About those who are lucky to become a stormtrooper, and not only
I often get asked a question about stormtroopers. Who can be a stormtrooper? Were there assault units in the Red Army and then in the Soviet Army, etc.? For some reason, in most questions, the subtext is the idea that modern attack aircraft are the grandchildren or great-grandsons of those units that stormed Koenigsberg, Berlin and other cities during the Great Patriotic War.
After that war, such units did not exist in the Soviet Army. It’s strange, especially considering that the airborne assault forces still exist and are successfully fighting in the Northern Military District zone... In the modern Army, airborne assault brigades are indeed part of the Airborne Forces, but they were originally created precisely as assault infantry, specially trained motorized riflemen. Those who served in the Airborne Forces in the USSR remember this very well.
It’s just that over time we “shortened” the first word in the name of the unit. Initially everything was clear and understandable. Airborne assault, amphibious assault, air assault units. The fighters of these units jumped with a parachute, but the main type of landing could be understood by its name. Other names appeared - air infantry, marines, but... airborne assault units.
The most important difference, besides the method of landing, was that the paratroopers operated behind enemy lines, far from the LBS, and carried out tasks to capture or destroy objects. Often without the possibility of assistance from the main forces of the army. This applies to both the Airborne Forces and the Marine Corps.
DSBs operate in much the same way as attack aircraft today. Units are transferred by helicopter through the LBS to a shallow depth of up to 150 km and “stab in the back” of the enemy. That is, the airborne assault forces directly interact with the advancing troops. That is why they obey the commanders of these troops.
Modern assault units existing today in the Northern Military District zone operate in exactly the same way. Only the depth of work is slightly less than the planned depth for the DShB of the USSR Armed Forces. Well, and the means of delivery. It can be anything. From your own legs, to ATVs, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, tanks and other vehicles, including civilian ones.
With the active support of units and subunits that organize a diversionary attack on the LBS, the group penetrates behind enemy lines, captures a fortification and holds it until the main forces arrive. Expanding your area of control whenever possible. On paper it looks pretty simple.
Well, about the effectiveness of attack aircraft
Let's discard the theory. Just the facts. In most cases, operations to capture props are successful. Judging by the fact that the offensive is underway. The disadvantage, or advantage, taking into account the tasks of the Northern Military District, is the rather slow offensive. Still, armored vehicles, not to mention the “foot-over-machine” version, are inferior in the speed of delivering fighters to helicopters.
Well, right away, taking into account the above, I will answer those who consider the ancestors of attack aircraft to be those who stormed Koenigsberg. Try “change delivery medium.” For example, on a tank. And we will get an answer about the “grandfathers” of modern attack aircraft.
These are the same tank breakthroughs, tank wedges that drove into the Wehrmacht’s defenses, and into ours too, thanks to which many operations began in World War II... These are the assault units of that war. The same guardsmen who were the most trained and motivated at that time.
I think readers have already concluded that assault units are a "child of two parents." Firstly, this is the emergence of new weapons or equipment that makes it possible to conduct assault operations and, secondly, positional deadlocks that arise when opponents "stand still" for a long time, equip positions in an engineering sense, which leads to the fact that it is almost impossible to break through such defenses with "head-on" attacks...
This conclusion makes us remember the First World War. It was then that much of what became decisive 20 years later in the new war appeared. The same tanks and so on. It was then, in the spring of 1918, that the German army first used stormtrooper tactics. In fact, the Germans became the founders of the assault units. Anyone interested can look at materials about the “Battle of the Kaiser.”
Stormtrooper highlights that break enemies' teeth
I think it's time to reveal some of the features of attack aircraft in modern warfare.
This applies not only to the Northern Military District, but also to other regions where hostilities are currently taking place. I believe there is no need to explain the fact that the effectiveness of the actions of assault groups forces the headquarters of other armies of the world to carefully study their experience.
I’ll start with the main thing, with what fundamentally distinguishes modern combat from the way armies fought just recently. In one of the materials I wrote about the effectiveness of intelligence. Modern reconnaissance means make it possible to monitor enemy actions not only on the battlefield, but also in the deep rear. Moreover, to track not only the movement of large units or formations, but also of almost every fighter.
