SOVIET AIRFIELDS IN EAST GERMANY/ SOVIET AIRFIELD CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600060255-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 17, 2011
• Sequence Number: 255
• Publication Date: August 7, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

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CLASSIFICATIO
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPOR1
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNi1 Y USSR/Germany (Soviet Zone) DATE DISTR. AUA 19 54
SUBJECT Soviet Airfields in East Germany/ Soviet NO. OF PAGES 7
Airfield Construction and Maintenance
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE
ACQUIRED
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
KoTT} N Airfield (51?43`N - 1105g'E): A concrete ~~unway
was constructed here in 1949. This run.wa-r lies in an
a t.-~;esi direction. Its length is about 1200 - 1400
a t.ers and it ie between 120 and 200 meters wide. This
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GARDEIEGEN (520321N - lir261E) .
excessive width. However, they Yr ? designed to facilitate eipbt
aircraft t e inw off at on..:, A r :?::,;,,? of 48 A/C can get into the
air in ,. 'roe sLcL
Notes The dimensior-sof these runwayb appear to be of
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which had no constructed runways. In order to make these natural
earth areas suitable for use by heavy bombers, these fields were
rolled down by heavy rollers. In order to solidify the earth in
meadcnrs, grass was sown and fertilizer was added to make the grass
grow faster, If a field
had been scrrn previously, the ground was rolled but no sowing took
place.
in swampy places, for example around Kallinin, runways and taxi
strips were built using twigs and logs and placing earth over them.
Then the earth was rolled and something else wao added +o the earth
an e similar manner, metal plates, measuring approximately 10 meters
in length and about 1.5 . 2 meters in width, were used. These plates
were prat together in a manner to form a runway. In some. cases (in
damp and swampy areas) these plates were also used for the construction
of park.ir.g pia-.es for aircraft. At other times, temporary runways were
built in damp and swampy areas by using boards. These boards were
up tc ,,";,0 meters in length, from 30 - 40 centimeters in width and 5
or ror centimeters in thickness and were nailed together in sections
that were about 5 meters in width and 10 meters in length.
After World War 11, only regular concrete runways were used by SAF
Leavy homb_?rs and jet air;;raft. However, in 1950 the high command
:X the WS issued a directive to the commanders of jet fighter units,
equipped with MIG-153, to the effect that they were to practice
tak.__ug ,ff from relied earth-type runways if the runways available
ware hard enough., Only the most experienced Dilots ere used in
this exf.I1me:At. this directive applied to jet
fighters -)nay, this particular directive did not authorize
bombers to engage in the practice.
Some old r"??nvays, s,r_h a: t:ic :... at Orarieritargj, were constantly beIrg
reraire ; e th,: i,i_ let blasts.
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.k
In most cases runway shoulders are grassed. irfiel a wh ch are
located in areas of sandy desert, or in the waste lands of Central
Asia do not have grassed runway shoulders.
Airfields with concrete runways do not have any grass runways.
However, the whole field on both sides of the runway is rolled
au.3 grassed so that it can be used for landings in emergencies.
In winter time, the concrete runways are cleared of snow. When the
runway is -covered with ice, it is sprinkled with a special powder which
softens the ice Doirit where %it' cleared off the runway as
easily as snow. The 5C
grassed ru:iways present a little more o a problem e e ime
because the snow plows cannot be adjusted to clear all of the snow
off the runway. Consequently, the gnaw is partially cleared and the
rest is rolled down with heavy rollers.,
airfields have various types of facilities,
generally depending on the type of aircraft and the size of the unit
L..ed there. If there is only one regiment on the airfield, it will
be equipped .iith a regiments! FAM. If on the other has-A, a division
is teed there with,, say two regiments, then this airfield will be
equipped xi?n , divisional PABM and two regimental FIM2s.
Daring World Va.? II, auxiliary and decoy airfields were built around
the regular airfields. This was designed to confuse ens. bomber air-
craft. practice was discontinued after the war.
during World War II the majority oft e
ai e s were of a temporary nature,, rather than of permanent
construction.
Although there are no dummy and/or decoy airfields in the Soviet Union
at the present time; their value is co..siderad to have been prMen
during World War II,
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War III, they would first set about building many dummy and
decoy airfields. On the other hand, if war should start with-
out the USSR ;having precipitated it, the Soviets will quickly
build dummy and decoy airfields as one measure designed to
protect the genuine airfields from enemy action.
The various WS headquarters always utilize the nearest military
airfield available. This practice is designed to prevent the
enemy from. pin-pointing the location of the headquarters. The
distance of the headquarters from the airfield varies from two
to eight kilometers, depending on availability of the necessary
facilities.
When the Soviets refer to 'underground" a they mean simn1v
hangars that are built underground.
ere are underground hangars
in Poznan, Polondl
The purpose of underground hangers is, of course, not only pro-
tection from enemy attack, but also to hide from enemy observation
thr type of underground facilities there and the type of aircraft
using these facilities.
Supplies are brought to the airfields by various means: Railroads,
highways, waterways, and airlift. The selection of the means of
tranep.)rtation depends to a large degree on the location of the
airfield. When an airfield is located inland, the supplies are
brought to the nearest railroad station by train and the remainder
of the way by tracks. Who the is
located near uai,r, surface vessel e bring the supplies to a nearby
port where, th are picked up by trucks and delivered to the airfield.
If tre.nsparta,_on is not possible by railroad, water or highway, the
supplies are six-lifted.
in peas time most airfields are constructed by military construction
battalior.. :alled "Aviation Engineering Battalions". These are
composed of military personnel. If a given project is a rush job,
some local c`:v'1_~ans are hired to expedite the construction. Con-
scripted
in the Fay rt and in the northern parts of the USSR, prisoners
are used rather extensively in those regions because free labor is
not available there.
should the Soviets decide to start a World
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During the actual construction period, the work is closely
watched and supervised by the Deputy Commander for rear
services of the air army in whose territory a given airfield
is being built. This same deputy makes final acceptance of the
comp?eted airfield construction.
Various types of heavy construction machinery are employed
i.i airfield construction, for example: Bulldozers, lifting
cranes, various tractors, road rollers, gravel graders and
heavy trucks. all this machinery is of
Soviet manufacture. The construction battalions alway
seemed to have an adequate quantity of this machinery.
In building run,ra 3 the concrete is Poured into blocks.
There are various reasons e;hy the Soviets m have the outline
of an aircraft on an airfield. if such an outline
is I:,,3ted at the beginning of a runway, it serves as an indi-
cator of the p;.art where the landing aircraft can toucn ac;m on
the runway, ii the outline is locates at the
ens of the ;mw-ay, it serves to indicate the safe limit of the
runway beyon." which the pilot must not allow his aircraft to
ro:1l after landing. If such an outline is located at the center
of the rniway, it serves to indicate the direction from which the
landing appraa.h has to be made. These out-lines are portable and
-: 1:1 071-1 one and of ire runway i u ice other, ab the
direction the wind changes thereby necessitating the landing
approach from the opposite direction. If an outline of this sort
is 1..coted on the edge of an airfield, it usually serves as the
an,',;.- xge.
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The only -ame the avgas fuel tanks are moved with the unit
is when the neu unit lnnntiom lacks such tanks. Otherwise
these tanks &ro left behiWI-F--
whenever ouch tanks are found to be in good order and
usable, the SAF does use them.
The SAF never uses tank cars for on-base fuel storage. The
fuel is transported to the airfields in rail cars and then
emptied into airfield tanks.
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