East Germany Table of Contents
Armed Forces: National People's Army in 1987 included ground forces (120,000 with 60 percent conscripts); People's Navy (16,300 with 50 percent conscripts), and Air Force/Air Defense Force (39,000 with 38 percent conscripts), respectively. All forces organized under Ministry of Defense. Group of Soviet Forces in Germany numbered about 380,000 men in 20 ground force divisions.
Ground Forces: Two tank divisions, four motorized rifle regiments, two surface-to-surface missile brigades, two artillery regiments and one antiaircraft artillery regiment, eight airdefense regiments, one airborne battalion, two antitank divisions, and several support units. Frontier troops (50,000) organized and equipped as motorized rifle battalion.
Navy: 1st Flotilla, headquartered in Peenemünde; 4th Flotilla, based in Rostock-Warnemünde; 6th Flotilla, located on Rügen Island; Coastal Border Brigade in Rostock; one communications regiment stationed on Rügen Island; and numerous support units.
Air Force/Air Defense Force: In air force, two regiments of fighter aircraft, one reconnaissance squadron, one transport regiment, and three helicopter regiments. In air defense force, six air regiments, seven surface-to-air missile regiments, and two radar regiments.
Equipment: Primarily Soviet
Paramilitary: Includes People's Police (12,000), Transport Police (8,500), Feliks Dzierzynski Guard Regiment (7,000) of Ministry of State Security (secret police), Civil Defense officers and non-commissioned officers (3,000), and Working Class Combat Groups (500,000), all of whom receive some military training.
Police: All police forces centralized under Ministry of the Interior. People's Police includes Alert Units, Municipál Police, Traffic Police, Criminal Police, and Passport Department Transport Police and Fire Fighters separately organized.
Foreign Military Treaties: Member of Warsaw Pact; also has bilateral defense treaty with the Soviet Union.
Data as of July 1987