Approved Fvelease 2005 0112 CONFIDENTIAL COPY NO 14 OCI N0 3934 55 5 May 1955 CURRENT INTELLIGENCE WEEKLY SUMMARY CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE - DIA and DOS review s completed CONFIDENTIAL GEE-RESP - In 5 Approved For Release 2005101127 7 25x1 25x1 Approved Fer-Release 2005101127 SECRET CURRENT INTELLIGENCE WEEKLY SUMMARY 5 May 1955 This action contrasts with Hatoyama's recent Diet speeches in which he went out of his way to emphasize that Japan's basic policy is to maintain close ties with the United States It illustrates Status of Top Soviet Leaders The Soviet leaders' por traits were apparently ar ranged on May Day to convey the impression that Party Secretary Khrushchev enjoys precedence but not unqualified pro-eminence Premier Bul- ganin's picture displaced that of Khrushchev in first place in some of the displays but the party secretary appeared in the number one spot more often than the premier Malenkov's portrait was placed at or near the end of the gallery He was third in line however when the pre- sidium members mounted the Lenin Stalin tomb and was shown standing between Khru shchev and Kaganovich in the pic- tures published in the Soviet press the following day These minor inconsisten- cies may have been designed to show that Malenkov's demotion denoted a realignment of po May Day Military Parade In Moscow Unfavorable weather farced canoellatiOn of the air portion of the military demonstration in Hoscow on may Day but the Soviet army displayed new or modified artillery The main new item of equip- ment was a 200mm gun howitzer his working assumptioa that Japan can maintain friendly relations with the Sino-Soviet bloc without endangering the benefits derived from Japan's alliance with the United States 25x1 litical power but has not un- dermined the stability of the collective leadership Neither N N Shatalin who is still formally a party secretary her N H Shvernik a candidate member of the party presidium and chief of the Soviet trade unions appeared at the ceremonies Shvernik was last seen in public on 9 February and Shata- lin on 21 February and their absence on May Day strengthens the supposition that neither is presently active in his post There have been unsubstan- tiated reports that Shvernik an Old Bolshevik who is now nearly 68 is ill Nothing has been heard of Shatalin re- garded as a proteg of Malen kov and it is likely that he has been removed from the key post he held in the area of personnel appointments 25x1 with a modified recoil System mounted on a single-wheeled carriage and towed by a heavy tracked prime mover The army attach reports that this is the same piece originally seen in a rehearsal and thought'to be of 240mm caliber SECRET Approved For Release 2005101127 PART II NOTES AND COHMENTS Page 3 of 10 Approved FoWIease 2005 01 27 SECRET CURRENT INTELLIGENCE WEEKLY SUMMARY 5 May 1955 This suggests that the weapon is not an entirely new departure since the estimated caliber is more nearly con sistent with previously emplOyed Soviet artillery The mounting however represents an improve ment in mobility over the heavy artillery pieces now in use by Soviet field forces Improvements in carriage were probably also incorporated in the new or modified 122mm antitank guns and 152mm gun howitzers displayed in the parade In addition sixteen 122mm AA guns were displayed This is the largest number of these new Soviet heavy anti- aircraft weapons seen at one time by American observers although the sighting of small numbers of them in convoys in Moscow since late 1954 had sug- gested that they were to be added to the air defenses of the Soviet capital There was no air show but several new p1anes had pre viously appeared in practice flights Eleven new Jet heavy bomb- ers BISON were seen in a single rehearsal flight Anal- ysis of aircraft numerals in- dicates however that as many as 13 different planes may have been involved in preparations for May Day Formation flights of this type aircraft were noted in eight of the 11 practice flights observed by Western officials Three of the new four engine turboprop swept-wing aircraft designated BEAR by Western intelligence partici- pated in one of the last re- hearsals Preliminary analysis tends to support evaluations of this plane as a bomber rather than as a cargo or tanker aircraft The USSR may have intended to demonstrate advances in air defense as well as offensive air capabilities inasmuch as a new twin-jet swept wing all-weather fighter and a new single-Jet fighter were also seen in pre-parade rehearsals 25x1 25x1 SECRET Approved For Release 2005I01f27 PART II NOTES AND COHHENTS Page 4 of 10 This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu