Soviet Afghanistan war

Even the Soviets admit it wasn't as effective as it might appear because most muj groups included a range of people from young men to boys and old men, while the special forces units consisted only of young fit men.

Sometimes a delay in recognition is as good as completely fooling the enemy...

Flattering comments about the Soviet Spetznas and Russian Army in general from a famous former Mujahedin commander

I think some of you here may find this interesting:

Guns of the Spetsnaz - Accounts From a Spetsnaz Veteran of the Soviet-Afghan War


Part One - Rifles: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Guns+o.....-a0243718822

Part Two - Sniper Rifles: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Guns+o.....-a0247740939

Part Three - Machine Guns: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Guns+o.....-a0252741284

Part Four - Pistols: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Guns+o.....-a0255603146

A Soviet tank in the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan during the Soviet Invasion, 1980. Afghan civilians stand in the foreground




Troopers of the 5th airborne company 350th airborne regiment on the march, moving aboard their BMPs and BTRs along the Afghani mountain road.




Soviet troops on the move in Afghanistan, mid-1980s




Aftermath in a village located along the Salang Highway, shelled and destroyed during fights between Mujahideen guerrillas and Afghan soldiers in Salang, Afghanistan.

Two Soviet Army soldiers emerge from an Afghan shop in downtown Kabul on April 24, 1988.




A Soviet soldier smokes a cigarette at a checkpoint of the Soviet military airport in Kabul on February 10, 1989 as the other one forbids pictures.




Red Army soldiers stand for review on October 19, 1986, in downtown Kabul during a parade, shortly before they returned to the Soviet Union.




Afghanistan's president Mohammed Najibullah (center) smiles as he meets Red Army soldiers on October 19, 1986, in downtown Kabul during a parade.

Soviet withdrawal

The Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan in a way that can only be described as expertly.

NATO was gathering as much information as it could over the last half decade to study exactly how they did it so they could emulate it themselves.

Previously in past invasions British forces paid heavily during their withdrawal from the region.

British, Soviets, now Americans have their troubles in Afghanistan. I think next, is China's turn to try

George1 wrote:British, Soviets, now Americans have their troubles in Afghanistan. I think next, is China's turn to try

Why should they give a f*ck about afghanistan? If they want to fight terrorism they should start by crushing petrodollar and next israel and the dictatorships like Qatar,Kuwait,Saudis who are financing on orders of USrael and sending terrorists to overthrow and destabilize the region. Fight the cancer not the symptoms.

Soviet Invasion Afghanistan Map

Werewolf wrote:

George1 wrote:British, Soviets, now Americans have their troubles in Afghanistan. I think next, is China's turn to try

Why should they give a f*ck about afghanistan? If they want to fight terrorism they should start by crushing petrodollar and next israel and the dictatorships like Qatar,Kuwait,Saudis who are financing on orders of USrael and sending terrorists to overthrow and destabilize the region. Fight the cancer not the symptoms.

whats your opinion about Dr. Najibullah?

The 9th Company (Russian: 9 Рота) is a 2005 Russian film directed by Fedor Bondarchuk and set during the Soviet War in Afghanistan. The film is loosely based on a real-life battle that took place at Elevation 3234 in early 1988, during the last large-scale Soviet military operation (Magistral) in Afghanistan.

If possible, why the Soviet Union attacked the Afghanistan? And where was she going? To the Pakistan or to the Iran?

Giulio wrote:If possible, why the Soviet Union attacked the Afghanistan? And where was she going? To the Pakistan or to the Iran?

Situation then was the same as now, Soviet Union feared of the spread of Islamic fundamentalism in former soviet Asian republics, their main concern was their boundaries safety with Afghanistan. The difference with now is that USSR faced a large scale guerrilla war that promoted from USA and Pakistan mainly against the Soviet troops

If possible, why the Soviet Union attacked the Afghanistan? And where was she going? To the Pakistan or to the Iran?

The soviets weren't "going" any where.

What the Soviets did in Afghanistan was very similar to what happened in Korea... Before the US got chucked out of Iran in 1979 it was infiltrating Afghanistan, which was a Soviet friendly country. When the Shah was overthrown and the CIA was thrown out of Iran they started moving into Afghanistan.. the Soviets went in to Afghanistan to stop the US creating another Turkey near the Soviet border.

There was never any consideration to invade Pakistan or Iran and it had nothing at all to do with trying to get warm water ports... they already had Cuba and Vietnam and if they asked possibly Indian ports if they were so desperate for such things.

the US claim the Soviets invaded Afghanistan so they could then invade Pakistan and get warm water ports was at best a delusion, and at worst a cynical attempt to recruit Pakistani support for opposing the Soviet presence in Afghanistan.

T-62M in Afghanistan

I saying this was better than Russia today.

Su-17 from 302th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment.Combat operation in Afghanistan. amateur videos . without sound

I have a professionally made British aviation video about Soviet aircraft that identifies an Su-17 as being a MiG-21 several times... if the wing root mounted cannon didn't make it obvious the swing wings certainly gave it away...

Nice vids BTW... my vote.

T-62M in Afghanistan :

GarryB wrote:I have a professionally made British aviation video about Soviet aircraft that identifies an Su-17 as being a MiG-21 several times... if the wing root mounted cannon didn't make it obvious the swing wings certainly gave it away...

Nice vids BTW... my vote.

I have seen a British aviation video about MiG aircraft, which identifies a Lavochkin La-15 as a MiG-15. That was a fortuitous error, as video clips of La-15 were rare at that time. That was the best part of the video actually.

Hehehe...so long before they were jury rigging rocket pods on light vehicles in Libya they did the same in Afghanistan...

Those pods look like 80mm pods so they would have quite a bit more punch than the 32 shot 57mm pods being used in Libya.

80mm rockets being cheap and easy to get near any Soviet airfield... and each one packing about 4kgs of HE punch... twice the warhead weight of an RPG-7 with 20 lined up for a volley... not very accurate but the target will notice... and an excellent anti ambush weapon too... along with the 14.5mm HMG.

THX Archangielski for this photo... I never saw this one before...