Author: David Campbell
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472839595
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 65
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Book Description
Established in 1932, the Vozdushno-desantnye voyska ('air-landing forces', or VDV) of the Red Army led the way in airborne doctrine and practice. Though they were initially handicapped by a lack of infrastructure, due in part to a turbulent political climate in the 1930s, they still conducted major drops during World War II, including at the Dnepr River in September 1943. After the war ended, the VDV became independent of the Air Force and were elevated to the role of strategic asset. The newly rebuilt divisions were now organized and trained to conduct deep insertions behind enemy lines, attacking command-and-control facilities, lines of communication, and key infrastructure targets such as nuclear power plants. This training came into play in numerous Cold War confrontations, including Soviet operations in Hungary (1956) and Czechoslovakia (1968). During the Soviet war in Afghanistan (1979–89), the VDV proved to be the most formidable of the Mujahideen's opponents, with the development of the air assault concept – the transport, insertion and support of air-landed troops by helicopter rather than parachute. This title explores the development of the VDV from their conception in 1930 to their role in the Cold War and in the later invasion of Afghanistan. Supported by contemporary photography and specially commissioned artwork of uniforms and battlescenes, this title is a comprehensive and engaging guide to the history of airborne forces in the Soviet period.
Author: Steve Zaloga
Publisher: Presidio Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 376
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Book Description
Inside the Blue Berets looks at the origins of the Russian shock troops. It provides an exciting description of the harrowing Russian airborne assaults of World War II and the combat uses of these troops in the Cold War years as they took on an important new role as "imperial storm troopers" - the infantry that enforced Soviet power, first in Hungary and later in Czechoslovakia. By then paratroopers had become a true elite, with the best and brightest of the Red Army competing for the prized blue beret. In the 1980s, the VDV became trapped in the quagmire of Afghanistan. Bloodied and weary after ten years of brutal fighting, the paratroopers returned home and were immediately ordered to don their flak jackets and control the civil turmoil resulting from perestroika. Inside the Blue Berets offers the first lucid description of the murky situation that surrounded the breakup of the USSR.
Author: David M. Glantz
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1428915826
Category : Government publications
Languages : en
Pages : 232
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Book Description
Contents: The Prewar Experience; Evolution of Airborne Forces During World War II; Operational Employment: Vyaz'ma, January-February 1942; Operational Employment: Vyaz'ma, February-June 1942; Operational Employment: On the Dnepr, September 1943; Tactical Employment; The Postwar Years.
Author: Vladimir Kotelnikov
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1913118037
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 652
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Book Description
An aviation historian explores Russian airborne assault innovations in the decade before WWII using paratrooper memoirs and archival research. Through the 1930s, the USSR was pioneering new developments and technologies in airborne assault. The Red Army was conducting mass airborne assault exercises—dropping paratroopers, tanks, and guns from the skies—when no other nation on Earth even had airborne assault troops. In Red Assault, the Russian aviation historian Vladimir Kotelnikov explores these pioneering achievements. He describes the armament, equipment, and military hardware developed for airborne troops, as well as fantastical projects that reflect the unrestrained imagination of the Soviet military’s aviation designers. Kotelnikov offers a detailed account of the aircraft designed for airborne troops, while also describing troop drop exercises and real operations leading up to 1941. Kotelnikov’s research is drawn from government archives and museum collections, as well as the memoirs of pioneer military paratroopers in the USSR, some of which have never been published before.
Author: Albert Seaton
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 9780850451139
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
In the years between the Russian Revolution of 1917 and World War II, the Soviet Army underwent dramatic changes in conscription, organization and effectiveness. The Russian Army in World War I had been lacking in leadership and drive, but was transformed by the Soviets into a force to be reckoned with, as evidenced by its crucial victory at Stalingrad. Enhanced by color plates, illustrations and photographs, this book traces the development of the Soviet Army from its Tsarist heritage, through the tumultuous years of the Red Army, to its full modernization in 1957.
Author: David M. Glantz
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135202931
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 468
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Book Description
For almost 70 years Soviet and Russian military theorists have been fascinated with the concept of airborne operations. Now Russian theorists tackle the problems posed to such operations by high-precision weaponry. This work, using newly released and formerly classified Soviet and East German archives, provides a detailed record of the performance of Soviet airborne forces during peace and war.
Author: Graham Hall Turbiville
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 34
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Book Description
Author: Gregor Ferguson
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 9780850455731
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Osprey's examination of the British Airborne Forces, from World War II (1939-1945) to the Falklands War (1982). On the night of 7 February 1941 the first British parachute unit was sent into action. Their target was the Tragino Aqueduct in Italy, and although the mission itself did not go to plan, the effect on Italian morale of this landing in the heart of their country was considerable. It was also a valuable achievement for the parachutists to have proved themselves in action, even on so small a scale, at a time when Britain was reeling from defeat to defeat. Since then, British Airborne Forces have proved themselves in action time and time again, in a variety of different theatres from Europe to the Falklands.
Author: Steven J. Zaloga
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 9780850456318
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
The elite forces of the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies in the mid-1980s were undoubtedly the largest in the world, and among the least known. The Soviet elite formations alone had a total strength comparable to that of the entire British armed forces. Besides the conventional military elite formations such as airborne and marine forces, most Warsaw Pact armies also possessed special, 'political' elite, which were used for internal security. Backed by numerous photographs and illustrations, this book uncovers the history, organization and equipment of both the conventional Soviet elite formations and the often ignored security units.
Author: Gregory Fremont-Barnes
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472810384
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 131
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Book Description
The Soviet invasion of its neighbour Afghanistan in December 1979 sparked a bloody nine-year conflict in that country until Soviet forces withdrew in 1988–89, dooming the communist Afghanistan government to defeat at the hands of the Mujahideen, the Afghan popular resistance backed by the USA and other powers. The Soviet invasion had enormous implications on the global stage; it prompted the US Senate to refuse to ratify the hard-won SALT II arms-limitation treaty, and the USA and 64 other countries boycotted the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics. For Afghanistan, the invasion served to prolong the interminable civil war that pitted central government against the regions and faction against faction. The country remains locked in conflict over 30 years later, with no end in sight. Featuring specially drawn mapping and drawing upon a wide range of sources, this succinct account explains the origins, history and consequences of the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, thereby shedding new light on the more recent history – and prospects – of that troubled country.
