Airborne Assault Troops [VDV] - Cold War
In April 1946, the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces developed the main measures to ensure the development of the Airborne Forces. The troops were withdrawn from the Air Force, included in the reserve forces of the Supreme Command and directly subordinated to the Minister of the Armed Forces.
After the organizational activities, the Airborne Forces consisted of the Directorate, 8th, 15th, 37th, 38th and 39th airborne corps (10 airborne divisions altogether), support units, and at the end of 1948 the number of divisions was 15.
As Airborne CINC, beginning in 1954, V.F.Margelov was to shape airborne development and employment concepts for the next twenty-five years. Coinciding with an increasing availability of military resources and the beginning of attention to nuclear warfighting issues, he produced substantial changes in Airborne Troop capabilities and approaches. While efforts to upgrade airborne equipment continued troughout the 1950s, a great deal of emphasis began to be placed on developing parachute delivery systems as well.
Margelov noted that this emphasis resulted in the creation and improvement of heavy-drop platforms, multi-canopy parachute systems, and new gliders, that made it possible to land virtually all types of combat equipment which were in the inventory of the airborne forces at that time. In the area of air transport, Airborne Troops began their first experiments with helicopters in the 1950s. These included the Mi-4, capable of lifting 14 paratroopers, GAZ utility vehicles, or 76mm guns, and the 20,000 pound capacity Mi-6, which just began to enter service in the 1950s but came to be closelly associated with air assault operations later. The first truly notable achievement in Soviet efforts to develop a long range assault transport was the introduction of the Antonov AN-8, displayed on Soviet Aviation Day in 1956.
After the war, along with organizational changes re-armament of the troops took place: formations increased the number of automatic weapons, artillery, mortars, antitank and antiaircraft weapons. In the inventory of the VDV there were appeared tracked combat vehicles (BMD-1), landed self-propelled gun mounts (ASU-57 and SU-85), 85mm and 122mm guns, rocket launchers and other weapons. Military transport aircraft An-12, An-22 and IL-76 were set up for landing. At the same time the special airborne equipment was developed.
In the late 1950s, a number of airborne divisions were reduced and their number was 7. In 1960, an airborne training division was created, and in 1964 the Ryazan Higher Combined Arms Command School was renamed the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School.
There was a technical re-equipment of the Airborne Forces. In the formations, the number of automatic small arms, artillery, mortars, anti-tank and antiaircraft weapons increased. In the arsenal of the Airborne Forces there were caterpillar landing vehicles (BMD-1), self-propelled artillery (ASU-57 and SU-85) self-propelled guns, 85 and 122 mm guns, and rocket launchers.
For landing, military transport planes An-12, An-22 and Il-76 were created. At the same time, special airborne equipment was being developed.
In 1956, the 7th and 31st Airborne Divisions took part in the Hungarian events. In 1968, after the capture of two airfields near Prague and Bratislava the 7th and 103rd Guards Airborne Divisions were landed, they ensured the successful execution of the task by units and formations of the United Armed Forces of the countries – participants of the Warsaw Pact during the events in Czechoslovakia.
Of great importance to the airborne's employment potential was the introduction of the Antonov AN-12 assault transport in the early 1960s. The Soviet counterpart to the American C-130, the An-12, with a 1,400 kilometer range at maximum payload, could carry over 20 tons of cargo, or about 80 armed paratroopers. The AN-12 became the mainstay of Militaryp Transport Aviation [VTA], comprising about 85% of the force by the late 1970s. ) With its appearance, the possibilities for Airborne Troop employment expanded enormously, and it began to be used immedi-ately in airborne exercises in the USSR and Eastern Europe.
This increase in capabilities - together with the examination of options for employing all Soviet forces in nuclear war - resulted in the wholehearted embrace of Airborne Troops as ameans of rapidly exploiting nuclear strikes. Airborne Troops could reach deep objectives quickly in the wake of tactical, operational and strategic nuclear strikes to consolidate gains, prevent the enemy from establishing organized resistanceagainst advancing friendly forces, and further demoralize enemy forces.
In August, 1968 members of the 103rd Guards Airborne Division airlanded at Prague, Czechoslovakia. Utilizing commercially painted Aeroflot aircraft, these troops secured the airport, the capitol, communications centers around Prague, and power plants. A total of 150 airland sorties were required to move the full division with its attendant equipment, fuel and supplies. Other airborne troops also seized the airfields at Kosica, Kladno, and Zatec, Czechoslovakia.
Eleven years later members of the 145th Guards Airborne Division were utilized by Moscow to seize and secure Bagram airfield, a primary airfield 40 kilometers from Kabul, Afghanistan. On 24 December 1979, the first of 200 flights by AN-12, AN-22, and 11-76 aircraft landed at Bagram and Kabul airports bringing in about 10,000 airborne troops. After airlanding, these troops quickly secured key choke points such as Salang Tunnel and the seven largest airfields in Afghanistan. Up until withdrawal in February 1989, members of the 103rd, 104th, and 105th Guards Airborne Divisions were stationed in Afghanistan.
In January 1973, for the first time in the world, the landing of the crew inside the combat vehicle was carried out on the multi-dome system, and in January 1976 - landing with the use of the parachute-jet system was accomplished. In 2010, after a seven-year hiatus, during the exercises of the 76th Airborne Assault Division, three BMD-2s with crews were landed on the Kislovo site.
From 1979 to 1989, the 103rd Airborne Division and the 345th Separate Paratrooper Regiment participated in combat operations as part of the Limited Contingent of Soviet troops in Afghanistan. For courage and heroism shown in the performance of their official duty, more than 30,000 paratroopers were awarded orders and medals, and 16 people were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
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