MILITARY THOUGHT (USSR): ONCE MORE ON THE MODERN CONCEPT AND CLASSIFICATION OF THEATERS OF MILITARY OPERATIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP10-00105R000201700001-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 6, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: March 23, 1976
• Content Type: MEMO

Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/06 :CIA-RDP10-001058000201700001-6
Q
Next 2 Page(s) In Document Denied
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/06 :CIA-RDP10-001058000201700001-6
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/06 :CIA-RDP10-001058000201700001-6
50X1-HUM
Intelligence Information Special Report
COUNTRY USSR
T'[ILITARY THOU(~iT (USSR) : Once More on the Modern
Concept and Classification
of Theaters of Military
Operations
Page 3 of 11 Pages
50X1-HUM
23 r-larch 1976
50X1-HUM
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/06 :CIA-RDP10-001058000201700001-6
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/06 :CIA-RDP10-001058000201700001-6
Page 4 of 11 Pages
Once More on the ~`7odern Concept
and Classification of Theaters
of Military Operations
oy
General-Leytenant (Reserve) A. Vladimirskiy
The postwar period has been marked by fundamental changes in the
military-political and strategic conditions of conducting a modern war,
which also makes it imperative to change the system of theaters of military
operations.
The question of the need to study this problem was correctly presented
in an article by a group of authors as well as in comments on the article
published in the Collections of the Journal'T4ilitary Thought"*, and an
attempt was made to examine a number of its aspects. However, these works
did not adequately describe the features which define modern theaters of
military operations as a strategic category nor the elements which comprise
the essence of theaters of military operations. We therefore feel it
necessary to fill this gap.
The appearance of missile/nuclear weapons having a practically
unlimited range of destruction led to an expansion of the spatial scope of
a war to global dimensions. This same circwnstance extended the limits of
a strategic operation, which may now encompass an entire continent.
Therefore, we may divide theaters of military operations into
continental and oceanic with respect tv the nature of the sphere and
surface, and into main and secondary with respect to their strategic
importance. With regard to the spatial scope and conditions of the
employment of strategic means of combat, there arises the need to establish
the concept of an intercontinental theater of military operations. This is
a territory encompassing several continents located in different
hemispheres with the oceans separating them and the air and outer space
adjacent to them, within the limits of which a war will be conducted
employing strategic missile/nuclear and space means of armed combat.
* Collection of Articles of the Journal'T4ilitary Thought", No. 3 (?3),
1964 and No . ? (75) , 1965 .
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/06 :CIA-RDP10-001058000201700001-6
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/06 :CIA-RDP10-001058000201700001-6
Pagsoxl~HU~r1 Pages
Despite the extreme diversity of the conditions of conducting armed
combat in the different theaters of military operations, there is a certain
generality among them which stems from the presence of a series of similar
features characteristic of each of them to a lesser or greater extent. Let
us examine these features.
Milita -Political. The presence within the limits of a theater of
military operations o states belonging to opposing military-political
groupings (as it applies to the socialist camp and the United States, this
feature is expressed in the framework of an intercontinental theater of
military operations). In addition, they may include neutralist countries
which could possibly represent targets for capture by aggressor nations
during a war, which could result in counteractions by other nations.
Strate ic. The presence of important strategic areas (targets), the
capture or estruction of which may be a strategic mission in operations;
their spatial dimensions creating the necessary operational-tactical
capacity and permitting the deployment of large strategic groupings and the
conduct of strategic operations.
Military- eo a hic. The presence of conditions that permit the
dispersed and conceale basing of large strategic groupings equipped with
modern means of armed combat, and their massed employment; a certain
generality of geographic conditions creating the necessity for employing
the appropriate types of armed forces, and methods of conducting armed
combat and organizing the troops.
Military-economic. The location in a theater of military operations
of important industrial areas or large deposits of strategic raw materials
required for the support of military production, food and important
resources, as well as production and repair enterprises which support the
supply of the troops and the repair of military equipment using local
means.
