r'wzf 33-1 351 FDR RELEASEI 15 Jul-2011 CURRENT INTELLIGENCE WEEKLY REVIEW 11 April 195' Of ce of Current Intelligence L l CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY I n C00118310- CURRENT INTELLIGENCE REVIEW 11 April 1957 PART PATTERNS AND PERSPECTIVES POSSIBLE SOVIET PREPARATIONS FOR FLIGHT TESTING AH INTERCOHTINENTAL BALLISTIC HISSILE OR AN EARTH The USSR may be preparing to test an intercontinental bal- listic missile ICBH or to launch an earth satellite with- in the year At two locations 3 500 nautical miles apart -thc Novokazalinsk Dzhusaly area in the Kazakh 353 and Klyuchi on the Kamchatka Pcninsula high- priority construction for the Soviet Hinistry of Dcfens been under Ia since' 955 both have been as Sociate with the Soviet guided missile program Stations on Kamchatka could be used for 1 monitoring the terminal phase of an intercontinental ballistic missile test flight or for obs servation and tracking of an earth satellite launched from the area Construction Activity In mid 1955 units of the Chief Directorate of Special Construction of the Hinistry of Defense began interrelated high- priority construction projects in the NovokazalinstUzhusaly area and at Klyuchi This chief directorate is connerncd with construction work for the Soviet defense establishment indicat ing that the ultimate user of these facilities will be some segment of the Soviet military The arcs encompassed by the construction project in Kazakh- stan appears to extend northwest from sz1 Orda through Tyura Tan and Dzhusaly to linsk The center of the area is about 150 nautical miles southeast of the far range 650 nautical miles impact area of the Kapustin Tar missile test range Up to ten sites and at least 13 structures were planned for this project which required shipments of large quantities of pipe cement and other heavy construction mate rials Other facilities under construction included a spur rail line from the Uralsk-Tasb kent line possibly a concrete motor road and a narrow gauge railroad The Klyuchi project which began in the summer of 1955 apparently extends considerably beyond Klyuchi itself since materials consigned to this ac- tivity have been off-loaded at Uka and Ozernaya as well as at Ust Kamchatsk the principal port for Klyuchi Klyucbi it self lies in inhospitable marshy country at the foot or an active volcano the highest mountains 16 000 feet- in the Soviet Far East Several other active vol canoes arc in the vicinity Peri- odic inundations of lava and boiling mud and precipitation of volcanic pounds per square foot on Klyuchi on 30 Harch 1955 and the rigorous climate Combine to make this region an unlikely location for large-scale activity The types and amounts of cargo and the number of workers shipped into Klyuchi during the past two years indicate permanent construction of considerable magnitude Between April and Auguat 1955 almost two thirds of the known total of 33 000 tons of cargo off-loaded at Ust Kamchatsk was destined for the Special Construction Unit at El chi Another special construc tion project has been noted at Bukhta Ugolnaya on the east coast of Hagadan Ohlast This project has been associated with the guided missile program but CURRENT INTELLIGENCE WEEKLY REVIEW 11 April 1957 only icnuously linked to tho other two construction projects The associatioa and function of a Bukhta Ugolnaya facility in the launching of an ICBH from the Novokazalinsk Dzhusaly area toward Kamchatka cannot be ex plained facilities there could serve how ver in tracking an earth satellite from that area CURRENT INTELLIGENCE WEEKLY REVIEH 11 April 1957 ie the location of' installations engaged in the development and production of fire- oontrol equipment which has application to mieeilo tracking and guidance work while at Bolehevo is a rESearch institute believed to he in volved in the Soviet ballistic miesilo program w - or_ I Until recently however there wee u little evidence to 35300 a the Hovokazalinek Dzhuealy proj ect with the guided missile program Connection With Guided Missiles The Special project site at Elyuchi was possibly asso- ciated with the Soviet guided missile program as early as October 1955 the Klyuchi project hae pure ased goods andfor services from an organization at Kapustin Yer and hoe possibly employed personnel formerly lo cated at Kapustin Yer Kunteevo CURRENT INTELLIGENCE WEEKLY 11 April 195 incluged pressures and tempera tures up to 25 000 meters 52 u 000 feet considerably higher than altitudes normally reported from Kapustin Yer Weather information of the type reported is necessary for successful launchings of either an ICEH or an earth satellite activity in the Dzhusaly area together with such factors as physical location and traDSpor- tation facilities suggest that the construction project may be a new rangehead Such an installation could be used in the testing or either an ICBH or an earth satellite The preponderantly mili- nssoeiations or the spe cial construction projects sugu gest that these preparations are for a military purpose Such as the test or an ICBH How- ever there is also evidence that these developments may be related to Soviet plans to launch an earth satellite dur ing the International Geophysi cal Year IGY tary According to Moscow TASS broadcasts a series of com munications tests involving 16 stations was carried out in February and Harch 1957 to de- termine their readiness to par ticipate in observations related to ionospheric and other re- search planned fer the IGY IGY stations have been listed at 0rda and at Petropav- Kamchatka re erred to one Bulatov poss the N D Bulatov listed as a member of the iono- sphere research group of the Soviet committee for the IGY There is also Some possibility that this activity in the Far East may represent the construction of a launching_ site or sites at Klyuchi - 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