H-R-Red Assault Soviet Airborne Forces, 1930-1941.pdf

(17517 KB) Pobierz

In the 1930s, Red Army Command maintained what was often an offensive

doctrine. The plan was to fight a bloodless victory on foreign ground. An

offensive by the Worker’s and Peasant’s Red Army was to unfold as per the

classic Blitzkrieg – it was with good reason that some of the higher-ranking

commanders had studied at the German General Headquarters Academy.

Furthermore, all the technical achievements of the period were taken into

account. The assault would begin with air strikes from strategic aviation:

armadas of huge bombers would attack key targets deep inside enemy

territory. At the same time enormous numbers of airborne troops would be

dropped behind enemy lines, armed with a range of equipment. These

airborne troops would capture bridges, and roads, and take communications,

and transport links out of action. Heralded by a powerful artillery attack,

supported by tactical aviation the tanks, armoured vehicles, and trucks

carrying motorised infantry would advance.

There was a basis for such optimistic forecasts. Since the Soviets were in

possession of such a quantitative, and qualitative advantage (and this was

certainly the case) they were definitely able to advance. In the USSR

aviation was undergoing development ahead of schedule, as were armoured

tank technology, airborne assault troops, and chemical weapons. If the

Soviets had tanks, aircraft, and chemical weapons, albeit in small quantities,

any potential enemies would possess them too. The airborne assault troops

however were a distinctly Soviet innovation. In this respect it was the

Soviets that held an unquestionable advantage. It was here that the first

groups of airborne paratroopers were dropped, and the first tanks and guns

were dropped from the skies. The Red Army was conducting mass airborne

assault operations during the course of exercises when no other nation on

Earth had airborne assault troops.

In other fields Soviet military science and technology in many cases copied

existing Western achievements. Licenses were obtained, or examples of

foreign materiel were simply copied. As far as the airborne troops were

concerned the Soviet military, and the designers were in unchartered

territory, having come up with a number of innovative solutions, which were

later adopted by the armed forces of other nations.

In this book the armament, equipment, and military hardware developed for

airborne troops is described, both in terms of the actual technology, and the