Soviet aircraft losses in afghanistan book

Entries are listed below in alphanumeric order 1toz. This is a list of aircraft that were shot down during the cold war. Also i think the name should probably be list of soviet aircraft losses in afghanistan. The united states donation of antiaircraft missiles to the mujahadeen fighters caused major losses to soviet aircraft and troops. The aircraft was from patwing 5 from naval air station brunswick and was assigned to ctf57 in afghanistan. List of coalition aircraft losses in afghanistan project. Given its length, 19791989, its place as part of a major conflict during the cold war, and not least that it was also predominantly a counterinsurgency air campaign, it should have been of particular interest. The afghanistan war and the breakdown of the soviet union rafael reuveny and aseem prakash1 abstract. The shoulderfired, heatseeking missile supplied to the afghan resistance by the cia during the soviet invasion of afghanistan, is capable of bringing down lowflying planes and helicopters. List published below covered about 6070% losses up to 1985 and 100% soviet losses for the period 19851989 also some losses of our afghani friends are mentioned. A russian soldiers story by vladislav tamarov a photo diary, with short essays. Primer on russian afghan war, 19791989, lessons learned.

During the last years of the cold war, the soviet union sent some of its most elite troops to unfamiliar lands in central asia to fight a vaguely defined. The soviet war in afghanistan, 1979 1989 the atlantic. Soviet equipment losses for the entire war included 118 jets, 333 helicopters. This conflict illustrates several lessons which the marine corps should study. The suddenly escalating costs of aircraft losses became a major additional drain on the costs of the war and many analysts believe the unsustainable aircraft losses caused by the stinger was the primary catalyst to cause the soviet union to withdraw from the war. Soviet war in afghanistan simple english wikipedia, the. The soviet war in afghanistan in pictures, 19791989. The data comes from thousands of separate documents and reports from different archives, examined and compared over a number of years by an expert team of historians in moscow, whose aim is to shed. Soviet equipment losses included 118 jets, 333 helicopters, 147. I have an excellent book on the mi24 that i think includes chassistail numbers and fates of aircraft. For more information on american, vietnamese and chinese aircraft shot down in the vietnam war, see us air combat losses in the vietnam war and us air combat victories in the vietnam war 29 august 1945 soviet pilot zizevskii, flying a yak9 frank, damaged a us army air. Baumann when on 2425 december 1979 soviet forces invaded afghanistan, they intended to conduct a. The following is a partial and unofficial list of helicopter and airplane crashes that occurred during the soviet war in afghanistan of 197989.

Soviet invasion of afghanistan 19791989 by karen ni and kavita shah d block. On december 24, 1979, the soviet union invades afghanistan, under the pretext of upholding the sovietafghan friendship treaty of 1978. The united states also expressed its opposition to the soviet occupation by boycotting the olympics in moscow in 1980. Afghanistan is russias vietnam possibly with even greater consequences for the soviet union.

General assembly called for withdrawal of soviet forces. List of aviation accidents and incidents in the war in. Soviet invasion of afghanistan, military action carried out in late december 1979 by soviet troops. Long term effects costed soviet union billions of dollars of debt which. The soviet union intervened in support of the afghan communist government in its conflict with anticommunist muslim guerrillas during the afghan war 197892 and remained in. But the list really needs to cite a source webpage book. The air campaign was commanded by usaf lieutenant general chuck horner, who briefly served as. Over 15,000 soviet troops were killed in afghanistan from 1979 until 1989. A russian general however claimed the united states greatly exaggerated soviet and afghan aircraft losses during the war.

At one point, late in the war, rebels were reportedly downing nearly one soviet aircraft every day with stinger missiles. Also lacking was more detail on the mujahideen perspective on the war. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. There are a total of 15 sovietafghan war aircraft 19791989 entries in the military factory. Backed with a variety of government affiliated superhero teams and rather advanced technologies. Bbc news south asia soviet lessons from afghanistan.

Contract aircraft, nonmilitary aircraft losses october 19, 2012. Soviet casualties and combat losses in the twentieth. This book reveals real figures of casuaties and combat losses of the red army through the 20th century showing concrete deta and analysis,in which stand is fair and honest. This is a list of notable fixedwing military air combat losses since the end of the vietnam war grouped by the year that the loss occurred. Soviet invasion of afghanistan a case of mission creep, according to new book and original soviet documents the dead end published in english for the first time national security archive electronic briefing book no. Russian armed forces casualties in syria wikipedia. The breakdown of the soviet union surprised most scholars of international relations, comparative politics, and soviet politics. The air campaign of the gulf war, also known as the 1991 bombing of iraq, was an extensive aerial bombing campaign from 17 january 1991 to 23 february 1991. Soviet casualties and combat losses in the twentieth century. Soviet air confrontations with pakistan air force during sovietafghan war.

