SWAT - the elite of the Russian army
In the book “Honor I Have” by V. Pikul, a Russian officer defined for himself the most important thing in life - to have the honor to serve the Fatherland and to fulfill his duty to the Fatherland to the end.
Without exaggeration, it can be said that special forces soldiers are precisely the people who have the honor to serve the Fatherland and fulfill their duty to the Fatherland to the end. The special forces units of the Russian power structures are indeed the elite of the army, a brief description of which we will try to cover in this article.
Their units, focused on the implementation of the most complex and crucial tasks of the command, have: GRU General Staff, airborne troops, Navy, marines, border troops, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Federal Penitentiary Service, Ministry of Emergency Situations.
Their main purpose is to fight terrorist groups, carry out operations in the enemy's rear, conduct sabotage and other combat tasks assigned to them by the command.
The main tasks of the special forces, regardless of departmental affiliation are:
- intelligence and sabotage on the territory of the enemy;
- suppression of sabotage activities against Russia;
- counterintelligence;
- antiterrorist activities, including the destruction of terrorists and the release of hostages taken from captivity;
- ensuring public safety;
- protection of especially important objects and persons.
The day of the creation of special forces can be considered 24 of October 1950, when the directive on the formation of a deep intelligence unit was signed. The command supposed to use these units as reconnaissance groups, which should in time of war destroy enemy strategic facilities (command posts, rocket launchers, nuclear submarines, combat aircraft), conduct reconnaissance on the enemy’s territory, disrupt communications and power supply, disable transport facilities. highway, organize chaos and disorientation in the management of the enemy forces.
Depending on the special forces unit belonging to a specific ministry or department, each unit has its own specifics. And this in turn determines the types of weapons used, equipment used, equipment, types of transport. Of course, special forces require more funding than regular units. To achieve a high and comprehensive level of special forces training, well-equipped training centers and bases are also required.
It has been a practice in special forces that the main body consists of contract soldiers with whom they contract for a period of at least three years.
Training is conducted not only in the direction of the physical and combat training of a fighter, but it is also important to maintain a high level of the moral, psychological and ideological level of the special forces.
One of the distinguishing features of a special forces soldier from a regular soldier is his ability to perform combat missions autonomously in the most extreme conditions.
So, from the point of view of military art, the most effective way of obtaining intelligence is the work of specially trained groups in the enemy's rear, where the control points and important strategic targets of the enemy are located. Since the transportation of special forces soldiers directly to the objects of interest is difficult, reconnaissance groups have to secretly walk significant distances across the enemy’s territory, keeping them away from roads and settlements. In addition, since the operation can last quite a long time, the fighters have to move, having a rather heavy burden: equipment, equipment, provisions.
The ability to conduct combat operations autonomously, is necessary not only during reconnaissance, but also for sabotage operations. The sabotage groups, as a rule, are few in number, so they must be able to fight with the greatest efficiency: after all, most often, special forces do not have the opportunity to get reinforcements or retreat to previously prepared and fortified positions. After committing sabotage in the rear, they begin to hunt with all available forces and means of enemy units. In this case, the special forces must be able to make a decision as soon as possible and find a way to return to their base without losses.
It is believed that the breakdown of special forces forces abroad is an operation to seize the airport in Czechoslovakia in 1968. The plane on which the group of fighters was flying requested an emergency landing in Prague. It took several minutes to capture the airport from the special forces, after which the airborne division was deployed there. The commandos, seizing the building of the Czechoslovak government, carried out the delivery of the leadership of the country to Moscow. After this operation, no one had any doubt that it was necessary to have similar units in the military units of the regular forces.
Note that the Russian army special forces participated in many operations in the territories of Asia, Africa and Latin America. It wasn't immediately that American commandos understood who had managed to defeat their elite units in Vietnam in the village of Shawn Tei in 1970.
