A mysterious influx of Soviet and Chinese arms for Salvador rebels(Cold War history)

I know that this is dated to say the least, but I decided to post this because it has Wayne Smith making an a-- out of himself, that it's not new behavior. To quote from "Strategy and Tactics of the Salvadorian FMLN Guerrillas", by Jose ANgel Moroni Bracamonte and David E. Spencer "While a small amount of the new FMLN weapons could be traced back to the Contras, these were probably weapons that had been captured from the Contras during the long was in Nicaragua. However, the vast majority of the FMLN weapons were neither of the right type nor manufacture, as were those that were delivered to the Contras. The Contras never had PKMs (Soviet medium machine gun), RPG-18s (Soviet version of our LAW), M-26s (Cuban grenade launcher), or millions of rounds of Cuban ammunition".

Also

"The Contras' AK-47s had largely been of Chinses, Romanian, or Polish manufacture, while the FMLN's weapons were of Soviet, East German, North Korean, and Yugoslavian manufacture. There was little connection betweeen the Contras' weapons and those of the FMLN".

His weapons facts were wrong also. M-16s fire a longer range bullet (500 meters) than an AK (300 meters).

Debunk revisionist history ping!!!!

If you want on or off the Western Civilization Military History ping list, let me know.

Though a leopard changes its spots, it is still a killer. Russia "collapsed" during the cold war, but never changed its ways. It never reduced its fleets, and has drastically increased its Nuke Ballistic Subs and missile systems. China has been building its Army and military systems more in the last five years than the 50 years before that. Africa is awash in new Russian and Chinese small arms and has become mostly Marxist. These same arms are the weapons that the Taliban carry, and the Palestinians, and Iraq, and Iran, and Syria and North Korea and Indonesia and…

Prepare to be bitten...

Maybe he meant the SVD rifle.

Russia "collapsed" during the cold war, but never changed its ways. It never reduced its fleets, and has drastically increased its Nuke Ballistic Subs and missile systems.

On the former...you are entirely incorrect. They've gotten rid of the Typhoon-class, and their proposed new SSBN class has had the misfortune of having its missile system cancelled.

"Smith touched on but did not dwell on the recent Elian Gonzalez affair, stating his opinion that the Clinton administration and Attorney General Janet Reno did the right thing in snatching the boy from Miami relatives..."

More on Dr. Wayne Smith

Smith's career in public service began in the early 1950s when, as a U.S. Marine, he saw combat during the Korean War. Foolowing (sic) his military service, he compleded (sic) undergraduate and advanced degress at La Universidad de las Americas in Mexico City, Columbia University, and George Washington University. In the late 1950s, Smith embarked on a career in the Department of State and, for 25 years, served as diplomatic envoy in the Soviet Union, Argentina, Brazil, and Cuba. His first post was Havana, where he witnessed the victory of the Revolution and the subsequent deterioration of relations between Cuba and the U.S. When he decided to leave the Foreign Service in 1982 because of fundamental disagreements with the Reagan Administration's foreign policy [he was appointed in 1979 by Carter], he was once again stationed in Havana, this time as Chief of Mission (the highest ranking official) at the U.S. Interests Section. At that time, he was also recognized as the Department of State's leading expert on Cuba [that say's a lot].

I knew he was appointed by Carter. The latter guy sure did a bang up job when it came to Iran and Nicaragua, didn't he? (sarcasm). I didn't know he was a Marine. Talk about a dissappointmentand a disservice to that noble organization. Was he always a lefty?

His weapons facts were wrong also. M-16s fire a longer range bullet (500 meters) than an AK (300 meters).

It's clear that you've never been on the receiving end of 7,62x39mm M43 AK rounds from an RPK or RPD machinegun from 500 meters, trying to wish an extra 200 meters range from your M16A1...which was what the Salvadorians were using last time I was down that way. The Guatemalans, using Israeli Galils with 1:12 twist barrels and 55-grain M193 ammo, had it even worse.

