here is positively well-equipped with
what was known in the Russian
army as the ‘existence load’ which
adds an entrenching tool, waterbottle, veshmeshok rucksack and his
plasch palatkas waterproof raincape/
groundsheet rolled across the top (in
cold weather this could be substituted
for a greatcoat).
Personal protection is minimal, in
the form of a steel helmet. For years
the Soviet army continued with the
WWII SSh40 steel helmet, but by the
early-80s use of the improved SSh60
model worn by our soldier was more
widespread. (Up until 1975 many soviet
solders were, besides the substitution
of the trademark AK47 for the bolt-action
Moisin Nagant, near-indistinguishable
from their WWII Red Army forefathers).
While WWII Soviet soldiers considered
the steel helmet ‘unmanly’, photographs
from the Cold War era show it was almost
universally worn, even in extreme cold
weather when the winter ushanka fake fur
and pile cap was issued
(the cap is often seen
worn underneath the
steel helmet).
The Ubiquitous
Kalashnikov
“While WWII Soviet soldiers
considered the steel helmet
‘unmanly’, photographs from
the Cold War era show it was
almost universally worn”
Perhaps the most
distinctive item that our
Red Army soldier carries
is the ubiquitous AKM
assault rifle. Essentially
a modified form of
the AK47 assault rifle (introduced in 1949
in small numbers to the Red Army), the
AKM utilised stamped steel rather than
a milled receiver for a lighter and more
economical weapon. Other improvements
included an adaptor upon the muzzle to
reduce excessive climb on full-auto and
an improved bayonet. The AKM is most
distinguishable from the AK47 by the
smaller rectangular indentation on the
receiver above the magazine, the slanted
muzzle adaptor and the pronounced ridge in
the forward heatshield/grip. The AK series
of weapons perhaps best illustrates the
emphasis on quantity rather than quality in
Soviet Russia. (As a side note of interest,
the improved AKM 6Kh bayonet is able to
combine with its scabbard to form a basic
set of wirecutters – a feature copied by
later NATO rifle designs including the UK’s
SA80.)
052
March 2012
In contrast to NATO emphasis, in
particular within the British Army, on high
standards of marksmanship and aimed
fire, Soviet doctrine was for the rifle squad
to dismount to attack and advance in line,
firing their weapons on full-automatic to put
a veritable hail of fire down on the enemy.
Of particular note is the basic design of the
AK series. While nearly all western rifles
are based around a fire selection system
where fully-automatic fire is an addition,
useful for close assaults and desperate
situations, the AK series has full-auto as
the default setting after one slides the rifle
from ‘safe’ to ready to fire… single shot
capability is very much an afterthought with
Kalashnikov rifles.
While the squad laid down automatic fire
and advanced, important targets such as
officers and NCOs would be engaged by
the squad marksman
with supporting
fire provided by the
AFV. By the 1980s
the Soviet soldier
was undoubtedly far
better trained than his
predecessors but the
Red Army sill placed
heavy emphasis on
learning battle drills
by rote. Training was unimaginative and
repetitive, designed to condition the soldier
to behave ‘exactly so’ in any given situation.
Independent thought and initiative from
NCOs and junior officers was positively
discouraged, and NATO plans sought to
take advantage of this by targeting higher
command elements in order to paralyse the
massed Russian forces.
The shock infantry of the Red Army
was eventually defeated by economics
and political change – which is just as well
given that at the height of the Cold War
they outnumbered NATO troops 11-1. As
one former Cold War-era tank commander
stated: “We were under armoured and
outgunned, the Russians could engage us
beyond our tanks’ range and they could fire
missiles on the move from over 5km away
– our life expectancy on the Fulda Gap in a
Centurion tank was around 28 seconds!” ■