CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00975A013300040001-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 15
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 2, 2003
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: March 15, 1969
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2004/01/15: CIA-RDP79T00975A01330&QMt
25X1
DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
Central Intelligence Bulletin
DIA review(s) completed.
Secret
rrt:.
Approved For Release 2004/01/15 : CIA-RDP79T00975A013300040001-9
 25X1 Approved For Release 2004/01/15 : CIA-RDP79T00975AO13300040001-9
Approved For Release 2004/01/15 : CIA-RDP79T00975AO13300040001-9
 Approved For Release 2004/6-ATRDP79T00975A013300040001-9
No. 0064/69
15 March 1969
Central Intelligence Bulletin
CONTENTS
South Vietnam: Situation report. (Page 1)
USSR: The giant V-12 helicopter has made a record
oac-lifting flight. (Page 3)
USSR: Recently revised long-term agricultural
goals remain ambitious. (Page 5)
Warsaw Pact: Top Soviet and East European lead-
ers will hold a Pact policy meeting next week.
(Page 6)
Ethiopia: Several Soviet and Czechoslovak officials
have been expelled in connection with student dis-
orders. (Page 7)
Yemen: The government may soon try to form a new
coalition. (Page 8)
Burma: General Ne Win may be considering proposals
on political reforms. (Page 9)
Israel-Egypt: Situation along the Suez (Page 10)
Czechoslovakia-Iran: Economic relations (Page 10)
Approved For Release 2004/0 ,1V f2DP79T00975A013300040001-9
 Approved For Release 2004/0?t5`:'EIk'DP79T00975A013300040001-9
Sop
C AM BO DJ A
\J (S)_
~ ` ~i lblc kung
~k_FN\ r'S?Ul1~
T'IiF N _
~a Mau, ,~...
`Ban Me
r, a ~1huat
h J
ING Da (at.
~.aA6,7.P.. ~..~-.., HINH
,T,rv
A t+
Y
I X14
HOA''
.tNfFia Trang
5
SAM
N
r
FINN /
THUAN ~.-
SOUTH VIETNAM
o ioo
MILES
SOUTH
CHINA
SEA
25X1
Approved For Release 2004/OYPC. I 4DP79T00975A013300040001-9
 Approved For Release 2004/ i RDP79T00975A013300040001-9
I South Vietnam: Military activity remains at
a moderate level, comparable to the weeks before
the current offensive.
The Communists on 14 March launched another
ground attack just south of the Demilitarized Zone,
however, killing ten US Marines and wounding 40 at
a cost of 23 enemy dead. In a new attack on Hue,
the Communists fired four 122-mm. rockets into the
city;; initial reports indicate this attack caused
only light damage and no casualties. Elsewhere
in the country;, allied military units and instal-
lations continued to be the main targets of limited
enemy mortar and rocket attacks and small ground
probes.
In northeastern Tay Ninh Province, US pilots
reported two enemy armored vehicles near an allied
Special Forces camp; one was identified as a Soviet-
built PT-76 amphibious tank. Although there have
previously been some unconfirmed reports of enemy
tanks in III Corps, this is the first such firm
sighting of enemy armor in this region.
Up to ten PT-76s were engaged against the Ben
Het Special Forces camp in western Kontum Province
on 3 March. (Map
15 Mar 69 Central Intelligence Bulletin
Approved For Release 2004/OlgWM.P
 Approved For Release 2004/0 1-r BI FeDP79T00975AO13300040001-9
New Soviet 'V-12 Helicopter
V-'112 Homer
DIMENSIONS (ApproiO
Fuselage length - 125 ft.
Rotor radius - 57 ft.
Wing span - 108 ft.
MI-10 Harke
Boeing '707
(DIMENSIONS
Fuselage length
Wing span
- 139 ft.
- 131 ft. Fuselage length
- 108 ft.
Rotor radius
- 57 ft.
25X1
Approved For Release 2004/0y F.>ffDP79T00975A013300040001-9
 Approved For Release 200 T9'g`tl-RDP79T00975A013300040001-9
USSR: The giant new V-12 helicopter made a
record load-lifting flight from a Moscow airport
on 22 February.
According to Soviet press coverage of the
flight, the V-12 lifted 68,266 pounds of cargo to
an altitude of 9,675 feet. This load exceeds the
existing world record held by another Soviet heli-
copter, the MI-10, by some 13,000 pounds. It is
also about three times greater than can be carried
by the CH-54, the largest US helicopter.
