APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110023-8
provide secondary sites suitable for the landing of assault-type aircraft. The plains afford the most sites suited for airfield construction. Major hindrances to construction are soils that require artificial drainage and frozen ground, generally occurring from December to February. In the southern hill belt, sites for the construction of airfields are few and poor; in the dissected parts of the hill belt, steep slopes, scattered areas of wet ground, and dense forests would hinder or preclude airmobile and airborne operations. Weather conditions throughout East Germany are well suited for airborne operations during most of the year but are best in summer, when extensive cloudiness and high surface winds are at minimums.
Conditions are generally unsuited for large-scale amphibious operations because of poor sea approaches, rock-littered sandy shores, and lack of good exists from most beaches. Although offshore approaches to the low, sandy coast are predominantly clear, most nearshore approaches through the shallow coastal waters are encumbered by large and small islands, shoals, submerged and exposed rocks, shifting bars, wrecks, and groins. Tidal ranges are negligible. Sea ice forms during most winters, and the coastal ice cover is nearly complete in exceptionally severe winters. Exits from the beaches are cross-country, and movement inland would be hindered in some places by cliffs and bluffs and in others by extensive lagoons and marshes behind the beaches.
East Germany is generally unsuited for irregular force operations. The nearly flat to rolling plains and the extensive network of roads and railroads, especially in the vicinity of Berlin and in the south, would favor the rapid movement of conventional forces and severely restrict irregular force operations. Movement on foot would generally be possible everywhere except in areas of soft ground and across canals and streams too deep to ford. On the plains, local hindrances to movement on foot such as hillocks and tracts of forests could be easily bypassed. In the dissected areas of the southern hills, deep snow in winter and steep slopes constitute major obstacles to movement on foot. In the southern hills, dense forests and caves provide cover and concealment from air and ground observation; surface irregularities provide additional cover from flat-trajectory fire. Adequate amounts of water are generally available, but water quality is mostly poor. Chemical and biological contamination is prevalent in the populous industrial areas of the southern and central parts of East Germany; contamination is less serious in the rivers and lakes of the northern plains. Food, small arms, ammunition, and shelter would be available at scattered farms and small villages. Numerous forest areas provide adequate sources of wood for fuel or construction of shelters. The supplying of irregular forces by air is aided by numerous sites suitable for airdrops, especially in the northern and southern sections of the plains. Supply by air would be best in the summer, when flying conditions are most favorable and when forests and cultivated crops would provide irregular forces with concealment from ground observation. There are few environmental factors adversely affecting health. The temperate climate, usually adequate rainfall, and the relative scarcity of dangerous plants and animals are factors favorable for irregular force operations.
C. Strategic areas (C)
There are two strategic areas in East Germany—Saxony and East Berlin (Figure 15). They contain the major industrial concentrations and population centers, numerous important military installations, much of the skilled labor, and the principal transportation, communication, political, economic, and marketing centers of the country.
1. Saxony
This strategic area (Figure 9) is the industrial heart of East Germany and makes a substantial contribution to the industrial capacity of the Soviet-oriented countries. More than half of the gross output of manufacturing is produced in this heavily industrialized area. It contains the main coal region and the principal uranium ore deposits in East Germany.
The Saxony strategic area contains five of the six largest cities in the country. These are Leipzig (population estimated at 583,000), second only to East Berlin in size; Dresden (population estimated at 506,000); Karl-Marx-Stadt (population estimated at 300,000); Magdeburg (population estimated at 272,000); and Halle (population estimated at 257,000).
Leipzig (Figure 10) is the second most important transportation and telecommunications center in the country and an important producer of ball bearings, heavy equipment such as cranes and hoists, and complete chemical installations. Other principal industries produce industrial and agricultural machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, mining equipment, machine tools, iron and steel, cement products, and refined petroleum products.
Dresden is the largest producer of small electric motors and a major producer of transformers and related electrical equipment, pharmaceuticals, and
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110023-8
