Inside Report (5)

How much of the Soviet military is muscle and how much is flab?

Depends on whom you ask. The Pentagon, with talk of big weapons budgets heard in the top brass's dining room, likely would say, ''Mostly muscle.''

But Pentagon gadfly Rep. Les Aspin (D) of Wisconsin thinks otherwise. In a series of releases, Aspin cites serious trouble in Soviet ranks: drug addiction, theft, discipline and morale problems, and equipment that doesn't work. He bases his assessments on chats with Soviet emigres and members of the US intelligence community.

His conclusion: the USSR is powerful, but not invincible.