Paratrooper equipment. The form of the Airborne Forces of the old and new sample: demobilization and parade. The new form of the Airborne Forces in Russia

In 1979, the Afghan war began. She became a test not only for Soviet technology, weapons and tactics, but also for equipment.
It immediately became clear that Soviet equipment was not very suitable for this war.

Work began on its improvement. But before we look at what came out of it, I will share some thoughts.

The Soviet army was preparing for a big war with NATO in Europe, similar to World War II. Everything was sharpened for this task - weapons, equipment, tactics and, of course, equipment. It looked something like this - the soldiers are taken to the front line in infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, or at least on trucks, and after an air strike or artillery preparation, they run into enemy positions. Well, or they are sitting in the trenches, reflecting the oncoming NATO. For these conditions, Soviet equipment was, in principle, sufficient.

All property was transported on vehicles, and four stores in the pouch should have been enough for a fight.

The Afghan war turned out to be completely different. Here, the soldiers had to walk a lot on terrain impassable for vehicles, and all the property - food, water, warm clothes, sleeping bags, appliances - as well as ammunition, drag on their own hump.

The Americans in Vietnam found themselves in a similar situation, and to their credit, they quickly adapted the equipment. There were incredibly successful jungle boots, tropical uniforms, equipment made of nylon that did not rot in the damp heat, large backpacks and much more. We've been doing worse...

The equipment and armament of any army depends primarily on the concept of warfare by this army, and weapons and equipment of a fighter are created for this. The USSR, starting in 1945, was preparing for one type of war: a war in the European theater of operations with mobile formations under conditions of limited use of tactical nuclear weapons.

Those. the main type of hostilities is maneuvering with masses of armored vehicles, and not counter-guerrilla actions (such as sitting in a field, or at checkpoints in order to control as much territory as possible).

The USSR planned to achieve victory in such a war in 2-3 weeks, after the start of hostilities.

As for Afghanistan, there the army had to wage a counter-guerrilla war, for which it was not very prepared, both in terms of tactics and strategy, and in terms of equipment.

The US Army found itself in similar conditions a little earlier (Vietnam), therefore, by the 80s, their point of view on soldier equipment was different from the Soviet one, i.e. they assumed that their army in the future would wage not only the 3rd World War, but also local wars in which soldiers would have to spend a long time in the field (in fact, live in the field!), And not just in the barracks and on the march .

The photographs show the images of Soviet paratroopers in the DRA

Images of fighters of the 154th separate special forces detachment of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the USSR

First set: reconnaissance detachment SpN GRU GSH

Jump suit for special forces of the first type (Mabuta 1) with a cap
Vest
kimra sneakers
RD-54 without pouches


Airborne command watch)

Second set: reconnaissance detachment SpN GRU GSH
KLMK "Birch"
Mabuta cap
Jump boots for special forces
RD-54 without pouches
chi-com (in the HP-2 pouch sticks out)
AKS-74 with PGO-7V2, harness and IPP
plastic flask in a case
district R-126
Holster for PB

Third set: reconnaissance detachment of the Special Forces of the GRU General Staff in mountain uniforms.

Mountain-storm suit (USSR) of the second type
Army mountain boots with triconi
Soviet olympic
Mabuta cap (balaclava + NS-3 goggles)
RD-54 without pouches
raincoat tent army
chi-com
AKS-74 with PGO-7V2, harness and IPP

Fourth set: reconnaissance detachment SpN GRU GSH

KZS (Protective Mesh Suit)
Cap from the set of the Field uniform of the sample of 1984 ("Afghan").
Stomil sneakers (Polish People's Republic)
Unloading vest "Belt-A".
Portable, knapsack, simplex VHF FM radio station "R-126"
AKMS assault rifle with silent and flameless firing device "PBS-1"


Scout knife "NR-2
Compass "Andrianova"

Army plastic flask 1.5 liters

Fifth set: reconnaissance detachment SpN GRU GSH

KLMK jumpsuit with a pattern of early releases (until the mid-70s)
Cap from the set of "jumping suit for special forces" ("mabuta")
Sneakers "Stomil" (Polish People's Republic)
Unloading vest "Belt-A"
Landing backpack "RD-54"
Portable, knapsack, simplex VHF FM radio station "R-126"
AKMS assault rifle with silent and flameless firing device "PBS-1"
IPP - individual dressing package
Rubber hemostatic tourniquet
Scout knife "NR-2"
Compass "Andrianova"
Army aluminum flask 0.75 liters

154 OOSPN before flying to combat

The equipment of the Russian and Soviet soldiers is actually a "parable of the town". Who just didn’t kick our highest command and rear bodies, who adopted certain items of equipment, equipment and everyday life into service with the Russian, Soviet and again Russian army.

True, I do not have the slightest desire to develop and supplement this topic, so below I will focus only on the items of equipment used during my service (including in Afghanistan and the Transcaucasus), both by the Soviet troops and our enemy. I will try my best to illustrate all of the following.

Let's start, as usual, with a hat - everyone saw a winter headdress, but I remind you - a soldier's hat with earflaps was made of artificial cheburashka, it looked like this

The officer's was from tsigeika and looked like this

A variant with a cockade of the Airborne Forces is presented, but in Afghanistan often both soldiers and officers wore on their hats the insignia they were not supposed to wear according to the Rules for wearing military uniforms, but an ordinary green field star from panama (caps) or a star from the field shoulder straps of senior officers

However, it also happened - ensign Yevgeny Lutsky in a soldier's hat with an asterisk

or a field cockade from a cap for officers

officers Suvorov, Kolodkin and a number. (future foreman) Oleksyuk Yu. Photo by Evgeny Lutsky

here is a mountain sweater and a mask. The mountain sweater was part of the mountain outfit (it is interesting that there are people who claim that the sweater in the mountain set was similar to the camel wool diving sweater, see comments to the article), here is a late sample of it, since the trousers are without a valve. Dated 1988.

And this is my jacket, transferred at the request of the leadership on 04/07/2014 to the museum of the Omsk Cadet Corps (former "alma mater" - Omsk VOKU)

The sweater, since it is in the photo, is from a mountain outfit, and the masks were often used as ordinary ski hats. But back to headwear. In the summer in Afghanistan, the Soviet army used two main similar items - a cap and panama.

There were no pilots, more precisely, they appeared on the input, and then on the output in 1988 - it was a semi-anecdotal story! In connection with the withdrawal of troops from the Republic of Armenia, fighters from the Central Asian training camps began to be sent to Germany. But then separate groups were nevertheless sent to their destination. One of these teams, suitably equipped, arrived at our airfield. And then one boychila in a cap, staring at the distant mountains, asked the airfield natives: “How far is it to Berlin?” Everyone lay down with laughter...

A whole set of exotic headwear for Afghanistan - two caps and a jump helmet. 1980 year (186th regiment, then - 66th brigade). Photo by Sergey Pavlov. Provided by Christenzen Yuri.

But I will continue Panama

of course, it was more effective due to the presence of fields, but, in general, both headdresses were almost equivalent.

Below is a cap with a green field star, which fighters almost always attached to a winter hat.

Border camouflage", i.e. summer and winter uniforms of the KGB PV of the USSR:

border panama

in my opinion, this headgear was much more convenient and rational than combined arms. Panama was camouflaged, however, like almost everything in the Soviet army - only two-color colors, but it had wider fields, and on the right side there was a button for fastening half of the field if the need arose to "attach" to the machine

The stigma on panama hats, as well as on the bulk of the uniforms going to provide OKSVA, was the factory named after Akhunbabaev in Tashkent.

There were also such mold manufacturers:

"Ahmadshakhovka" or "Pashtunka", as well as "dushmanka", "pancake" or even "two pancakes" (officially this is a Pashtun headdress called "pakkul", "pakol" or "chitarli"), the spirits did not differ much from the usual headdress headdress, and here is a turban! I would like to sing a hymn to this modest item of oriental clothing! This headdress is wound around the traditional Pashtun skullcap - kulo, kule (possibly from "gul" - a pointed embarrassed Persian hat, new-Persian kūlah hat, helmet) - below is an image of Kandahari "with a cutout in the frontal part in the form of a curly bracket , decorated with rhinestones, beads and sewn-in mirrors

And the turban itself is made of translucent silk or raincoat-type fabric, with which you can wrap your face, leaving only a slit for your eyes and thereby protect your nasopharynx from the abundant dust raised in deserts and semi-deserts by the movement of troops and caterpillars of armored vehicles. This headdress has several more functions - it is used as a cape from dust and rain due to its large size - about one and a half by three meters, and also instead of a shroud when a person needs to be buried. As they say, "I carry everything with me"! Officers went to combat reviews with such items. There is even a list of mandatory items for a drill review

However, they rarely took on log bags. The presence of an artillery circle betrays that this bag belonged to some kind of "God of War"!

