Red Thrust: Attack on the Central Front, Soviet Tactics and Capabilities in the 1990s

1

STAVKA is the traditional Russian term for the high command of the armed forces in time of war.

2

Front is the Soviet term for a military formation containing several armies. Soviet terms for higher military formations differ from their NATO counterparts. A Soviet army (two to three divisions) is roughly the equivalent of a NATO corps; a Soviet front (two to three armies) is similar to a NATO army.

3

The traditional Russian greeting uses a person's given name and patronymic. The patronymic is a form of the father's name. Stepan Kucherenko's father's name was Roman, hence Stepan Romanovich.

4

Kaserne is the German word for a garrison or military base. It is widely used by other NATO forces as well, including American and British forces.

5

The Warsaw Pact term "motor rifle" is applied to military units that NATO usually calls "mechanized infantry."

6

The KGB Border Guards are a paramilitary force used to patrol the Soviet Border. They are equipped like light infantry, and are considered more politically reliable than average military units.

7

This scenario is heavily based on the study "The Soviet Conduct of War," prepared by the Soviet Army Studies Office of the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center, Fort Leavenworth, KS, in March 1987. The study's principal author is Col. David Glantz.

8

Glasnost is the Russian word for openness, and is commonly associated with Gorbachev's attempts to open Soviet society to a more candid view of itself. Perestroika is the Russian word for restructuring and refers to Gorbachev's program for national renewal.

9

The BMP-2 Yozh is a lightly armored infantry transporter, comparable to the American M2 Bradley IFV. Yozh means "hedgehog" in Russian and refers to the feet that the infantry squad inside can poke their guns out and fire from the inside.

10

DOSAAF is the Russian acronym for the Voluntary Society for Cooperation with the Army, Air Force and Fleet. It sponsors many athletic and sports clubs; its role is further explained later in the chapter.

11

Konkurs is the Russian word for "contest." It is the code name for a medium antitank missile that NATO calls the AT-5 Spandrel. It is wire guided and has a range of about 3,000 meters. Its closest NATO counterparts are the American TOW and the Franco-German HOT missiles.

12

This is not as implausible as it seems. In 1988, a T-80 tank driven by a Kazakh was accidently steered onto the train tracks on the Leipzig-Berlin line in East Germany. It stalled, and in the ensuing crash six Germans were killed and thirty injured. The Soviet investigating team found that the driver could not read Russian warning signs at the crossing, didn't understand his commander's instructions in Russian, and hadn't figured out how to use the tank's night vision devices.

13

The Milan is a Franco-German medium antitank missile, common in NATO. The U.S. equivalent is the Dragon and the Soviet equivalent is the AT-4 Spigot. It is operated by a two-man crew and is man-portable.

14

Hazel

15

Nyemtsi is Russian for "Germans."

16

PTURS is the Russian acronym for an antitank missile. It is usually pronounced "pee-turs."

17

T-80M is the term used in this book to refer to the Soviet T-80 main battle tank when fitted with explosive reactive armor. The actual Soviet designation for this version is not known. The T-80M is armed with a 125mm gun and has a three-man crew — a driver, gunner, and tank commander. Unlike most NATO tanks, it has an automatic loader instead of a fourth crewman.

18

The radio call signs for this unit use the names of birds. Vorona is Russian for "crow," Sokol is Russian for "falcon."

19

There are two standard choices of ammunition for the 125mm gun on the T-80, a high-explosive round for engaging lightly armored or unarmored targets, and a high-velocity antiarmor round. The Soviets usually call this latter round a "hard-core" round, whereas the usual U.S. name is "sabot" or APFSDS (armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot). The T-80 does not usually carry a high-explosive antitank (HEAT) round. However, some T-80s can fire a guided antitank missile through the tube in lieu of conventional ammunition.

20

The ammunition for the Soviet 125mm gun (and also the German and U.S. 120mm gun) uses semiconsumable propellant casing instead of the traditional brass or aluminum casings. This type of casing is now popular, since it burns up when the gun is fired, and so the interior of the tank doesn't fill up with spent metal casings. However, these casings, if contaminated by oil or other substances, can burn erratically, or the case can rupture. Soviet tankers are trained not to fire damaged ammunition.

