Soviet Army Central Group of Forces Wartime Order of Battle 1989

The Soviet Central Group of Forces were essentially the Soviet Army Group positioned in Czechoslovakia which in the event of war against NATO would cross the border regions with West Germany into Bavaria. As with the Group of Soviet Forces Germany or the Western Group of Forces, the Central Group of Forces maintained a higher troop strength than the Northern Group of Forces for multiple reasons. The first was that the Soviets had initially arrived in Czechoslovakia in 1968 to supress the Prague Spring uprisings and the second was due to the proximity of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic to the Federal Republic of Germany. In the event of war with NATO, the Central Group of Forces would be bolstered by maneuver forces from other Warsaw Pact nations and be on the western flank of the maneuver Armies as they engaged the NATO Central Army Group. 

The Central Army Group maintained a troop strength of 85,000 soldiers. The majority of the forces were positioned into Czech territory with a small portion of the troops positioned in the Slovakian side of the country.  

4^th Guards Army

4th Guards Army HQ - Mlovice, CZ (The 4th Guards Army was created in 1945 from the reorganization of Soviet troops positioned on territories liberated from the Nazis and the 4th Guards Army was positioned in Austria and Hungary. They remained in Austria until 1955 when the Austrian State Treaty went into effect. The 4th Guards Army was sent to Czechoslovakia in 1968 to crush the revolt that became known as the Prague Spring. Up until that time no Soviet forces were permanently stationed in Czechoslovakia.)

1st Guards Tank Division - Mlovice, CZ: see TO&E #5 with T-80, BMP-2, BTR-80, & SA-15

51st Tank Division - Bruntal, CZ: see TO&E #5 with T-64B, BMP-2, BTR-60, & SA-8

18th Guards Motorized Rifle Division - Mlada Boleslav, CZ: see TOE #4 T-80, BMP-2, BTR-80, & SA-15

30th Guards Motorized Rifle Division - Zvolen, CZ: see TO&E #4 with T-64B, BMP-2, BTR-60, & SA-6

48th Motorized Rifle Division - Vysoke Myto, CZ: see TO&E #4 with T-64B, BMP-2, BTR-60, & SA-6

• Attack Helicopter Regiment - Mlovice, CZ: 40 MI-24, 20 MI-8E

Artillery Brigade: 96 2S5 (24 per battalion)

Surface to Surface Missile Brigade: 18 SS-1c (SCUDb) launchers

• Rocket Regiment: 54 BM-21 (18 per battalion)

Engineer Brigade: 20 TMM, 12 MTU, 36 PMP, 24 GSP, 28 K-61, 12 BTM, 3 GMZ, 3 MTK

• Pontoon Bridge Regiment: 4 TMM, 108 PMP, 8 K-61, 3 BTM

Surface to Air Missile Brigade - Mlovice, CZ: 27 SA-4 (9 per battalion)

• Air Assault Battalion - Mlovice, CZ: 17 BMD, 9 SA-14/16, 6 AGS-17, 8 120mm mortars
• Spetsnaz Battalion: up to 30 teams, 5-12 personnel per team

Tank Brigade: 156 T-80, 18 2S1, 4 2S6, 4 SA-13

• Anti-Tank Regiment: 36 AT guns, 27 BRDM-3 (12/9 per battalion)

Additional units were positioned in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic to reinforce the 4^th Guards Army maneuver formations in the event of war with NATO. These forces included five additional brigade sized units:

High Powered Artillery Brigade: 24 2S7, 24 2S4

2 Surface to Surface Missile Brigade: 18 SCUDb per brigade

34th Air Assault Brigade - Mlovice, CZ: see TO&E #8

Engineer Brigade: 20 TMM, 12 MTU, 36 PMP, 24 GSP, 28 K-61, 12 BTM, 12 GMZ, 3 MTK

Surface to Air Missile Brigade - located various key installations: 27 SA-4 (9 per battalion)

• Surface to Air Missile Regiment - Pilsen, CZ: 18 SA-5

There was no Air Army assigned permanently to the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic as to the north, the Soviets had positioned the 16^th Air Army in the German Democratic Republic however there were air support assets assigned to support the 4^th Guards Army in Czechoslovakia in the form of one fighter bomber division.

Fighter-Bomber Division - Mlovice, CZ: 45 MIG-23, 45 MIG-27, 45 SU-17