True, there is no MPL-50 line, apparently, they wore it in boots at reviews))) On the "combat" they also wore cotton uniforms (HB), of which there were several types in Afghanistan, and half-woolen (PSH), some took special forces for war, mountain and even the old dress uniform, as well as KZSs

KZSs, as well as border camouflage, as well as protective combined-arms overalls, were two-color - on a rather light green background there were gray or light green spots, similar in shape to oak leaves drawn on a computer (a characteristic structure consisting of squares, i.e. pixels), although there were problems with computers at the time it was created. The tricolor camouflage, which is now used everywhere, in Afghanistan was only among the "feathered" - pilots and sometimes the technical staff of the Air Force. Personally, I almost never wore all of the above uniforms - my choice was the special forces "sand", and the very first sample - with patch chest pockets and without amplifiers on trousers produced by the Klepikovskaya garment factory (Ryazan region), here it is, now it is also called Mabuta- one:

This is what she looked like in 1988. And this is how she looks now:

When her knees were worn out, I was forced to sew on amplifiers as on the more “fresh” “sands” of 1981 (there were no amplifiers on the old uniform of 1973 with open buttons shown in the photo) Medical kit. Around 1986, except for the plastic orange "individual first aid kits" (AI) that looked like this

in which each warrior should ideally have a few handfuls of pills and two or three syringes, other first-aid kits appeared.

In this piece of equipment, if such a desire arose, it was possible to put several IPPs - individual dressing bags, as well as a rubber tourniquet (if desired), since most often it was wound around the butt of a machine gun

But these first aid kits also did not take root, although I still managed to photograph one of them. Basically, all the fighters and commanders carried their contents in their pockets.

after the dam, we are talking about these fighting text here, so as not to be confused later, signed this IPP and always took it with me to the fighting, as exceptionally happy. I never had to use it, even there were never any wounded in my units. Truly a precious relic! We usually cut the harnesses from a car inner tube - the vulcanized "self-propelled gun" did not decompose in the sun as much as the delicate factory-made harnesses made of multi-colored rubber and equipped with touching white polyethylene "pegs". In addition, in some incomprehensible way, in addition to the usual medical tube that I carried with me instead of a tourniquet, interesting pills were preserved

These are "Puritabs", English, an analogue of our "Akvasept" with "Pantacid" (the same vile chlorine taste), "Oxacillin sodium salt" - an antibiotic. There were also some pills, I don’t remember the names, designed to not want to sleep - perhaps sydnocarb (a very dangerous thing) there is also a psychotropic drug in the photo - the tranquilizer Trioxazine. All the pills usually lay in this case

This metal box is actually from the MS-4 mine, I remember that someone “rolled” the case for me from it and exactly for medications. A very remarkable thing is presented here

an ingenious invention of Japanese technical thought. You can shoot even with a broken finger. However, the little thought gnaws latently - maybe the samurai also copied it from Science and Life and subsequently patented it, like one brilliant Japanese businessman who made a fortune on this magazine? And here

another subject is presented, and approximately from the same opera. I had to take all sorts of syringes on caravans, but I liked the Danish ones most of all, from the Pharma-Plast company, for some reason there were more of these - for three "cubes", with an elastic band on the piston and with a screw-on needle, I didn’t happen to see anywhere after the war

Soviet syringes with a case for carrying and sterilizing them looked like this

And this is a box from the same Soviet one, so healthy for 20 cubes (with the manufacturer):

The soldier's equipment included, in addition: personal weapons, equipment, as well as ammunition in pouches or a Chinese or Iranian bib. The Chinese were of two types: "Type - 58" and "Type-63" during the Vietnam War, they received the name "Chi-Kom" - Chinese Communist. "Type-58" differed from "Type-63" in the absence of pockets for grenades, otherwise these samples were identical. They were sewn from a poisonous green tarpaulin, fastened with wooden clasps (lugs). Iranian ones were similar to Chinese ones, but without a rubber base. There were also Soviet "bras" at the final stage of the war.

The photo shows the "belt - A sample of 1987", i.е. "bra" of Soviet production. There were three versions of it - with toggles, open buttons and closed buttons. In addition, among the belongings of my predecessor, Lieutenant Andrey Dorokhin, who was killed in action in April 1988, I happened to see the Soviet "unloading" - a rather "stunted" vest made of raincoat - tent fabric with pockets for magazines, grenades, signal smoke and lights. According to Commander Tolstov, this piece of experimental equipment did not take root in our company from the first day - that is, from the moment the battalion units entered the very first operation where it was used. And here he is - photo courtesy of Viktor Rudenko - deputy editor of the Voronezh "Commune" this sample is called "BVD" - the paratrooper's combat display - below is a memo on caring for it.

Each soldier had two one and a half - liter polyethylene flasks with water

characteristic only for those hot regions, but for "combat" operations in technology, they usually took only one plastic or eight-hundred-gram aluminum one. Here's one -

In some units, units, as well as individual soldiers and sergeants, there were bowler flasks -

The armament of all servicemen of the Soviet army consisted of a machine gun, or an SVD rifle (I never had a chance to see the SV in Afghanistan as part of the Soviet troops) or a RPK machine gun, but more often a PK. There were three snipers, as well as SVD sniper rifles, in the platoon. Although the division had a non-standard, "consolidated" sniper company, our best shooters who had completed "training" in this specialty or were already assigned to this position in the unit were in the platoon. Although, in principle, the "sniper war" in the form in which it was conducted during the Great Patriotic War was not particularly practiced either by us or by our enemy. Perhaps there was some kind of "gentleman's agreement" between the leadership of the warring parties on this matter?

Machine guns, and they could be AK74, AKS74, AKM or AKS74U, were considered personal weapons, and all military personnel were armed with them, including often those who had to carry light machine guns, pistols and RPG-7 grenade launchers, including NSV and AGS crews . There were few light machine guns in the units, for example, in my platoon - only one, which was complete with the NSPU night device, and RPG-7 were absent at all, once upon a time they were handed over to the warehouse and were no longer received, and occasionally instead they were taken to combat disposable RPG-18 "Fly". Grenade launchers, both "22" and "26" were never seen in Afghanistan, and therefore the only grenade launcher that was widely used by military personnel was the GP-25 "Koster". Our troops also almost constantly used the automatic AGS-17 "Flame"

Of the "pocket artillery", the F-1 defensive grenade was the most popular, the offensive RGD-5 was used less frequently, and the RG-O and RG-N, although they were used, were not very willing, and were replaced by "efks" at the slightest opportunity. I don’t know what it was connected with, with me, these quite modern grenades with an instantaneous fuse never had a single failure. Perhaps they were not liked because they could be thrown at their feet to blow themselves up along with the enemies and avoid capture with only some assumptions, such as a mandatory flight for 2 seconds. True, we actually threw them almost exclusively "vice versa", that is, with a fuse not up in the hand, but down - towards us. These grenades had a built-in remote fuse of a special design, so they could mine anything also only with reservations. In the set of RG-O and RG-N there were disgusting performance (poorly opened) plastic caps for 4 fuses each.

On the left - capping for four fuses to RG-O (RG-N), on the right - capping for 10 UZRGM. I adapted the first one for storing any small things back in Afghanistan. And I didn’t manage to see the offensive RG-42 “beyond the river” at all, which was strange, since this grenade was much more powerful and “long-range” RGD-5 and in the GSVG I once observed the case of a soldier being hit by such a grenade at a distance of two hundred meters, and a fragment hit him right in the eye. On operations, except for cases when they acted on foot, they never took pistols: neither the PM, nor the APS, nor the PB or APB (AO-44) were popular due to the small firing range, and for silent fire, an automatic machine was mainly used AKM with "US" cartridges and PBS silent and flameless firing device. The photo shows only the former French F-1 hand grenade most beloved by our troops.

The magazine for the machine gun, perhaps, is depicted as "post-Afghan", but on the other hand, the "forty-five" adored by everyone from a light machine gun is presented. And here -

- a pure Afghan version, however, with certain "perversions" like cut sides to monitor the consumption of ammunition. All these stores were stacked together with grenades and signal, as well as lighting cartridges and ground smoke and lights.

Ground fire-smoke PSND, used in aviation both in "regular" and in such trophy pouches -

They were called differently everywhere. In our regiment, this pouch was called a "bra", in the 70th brigade it was called a "bib", and spirits were called "sinegi" with an accent on the last syllable. And here is a trophy spiritual butter dish -

I don’t remember what it was from and under what circumstances I got it. Isn't it from "Oerlikon"?

Shoes were presented quite widely, mainly either with boots with high berets of various modifications - yuft

hopping model 1973 (GOST 19137-73 in the photo on the right, left - sample 1989 - GOST 19137-89)

mountainous

(as a rule, with tricones removed - i.e. metal spikes), Czechoslovak for the Afghan army model M1960

These boots in Czechoslovakia itself were called "Canadian". The fact is that at the turn of the 20th century, the company BAT`A (read "dad") appeared, founded by Tomas Batya in Zlín. After the communists came to power in this country, its owners moved to the United States, they moved the company's headquarters to Canada (Toronto), where it is still located, and the design center and most of the factories have since settled in Italy. So in any case, this is the Czech-Slovak-Italian-Canadian company Bata, in Czechoslovakia the company created on its basis was called Sevo (“chebo” from České boty), and immediately after nationalization in 1945 - Svit (This is how the company founded to this day is called Tomas Batya is a city in Slovakia). Now the empire of this company consists of 40 shoe companies in 26 countries, Bata Shoe Co. sells over 300 million pairs of shoes annually...