21

Soviet motor rifle divisions have one tank regiment and two motor rifle regiments. Some divisions, like the one depicted here, have an additional complement of tanks in the form of an independent tank battalion. Krylov's unit is one of these. This unit is intended to act as a forward detachment, or to exploit breakthroughs won by the larger regiments.

22

Although one might expect a battalion commander to be a major by NATO standards, Soviet units are often led by more junior officers than their NATO counterparts. Indeed, Soviet battalions are sometimes commanded by senior lieutenants.

23

Explosive reactive armor (ERA) consists of small metal boxes filled with high explosive. When the shaped charge (chemical energy) high-explosive warhead of an antitank missile strikes the box, the box explodes and propels a metal plate at the missile warhead. This reaction blunts the penetration of the missile warhead. Reactive armor is designed mainly to stop shaped charge warheads, like those fitted to infantry antitank rockets and guided antitank missiles. It has no substantial effect on the standard types of tank ammunition used in tank combat, such as the APFSDS (kinetic energy) projectile.

24

Villiys is Russian slang for "jeep." It stems from the fact that the Red Army received large numbers of Willys jeeps during World War II, and the name stuck. In fact, this "jeep" is a UAZ-469, a Soviet-manufactured vehicle more similar in size and weight to civilian jeeps than to the U.S. Army's smaller M151.

25

Yashcheritsa (Russian for "lizard") is the name used here to refer to a new guided antitank missile fired from the 125mm gun. The AT-8 Songster was the first of these missiles.

Apparently, however, new types are entering service, using laser guidance rather than radio command guidance.

26

The vehicle was an American M3 Bradley cavalry scout vehicle. Vehicle recognition is a common problem in both the Warsaw Pact and NATO.

27

Soviet tank battalions vary in size. The standard tank battalions serving in tank regiments have 31 tanks. Independent tank battalions are larger, having five companies of tanks instead of the usual three.

28

Grad (Russian for "hail") is the name given to the BM-21 122mm multiple rocket launcher used by Soviet artillery units. It fires forty 122mm rockets.

29

FASCAM is the acronym for family of scatterable artillery mines. The antiarmor mines are called RAAM (remote antiarmor mine). A 155mm RAAM mine contains three of these mines, which are dispersed at some height over the ground by a proximity fuse.

30

Zampolit is the Soviet term for the unit's political officer, called komissar in the old days. Political interference in military affairs is no longer as intrusive as in the past, but it is still present. The zampolit also has a more distinct military role. Besides indoctrination, he is also responsible for training and morale.

31

Metis is the Soviet name for the antitank missile system called AT-7 Saxhorn in NATO. It is a small, lightweight system, about the same size as the U.S. Army's Dragon, or the new French Eryx.

32

The RPG-22 is a shoulder-fired, short-range antitank rocket, similar in appearance to the U.S. Army's M72 LAW or AT4 antitank rocket. The rocket is not guided, and is effective only at close range. It cannot penetrate the front armor of main battle tanks, but is effective if fired against the side or rear.

33

The An-26, code-named Curl by NATO, is a light turboprop transport aircraft. In its Aeroflot passenger version, it carries about fifty passengers. In the paratrooper role, it carries about twenty troops and their kit, or two to three small vehicles.

34

The Rand Corporation conducted interviews with Soviet deserters from Afghanistan to prepare an account for the U.S. Army of Soviet military experiences there. Authored by Alexander Alexiev, and entitled "Inside the Soviet Army in Afghanistan," it provides one of the most detailed looks at the capabilities as well as the problems of the Soviet Army today.

35

The Polish Army fields the 7th Lusatian Naval Assault Brigade, and the East German Army usually assigns one of the regiments of the 8th Motorized Rifle Division in northern East Germany to the naval assault role. Recently, this has been the 29th "Ernst Moritz Arndt" Motorized Rifle Regiment at Proro in the Baltic.

36

The Mil Mi-8, code-named "Hip" by NATO, is roughly similar to the American CH-46. Although mainly used as a transport helicopter, there are armed gunship versions as well as electronic warfare and communication models. The Mi-8 formed the basis for the Mi-24 attack helicopter.

