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Soviet Union [USSR] Airborne Troops and Special-Purpose Forces
The Soviet Union had substantial specialized forces having
missions and subordinations distinct from those of the regular
military services. The Airborne Troops, subordinated to the Supreme
High Command in wartime, were closely linked to the Ground Forces
and to Military Transport Aviation. The Special-Purpose Forces
(Voiska spetsial'nogo Nazacheniia--Spetsnaz), designed to operate
deep behind enemy lines, were controlled by the General Staff's
Military Intelligence Directorate.
In 1989 the Airborne Troops were more numerous than all the
other airborne forces of the world combined. The Airborne Troops
consisted of seven divisions. Each division had 7,000 troops
organized into three paratroop regiments and an artillery regiment.
The Airborne Troops had specially designed air-transportable and,
in some cases, air-droppable equipment. Their inventory included
light infantry fighting vehicles for transporting and protecting
airborne forces on the ground and self-propelled 85mm assault guns
to provide them with firepower.
The Airborne Troops were the primary rapid intervention force
of the armed forces. They spearheaded the Soviet invasions of
Czechoslovakia in 1968 and Afghanistan in 1979 by seizing the
airports in Prague and Kabul, respectively. The performance of the
Airborne Troops in Afghanistan had raised their status as an elite
combat arm.
The Soviet Spetsnaz has been the subject of intense speculation
among Western experts because little is known about it. In 1989 the
Soviet armed forces had about 30,000 Spetsnaz troops organized into
sixteen brigades. In 1989 the Soviet Naval Forces also had four
elite naval Spetsnaz brigades trained to reconnoiter, disrupt, or
sabotage enemy naval installations and coastal defenses. One
Western view held that, in wartime, small Spetsnaz teams would be
assigned reconnaissance missions up to several hundred kilometers
behind enemy lines. Spetsnaz units would then provide Soviet forces
with targeting data on important enemy rear area facilities.
Another view was that Spetsnaz troops would be emplaced weeks
before a war to assassinate the enemy's political and military
leaders; to sabotage its airfields; to destroy its nuclear weapons
facilities; and to disrupt its command, control, and communications
systems. Proponents of this view asserted that Spetsnaz teams
assassinated the unpopular Afghan communist leader Hafizullah Amin
before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979.
Data as of May 1989
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