04/07/2014 I donated the Italian version of this shoe to the museum of the Omsk Cadet Corps Or with ordinary boots. Most quoted were "experimental" boots (produced in Kyiv and Torzhok, Kalinin region), truly weightless and with corrugated soles.

"Experimental" boots with molded polyurethane soles made in the USSR

"Experimental" boots with a molded polyurethane sole made in the USSR with a different tread pattern. Both options had to be seen in Afghanistan, but this one was much less common Socks shown below are trophy

To be more precise - American. Not a bad weight, and most importantly, these items in everyday wear had a sufficient margin of safety, and the brand on them after the first couple of washes disappeared forever

According to the testimony of a specialist (speaking under the nickname 05Bravo2S) and individual servicemen of the American army, such socks were adopted by the American army back in the First World War and are still in service with it almost unchanged.

American winter underwear. For 50 percent of wool and cotton We slept during the hostilities, who, on what. One of the options -

- an American polyurethane mattress that I got from some enemy hospital. The inscription "RR" has been preserved, which undoubtedly means something like "resuscitation rums", that is, "resuscitation". In some units, mainly spetsnaz, there were special raincoats SPP-1 "Rain". When unfolded and inflated, it looks like this -

The same raincoat, folded and folded -

There were several types of their colors: either one side is light green, the other is yellow, or dark green with yellow, or light green on both sides. The version of "Rain" for the European theater of operations is dark green and with a white reverse side, as well as a special cape in Afghanistan has never been seen. All these items were packed or attached to duffel bags - the descendants in the Enza generation of ordinary Russian peasant "sidors", as well as a bag of the 1869 model for the Turkestan line battalions (the latter was regulated by an order of the Military Department of 1869? 149 and of 1914? 596) , as well as backpacks, etc. In addition, they usually loaded a lot of cartridges, grenades, ground lights and smoke, signal, incendiary and smoke and lighting cartridges.

Incendiary smoke cartridge ZDP. Device.
It looked like a 50-mm ZDP. If you pull the cord located on the side of the steel cup, the charge will fly away like an ordinary RSP or ROP, and, falling to the ground at 300-400 meters, it will smoke, and if you pull the cord from the opposite side (where the cardboard cup is located in the photo) and throw it into target with your hand - set it on fire. In the first case, you need to use the machine to stop and you can’t keep your hand on a paper square pasted on a steel glass at the time of the shot - it will burn your hand! Plus up to 1000 rounds of 5.45X39. In any case, such a small capacity as a troop backpack of the 1954 model of the year (RD-54)

prepared for action on foot in the mountains, and packed to capacity with ammunition, weighed about forty kilograms. Dry rations, introduced in 1941, we no longer found in the 80s (In the Red Army, the norms of daily allowance for dry rations per day per person were approved by the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks No. 1357-551ss of 15.05.1941 and Order NKO USSR No. 208 dated 05/24/1941 Introduced from 06/01/1941 and amounted to: Rye crackers - 600 g (black bread) Concentrated millet porridge - 200 g Concentrated pea soup-puree - 75 g Semi-smoked sausage "Minskaya" - 100 g - or dried/smoked vobla - 150 g - or feta cheese - 150 g - or dried fish fillet - 100 g - or canned meat - 113 g - or salted herring - 200 g Sugar - 35 g Tea - 2 g Salt - 10 d) Therefore, they used what was supposed to be at that time, i.e. "standards" (1 or 2) - ordinary army (400 gr. crackers or biscuits from wholemeal flour, 1 can of canned meat 250 gr. (or even 338 grams, as in the photo).

2 cans of porridge with meat, 250 g each, refined sugar, tea),

This is how he looked. Cans of porridge, however, was not one, but two. Here is another photo of Etalon-1 - although the photo shows a combined hodgepodge from standard 1 and mountain rations, but both cans of porridge are clearly visible. In addition, the label is separate.

Photo by Alexander Solntsev from the 56th dshbr.

So, the quote: “In the Armed Forces of the USSR in the eighties, dry rations were used, which consisted of a can of canned meat 250 g, two cans of “canned meat and vegetable” (buckwheat, pearl barley or rice porridge with meat) of 250 g each, a package of black crackers, several tea bags and 135 grams of sugar"

Usually there was "Aeroflotovsky" - the one in the middle.

But it could be any of these. The package contained 2 pieces of sugar with a total weight of 15 grams. Either mountain-summer or mountain-winter, here is the composition of the first (provided by Vladimir Grigorievich Ivanov):

This is how they looked. Major Dzugaev presents a prize (gp) to Ramil Faskhutdinov for victory in a strength exercise or the so-called standard-5 - the last one is shown in the photo below

the instruction was taken from the website of the 35th infantry brigade (the former "Osh" regiment of the 105th airborne division). As well as a can opener (“can opener”) from the last two (mountain or Etalon5), as well as a similar one from capping F-1 grenades (RGD-5, RG-42)

The composition of the mountain ration, enclosed in a solid cardboard box plus polyethylene, included (I am writing from memory): a 100 g can of canned meat, the same can of sausage pate and the same can of liver pate, also a 110 g can of condensed milk, three packs of flour biscuits wallpaper, one small cellophane bag of biscuits made from premium flour, a 140-gram can of apple-grape juice, a 350-gram can of fruit soup with rice - in fact it was dried fruit compote with boiled rice, dry fuel, salt, sugar, tea in sachets and enclosed paper with the composition of soldering and matches. Presented below (photo courtesy of Alexander Beshkarev)

I already wrote about the knife. The mountain-winter one differed from the mountain-summer one in that the jar with “compote” in it was replaced by a jar of semi-finished borscht with meat of a similar size, but in principle it could be eaten in the presented form

The composition of the experimental mountain-winter ration (from the album of V. Velin from Zaporozhye)

Such a ration was issued to the special forces of the GRU General Staff

But let's get back to what it was all about. In our battalion reconnaissance platoon, "spiritual" backpacks were special - all in belts, and below is a completely different copy.

- a sample, altered and improved by local craftsmen. I got this copy from the "spirit" who carried RPG ammunition in it, but exactly the same ones, according to the stories of Captain Shalkin, were taken by a company on a caravan. Below is a tag from it.

And the other side

The straps, however, are either AGS or mortar (felt sewn into cotton fabric), and the chest strap is from RD. With the help of it, by the way, if the shoulders began to "fall off", this bag could be reloaded onto the belt - for this it was only necessary to fasten the chest strap with a carabiner to the waist. The eyelets, by the way, were also transferred to the bag from the old airborne backpack, since there are no external laces and belts so beloved by us, designed to fasten items of equipment, except for the only one - to change the volume of the top of the bag, on this brainchild of the American-Chinese "military industry" was not in sight.

In addition, in the duffel bags of military personnel were often available:

- is it a case for ten detonator caps that has been famous almost since the Great Patriotic War? 8, and these are electric detonators -

Certain stocks of explosives were also placed there - either tola or plastite. The Soviet "plasticine", as I recall, was yellow, and the American one was green. And they burned on an open fire very, very intensely, leaving neither soot nor soot - we often used them when heating canned food instead of dry alcohol. And here is the last one - dry Soviet fuel:

Below it are matches - this time from the Bundeswehr. And with the help of this crap, everyone who was across the river had to drink water. The smell and taste after passing through this "adapt" was very "ssspytsfysssky":

The items of shoes for hands presented below, and everyone who served, perhaps, saw them and wore them on their upper (or maybe lower?) Limbs.

These vests were sometimes sold in a military store on the territory of Afghanistan - the label has not been preserved, but I remember that the material is 100 percent viscose

enlarged fragment

Interestingly, she was pale blue only again. As it was worn, the color changed to a more saturated one, and when this item was already to be thrown away, the vest was quite bright blue (with a greenish tint) in color. This is already from the 56th odshbr - cotton vest

summer and autumn, these garments were also in Afghanistan, but mostly "snotty" viscose was present. View of the landing vests from below -

i.e., the label

- but this is a legend - umm ... a Marykan down sleeping bag (mountain M-49), which stood out as a "GI" from the Vietnam War and until very recently. In such a standard army sleeping bag, often very greasy, tattered, inherited, I also had to sleep. Sometimes, right in the snow. It was warm, however, in it ... The brand on it -

And finally, a photo almost in full growth -

Veshchi, the warmest memories! True, it’s heavy ... One of our former compatriots, who recently served in the American army, said about him: “I managed to use such a sleeping bag before new systems were adopted a couple of years ago. Now these are three bags ... The first waterproof The second is light, like - summer, and the third - downy winter. "

And here is what the specialist writes about this: “The current modular ECWS sleeping bags are three-layer. Outside, there is a gore-tex cover, then the so-called patrol sleeping bag with a comfort mode of up to minus 10 and the third layer is a new ICW, up to minus 20. All this is assembled and makes up ECWS - up to minus 20, this is verified. The manufacturer claims that it is minus 40. The insulation is polar there ... A wonderful thing ... You can sleep in a puddle in the winter under wet snow and rain and wake up dry and warm. Before that, from the late 70s to In the late 90s, Americans had a system of two sleeping bags - ICWS for moderately cold and ECWS for extremely cold climates.There is some kind of synthetic insulation.They all have the same disadvantages - [large] volume.