This is the first time that the Soviets have
publicized the V-12, which almost certainly is the
holiconter photographed last July F_ I
A Soviet attache in
Paris reported as: c o e hat the new helicopter
probably would be shown at the Paris international
air show this spring.
(Photo/Drawings/Charts)
15 Mar 69 Central Intelligence Bulletin 3
25X1
25X1
Approved For Release 2004/(MCfF2DP79T00975A013300040001-9
 Approved For Release 2004/01M? 4l P79T00975A013300040001-9
USSR: New Agricultural Goals for 1980*
r- GROSS AGRICULTURAL OUTPUT (Billion Rubles)
1968 Output
81 New 1980 Goal Original 1980 Goal
135 221
39%
Reduction from Original Goal
Average Annual Rate of Growth 1961-1968 3.2%
Average Annual Planned Rate of Growth 1969-1980 4.3%
1968 Output New 1980 Goal 260
169
Grain)
(Million Metric Tons) L-
Average Annual Rate of Growth 1961-1968
Average Annual Planned Rate of Growth 1969-1980
New 1980 Goal 20
1968 Output 1 1'/Z / Original 1980 Coal 31
Meat
(Million Metric Ton:)
3.7%
3.6%
Average Annual Rate of Growth 1961-1968 3.8%
Average Annual Planned Rate of Growth 1969-1980 4.6%
*Although CIA estimates of absolute output are less than official claims,
the above percentage rates of change are valid.
Original 1980 Goal 303
25X1
Approved For Release 2004/0~ C1A-RDP79T00975A013300040001-9
 Approved,For Release 2004/5 'h9 A-RDP79T00975A013300040001-9
USSR: A recent agricultural conference has
announced new long-term agricultural goals that are
considerably reduced from the original targets for
1980 set by Khrushchev in 1961.
The revised targets for 1980 are still ambi-
tious, however, in the light of the recent perfor-
mance of Soviet agriculture. To meet the new 1980
goal for gross agricultural output, the average
annual rate of increase during 1969-80 must match
the rate of about 4.5 percent achieved during
1966-680
On the basis of past rates of growth, the new
grain target might appear reasonable. Soviet of-
ficials have indicated, however, that they do not
intend to expand significantly the area sown to
grain crops. Most if not all of the increase in
output, therefore, must be obtained from a rise in
yields, and for most grains these will have to be
raised to present US levels if the over-all target
is to be met, The implied annual rate of increase
in grain yields of about 3.5 percent is well in
excess of the average annual rate of about 2 per-
cent achieved during the past 13 years.
If grain production is actually raised to the
planned level, the increased availability of feed
for livestock would ensure realization of the 1980
meat target. Even if this target were met, how-
ever, per capita consumption of meat in the USSR
would still remain 10 to 15 percent below the cur-
rent levels in most West European countries and
nearly 50 percent below the level in the US.
(Chart)
Central Intelligence Bulletin
25X1
Approved For Release 2004/09 RFE-'FDP79T00975A013300040001-9
 Approved For Release 2004/01/15 : CIA-RDP79T00975AO13300040001-9
SECRET
Warsaw Pact: Top Soviet and East European
political and military leaders will gather in Bu-
dapest on 17 March for a two-day meeting of the
Warsaw Pact political consultative committee, the
Pact's highest-level policy making body.
Soviet party chief Brezhnev headed a high-
level delegation which left Moscow yesterday for
the meeting. In addition to Brezhnev, Premier
Kosygin, the foreign and defense ministers, and
Pact commander Yakubovsky will attend the meeting.
The Rumanians, who will attend, believe that
nothing much will be accomplished at the meeting;
some say that there might be squabbling over "pro-
cedural points." Two controversial issues may be
discussed--Pact maneuvers and the transit of Pact
forces through member countries.
The recent Sino-Soviet border clash is also
likely to be reviewed, and the Soviets probably
will be seeking a declaration of support.
Central Intelligence Bulletin
25X1
Approved For Release 2004/01/15 : CIA-RDP79T00975AO13300040001-9
SECRET
 Approved For Release 2004AIPi,RAP -RDP79T00975A013300040001-9
Ethiopia: The government has expelled three
Soviet and three Czechoslovak officials for alleged
involvement with dissident students.
The government has regularly alleged foreign
interference after previous student demonstrations.
