved
with the Use of Electronic Computers in the Ground Forces
T
Number in
Sequence
Problem
Length of Time
to Solve Problem
1
Determination of the balance of
2 to 5 minutes
forces, operational-tactical
densities and capabilities of
antitank means
(for each variant)
2
Calculation of a march
10 to 25 minutes
(for each route of
movement)
3
Calculation of the required time
4 minutes
for a given amount of engineer
preparation
(for each variant)
4
Calculation of the anticipated
10 to 15 minutes
radiation doses to personnel on
(for each route of
a march
movement)
5
Calculation of the effectiveness
of nuclear strikes
10 to 35 minutes
Calculation of fire capabilities
for the artillery preparation for
a breakthrough of the enemy's
defense or /capabilities/ for
artillery support
10 to 15 minutes
Stationary computer means have begun to be ever more frequently
employed to increase the number of problems which can be solved in the army
(army corps). In this case the transmission of data from the location of
the control posts to a computer center, as well as the delivery of
solutions back /to theW or to the army staff, had been carried out until
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recently with the aid of a helicopter or motor vehicle, which required ,//
large personnel and material expenditures, while the computed results were
frequently not delivered to the addressee in a timely fashion. Therefore,
in order to make the most effective use of stationary computer means, the
National People's Army of the GDR established in 1978 a mobile subscriber
center, the basic tactical-technical data of which are shown in Table 2.
Table 2
Basic Tactical-Technical Data on the bbile Subscriber Center
Employed in the Ground Forces
Number in
Sequence
Name of Basic Units and
Stages of Operation
_
Characteristics of
Units and Operation
1
Basic vehicle
URAL-375/D Truck
2
Control computer
Type KRS-4201
3
Data transmission
Secure over a four-wire
telephone channel; trans-
mission speed -- 1,200 bands
4
Output of results
On a sequential printer
at a speed of 100 characters
per second
5
Time required to deploy
the mobile subscriber
center for operation
10 minutes
Experience in using computer equipment shahs that for the ground
forces, mobile computer means located directly at command posts are the
most favorable. Therefore it is advisable, in our opinion, to embark upon
a path of developing systems of compact /mini-/ computers (SM EVN) which
are interconnected by telecode communications channels and which allow
information input-output to be carried out at the workplace of the
appropriate generals and officers.
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In the Air Forces and Air Defense of the Country the introduction of
the common computer system CES EVNU has been continuing over the last few
years, for which a large number of programs have been designed that have
been approved in practice and that are in conformity with the functions and
tasks of automated control and guidance systems.
The programs which exist at the present time in the air forces and air
defense of the country allow the performance of a large number of laborious
calculations, especially for determining the spatial, temporal and
quantitative criteria of various, primarily air, targets (Table 3). They
provide substantial aid in the planning and organization of combat training
as well as combat and special support.
Table 3
List of Operational-Tactical Problems Which are Solved in the Air Forces and
Air Defense of the Country Through the Use of the Common Computer System
,
Number in
Sequence
Problem
Length of Time
to Solve Problem
1
Calculation of control fields
5 minutes
(for each variant)
2
Simulation of combat actions
7 minutes
(for each cycle)
3
Preliminary calculation of
10 to 15 minutes
radiation conditions
(for each 100 nuclear
strikes)
4
Calculation of the parameters
10 minutes
of a radar field
(for each time period)
5
Preparation of data on an air
enemy
3 to 5 minutes
6
Analysis and display of
meterological conditions
2 to 4 minutes
_
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The constant use of the problems enumerated in Table 3 for the daily
support of the system serving the air forces and air defense of the
country, as well as in command-staff exercises with air defense large
units, and especially in exercises of the air defense of the armies of the
Warsaw Pact member states, has allowed significant experience in the use of
computer means to accumulate.
Computers in the ES EVM common computer system have been especially
widely employed during the preparation and conduct of exercises of the air
defense of the armies of the Warsaw Pact member states where the solutions
have been employed as combat, planning, and reference documents.
Incidentally, the main computer center of the National People's Army was
employed for the first time in the preparation of these exercises in
support of the directing body staff. In this case the matter of the rapid
transmission and reception of programs between it and the computer centers
of the air forces and air defense of the country in order to ensure a
reserve of machine time was resolved successfully. Through the use of
computer means in the latest exercises, new aspects of their use came to
the forefront. While programs of operational-tactical problems previously
were employed in planning exercises primarily by the directing body staff
to verify adopted decisions, in the latest exercises the data obtained (for
example, on the actual lower limit of a radar field) were sant directly to
the chief of the branch arm for use in reaching a decision. With the aid
of programs especially developed for an exercise, versions were drawn up
for an air situation with a total number of more than 500 air targets which
were actually entered into the control system of the radiotechnical troops.