No wonder backpacks, starting with the CFP-90, have huge compartments for a sleeping bag. Early sleeping bags are also caked and warm worse. "And here is not an item of equipment, or rather not quite an object, but it is somehow preserved in the annals of history -

Plates from body armor Zh-81 are presented, as far as I remember according to the performance characteristics - "... titanium, thickness 1.25 mm" (in fact, the brand was ADU-605-80, the titanium brand was VT-14). The four-kilogram body armor Zh81 (6B2) itself -

the bulk of which, with very rare exceptions, in any case, in our regiment were very shabby looking and almost devoid of titanium plates. One of them with the tag of our 4th MSR medical officer, Sergeant Khrapov, was issued from the clothing warehouse to my platoon in 1990 in front of Baku. And he conscientiously, "for the enetsy" time, saved the life of our soldier - this time a soldier of the 56th brigade. By the way, contrary to popular belief, it is not a titanium or ceramic plate that stops a bullet or a fragment in a bulletproof vest at all - they are intended only for the initial decrease in the speed of the projectile and its partial destruction, as well as the detention of stiletto-shaped objects of destruction such as an awl.

The fact is that a package of 30 layers of SVM-J fabric (ballistic fabric “special high-modulus”, art. 56319) is pierced by cold weapons very, very easily - the density of the fabric is low, and it is synthetic, and therefore its fibers easily diverge into sides! But after the armor plate has done its initial work, the further load to completely stop metal objects thirsty for warm human blood is carried by a package of SVM fabric, the Amyrykan analogue - "Kevlar" (or vice versa - the analogue of "Kevlar" - SVM fabric, however, these are all legends - both SVM and Kevlar are completely independent developments).

With a sufficient number of layers of tissue, they will completely extinguish the translational energy of the projectile, transforming it, however, into a huge "black eye" on the body of the defended. A fighter can even die from pain shock or cardiac arrest, but all this is very individual and is the flip side of the process of saving his priceless life. By the way, the ceramic plate presented here

from the "heaviest" Soviet body armor from the time of the Afghan war (6B4) holds the impact of two 5.45 bullets fired in a burst from about 3-4 meters - I personally conducted this "test" in the village of Nuvadi in Armenia in early March 1990, in order to to demonstrate to our fighters the reliability of our personal protective equipment. The most interesting thing was that in Afghanistan the factor that the SVM fabric when wet (that is, even from sweat) greatly reduces its "armor-protective" qualities was not taken into account at all. Therefore, subsequently, all fabric packages (usually 20-30 layers) of body armor began to be enclosed in sealed polyethylene, and before that (6B2, 6B3, 6B4) they were simply sewn into the nbsp; system. And below is the bulletproof vest 6B5 - a further development of 6B3 and 6B4:

I'm wrapping up on this for the time being. If anyone has photos that are not in the article - you are welcome to participate ...

http://artofwar.ru/m/maa/text_0400.shtml - link

Form: straight-cut breeches with a tunic on FOUR buttons, as well as a panama with boots with high tops (as they were called by the foremen) were in SAVO, TurkVO, ZabVO and EMNIP in a couple more districts. In general, Panama can be seen from the end of the thirties. See photos from Khalkhin Gol.

Bulletproof vests in Afghanistan were different, it seems that there were more than 50 varieties of them. In many parts there were aviation armor, which closed only in front of the fragments.

They were characterized by a “Spanish collar” (whoever sees in the photo will not be mistaken). Then heavier armor was introduced (for some reason we called them Czech). They were of two types and then began to be considered tank.

1st view - armor plates of the order of 8-10mm in front and behind. 2nd view is all the same, but behind the plates 3mm. when you are buttoned up as expected, the weight was not felt.

The summer form was the same in cut. It differed only in HB and glass. The glass was of two colors: the color of diarrhea, i.e. something brown and about the color of grass, ie. green, but more green than HB. In the middle of winter 85-86. an experimental form appeared (it was called a form with thirteen pockets).

Subsequently, i.e. from the 86th year, it began to be called the field uniform of the new sample. Despite a bunch of pockets, including, such as for shops, shops, it is impossible to wear there. To get in, they get in and out without problems, BUT it is impossible to walk with them, not to mention running.

One of the most recognizable things of that war is the new uniform. She was supplied primarily by troops stationed in Afghanistan, so in the Union she was nicknamed "Afghan", and in Afghanistan itself - "experimental". Compared with the form arr. 1969, it was not even a step, but a giant leap forward. Flat plastic buttons closed with a placket so that they do not come off when crawling. Lots of pockets including handy sleeve pockets. Drawstring at the waist, giving reason to think that this form was designed to be worn without a waist belt. Alas, monkey traditions won again, and the belt was worn until 2010, until they switched to a new “number” form. Finally, a modern design that doesn't make the soldiers look like aliens from the forties.
The winter version of the "Afghan" is a warm jacket and trousers with a cotton lining. The jacket had a faux fur collar. Heavy but very warm.

Despite the fact that, in terms of convenience and thoughtfulness, it did not reach the most modern American BDU form at that time, in general, the form turned out to be quite successful. Of the shortcomings, I note the narrow legs and sleeves.

The only detail of the "Afghan" that infuriates me is the stitched arrows on the pants in front. Why the hell did they need to be done - a person with a normal psyche cannot understand.
This cut, with minor changes, was adopted in our army until 2010, when the soldiers were dressed in a new pixel camouflage.

She began to appear in the army in 83-84. It was sewn from cotton fabric in at least three different shades - greenish, light sand (almost yellow) and universal khaki, suitable for both the Afghan mountains and the middle lane.

Shades of "Afghan" and "Oak"

In the second half of the eighties, camouflage uniforms began to appear in the Airborne Forces and the Marine Corps. The camouflage pattern is now referred to online as "oak" or "butane" after the R&D code "Butane" that developed the pattern. A later form (late 80s - early 90s) is found in different shades, as can be seen in the photo. There is such a joke - the shade of Russian camouflage depends on how much and what kind of paint was stolen from the factory.

Whether such a variety was caused by gouging in factories, or whether these were different options for different areas - I do not know.

The early "oaks" were of very good quality - they did not shed when worn and washed. According to rumors, either the fabric or the dyes were of Czech production, so another slang name for this form is “Czech”.

Afghan woman and Marine "oak"

The uniform for the marines cut did not differ from the Afghan. The uniform for the Airborne Forces had some differences.
The option for the Airborne Forces involved wearing a tunic tucked into trousers.

A story about uniforms would be incomplete without a description of such a legendary thing as a “hill”, or a mountain suit. Like "mabuta", it deserves a separate article, but I will confine myself to general information. "Gorka" consists of a jacket and trousers sewn from a tent fabric such as a thin tarpaulin, and, according to one version, originated from similar clothing of German mountain shooters during World War II. In summer, of course, it is a little hot in it, but in autumn and winter it protects well from moisture and wind. Before the advent of modern high-tech materials such as membranes and softshells, the “hill” was one of the most successful uniforms not only in the USSR, but, perhaps, throughout the world. It was worn mainly by special forces, it was not supposed to be for ordinary motorized riflemen.

"Hill", jacket

Gorka, pants

"Gorka" of the Soviet sample, Dagestan-1999

Soviet-style "hills" were also worn in the first Chechen war, but the first half of the 2000s became a truly high point for it. Then commercial manufacturers began to sew many modern versions of the "slide" and put them on the free market. "Gorka" was loved not only by the military, who bought equipment for business trips to Chechnya, but also by hunters, military enthusiasts and other civilians who go out into nature. "Gorka" has become the hallmark of Russian special forces, although there is already a trend towards more high-tech clothing. But in my opinion, the popularity of the "hill" will not decline soon.

The Afghan war also had an impact on soldiers' shoes. Jumping over mountains and deserts in boots turned out to be inconvenient. For the first time, high ankle boots began to appear en masse in the troops.

There were several models of berets. How comfortable they were, I don't know. The only thing I can say is that I wore the authorized berets of the Russian army of the 2009 model (manufactured by KosFD), which hardly differ much from those of that time, and they were uncomfortable. You go home from the forest - your feet are tired from the shoes, and you want to quickly take off these shitty dogs. I had no problems with other berets. The inconvenience of regular shoes is confirmed by the fact that the soldiers massively changed their shoes into sneakers and sneakers.

sneakers

Soldiers in sneakers.

In Afghanistan, body armor began to be introduced. There were also several models, which I will not undertake to describe. I can only say that they were introduced en masse, and not only in Afghanistan, but throughout the Soviet army.

In the Soviet army, except for duffel bags and RD-54, there were no backpacks. At all. Maybe the infantry doesn't really need them, but the scouts and special forces had to somehow get out. They sewed together two RD-54s, wore tourist and trophy backpacks.

Modified RD-54

Civilian tourist backpack, aka "Abalakovskiy", aka "kolobok"

But the biggest problems for our soldiers were with unloading systems, that is, equipment designed to carry ammunition.

Homemade unloading vest. 1983.

Homemade unloading vest. 1983. The seams made by hand are clearly visible.