Although it has not spelled out its case against
the accused officials,
25X1
25X1
In any case, the expulsion is the government's
latest move. in its war of nerves with restive stu-
dentse The incident provides the authorities with
a convenient justification for their recent actions
against student demonstrators and an excuse to ig-
nore deep-seated grievances of the students and
other discontented groups of the educated elite.
The government may also use the incident as
a reason for expelling radical students. The au-
thorities are already trying to shake general stu-
dent support for the radicals by emphasizing their
dealings with Communist agents.
Since failing to bring off their planned de-
monstrations earlier this month, the students have
boycotted classes. They have been distributing
propaganda leaflets and provoking minor acts of
violence. The university is now considering a pos-
sible deadline before which students must return
to classes or lose a semester's credit, a move that
may return the campus to normal although it could
merely spark new disorders.
15 Mar 69 Central Intelligence Bulletin
25X1
Approved For Release 2004/a,LMRRDP79T00975A013300040001-9
 Approved For Release 2004/0 E Id 'l~DP79T00975A013300040001-9
Yemen: The government may soon attempt to
form a new coalition which would include tribal
leaders formerly supporting the royalists.
Sana has scheduled a conference of national
leaders for the middle of March; although there may
be some delay. This National Assembly will be com-
posed essentially of tribal leaders, army officers;
and religious leaders. Its mission will be the
election of a new Republican Council president--
chief of state--and a new cabinet. During the
year it will be in session the assembly is also
slated to set up the apparatus for a new legislative
body.
This conference has been scheduled for some
time, and the increasing number of tribal defections
from the royalists has increased its chances of suc-
cess. President Iryani and Premier al-Amri, who are
identified with the old republican regime, have in-
dicated that they would like to relinquish their
posts, and press reports from Aden state that they
may resign soon--possibly this weekend--prior to
the convening of the National Assembly. The con-
vening of this assembly will mark a further step in
the gradual blurring of the basic differences be-
tween the re ubl-ca s and royalists that led to the
civil war.
1.5 Mar 69 Central Intelligence Bulletin
25X1
Approved For Release 2004/ , WDP79T00975A013300040001-9
 SECRET
Approved For Release 2004/01/15 : CIA-RDP79T00975A013300040001-9
Burma: General Ne Win may be considering
proposals on the political reforms he mentioned
last fall.
In November he called together a civilian
advisory body of former political figures and
charged it with formulating proposals for national
unity and a new constitution. Jockeying among the
long-time political rivals resulted in the sub-
mission in early February of three separate sug-
gestions for "civilianization," including an in-
terim parliament.
Reports of recent meetings between the general
and his military associates suggest that he is
giving active consideration to the proposals. Ne
Win is said to plan to assume the office of a
strong president and to create a civilian premier-
ship and a cabinet with participation by ethnic
minorities. Ex-premier U Ba Swe, who is considered
more acceptable to the army than any other politi-
cian, apparently is front runner for the proposed
premiership.
Factions within the ruling military revolu-
tionary council are reported to have objected
heatedly to any sharing of power with civilians.
Ne Win, however, clearly intends to retain pre-
eminence in any structural change, and probably
has the ability to impose his decision on the mili-
tary.
15 Mar 69 Central Intelligence Bulletin
Approved For Release 2004/018ff
 Approved For Release 2004 WkbXRDP79T00975A013300040001-9
Israel-Egypt: There were no heavy exchanges
along the Suez Canal yesterday after four days of
artillery fire in the past week. Israeli forces
may make a stronger response if Egypt continues
its deliberate policy of "heating up" the Suez
Canal area by cross-canal sniping and artillery
fire. the Israeli
forces are being reinforced and resupplied with
25X1
Czechoslovakia-Iran: A sharp expansion in
Czechoslovak-Iranian economic relations is envis-
aged under several agreements concluded between
the two states on 12 March. An economic aid pact
has formalized an aide memoire of May 1968, which
called for Prague to extend $200 million in credits
for the purchase of plant equipment and machinery,
to be repaid with Iranian crude oil. This agree-
ment, together with a long-term trade agreement
signed simultaneously, is expected to boost annual
trade between Czechoslovakia and Iran from $36
million to $53 million during the next five years.
Prague also indicated its readiness to supply nu-
clear energy generating plants and to cooperate
in dam construction in Iran.
Central Intelligence Bulletin
25X
Approved For Release 2004/0,b RDP79T00975A013300040001-9
 Secretproved For Release 2004/01/15 : CIA-RDP79T00975AO13300040001-9
Secret
Approved For Release 2004/01/15 : CIA-RDP79T00975AO13300040001-9