The site editorial RUSSIAN DOSOR received the following letter from reader Vyacheslav:
Good day! If you have the opportunity to bring the following information to the command of the DNR and the LC, I will be grateful to you. The following are some of the considerations for the experience of past wars.
In view of the lack of a large number of armored vehicles and the nature of the Donbass area in the army of Novorossia, it would be wise to adopt the tactics of the Chadian-Libyan conflict and the Libyan war, namely the massive use of civilian vehicles: pickups or any off-road vehicles equipped with them. Preference is given to frame off-road vehicles with large internal volume and good maintainability (for example, “UAZ-patriot”). The cars are completely cut off the top to improve the view and sector of fire, all windows, except for the frontal ones, are removed; whenever possible, the driver’s seat (door, car forehead) is reinforced with armor cut from broken armored vehicles and screwed onto M12 bolts… .16, or plates of body armor. In the absence of the latter, in front of the bumper and on the front doors a thick sheet of iron with a thickness of at least 5 mm must be strengthened. Boards can also be additionally booked or enhanced with iron sheets, depending on engine power and suspension stiffness. The machine is installed on the floor and is welded to the supporting elements of the welded frame, made of pipes or angle; can be used and regular turrets and machines, which are mounted weapons. These can be machine guns "Cliff", "Kord", KPV (T) (in the case of using KPVT, the machine gun is being developed by installing handles and sighting devices), various anti-aircraft guns. In addition to machine-guns, the machines can be equipped with launchers of unguided missiles (NURS) on self-made guides. According to the experience of using NURS in Libya, even regular blocks of NURS helicopters can be used for this purpose. Various recoilless guns, launchers, mortars can also be installed. And, of course, they can be installed Igr-type air defense systems, turning the car into a kind of anti-aircraft complex, which has high mobility. The experience of recent wars has shown that machines equipped in this way have a significant advantage over even Hummers or their counterparts due to their mobility, maintainability and versatility of the tasks to be solved. For the same purposes, a loaf, any small trucks and their chassis can also be used. The tactics of using techniques prepared in this way are based on the guerrilla tactics of “hit-run” - the fastest possible advancement of several vehicles (or two or three groups with mutual cover from different directions), possibly with troops, to enemy checkpoints / positions under the cover of “green stuff” and terrain folds; powerful shelling from on-board armaments and the withdrawal of attacking groups under cover of their positions in the task of “raid” and complete destruction and cleansing of enemy positions with troops in the task of destroying the group or positions of the enemy. The combat experience of using such vehicles shows that with their massive and active use, the enemy’s advantage in manpower (especially when it is poorly prepared) and armored vehicles is leveled. aviation and just as quickly change their location after shelling air targets. In addition, such machines are extremely effective when firing NURSs in areas, because they have the ability to quickly and covertly advance to positions, and after firing - quickly leave their positions.
Quite frequent cases of the death of fighters as a result of the shelling of unarmored trucks also require additional reinforcement, as shown, in particular, by Chechnya and Afghanistan. Below is a variant of the improvised rework and amplification of the truck used in Chechnya. First of all, it is necessary to alter the body. Boards and awning should remain as they were. The boards themselves are strengthened as follows: a corner is welded to the floor of the tailgate body so that a rim ten centimeters high is formed. Through the same corner of the floor in the car is divided into equal squares approximately 100 * 100, see these cells are covered with clean sand. From above - a metal sheet with a thickness of at least 5 mm. This should protect against small fragments, ricochets from below, and mines from below. The boards at a distance of 8-10 cm are also reinforced by a sheet of steel with a thickness of at least 5mm. The gap is also filled with clean fine sand without impregnations of stone and pebbles. The top of the board can be edged with a channel. The tailgate should also be reinforced with a cast iron with a thickness of at least 5 mm, and its height should be higher than the standard board on the 30-40 cm, which will provide good protection from behind. Regular constipation should also be removed and replaced with reinforced, opening from the inside. This is necessary in order for the tailgate to be quickly deployed, and the landing party to leave the body. The loopholes can also be made in the sides, so that the landing force can fire along the vehicle without having to lean out of the side, without leaving the body, if this is not necessary. In addition, in the body can be installed additional tanks for fuel to increase the range of the truck without additional refueling. For this, tanks are equipped with taps to drain fuel into the main tank. The tent itself must also be redone. For this, all fastening loops are cut (or bent), the wire is sewn into the bottom of the awning along its entire length. Each 30-40 cm in the bottom of the tent in the hole is sealed eye. For every two eyes, a check is made of steel wire with a ring under the arm, which passes into a hole in the board. Four plates are welded on a stand-arc in two places under an awning. The spring fixed to the cover is attached to the eye in the center of the arc through the hole in the awning, the plates under the awning are not allowed to come off. If necessary, the bottom of the tent can be dramatically pulled out. Under the action of the spring awning sharply bulging on the roof of the body, providing a full overview. Alteration of the awning of this kind is necessary not only for quick cleaning of the awning, but also to disguise any truck under the usual "civilian" transport. When the machine approaches the target, or it catches up any single vehicle of the enemy, the awning rises abruptly and the landing force unexpectedly attacks from the body, using the surprise factor, thus providing a kind of “mobile ambush”.
Due to the fact that the enemy began to actively use aviation, the movement of large forces requires the dispersal of troops on several vehicles, while it is more desirable to use pick-ups, "natural" or self-made, than large trucks.