37

The Mil Mi-24 attack helicopter is known by its NATO code name "Hind"; the Mi-24M is the Hind-F. Soviet crews call the Mi-24 Gorbach (hunchback) due to the shape of the large engine compartment over the front cockpits.

38

A helicopter transport regiment would normally have two to three squadrons of Mi-8 medium transport helicopters (twenty-one per squadron), and a squadron of Mi-6 Hook or Mi-26 Halo heavy transport helicopters. The Mi-8s are used mainly to transport troops, whereas the larger helicopters could transport vehicles, artillery, and light armored vehicles such as the airmobile BMD infantry combat vehicle.

39

The PAH-1 is the antitank version of the MBB Bo-105 light utility helicopter. It is armed with four HOT antitank missiles, but does not normally have a gun system. It roughly corresponds to the McDonnell (Hughes) 500MD. It is much smaller than the Mi-24.

40

The Air Direction officer (ADO) is a forward controller stationed on the ground to direct the attacks of helicopters and strike aircraft. The head of the Air Direction team is usually an experienced pilot. The Soviets use ADOs in a more rigid fashion than do most NATO forces, which usually allow the pilots a certain measure of freedom in picking out targets of opportunity.

41

Chuchmyek is a common racial slur directed mainly against Central Asians. Another popular expression in the Soviet Army for Central Asians is chernozhop. The worst is probably zhopomordyi. There are a variety of other common slurs, such as khokhol for Ukrainians, yevreichik or zhid for Jews, katso for Georgians, and kosoglazyi orploskomordyi for Asians. The Russians have not entirely escaped this. The Poles, western Ukrainians, and Balts sometimes call the Russians katsap, suggesting they are provincial hicks.

42

Gepard is the German antiaircraft gun vehicle based on the Leopard 1 tank chassis. It is armed with twin 35mm autocannons, and uses radar fire direction. Although first fielded in the 1970s, it is still effective, especially against helicopters.

43

Syrena is the Soviet name for a type of radar warning receiver (RWR). They are a more sophisticated version of the radar detectors carried in cars to warn of radar speed traps. The receiver picks up radar emissions and warns the pilot that his aircraft has been illuminated by the radar. As in the case of automobile radar detectors, they can be set off by other microwave sources. The modern battlefield has so many radars and microwave sources operating that RWRs can be rendered useless by the sheer number of false alarms.

44

The latest model of Stinger, called the Stinger RMP, has a reprogrammable microprocessor in the seeker, which allows the missile crews to adjust the guidance to overcome new Soviet infrared countermeasures.

45

"Hot Brick" is the slang expression for infrared (IR) jammers using modulated IR sources. The main tactical problem with many of these systems is that the IR lamp that provides the heat source has a short operating life. The Hot Brick cannot be used continuously or the lamp will wear out, so usually it is only used in high-risk areas or when a missile launch has been seen.

46

The AH-64 Apache is the U.S. Army's current attack helicopter. It is armed with laser-guided Hellfire antitank missiles, and newer versions will carry a millimeter wave-guided Hellfire. The Apache is superior to the Mi-24 in most respects, and comparable to the new Soviet Mi-28 Havoc.

47

Ivan N. Kozhedub was the top-scoring Soviet fighter ace of World War II, with sixty-two aircraft claimed (including one jet fighter).

48

The Sukhoi Su-25K, called Frogfoot in NATO, is a specialized ground-attack aircraft, similar to the American A-10 Warthog. Its Soviet nickname is "Grach," a type of bird.

49

Khrom Nikel is the Soviet name for the identification-friend-or-foe (IFF) system codenamed Odd Rods by NATO. Ground defenses beam a signal at approaching aircraft, which triggers a coded response from friendly aircraft.

50

Soviet helicopter regiments usually have a reserve of six to ten helicopters to replace battle casualties and helicopters suffering from extensive mechanical failure.

51

ZSU is the Russian acronym for self-propelled antiaircraft guns like the German Gepard.

52

The 2S1 is an armored self-propelled howitzer vehicle, armed with a 122mm gun. It uses a tracked suspension and is amphibious. It is also known as the SO-122, or by its project name, Gvozdika (Carnation).