This has assured the effective training of command post personnel and a
saving of flights used in simulating targets.
It can be said without exaggeration that computer equipment has at
present become an inherent component part of command posts in the air
forces and air defense of the country. However, in order to exploit it
even more successfully the development of additional programs is required,
as well as the incorporation of computer-controlled facilities for the
input and output of data to an electronic tube /CRT/. Therefore further
attention is being focused on investigating the possibilities of changing
from individual operational-tactical calculations to the solution of
integrated problems, on the realization of means for automated processing
of operational-tactical reports and data for the planning and organization
of combat actions, as well as on the establishment of a permanent
operational-tactical data bank with direct access to information from the
automated workplaces of the officials of control organs.
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In the People's Navy favorable conditions for significant expansion of
the opportunities fOr applying computer equipment have developed as a
result of the use of the means of the ES EVM comma computer system at
stationary control posts as well as the development of corresponding
programs. At the present time this equipment is utilized for
operational-tactical calculations in the course of planning and conducting
actions during exercises (Table 4). At the same time, computer means are
still underemployed in the preparation of critiques of exercises and in the
comparison of possible versions of combat actions. Therefore further work
has been directed at investigating the possibilities of designing
appropriate programs as well as simplifying their input (output) into the
ES EVM common computer system.
Table 4
List of Operational-Tactical Problems Being Solved in the People's Navy
through the Use of the ES EVM Common Computer System
Number in
Sequence
Problem
...
Length of Time
to Solve Problem
.
3.
Calculation of the variants of the
use of missile and torpedo boats
12 minutes
(strike forces)
2
Calculation of antisubmarine
defense data
5 to 6 minutes
3
Calculation of minesweeping data
8 minutes
4
Forecasting the condition (sea
state) of the Baltic Sea
2 minutes
-
From the foregoing it is apparent that in the National People's Army
of the GDR, computer equipment is in essence an inherent component part of
control posts, and that its application is closely linked with the cyclical
work schedule of these posts. The programs we possess encompass the basic
operational-tactical and rear service tasks, although they naturally do not
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satisfy all current demands completely. Furthermore, computer means are as
of yet unable to accommodate the parallel method of staff work; they allow
only the sequential solution of problems and do not allow the input or
output of any given data at the workplaces of the appropriate generals or
officers. Lastly, many staff officers are still inadequately trained in
solving problems with the use of computer means. For this reason an
increase in the effectiveness of the use of computer equipment in the
control of troops and naval forces is possible only as a result of the
implementation of a complete set of measures of an organizational nature,
the further design of programs, and a wide use of computer equipment by
staff officers who have been well trained for it.
In our opinion, measures of an organizational nature must first of all
provide for giving first priority to staffs and persons who can make /best/
use of computer equipment, since its memory components have a limited
capacity. (This priority can be established by the commander or chief of
staff in relation to the nature of combat actions or the situation which
has developed.) An important condition in the timely performance of
calculations is the distance between the staff and the computer center, as
well as the presence of a communications link to ensure the transfer of the
appropriate data. The procedure by which secret /classified/ clerical work
is conducted is also of much significance in the improvement of the
technological process of problem-solving.
The experience of the use of computer equipment in the National
People's Army of the GDR confirms the need to have a standard methods
manual in accordance with the proposals of the Staff of the Combined Armed
Forces as stated in the draft Guide to the Use of Electronic Computer
Equipment to Solve Troop Control Problems in Combined Exercises of the
Combined Armed Forces of the Warsaw Pact Member States.
Neasures relating to mathematical support /software/ must provide as
much as possible for the complete satisfaction of the needs of the users of
the data obtained from the computer, promote the reduction of the times
required to solve the various problems, and simplify data collection and
its input into and output from the computer.
It is quite clear that the measures enumerated above will increase the
effectiveness of the control of troops and naval forces only if command
cadres constantly and persistently increase the individual level of
proficiency in solving operational-tactical problems with the use of
computer equipment.
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In conclusion we note that the existing discrepancy between the
potential capabilities of computer means and the achieved effectiveness of
their application in troop control will soon be overcome thanks to the
combined efforts of the fraternal armies, which have been coordinated in
clear purpose by the Staff of the Combined Armed Forces.
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