Regular pouches were inconvenient, so “folk art” flourished in a riotous color. For example, they did unloading from life jackets that were included in the kit for armored vehicles. Pieces of foam were thrown out of them and magazines were worn instead. In the above photos of 1983, we see home-made unloading vests, presumably made from a large-sized field jacket of the 1969 model (so that it fits on the armor). We tear off the sleeves and sew on the bottom pockets for magazines - the unloading is ready.

http://encyclopedia.mil.ru/images/military/military/photo/iv-oksv00-11.jpg

Probably the most ingenious soldier's invention is unloading from a duffel bag, described on the airsoftgun.ru forum: http://airsoftgun.ru/phpBB/viewtopic.ph p?f=109&t=29636&start=100

We take a duffel bag, unzip it to get a strip of fabric. We cut a hole for the head and bend the "hem" in front and behind, stitch it - we got pockets for magazines. From scraps of straps we make valves for pockets and ties from the sides. This thing is put on over the head, like a bulletproof vest, fastened from the sides.

In fairness, I note that the person who described this homemade saw it not in Afghanistan, but already in the early 90s. When I first read this description, I was just in shock. It’s not even porridge from an ax, it’s literally “make candy out of shit”.

In the late 80s, such a design as the BVD appeared in the Airborne Forces - the paratrooper's combat display.

But she was not very successful, and there were few of them.

But the most popular unloadings were canvas bibs, called "bras" in army jargon. The bra can be called one of the symbols of the Afghan war, along with mountains, Kalashnikovs and Mi-24 helicopters.

Such unloading was invented, apparently, by the Chinese in the 60s or even 50s. And this invention was, I'm not afraid of the word, brilliant. This is like a Kalashnikov assault rifle in the world of equipment, an ideal in terms of price-quality ratio. It is quite convenient and at the same time very cheap and simple in design. Vietnamese guerrillas, Arab terrorists, and all kinds of African fighters could afford it - all those who could not be called rich and well-supplied. If a global catastrophe happens and civilization collapses, then a handful of survivors will climb the post-apocalyptic ruins and fight for the remnants of food. And they will sew themselves bras from randomly found rags. In a way, just an ode to the bra turned out.

So our soldiers, like post-apocalyptic fighters, had to somehow get their bras. They sewed themselves from raincoats. They sewed together pouches from RD-54 or ordinary infantry pouches. Officers, leaving on vacation, took samples and ordered from the studio. Captured trophies. To be honest, it doesn’t fit in my head: the warriors of a superpower that conquered half the world, sending ships to the moon, are forced to rob bare-assed savages, because their homeland did not bother to supply them with normal human equipment.

In the late 80s, Soviet bras of industrial production began to appear. They were called Belt-A. There was also a Belt-B, which was attached to the belt-A from below and served to carry shots to an underbarrel grenade launcher.

Homemade from infantry pouches

Homemade pouches RD-54

Factory belt-A and belt-B

Belt-A and belt-B

But these unloadings did not become massive. The mysterious Russian soul... There are more tanks to rivet than in all of Europe - please. It is easy to equip helicopters with Stinger protection in the shortest possible time. To dress the entire army in bulletproof vests (and they are not cheap) - yes, for God's sake. But to give a soldier a penny bra so that it would be at least a little easier for him - fuck you. Keep your grandfather's pouch and fuck with him how you want. And you can’t say that they didn’t care about the soldier - the same bulletproof vests saved more than one life. But there was almost no convenient equipment.

Perhaps, over time, the Soviet soldier would have received normal equipment. But the USSR collapsed, and there was no time for equipment. As the Strugatskys so aptly put it, "there was nothing at all." And the uniform and equipment of the Russian army is a completely different story.

PS. Photos used in the article:
from the albums of Alexander Mageramov http://artofwar.ru/m/maa/;
from the albums of the representative of the firm "Soyuzspetsosnaschenie"
http://photo.qip.ru/users/nabludatel70/ ;
photo from the site www.WW2.ru;
and many others.
I express my gratitude to the authors and owners of the photo.

Soviet army in Afghanistan

Special Forces of the GRU General Staff in Afghanistan

Afghan army

"Spirits" and their accomplices

The unusual nature of airborne operations dictated the development of the necessary specialized equipment, which in turn led to the expansion of the possibilities of military art in general.

The operations of the German paratroopers in World War II presented contradictory requirements for weapons and equipment. On the one hand, paratroopers needed high firepower, which they could demonstrate in battle in order to act decisively and with maximum efficiency, but, on the other hand, the arsenal available to them
was limited by the extremely low carrying capacity of landing equipment - both aircraft, parachutes and gliders.

During the landing operation, the paratrooper jumped from the plane practically unarmed, except for a pistol and additional bandoliers. When the paratroopers were introduced into battle by glider landing, the capacity and aerodynamic characteristics of the Gotha DFS-230 gliders dictated their limitations - the aircraft could accommodate 10 people and 275 kg of equipment.
This contradiction has never been overcome, especially in the part that concerns field artillery pieces and anti-aircraft guns. However, German companies with powerful technical resources, such as the Rheinmetall and Krupp concerns, found many innovative solutions to the problems associated with the mobility and shock firepower of parachute units. On the ground, it was often difficult to distinguish the equipment of paratroopers from that adopted in the ground forces of the Wehrmacht, however, specialized weapons did appear, and it not only increased the combat potential of paratroopers, but also influenced the development of military equipment and weapons in the coming half of the 20th century.

Outfit

Protective clothing is very important for someone who is skydiving, and for skydivers it began with high, ankle-covering boots. They had thick rubber soles that were very comfortable, though not suitable for long marches on foot, and provided good traction on the floor inside the aircraft fuselage (as they did not use the large shoe nails commonly found on the kind of shoes supplied to soldiers of other branches of the military). Initially, the lacing was on the sides to avoid snagging with parachute lines, but it was gradually figured out that this was not necessary, and after operations in Crete in 1941, manufacturers began to supply paratroopers with boots with traditional lacing.

Over the combat uniform, the paratroopers wore a waterproof tarpaulin overalls up to the hips. It has undergone various improvements and was designed to provide additional protection against moisture when jumping, and was also more suitable for putting on a suspension system.

Since landing has always been one of the most risky stages of a skydiver's jump, his uniform was supplied with special knee and elbow pads. The trousers of the combat uniform set had small slits on the sides at the level of the knees, into which tarpaulin thickenings lined with vegetable fluff were inserted. Additional protection was given by external "shock absorbers" made of leather-covered porous rubber, which were fixed with straps or ties. (Both the thickenings and the jumpsuit itself were usually disposed of after landing, although the overalls were sometimes left to be worn over it with a harness.) The trousers had a small pocket just above the level of the knees, in which a strop cutter knife, important for the paratrooper, was placed.

Sling cutter Fliegerkappmesser - FKM

1 - Helmet M38
2 - Jumping blouse with a "comminuted" pattern with sleeve insignia
3 - Trousers M-37
4 - Gas mask M-38 in canvas bag
5 - 9 mm MP-40 SMG
6 - Magazine pouches for MP-40 on the belt
7 - Flask
8 - Bread bag M-31
9 - Folding shovel
10 - Binoculars Ziess 6x30
11 - Boots

As the war picked up pace, paratrooper uniforms took on more and more distinctive features of the uniforms of ground forces soldiers. This well-worn soldier, however, still wears his special paratrooper helmet, by which the paratroopers were easily recognized among other German units.

Probably the most important piece of protective gear. indispensable for both jumping and combat was a specific landing helmet. In general, it was an ordinary helmet of a German infantryman. but without a visor and falling down fields that protected the ears and neck, equipped with a shock-absorbing balaclava and firmly fixing it on the fighter's head with a chin strap.

German airborne helmet

Parachute helmet liner

Scheme of the device of the German landing helmet

Since in most cases paratroopers had to fight for quite a long time without being able to get supplies, the ability to carry a large amount of additional ammunition was considered important for them.

German paratrooper with bandolier

The paratrooper bandolier of a special design had 12 pockets connected in the center with a canvas strap that was thrown over the neck, and the bandolier itself hung over the chest so that the fighter had access to the pockets on both sides. The bandolier allowed the paratrooper to carry about 100 cartridges for the Kag-98k rifle, which should have been enough for him until the next drop of equipment or the arrival of reinforcements. Later in the war, bandoliers appeared with four large pockets, which contained up to four magazines for the FG-42 rifle.

Parachutes

The first parachute that entered service with the German paratroopers was the RZ-1 forced-opening backpack parachute. Commissioned by the Department of Technical Equipment of the Ministry of Aviation in 1937, the RZ-1 had a dome with a diameter of 8.5 m and an area of ​​56 square meters. meters. When developing this means of landing, the Italian Salvatore model was taken as the basis, in which the strands of the parachute converged at one point and from it were attached to the belt at the waist of the paratrooper with two half rings with a V-shaped braid. An unfortunate consequence of this design was that the parachutist was hanging from the lines in an absurdly inclined position facing the ground - this also led to the technique of making a head-first jump from the aircraft in order to reduce the impact of the jerk when opening the parachute. The design was noticeably inferior to the Irwin parachute, which was used by Allied paratroopers and Luftwaffe pilots and which allowed a person to be in an upright position, being supported by four vertical straps. Among other things, such a parachute could be controlled by pulling up the supporting lines of the suspension system, which made it possible to turn into the wind and control the direction of descent. Unlike the paratroopers of most other countries, the German paratrooper could not have any influence on the behavior of the parachute, since he could not even reach the straps behind him.