Each theater of military operations includes a number of component
elements which characterize its strategic nature and significance. These
include: strategic areas -- apart of the territory (or water area)
having an important military, economic or military-political value, the
capture of which may be one of the aims of a strategic operation or an
entire war, and strategic axes -- a broad band of the earth's surfac5oxi=HUM
water area) and adjacent water areas (coastal areas) and air and outer
space; within these axes are situated the important strategic areas of the
potential enemy, the capture of which, or destruction of strategic targets
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/06 :CIA-RDP10-001058000201700001-6
 50X1-HUM
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/06 :CIA-RDP10-001058000201700001-6
Page 6 of 11 Pages
within which, may be one of the tasks of the strategic operation.
On the basis of its military-geographic conditions and spatial
dimensions, the strategic axis must permit the coordinated actions of large
groupings of the Strategic Rocket Forces, several front-size operational
formations of ground forces, the navy, air forces, anc~"the Air Defense
Forces of the Country.
As a result of the introduction of the concept of an intercontinental
theater of military operations, it becomes necessary to define an
intercontinental strate is axis; this is a vast zone which includes the
asing areas o one s own intercontinental means and the areas of important
enemy targets on another continent against which strikes by these means are
planned, as well as abroad band of land and ocean area and the air and
outer space contiguous to it through which the flight paths (trajectories)
of intercontinental means will pass.
Based on the above features characterizing the theaters of ~rd.litary
operations and taking into consideration the present alignment of forces in
peacetime and the conditions and nature of conducting armed combat
employing missile/nuclear weapons, we believe that the names and
composition of the probable theaters of military operations will be
somewhat different.
The continental theaters of military operations may include the
following:
The Euro can (tti'estern) Theater of ?~Iilita erations . This would
inclu e a countries on t e uropean continent west of the Ural Range),
the northern part of Africa and the western part of Asia b'tinor. The naval
part of the theater would include: the Black Sea,i~tediterranean and other
seas surrounding the European continent, and the gulfs of the Atlantic and
Axctic ocean basins.
The importance of this theater centers on the fact that it is here
that the two opposing military-political groupings border and face each
other: on the one hand, the countries of the imperialist ~tATO bloc, and on
the other -- the socialist nations that were united in 1955 by the Warsaw
Pact. 50X1-HUM
Two main strategic axes may be identified in this theater: the Western
European, including the central and northern part of the European territory
north of aline through Kiev, the Carpathians, the Alps, Toulouse, r~.adrid
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/06 :CIA-RDP10-001058000201700001-6
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/06 :CIA-RDP10-001058000201700001-6
Page 7 osoxi-DUi~s
and Cadiz. The most important strategic areas in the foreign part of this
axis are: the Scandinavian, the straits zone of the Baltic area, the
Central European area, the British Isles area and the area of the Pyrenees
Peninsula, and the Southern European, which includes the southern part of
Europe, the entire Mediterranean basin and adjacent northern part of Africa
and western part of Asia btinor.
The straits zone of the Black Sea together with the Balkan Peninsula,
the western part of Asia Minor, the MMediterranean area and the North
African area may be listed as important strategic areas in this Southern
European strategic axis.
T_he North American Theater encompasses the territory of North America
and the surrounding seas and bays of the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific
basins, Greenland and Iceland and the countries of Central America and the
West Indies.
An important role in this theater is played by the United States,
where 50 percent of the industrial production, 75 percent of the military
production and 90 percent of the nuclear warhead production of the entire
capitalist world are concentrated. A weak point in the strategic position
of the United States is the extremely high concentration of production and
.population in relatively confined areas, which makes the country highly
vulnerable to nuclear weapons in the event of war. Many types of strategic
raw materials are not found in the territory of the United States, which
makes them very dependent upon ocean lines of communication.
Canada, which has atomic, aviation and armor industries, is another of
the important nations located in this theater.