The 1V12 is a family of armored artillery command vehicles, based on the same chassis as the 2S1 artillery vehicle, but armed only with a single machine gun. There are several different versions, designated 1V13 through 1V16. They are better known in NATO as the ACRV M-1974 armored command and reconnaissance vehicle.

53

The 1V14 is a version of the 1V12 family of artillery command vehicles. It is designed for battery commanders. This version carries a laser range finder in the turret as well as other specialized equipment. It is called the ACRV M-1974-2a by NATO.

54

The 2S6 is a new Soviet air defense vehicle, replacing the earlier ZSU-23-4 Shilka. The associated radar system is code-named Hot Shot by NATO. It also carries four missiles, designated SA-19 by NATO. The system was called SPAAG M-1986 by NATO until its Soviet designation 2S6 became known.

55

The Fairchild A-10 is a specialized ground-attack aircraft. It carries a large internal 30mm Gatling cannon, which is capable of penetrating the thin armor of light armored vehicles, or the side and rear armor of tanks. It can carry a variety of weapons, including bombs and Maverick guided missiles. The 30mm cannon fires special depleted-uranium projectiles. Uranium is used due to its density and weight.

56

The PRP-3 is an artillery scout version of the BMP infantry vehicle. It has a large two-man turret, similar to that of the BMP-2. Its equipment includes a ground surveillance radar, codenamed Small Fred by NATO, as well as a laser range finder and night vision sight.

57

Belka=squirrel; Lev=Lion.

58

DPICM stands for dual-purpose improved conventional munition. These artillery projectiles contain several dozen small submunitions, about the size of a roll of 35mm film. The submunitions act like small grenades. However, they also have a small shaped-charge warhead, so that if they strike armor, the blast can be channeled forward to pierce steel.

59

Although it may seem odd, the Soviets traditionally use the names of flowering plants as code names for their artillery vehicles and some towed artillery pieces.

60

Bomb retarders are either small parachutes or air bags called "ballutes," which open up behind the bomb to slow it down. These are used when aircraft bomb from a low altitude. If bombs without retarders are used, the bomb continues to fly forward at almost the same speed as the aircraft. This leads to the possibility that the bomb will go off on the ground below, not far from the aircraft that dropped it, possibly damaging the aircraft.

61

The RP-29 is a pulse-Doppler air intercept radar, called "Slot Back" by NATO. It is the first Soviet fighter radar to have the ability to see small targets located below the fighter. On earlier fighters, the radar return from the ground created so much clutter, it was impossible to see aircraft below. There have been allegations that the RP-29 is based on espionage successes in gaining data on the F-18 Hornet's APG-65 radar. An employee of Hughes, which manufactures the radar, sold a considerable amount of technical data to a Polish intelligence agent. This presumably was done on the behest of the Soviets.

62

Igla, meaning "needle" in Russian, is the name for a small, man-portable antiaircraft missile. It is fired from a tube, like a bazooka, and homes in on the heat of an airplane's or helicopter's exhaust. NATO calls the Igla the SA-14 Gremlin. The most comparable NATO weapon is the American Stinger missile.

63

Korshun is the Russian word for "kite," a type of bird.

64

Fagot is the Russian word for "bassoon," a musical instrument. The Fagot is better known by its NATO code name, the AT-4 Spiral. It has a range of about 2,000 meters and is wire guided. It is comparable to the Franco-German Milan; however, the later-model Milan missiles, like the Milan 3, have much better performance.

65

Makaroniki is Russian slang for "macaroni men." It refers to professional senior sergeants who remain in the service to collect additional service stripes (called "macaroni") and the benefits that accrue with seniority. They are mostly men from rural areas, usually in the Ukraine, with little prospect in civilian life. They are often hated by the lower ranking soldiers due to their abusive behavior, and are looked on with disdain by the officers as mere ticket-punchers and not real soldiers. There is a certain amount of class and ethnic conflict involved as well, since the officers are generally well-educated Russians from towns or cities.

66

Dushmani is Russian military slang for "bandits." It refers to the Afghani guerrilla fighters.