Another drawback of the RZ-1 was the four buckles that the paratrooper had to unfasten in order to free himself from the parachute, which, unlike similar Allied products, was not equipped with a quick release system. In practice, this meant that the skydiver was often dragged along the ground by the wind while he made desperate efforts to quickly unfasten the buckles. In such situations, it would be easier to cut the parachute lines. To this end, since 1937, every paratrooper had a "kappmesser" (knife-strop cutter), which was stored in a special pocket of combat uniform trousers. The blade was hidden in the handle and opened by simply turning it down and pressing the latch, after which the blade would fall into place under the influence of gravity. This meant that the knife could be used with one hand, making it an essential item in a paratrooper kit.
The RZ-1 was followed in 1940 by the RZ-16, which featured a slightly improved suspension system and hauling technique. Meanwhile, the RZ-20, which entered service in 1941, remained the main parachute until the end of the war. One of its main advantages was a simpler buckle system, which at the same time was based on the same problematic Salvatore design.

Quick release buckle system on a German parachute RZ20

German parachute RZ-36

Later, another parachute was produced, the RZ-36, which, however, found only limited use during the operation in the Ardennes. The triangular shape of the RZ-36 helped control the "pendulum swing" typical of previous parachutes.
The imperfection of the RZ series parachutes could not but slip into the effectiveness of landing operations carried out with their use, especially with regard to injuries received during landing, as a result of which the number of fighters capable of taking part in hostilities after landing was reduced.

German landing containers

German container for landing equipment

During airborne operations, almost all weapons and supplies were dropped in containers. Prior to Operation Mercury, there were three sizes of containers, with the smaller ones used to transport heavier military supplies, such as, say, ammunition, and the larger ones for larger, but lighter ones. After Crete, these containers were standardized - length 4.6 m, diameter 0.4 m and cargo weight 118 kg. To protect the contents of the container, it had a corrugated iron bottom, which collapsed on impact and acted as a shock absorber. In addition, the loads were laid with rubber or felt, and the containers themselves were supported in a predetermined position by suspension or placed inside other containers.

Dug out of the ground landing containers

A platoon of 43 people needed 14 containers. If there was no need to open the container immediately, it could be carried by the handles (four in total) or rolled on a trolley with rubber wheels that was included with each container. One version was a bomb-shaped container, used for light cargo that was difficult to damage. They were dropped from aircraft like conventional bombs and, although equipped with a drag parachute, did not have a shock absorber system.

German landing equipment container found in the river by black diggers

At the beginning of June of this year, the location peacekeeping 31st Airborne Assault Brigade of the Airborne Forces For the first time in Ulyanovsk, a delegation of member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) visited. The guests were shown weapons that had been available for a long time and had just come into the possession of a military unit. We will talk about how Russian paratroopers are equipped and armed today.

Equipment and weapons

Parachutes

The landing units use two types of parachute systems: the D-10 complete with a reserve parachute and the more modern Arbalet-2 special-purpose system, which entered the Airborne Forces in 2012. The latter is part of the equipment of the reconnaissance units of the brigade.

The D-10 system, used for mass operations, allows landing from a height of up to 4 km. This system provides a vertical sink rate of up to 5 m/s, as well as a slight horizontal slip. Unlike the D-10, the Arbalet-2 special-purpose system, with the same landing height, allows planning for a distance of up to ten kilometers. It comes with a container that can hold up to 50 kg of cargo.

The Ulyanovsk paratroopers have already tested the Arbalet-2 at two large-scale exercises - in Belarus, as well as on Kotelny Island (the archipelago of the New Siberian Islands in Yakutia), as part of the Airborne Forces formation.

« At Kotelny, we were given the task of capturing the enemy airfield during the landing. There was a strong wind with gusts up to 20 m/s, the temperature was minus 32 degrees. However, the parachute system allows you to make a safe landing in such weather conditions. We completed the task, everything went without injuries and any complications.", - said the reconnaissance machine gunner of the special forces company, senior lieutenant Ilya Shilov.

According to the paratrooper, Arbalet-2 is a very convenient, well-controlled system compared to the previous generation. With this system, Ilya Shilov made 52 jumps.

« You get used to a lot of weight (the system itself is 17 kg, plus up to 50 kg of a cargo container). In comparison with the D-10, using the Arbalet-2 is like driving a Formula 1 car instead of a regular car.", - the scout-machine gunner notes.

Firearms

The main weapon of the paratroopers is the AK-74M assault rifle. The “old reliable”, as the military themselves say, the PKM machine gun was replaced by a manual one, the maximum length of a continuous burst of which is about 600 rounds. All models of small arms received new optics, guidance devices, both night and day.

After the formation of the 31 brigade of the reconnaissance battalion, a lot of special silent weapons appeared. This is the Val assault rifle, which fires special 9-mm subsonic cartridges SP-5 and SP-6, which pierce body armor, or a 6-mm steel sheet at a distance of 100 meters, as well as a PB pistol. Each special weapon also has different optics options.

In addition, the brigade entered service 12.7 mm NSV machine gun on a new machine, which allows you to fire not only at ground targets and armored vehicles of the enemy, but also at aircraft (it is most effective against helicopters). This weapon is convenient for use in the mountains, in an equipped stationary position.

The paratroopers' arsenal includes a 30-mm automatic grenade launcher on the AGS-17 Plamya mount, designed for combat operations outside shelters, in open trenches and behind natural terrain, a lighter version of the AGS-30 and an RPG-7D3 hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher, which has both cumulative ammunition and high-explosive fragmentation.

« We also have the latest fire-and-forget weapons. So, unlike the 9P135M launcher, which was in service with us earlier, it has a more powerful missile and better armor penetration. In addition, the Kornet controls the rocket via a laser channel, and the previous model, in the old fashioned way, with a wired system. Thus, the range of the anti-tank missile system is limited only by the power of the main engine”, - explains the deputy commander of the 31st brigade of the Airborne Forces for armaments, Guard Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Anokhin.

Steel arms

One of the most interesting specimens -. It can be used traditionally as a combat blade. In addition, the knife can make one shot with a special cartridge, which is located in the handle: for this you need to cock the trigger and remove the safety. The distance at which the enemy can be hit is from 5 to 10 meters. The sheath can be used for cutting wire, stripping wires.

A non-shooting scout knife is used as a combat blade, including for throwing. In addition, the Klen knives, which are part of the survival complex, have recently appeared in the brigade. This is a military weapon, with a well-sharpened powerful blade. The scabbard has a compass, can cut wire; they are adapted for sharpening the blade and have additional special blades - a saw and an awl.

In addition, there is a survival capsule in the handle, which contains an antacid, needles, a pin, a device for extracting fragments, hooks, matches, fishing line - everything you need to survive in difficult conditions until the paratrooper is found, or he will not save itself.

Equipment

Equipment depends on the tasks assigned to the paratrooper. So, the flamethrower's main weapon is a light infantry flamethrower LPO with a whole range of different ammunition: from light-noise to thermobaric, high-explosive fragmentation, smoke, aerosol. When there is no need to use a flamethrower, the warrior performs tasks as an infantryman - for this he has an AK-74M assault rifle.

There are two types of snipers in the 31st brigade. There is a special sniper unit in the reconnaissance battalion: servicemen are trained in courses, they have personalized weapons. In the arsenal of such a sniper - special knives, a sniper machine and rifles operating at different ranges (from a kilometer and more), a pistol, rangefinders, a weather station. As well as a camouflage complex, the appearance of which varies depending on the area.

Sniper, which operates in the battle line of airborne or airborne assault units, is armed with a folding butt, which was created specifically for landing, with a day and night optical sight; silent pistol.

Machine gunner has a machine gun PKP "Pecheneg", which replaced the PKM machine guns, with a combined optical device that helps to fire both day and night. This is a weapon to destroy both infantry and lightly armored vehicles. In a short period of time, the machine gunner can create a flurry of fire on the sector, stop the enemy, give the commander an opportunity to orient himself, and regroup his comrades.

submachine gunner- this is a “classic” paratrooper who has cold weapons, an AK-74M assault rifle, an aiming device 1P29 “Tulip”, which allows you to observe the battlefield with a multiplicity during the day, set aiming ranges when firing, work in active mode at night. In his arsenal - grenade launcher, binoculars.

In addition, all soldiers have tactical goggles, gloves, special pads for knees and elbows, a radio station that allows you to keep in constant contact with the squad leader.

sappers brigades received new mine detectors to search for non-contact mines "Korshun" (this device is capable of detecting explosive devices at a sufficiently large distance, behind concrete and brick walls, barbed wire and metal mesh fences, under asphalt, and so on). In addition, the brigade received modern compact IMP2-S mine detectors with settings for anti-personnel, anti-tank mines and any other object.

New lightweight but more durable sapper suits keep the explosion close to the anti-personnel mine. A helmet with special glass can withstand a point-blank shot from a 9mm PM.

Military equipment

Airborne combat vehicle BMD-2

Tracked, amphibious, parachute-jet parachuted from military transport aircraft, the combat vehicle has a weight of 8.2 tons, a cruising range of up to 500 km, a speed of up to 63 km / h on land and up to 10 km / h on water (float BMD -2 can also go back, but much slower - at a speed of 1.5 km / h). It has a variable ground clearance, which makes it possible to parachute from aircraft, and also improves the vehicle's capabilities during camouflage on the ground.

