The Soviet-Afghan War: How a Superpower Fought and Lost

by Russia (Federation) Generalnyi Shtab; Grau, Lester W.; Gress, Michael A.; Gress, Michael A.; Grau, Lester W.

• ISBN13: 9780700611850
• ISBN10: 0700611851
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-02-01
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Kansas

Summary

The War in Afghanistan (1979-1989) has been called "the Soviet Union's Vietnam War, " a conflict that pitted Soviet regulars against a relentless, elusive, and ultimately unbeatable Afghan guerrilla force (the mujahideen). The hit-and-run bloodletting across the war's decade tallied more than 25,000 dead Soviet soldiers plus a great many more casualties and further demoralized a USSR on the verge of disintegration.

In The Soviet-Afghan War the Russian general staff takes a close critical look at the Soviet military's disappointing performance in that war in an effort to better understand what happened and why and what lessons should be taken from it. Lester Grau and Michael Gress's expert English translation of the general staff's study offers the very first publication in any language of this important and illuminating work.

Surprisingly, this was a study the general staff never intended to write, initially viewing the war in Afghanistan as a dismal aberration in Russian military history. The history of the 1990s has, of course, completely demolished that

Author Biography

Lester W. Grau, a Vietnam War veteran and retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, is an analyst for the Foreign Military Studies Office at the Army's Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth Michael A. Gress is a native of Siberia and a former soldier in the motorized rifle forces of the Soviet Army

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	vii
Foreword	xi
Theodore C. Mataxis
Editors' Preface	xvii
Acknowledgments	xxvii
General Staff Introduction	1	(14)
Phases and Course of the Conflict	15	(20)
Organization, Armament, and Training of the Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces and Government of Afghanistan Armed Forces	35	(18)
Organization and Equipment of Soviet Forces	35	(7)
Training of Soviet Forces	42	(6)
Organization and Training of the Armed Forces of the DRA	48	(5)
Organization, Armament, and Tactics of the Mujahideen	53	(20)
Operational Art	73	(20)
Combined Arms Tactics	93	(74)
Raids	93	(13)
Cordons and Searches	106	(19)
Ambushes	125	(13)
Marches and Convoy Escorts	138	(29)
Combat Arms Branch Tactics	167	(56)
Artillery	167	(23)
Armored Forces	190	(7)
Airborne and Air Assault Forces	197	(12)
Army Aviation	209	(14)
Combat Support	223	(41)
Reconnaissance	223	(10)
Security	233	(9)
Engineer Support	242	(13)
Chemical Support	255	(9)
Combat Service Support	264	(40)
Technical Support	264	(1)
Ammunition Support	265	(17)
Logistics Support	282	(10)
Post Exchange, Housing, and Pay	292	(3)
Medical Support	295	(9)
Conclusion	304	(11)
Tactics	311	(1)
Technology	312	(1)
Morale	313	(2)
Appendix 1: 40th Army Order of Battle	315	(8)
Appendix 2: Soviet Artillery Planning	323	(4)
Notes	327	(18)
Glossary	345	(8)
Key to Map Symbols	353	(2)
About the Editors	355	(2)
Index	357