Posted on 02/08/2023 1:39:00 PM PST by marcusmaximus
The heavy casualties suffered by Russian paratroopers in Ukraine has one Russian expert calling for a rethink of Russia's airborne units.
Many of the recent criticisms about the performance of Russia's elite parachute force, known as the VDV, have been voiced about lightly armed airborne units since World War II.
The problems range from poorly designed vehicles to parachute drops conducted without first suppressing enemy air defenses.
-snip-
Russia's huge airborne force, composed of 45,000 paratroopers in four divisions, is actually a separate military branch that serves as shock troops and a rapid-intervention force. Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 began with a surprise VDV helicopter assault on Hostomel airfield northwest of Kyiv.
Several helicopters were shot down by anti-aircraft missiles, but the Russians still managed to seize the base. It was supposed to be an airhead for cargo planes to ferry troops and vehicles in to support the isolated paratroopers, who would then advance on Kyiv.
But the big Il-76 cargo planes never arrived. Ukrainian forces counterattacked and pinned down the paratroopers, who eventually retreated to the safety of armored columns advancing toward Kyiv. The VDV then became elite infantry spearheading the Russian armored columns — a role they were not designed for. Losses proved so severe that some paratroopers reportedly refused to fight.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Russian paratroopers facing crippling morale, severe losses in Ukraine
The biggest issue for the Russian forces seems to be the mass refusal of the command staff of VDV units to participate in the fighting in Ukraine.
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-715187
Even the best troops are squandered if the leadership is poor. Hopefully mid level officers in the American military are noting what is happening in this war. The woefully, highly politicized upper echelons of Pentagon are probably a severe liability in the event of war.
As a former “elite” paratrooper with the 173rd Abn Bdg I have to tell you aside from some additional training the only thing that is “elite” is you are the first to face the enemy and are usually the first to die. Once a paratrooper hits the ground he is no different then any other infantry soldiers.
If the Russian paratrooper were not provided with the proper training and given the best equipment the only thing left for them is to be the first to die.
My son was in the 82nd airborne during Iraq in 2003. They kept Fallujah peaceful while they were there. I’ll take these boys over anyone else in the world.
At the beginning of the invasion in February , Russian airborne troops tried to parachute to land at the port of Odessa. They ended up landing 20 miles away in the Black Sea and died in the water. And another parachute landing was attempted gain at the port of Odessa and they ended landing in the middle of the Dniester Estuary 20 miles away and died in those waters, too.
Combat is a lot different than putting on a Show
Paratroops are all for show, but no go. They do not win wars, or even battles.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 began with a surprise VDV helicopter assault on Hostomel airfield northwest of Kyiv.”
Well, it was supposed to be a surprise, but the secret plan apparently leaked.
I feel bad for any Russky paratrooper... U get killed first. By Ukrainians and so on.
But an eight-month visual investigation by The New York Times concluded that the perpetrators of the massacre along Yablunska Street were Russian paratroopers from the 234th Air Assault Regiment led by Lt. Col. Artyom Gorodilov.
The evidence shows that the killings were part of a deliberate and systematic effort to ruthlessly secure a route to the capital, Kyiv. Soldiers interrogated and executed unarmed men of fighting age, and killed people who unwittingly crossed their paths — whether it was children fleeing with their families, locals hoping to find groceries or people simply trying to get back home on their bicycles
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/22/video/russia-ukraine-bucha-massacre-takeaways.html
Some of the allied airborne troops landed in the Mediterranean and suffered a similar fate, during the invasion of Sicily in 1943...
The Kanev airborne operation to reinforce the Bukrin bridgehead in 1943 was a fiasco too.
https://ebrary.net/116761/political_science/soviet_airborne_operation_bukrin_24_25_september
The Soviets experimented early on with airborne troops, one idea was to fly low and slow and drop men in padded barrels.
I can only imagine the E-ticket ride effects of that on combat effectiveness.
On another occasion, at Leningrad I think, in a desperation move, the Soviets actually dropped men without parachutes into deep snow while flying very low and very slow, surprisingly with some success, the needed reinforcements were delivered.
The troops actually slide off the wing of the aircraft rather than “jumping”.
They had to very brave or reckless, perhaps with encouragement from Chekists with Tommy guns?
Paratroopers are higher on the filtering chain, which means the quality of the individual is on average higher than the masses, the individual is more likely to be individually brave, resourceful, self-driven, more motivated, fitter, tougher, and a volunteer for dangerous combat and more likely to fight on.
When you graduated jump school the creed included that “surrender is not in our creed” if my memory is correct.
You were elite from my point of view (12B, light), but I understand what you’re saying. On what the Russians are lacking, I have nothing specific to say. ;)
[Well, okay, here’s some advice for Ivan. More vodka, hog guts and fat in their rations will make them supermen. And more running through burning shacks. ;D ]
which means the quality of the individual is on average higher than the masses, the individual is more likely to be individually brave, resourceful, self-driven, more motivated, fitter, tougher, and a volunteer for dangerous combat
—
While all that may be true, I never thought that of myself.
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