The BMD-2 is armed with a 30mm 2A42 automatic cannon, which was designed to destroy manpower, lightly armored vehicles and low-flying airborne targets. A 7.62 mm machine gun is paired with it. In addition, to combat armored enemy targets, the BMD-2 has an anti-tank guided system.

The combat vehicle has an awning for shelter and a camouflage net fixed on its sides (white in winter and green in summer). The Ulyanovsk paratroopers have finalized the BMD: marching kits are fixed on both sides of each vehicle. These are the drawers where there is a supply of the most necessary things that a squad suddenly raised on alarm may need. The NZ includes a set of firewood, a stove, a gas stove, a tent, candles, batteries, a supply of ropes, a entrenching tool, shovels, picks. All so that the paratroopers do not waste time on training, but jump on the car and go to complete the task.

Armored personnel carrier BTR-D

Unified vehicle of the airborne troops. In addition to the fact that personnel are transported on it, it can be used to transport any cargo, mount almost any weaponry.

The Ulyanovsk brigade has at least three variants of the BTR-D. The first - with a machine-gun-grenade launcher mounted on it. The paratroopers made their own changes here too: they came up with a system for attaching a heavy machine gun and an AGS heavy grenade launcher, consisting of cables. This allows soldiers on the move to fire at the same time from two guns at once.

The second version, which is in service with anti-tank units - the BTR-RD - has two 9P135M1 launchers (or 9K111-1 "Konkurs"). In the case when the armored personnel carrier is armed with the "Competition", it is capable of destroying up to ten tanks. Ground "fighter" strikes targets at a distance of up to four kilometers.

On the third version - BTR-3D - the ZU-23 anti-aircraft artillery installation was mounted. There is an option when a crew with a 9K38 Igla portable anti-aircraft missile system is transported in the vehicle, which is capable of firing at air targets flying at speeds up to 320 m / s, and also if the enemy uses false thermal interference.

The base of all tracked vehicles is unified (the only difference is that armored personnel carriers have one more roller). Spare parts that may be needed for repair or restoration are the same.

On the basis of the BTR-D, a reconnaissance and fire control point for the artillery division (battery) of the Airborne Forces 1V119 was also designed. Its task is communication with the Nona-S self-propelled artillery gun and fire control, so these two vehicles are usually on the battlefield together.

Self-propelled artillery gun "Nona-S"

The 120-mm self-propelled artillery gun 2S9-1M "Nona-S" is a unique artillery system even for today, combining the properties of guns of different types. Its purpose is direct fire support of airborne units on the battlefield.

"Nona-S" is capable of hitting not only manpower and destroying the enemy's defensive fortifications, but also to fight tanks. Special high-explosive fragmentation artillery shells can fire at a distance of up to 8.8 km. Their effectiveness is similar to 152mm howitzer shells. HEAT shells are also used to combat armored vehicles.

The machine develops speed up to 60 km/h on land and up to 9 km/h afloat. It is equipped with a special system that makes independent calculations and provides data that must be entered for accurate shooting.

BTR-80

Among the three vehicles that entered the 31st brigade after the deployment of a reconnaissance battalion in it is the BTR-80, which in the near future will be replaced by a more modern one, adopted by the Russian army last year. The amphibious armored personnel carrier has an eight-wheel base and a cruising range of up to 500 km. It is more mobile than the BMD - on the highway it reaches speeds of up to 80 km / h.

The main armament of the BTR-80 is a 14.5 mm Vladimirov heavy machine gun. The BTR-82A has a 30mm automatic cannon paired with a 7.62mm machine gun.

Electronic warfare complex "Infauna"

The RB-531B multifunctional electronic warfare complex is designed to protect armored vehicles and personnel from being hit by radio-controlled mine explosive devices and melee weapons. "Infauna" in automatic mode conducts radio suppression of means of undermining radio-controlled mine devices within a radius of up to 150 meters. That is, the complex is capable of covering an entire company of armored vehicles.

In addition, Infauna has cameras with triggers that automatically detect a shot from an anti-tank or hand grenade launcher and shoot aerosol ammunition. For two seconds, they cover the paratroopers with a curtain.

The complex develops speed up to 80 km/h. A big plus is that it can operate both as part of an electronic warfare unit and engineering and sapper units. The Infauna has a mode that allows you to accompany sappers who clear mines. The machine follows them and, in close proximity, conducts radio suppression.

Jamming complex "Leer-2"

The Leer-2 mobile automated complex for technical control of electronic imitation and jamming of electronic equipment was created on the basis of the GAZ-233114 armored vehicle (Tigr-M). This is a high-tech machine that conducts comprehensive technical control and assessment of the electronic situation.

Since the founding of this kind of troops, the form of the Airborne Forces did not differ in any way from the clothes of the Red Army Air Force or special-purpose aviation battalions. The set of clothes of a soldier of intelligence of the USSR included:

• Leather or gray-blue canvas helmet.
• Moleskin jumpsuit (could be either leather or gray-blue canvas).
• The collar of the overalls was equipped with blue buttonholes, where insignia were sewn.

Already in the forties, the military uniform for aerial reconnaissance was changed to avizent jackets with trousers. Pants had huge patch pockets. The winter clothes of the paratroopers of the USSR were insulated with sheepskin uniforms: a brown or dark blue fur collar, which was fastened with a zipper.

The military clothing of the forces was divided into 4 groups:

• summer uniform for every day for sergeants, soldiers;
• summer casual clothes for sergeants, cadets of the Airborne Forces, soldiers;
• summer casual clothes of cadets, where buttonholes and shoulder straps indicated the type of troops;
• winter clothes for sergeants, cadets, military builders, where buttonholes, shoulder straps and a badge on the sleeve are according to the type of troops.

In addition, the military uniform in the USSR had to take into account the climatic features of the area where the troops were located. For example, in the Finnish war, a soldier's winter clothes were supplemented with:

• earflaps,
• quilted jackets,
• cotton pants,
• white camouflage robes and hoods.

The rest of the military clothing in the USSR, for example, for rifle units, looked like a simple budenovka and boots. In addition to canvas helmets, the paratroopers had large glasses for pilots. This attribute was issued due to the fact that they often had to go down with a parachute. If you take a good look at the photo or film materials of those times, you can see that even ceremonial clothes could consist of helmets and goggles, and parachute overalls.

The military uniform of an officer of the USSR had a cap with a chin strap for parachuting, ordinary Red Army soldiers hid caps in their bosoms. Special shoes for jumping were not intended, so felt boots often fell off their feet when the parachute opened. Officers' shoes also suggested the existence of fur boots.

The usual form of the Airborne Forces in Russia differed from other troops only in blue buttonholes, the officers around them had a golden edging. The edging on the buttonholes of political workers, sergeants or privates was black, this was considered a kind of office option. The officers were also distinguished by blue piping on the collar and the upper edge of the cuffs, side stitched seams on the riding breeches. Caps with blue piping and red stars or dark blue caps with red enamel stars - all this was typical for the leadership of the Airborne Forces.

During the existence of the Soviet Union, the Airborne Forces of Ukraine did not differ in their military uniform from the Russian troops; on the territory of the entire USSR, there was only one template. After the collapse of the state, Ukraine had to “redraw” not only the meaning of the type of troops itself, but also the form of intelligence. Until recently, the Airborne Forces of these two countries could be distinguished only by different stripes, which depict the coats of arms of different countries. Ukraine on its uniform depicts a trident on a yellow-blue background.

Outdated samples of the form of the Airborne Forces

The winter uniform of the Airborne Forces officer was previously equipped with a dark blue double-breasted overcoat, then the color was changed to ordinary gray, with earflaps. The field clothing of the troops did not differ from other units at the time of the war, so in winter white camouflage overalls were worn for everyone, and in summer the colors changed to camouflage.

Special uniforms were issued to paratroopers immediately before landing, later the uniform was replaced with a regular, one might say, office uniform, and special forces clothing was confiscated. As soon as shoulder straps were introduced, the Airborne Forces began to walk with aviation insignia. For privates and sergeants, blue epaulettes with black edging were introduced, and the stripes were brick red. The dress uniform has always been distinguished by a blue piping, caps by a blue band. The same form was also characteristic of the Airborne Forces of Ukraine at the time of being part of the USSR and hostilities on one side.

The new form of the Airborne Forces in Russia

And now let's travel through 2014 together with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Not so long ago, he visited a legendary motorized rifle brigade, known since the Chechen war. In 2014, the soldiers of this unit were transferred to Yugra, and the new uniform acquired a new modern look, so now the military in such uniforms are not afraid of any frost. The new clothes were tested by extremely low temperatures, piercing and cold winds.

Sergei Shoigu paid a visit to present awards, the action took place in open areas, and the military had to march in front of the highest leadership of Russia. At first, the form was delivered as an experimental one, but already at the end of 2014 it was approved in 9 versions.

The form in the new version of 2014 can be combined in different ways:

• for cool weather it will be enough to wear a jacket with a lining,
• for windy conditions, it is recommended to wear a jacket under the jacket,
• in rainy weather, the special forces of the airborne forces can wear a fleece underwear shirt with waterproof overalls.