The following strategic areas may be noted in the North American
Theater of Military Operations: in the northern part of the theater --
Alaska and Greenland, and in the central part -- the area of the Great
Lakes occupied by five states of the country; the Atlantic coast area,
including 15 states and the District of Columbia located along the coast;
the coastal areas of the Gulf of Dtexico with ten states (along the arc of
the Gulf); the Pacific coast area with three states; and the Central area,
which includes the remaining_15 states of the United States. 50X1-HUM
The strategic areas listed above are characterized first of all by the
presence of large administrative-political, economic and
military-industrial centers and seaports. Intercontinental missile bases,
strategic air bases and naval bases are deployed within the limits of these
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/06 :CIA-RDP10-001058000201700001-6
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/06 :CIA-RDP10-001058000201700001-6
Page 8 of 11 Pages
areas, and government stocks of nuclear weapons are stored here.
There are three strategic areas in the southern part of the theater:
Mexico and the countries of Central America, the area of the West Indies,
and Cuba.
In the event of a worldwide nuclear war, the North American Theater of
Military Operations together with the Atlantic and the European theaters
will be the main arena of armed conflict. A11 other theaters will have
secondary importance. The feature common to these theaters is that they
contain countries which are rich in natural resources but are poorly
developed from an economic standpoint.
The Eastern Theater of rti.litary Operations may include the entire
Asiatic part o t e oviet ion east of the Ural Range and north of a line
drawn through the Caspian Sea, Lake Balkhash and Vladivostok; a major part
of the Chinese People's Republic (north of the Yellow River), the Mongolian
People's Republic, the Korean People's Democratic Republic, South Korea and
Japan .
This theater of military operations is strategically important because
the imperialist bloc headed by the United States has strategic springboards
here with a considerable number of armed forces which will be used to carry
out aggressive attacks against the socialist countries. If the imperialists
Lmleash a new world war, this may become the second most important
strategic front of armed conflict.
Two important strategic areas -- the Chukotsk-Alaskan and the
Japanese-Korean, are within the limits of the theater of military
operations.
The strategic significance of the Chukotsk-Alaskan area is based on
the fact that here the American and Asian continents are separated by the
relatively narrow Bering Strait (85 kilometers wide), which makes it
possible to move the combat operations of the ground forces to the North
American continent without transporting them Long distances by sea or by
air. In addition, through this area pass the most important part of the
USSR's Northern Sea Route as well as the shortest air and sea routes
between North America and Asia. 50X1-HUM
In the Japanese-Korean area is Japan, which, after the United States,
represents the main striking force and the largest military-economic base
of the imperialist bloc in the Far East, as well as South Korea -- an
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/06 :CIA-RDP10-001058000201700001-6
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/06 :CIA-RDP10-001058000201700001-6
Page 9 of 11 Pages
50X1-HUM
important strategic springboard of this bloc in East Asia.
Two main strategic axes may be designated in this area: the
northeastern, including the northeastern part of the Soviet Union, Alaska,
and Canada with the seas and straits surrounding them, and the eastern --
the Soviet Maritime Territory, the northeastern part of the Chinese
People's Republic, Sakhalin Island, the Korean Peninsula, the Japanese
Islands and the seas and bays surrounding them.
The Southeastern Theater of T~Lilita erations could unite the
southeastern part o t e lnese eop e s Rep lic south of the Yellow
River), the countries of the Indochina Peninsula, the island of Taiwan, the
Philippine Islands, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand and, in order to
cover the adjacent territories of the theater of military operations --
India.
The strategic importance of this theater may be seen in the fact that
the countries located within it have enormous resources of strategic raw
materials (tin, lead, aluminum, tungsten, chromites, iron and manganese
ores and rubber). In addition, Australia and New Zealand are suppliers of
grain, high-quality wool, cattle and butter.
Within this theater of military operations the imperialist bloc has
important island and mainland springboards where military bases have been
establisred and groupings of armed forces are located which carry out
so-called local wars for the purpose of suppressing the national liberation
movements of these countries.
This theater includes socialist countries (the Chinese People's
Republic and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam), countries of the
aggressive blocs (Thailand, the Philippines, South Vietnam, Australia and
New Zealand, the Federation of btalaysia), and neutralist countries (Burma,
Cambodia, Laos and Indonesia).