A classic operation for the Soviet special forces was an operation conducted at the American top-secret helicopter base in Cambodia. On site were 4 helicopter new modification, with the latest missile control system and targeting. The USSR special forces 9 not only secretly penetrated the guarded military facility, but also hijacked one of the newest helicopters, destroying the remaining ones. And all this under the nose of the famous American commandos.
Also brilliantly prepared was the operation of special forces units to capture the presidential palace Hafizuly Amin in Afghanistan. In addition to the KGB special forces, GRU special forces took part in the seizure. Six months before the operation, a group of Muslim fighters (Tajiks, Turkmen, Uzbeks) was formed in the GRU special forces unit. This group was secretly introduced into the palace guard. The capture of the palace was carried out in forty minutes. Until now, historians of this special forces operation are considered adventurous, but still it was a success.
At the beginning of hostilities in Chechnya, special forces were used exclusively in reconnaissance, but then due to poor training of ground units, special units of the fighters began to participate in assault operations and this led to large losses of personnel of these elite units. The special forces showed very good results in organizing ambushes against Chechen militants. With the outbreak of hostilities on the territory of Dagestan, special forces supplied regular troops with intelligence on military facilities, bases and Wahhabi positions. Arab, Pakistani and Turkish mercenaries fought on the side of the militants. The GRU Special Forces fighters, being on the front line of the war, had a good understanding of their methods of mining objects, radio exchange methods, evading pursuit and the order of organizing an ambush.
After the collapse of the USSR, difficult times came for the whole army, including special forces. The endless series of reforms and reorganizations caused special damage to the special forces units than during the military operations in Afghanistan and Chechnya: many units disbanded or transferred to Ukraine, Belarus and Uzbekistan. In these troubled times, special forces soldiers periodically went to various regions to destroy illegal formations.
From open sources it is known that today in the Russian power structures there are 9 special purpose brigades, the battalions "East" and "West". There are also units in various combat arms, which are trained similar to the GRU special forces fighters.
For all history the existence of special forces in these units had periods of recession and recovery. But one can say with confidence that people who have dedicated their lives to serving their people in special forces, are worthy followers of the traditions of the Russian officer corps and are true patriots of their homeland. And while they are in the ranks, the continuity of the generations of defenders of Russia is not lost.
Materials used:
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CF%EE%E4%F0%E0%E7%E4%E5%EB%E5%ED%E8%FF_%F1%EF%E5%F6%E8%E0%EB%FC%ED%EE%E3%EE_%ED%E0%E7%ED%E0%F7%E5%ED%E8%FF_%D0%EE%F1%F1%E8%E9%F1%EA%EE%E9_%D4%E5%E4%E5%F0%E0%F6%E8%E8
http://topwar.ru/8087-specnaz-gru-elita-voysk-rossii-ot-rozhdeniya-do-raspada.html
http://clubs.ya.ru/4611686018427439455/replies.xml?item_no=18323
D / f "Our name is SPECIAL TROOPS!". TV channel "STAR"
All heard about them, but very few people represent. What is the mask of a special forces soldier? Sweat, blood, pain, constant overcoming of yourself ... What is behind the spectacular frames of lightning operations? Thousands of hours - field exits, shooting, jumping, diving, climbing in the mountains ... There are no random people in army special forces. And the “best of the best” rubber stamp for these people is a documentary fact! Spectacular scenes without stunt and doubles. About special forces from the first person. In the frame only active fighters. Behind the scenes - the voices of only those whose faces usually can not be shown.
All heard about them, but very few people represent. What is the mask of a special forces soldier? Sweat, blood, pain, constant overcoming of yourself ... What is behind the spectacular frames of lightning operations? Thousands of hours - field exits, shooting, jumping, diving, climbing in the mountains ... There are no random people in army special forces. And the “best of the best” rubber stamp for these people is a documentary fact! Spectacular scenes without stunt and doubles. About special forces from the first person. In the frame only active fighters. Behind the scenes - the voices of only those whose faces usually can not be shown.
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