Initially the rebels were successful, moving close to kabul, kandahar and jalalabad. Part of the cold war, it was fought between sovietled afghan forces against multinational insurgent groups called the mujahideen, mostly composed of two alliances the peshawar seven and the tehran eight. List of soviet aircraft losses in afghanistan military. According to soviet figures, in 19871988, only 35 aircraft and 63 helicopters were destroyed by all causes. Iraq, germany and japan compared us occupation of haiti, 19151934. Pilots made bombing runs at greater height, thereby diminishing the accuracy of the attacks, but the rate of soviet and afghan aircraft losses did not change significantly from what it was in the first six years of the war. Summary the air war in afghanistan has provided us with a good look at soviet war fighting methods and capabilities. As long as were speaking of monsters, why not quote stalin who, in the murder department, made alexander look like a piker. Soviet interest in afghanistan dates back many years, and russian involvement even longer. For military aircraft lost due to accidental causes, refer to the list of notable incidents and accidents involving military aircraft. The guerrilla mastery of the roads strangled the soviet efforts. Andrei sakharov openly said the action of soviet army in afghanistan was wrong. Us navy submarines losses, selected accidents, and selected incidents of damage resulting from enemy action, chronological us occupation assistance.

Aid totalling several billion dollars was sent by the soviet union to afghanistan, including military aircraft mig27s and scud missiles. Around two million afghan men, women and children died in the war. Soviet air confrontations with pakistan air force, during. But soviet losses, already above 10,000, kept mounting. Seemingly nothing was left out, except for one thing. Even now, 25 years after its collapse, almost all russian and ukrainian aircraft have their roots in the communist super state. Soviets were often the marvel villains whole cold war. List of soviet aircraft losses during the sovietafghan. The soviet war in afghanistan was a grueling debacle that has striking lessons for the twentyfirst century.

However, these statistics are based on mujahedin selfreporting, which is of unknown reliability. On the other side, losses of soviet air forces were incomparably higher they were gigantic. Soviet support for the najibullah government did not end with the withdrawal of the regular troops. I have not included aircraft shot down in war zones. In the great gamble, gregory feifer examines the conflict from the perspective of the soldiers on the ground.

Existing explanations attribute the breakdown of the soviet union to the reformist leadership of gorbachev, andor. In 1988, the soviet army left afghanistan after a concerted campaign by the westernbacked mujahideen. If you are interested go listen to this mans voice on npr, from ten years. The following is a partial and unofficial list of helicopter and airplane crashes that occurred during the soviet afghan war of 197989. In the war, the soviet army also lost hundreds of aircraft, and billions worth of other military machines. The pilot of a us oh58 kiowa, cw4 michael slebodnik, died of wounds after being shot in the leg while on a route recon mission in laghman province. Its retreat is an epochal event, the culmination of an american policy begun under jimmy carter and. Stinger missiles forced the soviets out of afghanistan and. Given its length, 19791989, its place as part of a major conflict during the cold war, and not least that it was also predominantly a counterinsurgency air campaign, it should have been of particular interest in the last decade. Apart from strange airfield losses, combat losses of soviet air forces were times as high as those of the enemy all the figures below are taken from the wwii soviet air forces in figures collection of documents. In the annals of airpower, the soviet air campaign in afghanistan is curiously littlestudied.

The first official deployment of the soviet army into the kingdom of afghanistan began dec. Soviet tanks withdrawing from afghanistan after suffering heavy losses 18. Helicopter crews switched their operations to night raids since the mujahideen had no nightvision equipment. In late december 1979, the soviet union invaded afghanistan. Soviet intervention in afghanistan ii by 1982, the operational maneuver base element for a raid operation had become a reinforced battalion. The resultant escalating costs of soviet aircraft losses became a major additional drain.

Barnett rubin said in his book, the fragmentation of afghanistan. Finally, the guerrillas received the stinger shoulderlaunched air defense missilea very effective weapon against low flying aircraft. Us president barack obama is still deciding whether to send in thousands of us reinforcements. Soviet casualties and combat losses in the twentieth century, by colonelgeneral g. Many analysts believe the unsustainable aircraft losses caused by the stinger was the primary catalyst for the soviet union to withdraw from afghanistan. The soviet war in afghanistan lasted nine years from december 1979 to february 1989. I will cross reference the data into this page when i get a chance.

In the middle of the last century, this rugged, mountainous country was the scene of much of. With conflicting signals this week about the direction of western policy in afghanistan, there is a hint of the same kind of panic and indecision. A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths are a statistic. The russian forces also consisted of 25 strategic bombers, 20 tactical bombers, 12 attack bombers, 8 fighter aircraft, 16 attack helicopters and various other aircraft. This list is intended for military aircraft lost due to enemy action during combat. Sovietafghan war aircraft 19791989 military factory. I know its different, thats always what youre told. Following the soviet unions direct intervention into afghanistan in december 1979, the war escalated rapidly, culminating in large battles involving massive use of tactical aircraft. For this period it is made more than 1 200 000 combat sorties, 114 planes and 333 helicopters are lost. The coalition of the gulf war flew over 100,000 sorties, dropping 88,500 tons of bombs, widely destroying military and civilian infrastructure. In total, at least 333 helicopters and 118 jets crashed during the war. The afghanistan war and the breakdown of the soviet union. The image of afghan resistance fighters shouldering stinger missiles and shooting down soviet aircraft became an icon of the latter years of the cold war era. The wide variety of possible battalion maneuvers included flanking and enveloping attacks as well as air assaults by.

Flag images indicative of country of origin and not necessarily the primary operator. The shoulderfired, heatseeking stinger was the stateoftheart man portable air defense system manpads at the time, and it did shoot down a number of soviet aircraft in afghanistan. Afghans stand around the canopy of a downed soviet jet in 1984. For a long time the soviet war information had been far from true,full of propagannda,almost useless for analytical study.