Soviet build-up widens odds against China

Press, 26 August 1978, Page 7

Soviet build-up widens odds against China

By

JAMES FOLEY,

of

NZPA-Reuter Tokyo . The Soviet Union is speeding up the modem- | isation of its armed forces jin the Far East as the dis- ! pute between Moscow and Peking grows, according to -Western military and diploimatic sources in Tokyo. They said that the burst in the Russian modernisation programme began when it became clear that there would be no rapprochement between the Soviet Union and China following the death of Mao Tse-tung in 1976. j The tempo of the programme was further increased following statements in Peking that the Chinese Army, now largely armed with comparatively old weapons, would be given more modern equipment. I The sources said that the dispute between China and Vietnam, which has close links with Moscow, over Chinese nationals in Vietnam was also believed to have contributed to the motives for the speed-up of the ! Soviet military modernisation programme in the Far East. They said the recent sign-1 ing of a Sino-Japanese peace j and friendship treaty, under j which Japan is expected to! do much to help China mod-j ernise its industry, and thus! its military potential, would! probably prompt Russia to! ■hurry through the modern-1 isation programme. j | The sources said that the| ! Soviet Union was sending! vast amounts of its most) modern weaponry to the 44 i .divisions it maintains along: the Chinese border. Other divisions are held in - reserve in Central Russial land in Siberia, the sources) | said. They added that the Rus-| S’ans were also increasing their arms stockpiles along the Chinese border, presumably because of the poor communications in the area which would make it difficult to get enough supplies forward in a crisis. Of the more than 400.000 men along the Chinese border. some 300,000 are lo- ! cated between Vladivostok ion the Sea of Jaoan and Irkutsk near Lake Baikal. Most of the troops, and' with the most modern jeouipment. are based in the' Khabarovsk region just j north of China’s Hanyang .military zone, the sources! said. They said these forces provided the potential threat! ! to China because they were: I closest to Peking. I The sources were less! eager to talk about Chinese! ! military developments, pre- i jsumably for fear that revel-.

• rations might harm future relations between China and Japan,' and China and the United States. But ■ they agreed that China maintains about 80 divisions (roughly 1.6 million , men) along the Russian bor--1 der. 1 The sources said there was a wide gap between the fighting ability of the Chinese and Russian divisions with the edge decidedly on the Soviet side. .Chinese troops are not : mechanised and in most i cases are based in static ■ defence fortifications, the i sources said. They have little artillery protection, very few tanks, and almost no defences against air attack or armoured assaults. 1 The Russians, for their I part, were described as i rapidly becoming equal in fighting ability to the Soviet ■ divisions in eastern Europe Hand the western Soviet ■ Union. The sources said that most of the Rusian divisions were either fully mechanised rifle, divisions or 1 tank divisions capable of [quick deployment and vast (firepower. I Some of the divisions [were being upgraded to flrst- [ category status and thus [were receiving additional [tanks and other kinds of [equipment, they said. | They said some mechaI nised ' rifle divisions were j being given an extra 90 [ tanks so that now a firstI line unit was composed of [14,000 men and 275 tanks. Tank divisions were being i “heavied up” with extra ve- [ ■lhicles so that they now contained about 340 tanks and ; 11.000 men. [ The Russian units were ' now receiving the most I I modern armoured infantry | fighting’vehicle in the Soviet •[arsenal which permits in- '• fantrymen to fight a battle : from inside the mini-tank. The. Russian divisions were also receiving amphibi--1 ous tanks, self-propelled '■ armoured artillery pieces • and multiple rocket launchers, which permit a target to 1 be saturated with hundreds ■ of rockets. i The sources said the rockdets are a favourite means of ■ delivering gas attacks in Soiviet war games. : [ The Russians along the. [[Chinese border were also '' being equipped with the latj est in the Frog series of ; ! battlefield support artillery rockets. ’[ The Frog, which can carry • [a nuclear, chemical, or hig'h- ; explosive warhead, may be [[capable of homing in on the '[heat from an enemy tank ■ [park or emissions from an

enemy radar station,, the sources said. The Russians in the Far East maintain a wide range of nuclear-tipped missiles, including the triple headed SS2O, aimed at Chinese tar-; gets, they added. In parallel with the build-, up in the strength of Soviet I ground forces, the Rusian Air Force in the Far East is being armed with the latest fighters and bombers. The sources said more than 2100 aircraft — 25 per cent of the Soviet Air Force total — were deployed in the Far East. They include the backfire supersonic bomber and other modern aircraft such as the MIG 23, the MiG25 and the Sukhoi 19 swing-wmg ground-attack fighter. The sources said that Soviet Air Force units attached to the ground ' forces along jthe border seemed to have ground attack and close air support of friendly troops as their first mission. Despite the build-up in the strength of Soviet military units in the Far East, the sources said that Europe remains the first danger area in the eyes of Soviet leaders. They said this was proved by tire fact that, according to .Western intelligence reports, Russia continues to spend more on forces aligned towards Europe and the United 'States than on those directed towards possible threats in the Far East.