APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R00200090020-4
2½ miles at times in winter by snow and early morning fog and at times in summer by haze and smoke. The southern part of the area usually has the poorest visibility. The surface winds, variable in direction, usually average less than 16 knots, but speeds greater than 27 knots are occasionally recorded at many locations.
B. Military geographic regions (C)
There are two military geographic regions: the Southern and Coastal Lowlands and the Interior Highlands (Figure 2). Although the combination of environmental conditions within each region would have a relatively uniform effect on military operations, there would be marked differences between regions.
1, Southern and Coastal Lowlands
This region consists of low flat to rolling plains interrupted in many places by hillocks and eskers and covered by dense needleleaf evergreen forest, except in the south where cultivated vegetation predominates. There are numerous streams and thousands of lakes, ponds, and wet areas, most of which are frozen from mid-November to early May in the north and from mid-December to mid-March in the south. The region is densely populated in the south, which has about 80% of the population of the country and most of the roads and railroads.
The southern and coastal lowlands are the most favorable part of the country for large-scale conventional ground operations; however, restrictions to onroad movement are numerous, and the terrain is unfavorable for road construction and cross-country movement. The road network in most of the area is sufficiently dense to provide alternate routes of movement. Most roads have bituminous or concrete surfaces in the southern part of the area and gravel or earth surfaces in the northern part; most are wide enough for two-way traffic. Roads can be built with few restrictions to alignments, but the difficulty of clearing dense forests, stabilizing foundations, and removing boulders make construction difficult. Numerous narrow, low capacity bridges, sharp curves, low underpasses, and in places steep grades would slow traffic throughout the year. Flooding and damage from freezing and thawing are additional hindrances. Dispersal from the roads generally would be precluded except in the cultivated areas where it would be possible most of the year and in the northern part of the region where it would be possible mainly in winter, when the ground and most water bodies are frozen. Possibilities for cross-country movement are limited to the cultivated plains in the south and a few scattered open areas in the north; elsewhere, vehicular movement would be restricted to the roads by dense forests, bogs, lakes, and streams. In most of the region, concealment from ground and air observation would be afforded mainly by dense forests. Cover from flat-trajectory fire is lacking. The region is generally unsuited for construction of tunnel-type installations requiring horizontal or inclined adits, but bunkers could be constructed on the numerous eskers.
The region is poorly suited for airborne and airmobile operations because of forests, hillocks, wet areas, and lakes. The only suitable sites for parachute drops and helicopter landings are in the south, where there are large open areas. There are many existing airfields in the south but few in the north; in winter, frozen lakes and streams could be used as additional sites for landing assault-type aircraft. Numerous sites suitable for the construction of airfields are scattered throughout the region; however, dense forests, boulders, poor drainage, and frost heave present major problems.
The coast is mostly unsuited for amphibious operations because of obstructed and channelized approaches, flat nearshore gradients, rugged rocky shores, poor or unsuitable exists and cross-country movement conditions, and adverse weather conditions during most of the year. Offshore approaches are channelized by islands and numerous islets, rocks, and shoals; in addition, sea ice may be present along the coast during October to June. Nearshore approaches are encountered by islets, rocks, shoals, sandbars, and scattered wrecks. The highly irregular coast is generally fringed by rocky and boulder-strewn shores (Figure 6) and backed by level to rolling forested plains. Long stretches of sandy shore backed by dunes are along the coast in the southern part of the country and on the islands of Oland and Gotland. Surf 1 feet or higher occurs infrequently throughout the year in most areas; however, it may occur at any time on unprotected stretches of coast. Tides are negligible. The few usable beaches are along the southern coast. They are generally over 1 mile in length and largely composed of sand. Exits from the beaches are by tracks, trails, streets, and loose- or hard-surfaced roads or by cross-country movement in the hard- or loose-surfaced road network.
Conditions are generally favorable for irregular force operations. Excellent concealment would be afforded in most of the region by the dense forests. Cover from flat-trajectory fire would be lacking; however, some protection from small arms fire would be furnished by buildings in the urban areas and by
6
APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R00200090020-4