The AK round was of course first used in the Siminov CKC/SKS carbine, with a 20.5"/520mm length barrel; the performance was a bit degraded with the adoption of the 16-inch barrelled AK47, but the squad's 24-inch barrelled RPK squad automatic weapons make up the difference just fine.

Meanwhile, we increased the weight of the M16 to almost that of the Garand and adopted the heavier bullet 5,56mm M855 ammunition to increase that rifle's range, only to then replace most of those heavy old things with cutdown M4 carbines with 16 inch barrels...while the Russians went to the AK74 with a 5,45mm cartridge designed to be used from that 16-inch barrel in the first place...and in those long-barrelled SAWs, still found in every squad, as well.

500-meter work, under harsh enviornmental conditions? Give me an RPK, every time....

You were in Central AMerica? Could you please tell me more?

By the way, isn't the machine gun on top of the Viet COng flag a TUL-1, which uses the original AK-47 reciever instead of the AKM which is what the RPK uses?

By the way, isn't the machinegun on top of the Viet COng flag a TUL-1, which uses the original AK-47 receiver instead of the AKM which is what the RPK uses?

You're correct about the TUL-1 using the AK milled receiver, but that's a stamped receiver on that particular RPK. And the RPK receivers are made stronger than those of the lighter AKM; they're built at the old Molot PPSh-41 *Shpagin* SMG factory in the Kirov district. Additionally, the Vietnamese didn't use the RPK stock on their TUL-1 guns, but rather the regular short but of the parent AK instead, probably a better fit for the average Vietnamese soldier.

-archy-/-

Thanks. You were in Central AMerica, do you know the weapons that the FMLN and UNRG guerilla forces used and how did they compare to those of the Slavadorian and Guatemalan government forces? SUbmachineguns, rifles and machineguns.

You were in Central America? Could you please tell me more?

My dad was among other things a refinery engineer for CalTex/Texaco Refining, so my early life was that of a refinery brat, sort of like being a military brat except the towns smelled worse. And almost none of the kids I knew wanted to be firemen when/if they grew up....

There's a funny story about our family in Argentina when I was about 2 or 3 years old; but I think it'll keep till some other time. We were in Venezuelia and Chile for a while after that, but I remember little of that. In 1957 Dad was sent to the Texaco refinery at Santa Clara in Cuba's Oriente Province, and it was thought that my going along would be a swell *learning experience.* It was indeed that. The kids of the Marines, Hershey's Chocolate Plantation, Texaco and airport/dock facilities *helped* me along with additions to my Spanish-language vocabulary our teachers had somehow left out....

That's not the greatest of skills for dealing with those from Mexico or Central America, but it's gotten me around in jobs in Honduras and Guatemala. In Guatemala I was photographing most of the bridges used by FEGUA, the national narrowgauge railroad system, which are slated to be replaced by a U.S. and Mexican-system compatable Standard Gauge system one of these days- they may even be working on it now. But if any of their bridges had been lost, either to natural disasters [earthquake] or terrorism, the replacements would have been a little easier to build, ship and emplace with my photos for comparison.

Pretty thin stuff, so far as the James Bond types go. I'd have made a lousy spy, and took almost all of my photos in broad daylight.

When some U.S. military personnel tasked with suopport of a roadbuilding project in the Oso Grande area of Honduras got their warning orders for their operation, their commanding officer had me chat with 'em about life and conditions in Central America in general, with the understanding that I was no expert at all on the specific area where they'd be working. Unfortunately, they didn't believe the stuff I told 'em about all the folks around there living in igloos like the eskimos and making their living as whale and seal hunters, but I tried....and I did give them some idea about why to NOT use some of those pretty words those kids in Cuba had taught me years before....

Even better: I got to give some of 'em [424th Medical Detachment] a basic course in rappelling and abseiling/ ropework, since some would be working from helicopters and others would be in serious better-rope-up mountain country. This was more interesting than average since about a quarter of their personnel were female, and got pretty good at it pretty quick. And I also got some swell photos of their commanding officer hanging upsidedown when he was first getting the hang of things.

FEerrocarriles de GUAtemala- Villa Canales bridge [this'n needs a little work!]