The main strategic areas in this theater would be the
Philippine-Indochinese-Indonesian area (the island of Taiwan, the
Philippines, countries located on the Indochina and Malaysian peninsulas,
Indonesia, Singapore, and Sarawak on the island of Borneo, North Borneo and
Brunei) and the Australian-New Zealand area. 50X1-HUM
This theater would also include one strategic axis -- the
Southeastern, which encompasses southern China, the Indochina Peninsula,
Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand with the seas and gulfs contiguous to
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/06 :CIA-RDP10-001058000201700001-6
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/06 :CIA-RDP10-001058000201700001-6
Page 10 of 11 Pages
them.
Obviously, the South Asian Theater of Military Operations would
include the countries of the Near and ~Liddle East -- Turkey, Iran,
Pakistan, Israel, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, the
United Arab Republic, Afghanistan, India, the western provinces of the
Chinese People's Republic, Nepal, the British colonies of Aden, Oman and
Qatar, as well as the southern territory of the USSR (Northern Caucasus,
Transcaucasus, the Central Asiatic Soviet republics and Kazakhstan). At
the same time, Turkey and the entire eastern coast of the ti'editerranean Sea
could be placed in the Western (European) Theater of l~iilitary Operations,
since military operations in the Mediterranean basin will be linked by a
unified strategic concept with the operations in this theater.
The strategic importance of this theater of military operations is
determined by the following features: first, the territory of the theater
is located at the junction of the continents of Europe, Africa and Asia.
Through here pass the shortest and most important sea, air and land routes
linking Europe and America with the countries of Asia and Africa; second,
the countries of the Near East are the main suppliers of oil in the
European market; third, the national liberation process and the
~dn~i-imperialist and anti-colonial struggle of the peoples is continuing in
a number of these countries, which is causing sharp opposition on the part
of the imperialist nations and creating a tense situation; and, fourth, a
number of countries of the ~1ear and Middle East form part of the aggressive
blocs (Turkey, Iran, Pakistan) or support them (Israel) , and their
territory may be used as a springboard for an attack on the Soviet Union.
The main strategic areas are: the Bosporus-Dardanelles, the
Mesopotamian area, the Suez Canal Zone and the mouth of the Red Sea, and
the India-Pakistan area. ---- -
Two strategic axes may be defined in this theater: the Near Eastern,
which leads to the most important strategic areas of the :tear East --
Mesopotamia, the oil-producing areas, the Bosporus-Dardanelles straits
zone, the Suez Canal Zone and the Red Sea; and the Middle Eastern -- which
includes India, Pakistan, Nepal and Ceylon.
The_African Theater of Military Operation, encompasses the entire
African Continent with the contiguous seas and water areas of the Atlantic
and Indian ocean basins. 50X1-HUM
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/06 :CIA-RDP10-001058000201700001-6
 50X1-HUM
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/06 :CIA-RDP10-001058000201700001-6
Page 11 of 11 Pages
The African Theater of rlilitary Operations may be divided into five
large strategic areas: the Northern (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya),
the Western (the coast of the Atlantic Ocean from Dakar to Brazzaville on
the Congo River), the Central and Southern areas (the territory of Africa
south of the mouth of the Congo River and Lake Nyasa) and the East African
area.
The South American Theater of Alilita erations includes all the
nations and colonies in t e territory o South America.
We may list three oceanic theaters of military operations -- the
Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Ocean theaters.
There are two other strategic areas not included in the theaters of
military operations listed above -- the Arctic and Antarctic.
Taking into consideration the present alignment of forces in the
international arena, including the fact that all socialist nations (except
the Republic of Cuba) are located on the European and Asian continents and
the chief political center and main economic base of modern imperialism is
located on the Amerman continent, as well as the fact that during a war
modern strategic means of combat will be used against vitally important
targets located on these continents, we believe that there will be one
intercontinental theater of military operations -- the Eurasian-American.
This theater will include the European (Western), Eastern, North
American, Atlantic and Pacific Ocean theaters of military operations, as
well as the separate Arctic strategic area.
These are our thoughts on bringing the system of theaters of military
operations more closely in agreeement with the conditions and nature of a
future missile/nuclear war.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/06 :CIA-RDP10-001058000201700001-6