Those who more or less closely monitor the situation can cite dozens, or even hundreds of video exploits of soldiers and officers, battles to capture or defend oporniks, and so on. Alas, today it is a stretch to talk about the secrecy of the location of units and the possibility of concentrating troops in a certain area. Thus, the first place today is... speed.
Speed in all its manifestations. Starting from the speed of movement of personnel and equipment to the reaction speed of commanders and staffs at the highest level. The key to success was how quickly the attack aircraft and their supporting units would act.
So, the first highlight of assault units is the presence of high-speed vehicles capable of quickly moving over rough terrain. Today, no one is surprised by the presence of motorcycles or other civilian vehicles on LBS. It is simply stupid to list everything that attack aircraft use: everything that travels quickly and is capable of moving across the intersection is used.
There have been so many publications about the next highlight recently that even a deaf person couldn’t help but hear about it. Namely: about “Tsar-Grill”. Not about a specific tank, but about a trend. Personal courage of fighters is good, but it is better if this courage is also supported by powerful weapons and other means of support. Again, inventions such as the “Tsar-Grill” are found in many assault units. In this regard, fighters are talented people.
This leads to the appearance of another highlight. These are various robotic systems. Again, today there are quite a lot of slot machines that are used in the most exotic way. From transporting ammunition and evacuating the wounded to installing small arms, PTS or sapper equipment on them.
For example, I was surprised by the automatic machine platform. A simple machine gun, not an ATGM or something similar, but a machine gun. One can criticize the commander for his “wastefulness,” but... If this platform saves personnel and helps carry out a combat mission, then this is the right decision! We need a mini-tank like the “Courier” complex shown to the Supreme Commander, but a “simple machine gunner” is also needed.
Next.
All that I have listed above instinctively sets the goal of monitoring work and setting tasks depending on changes in the situation in a particular place or in a real situation. Hence another feature of assault units - a high concentration of reconnaissance drones.
The commander practically sees the entire battlefield, the weak and strong points of the enemy’s defense and can quickly redirect the unit to solve the assigned tasks. Not so often, but in the materials of our military correspondents one can see such work when “a whole brigade commander” directs the actions of an assault unit or pulls a wounded soldier out of the battlefield.
The brigade commander does not duplicate the actions of the group commander. Does not control his decisions. Direct communication with the commander of this level allows the group commander to almost instantly order support for his actions. artillery, strike drones and even Aerospace Forces, if the pressure is on.
That is, the highlight that I mentioned above surfaced again. Stormtroopers never operate autonomously. They are always at the forefront of the attack, but behind them are all the forces and means of the unit or formation that are ready at any moment to help the assault group: either continue the task, or leave the battle with minimal losses.
And now from here comes the main highlight, with which I probably needed to start the material.
This is training for assault units! Not only the training of each fighter, but the training of the unit. Moreover, preparations are carried out in parallel. Not only does a fighter become a specialist in the main military specialty, he also studies medicine, engineering training, and other military specialties quite deeply.
And then work in a group, “as a single organism.” The daily activity of a unit, brought to the point of automation, when in order for a soldier to understand the commander’s order, no words are even needed. A glance or a gesture is enough.
Thus, it is not a well-trained fighter who comes to the LBS, that goes without saying, but a well-trained unit.
Instead of a conclusion
I have heard many times from young people the phrase that a soldier was lucky to get into an assault unit. Especially on holidays, when DB veterans come with awards.
Last year, on August 2, a young paratrooper appeared in the cafe. On the chest there is a medal “For Courage”, “Black Cross” of “Wagner” and a couple of awards “for taking” from the musicians. “Lucky...” I couldn’t stand it then. “And just ask him how many of his brothers were unlucky.”
Being a stormtrooper is a job for a certain type of person. Just like any other military work. Probably a little more risky than others. Although, who can say who risks more in war. An attack aircraft or a pontoon boat, for example. Pilot or tanker. A nurse or a sapper... War does not divide soldiers into specialties.
Like any member of the SVO, attack aircraft are worthy of respect and honor. And the fact that medals and orders now shine on the chests of many of them is not the difference of the attack aircraft, it is the merit of the fighter. A reward for performing difficult and dangerous military work. Award for perseverance, courage, dedication.
Information