During the active training phase or the march of throws, the Airborne Forces walk in their usual uniform. In theoretical classes, fighters wear lighter uniforms, office uniforms.

The uniform of the Russian Airborne Forces in 2014 underwent a number of changes: the ears on the cap with earflaps became longer, easily overlapped at the back and fastened with Velcro, this is quite important and comfortable for the chin. The cap has a top flap that can be turned into a sun visor if needed. Outerwear has also undergone many changes, for example, a jacket can be disassembled into several elements. She has become a kind of constructor that can be transformed from an ordinary windbreaker to a warm pea jacket.

The entire 2014 field uniform consists of 16 items that fit easily into a backpack. Depending on the season, the backpack can be light or heavy. In the new field shoes, felt boots were replaced with warm boots with inserts. A paratrooper's winter vest has also been added, which does not restrict movement. A warm scarf-shirt shirt and a comfortable balaclava were added to the whole set. Recon overalls are made of waterproof material.

Dembel and parade uniforms of the Airborne Forces

The uniform in which the paratrooper leaves for demobilization is the dress uniform. It is quite different from the usual field and in general from all the rest of the clothing of other troops. The reconnaissance of the Airborne Forces, which has already completed military service, can be seen from afar, you can really be proud of this uniform. She is considered the most beautiful and fashionable among the rest of the military uniforms.

If you have any questions - leave them in the comments below the article. We or our visitors will be happy to answer them.

On November 2, 1930, during the exercises of the Moscow military district, twelve people were parachuted from the air as part of a special unit. It is this moment that is taken as the starting point for the history of our Airborne Troops. Throughout its existence, not only the status of paratroopers, but also their uniforms have changed more than once.

The uniform of our Airborne Forces received its current form relatively recently and has become a kind of hallmark of one of the elite units of the Russian army.

The first form of paratroopers

Until the 40s of the last century, the uniform of the airborne detachment differed little from the uniform of the Red Army soldiers serving in the aviation troops. It consisted of a padded leather or linen helmet and overalls made of moleskin or avisent. The blue buttonholes sewn to the collar of the overalls spoke of the detachment's belonging to aviation.

The edging of the buttonhole indicated the official position of the serviceman: for the command staff, the edging had a golden color, in turn, political workers, sergeants and privates wore uniforms with black edging buttonholes, which was considered an everyday (or as it is now called - office) option. At the beginning of World War II, the overalls were replaced with pants with large patch pockets and a jacket.

The equipment of a paratrooper in the pre-war years, in addition to the uniform, consisted of the following elements:

1. main parachute. Before the war of 1941 and for some time after it began, the airborne troops used the PD-6 parachute, which is essentially a licensed analogue of the American Irvin. Before establishing their own production of parachutes, the Soviet military performed jumps with American parachutes.
2. Reserve parachute, or sling cutter.

The full equipment of an employee of the Airborne Forces was:

• two parachutes (main on the back, spare in the lower abdomen);
• duffel bag;
• an automatic machine with an extended magazine, which was mounted vertically with the barrel down over the left shoulder.

In winter, a large fur collar was fastened to the overalls with buttons or zippers in dark blue, brown or khaki sheepskin. When raised, the collar was pulled together by internal straps. Often, the style of the winter uniform of the Airborne Forces directly depended on the manufacturer's factory.

After the failed Finnish campaign, the servicemen were dressed in quilted jackets, sheepskin coats, felt boots, wadded pants, and a hat with earflaps. At the same time, the winter version is completed with a camouflage white robe with a hood.

Headgear paratroopers paratroopers

The headdress was another way to show the serviceman's official affiliation. For commanders after 1938, a dark blue cap was officially approved as a headdress.

After 1941, her color was changed to a protective shade of green.

The upper part, rim and band of the cap were decorated with blue piping. She also wore a cockade with a red star, surrounded by a wreath of laurel leaves. During the parachute jump, the command staff used special caps, which were fastened under the chin with straps.

Ordinary paratroopers wore dark blue caps with a blue piping and cloth stars, on top of which red stars were attached.

By the beginning of the war, the Airborne Forces had several typical clothing options, which depended on the time of year and official position:

	Average commanding staff	Average commanding staff
Summer:	on top of everyday uniforms, camouflage overalls of reconnaissance military groups, cap, chrome boots, traffic rules machine gun, commander's equipment.	Over the everyday uniform, camouflage overalls, a cotton or cloth cap, tarpaulin boots, a rifle (after the autumn of 1941, a PPSh assault rifle), equipment.
Winter:	over a casual uniform, a jacket with a fur collar, equipment and weapons, a hat with earflaps and high boots.	a white camouflage robe over an overcoat, weapons and equipment.

Since the helmet could fly off the paratrooper during the jump, this headgear was used exclusively during ground battles.

The evolution of the headdress of the Airborne Forces

The business card of a modern paratrooper can be safely called a blue beret, but it became part of the uniform only after 1969. On June 30, 1967, the commander of the Airborne Forces, Colonel General Margelov V.S. a new model of the form was approved, created according to the sketches of the artist A.B. Beetle.

The artist proposed two options for the appearance of the Airborne Forces:

• The daily uniform of the Airborne Forces included a khaki beret and a red star. This coloring of the headdress remained on paper.
• The second option involved wearing a crimson beret, it was he who was accepted.

The right side of the beret was decorated with a blue flag with the symbols of the Airborne Forces, the so-called “corner”, and on the front side of the beret there was a star surrounded by a wreath of ears of corn.

For the officers, a beret with a cockade of the 1955 model and a star with wings were provided.

During the military parade on November 7, 1967, paratroopers in crimson berets marched across Red Square. And already in 1969, an order was issued, where the uniform for the employees of the Airborne Forces of a new model with a blue beret was officially approved.

The tradition of wearing a beret is different for paratroopers and scouts of the Airborne Forces. The first ones wear berets bent to the right, while the special forces of the air forces have an unspoken rule to bend the beret to the left.

The editors of the site site hope that readers do not shy away from military service. How to punish for evading the army you can read on this site.

The airborne troops were separated into a separate branch of the military only in 1991. Until that moment, the paratroopers belonged to the ground forces, the Navy, the Air Force, and since 1946 they were included in the reserve composition of the Supreme Command and were directly subordinate to the Supreme Commander.

In this regard, the color scheme of the uniform and the insignia of the senior and junior command staff of the Airborne Forces were associated with the branch of the military to which they belonged at the moment.

In addition, the type of uniform of the Soviet paratrooper depended on the climatic conditions of the landing site and the position of the employee. It is customary to distinguish four groups of military clothing of the Soviet Airborne Forces:

• everyday summer uniform for sergeants and privates;
• summer uniform for sergeants, privates and cadets of the air force;
• everyday summer set with shoulder straps and buttonholes for cadets;
• winter version of the uniform with sleeve insignia for sergeants, military builders and cadets of the Airborne Forces.

At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, a dark blue overcoat was included in the equipment of paratroopers, a little later its color was changed to combined arms. Also, the equipment of the special forces of the Airborne Forces included the so-called camouflage robes: white for winter and protective spotted colors for summer. Exactly the same robes were worn by scouts and riflemen of the assault group.

For the duration of the special mission, the landing group was additionally equipped with special uniforms. This included overalls, a helmet, boots, goggles.

After the introduction of shoulder straps, aviation insignia appeared. The famous emblem with a parachute and two planes on the sides was introduced in 1955. It is this badge that today is a symbol of the unity and brotherhood of those serving in the air forces.

In 1979, a limited contingent of troops was introduced into Afghanistan, including a special group of airborne forces. In view of the climatic conditions of the territory of presence, a special airborne force was developed. The prototype was the uniform of the army of the President of the Congo.

Features of the parade uniform of the old-style airborne forces

For ceremonial events, the air infantry was provided with a parade set of uniforms, presented in summer and winter versions. In 1988, it underwent a number of changes.

Summer dress uniform of the old sample:

• a cap with a band;
• loose trousers;
• open uniform;
• White shirt;
• black tie;
• White gloves;
• black low shoes or boots.

The ceremonial set of the summer uniform had a blue (sea) wave color.

Parade winter uniform of a soldier of the Airborne Forces of the old model:

• a cap with earflaps, the lieutenant colonels have a papakha;
• gray overcoat;
• open uniform;
• loose blue trousers;
• White shirt;
• black tie;
• white muffler;
• brown gloves;
• black boots.

Since 1967, a beret has become part of the ceremonial set of clothes, replacing the cap.

Distinctive features of the field uniform

At the disposal of Soviet paratroopers there were two options for clothing for field conditions: summer and winter. The summer field uniform set included:

• cap;
• a jacket and trousers of a protective coloring;
• vest;
• boots or high boots.

Description of the winter form of the Airborne Forces:

• hats with earflaps;
• khaki jacket and pants;
• gray scarf;
• brown gloves;
• berets or boots.

The entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan required the leadership to revise the equipment of employees. The classic field uniform is being replaced by its lightweight version, popularly called Mabuta by the name of the Colonel of the Army of the Congo. It was made of raincoat fabric with water-repellent impregnation, a ventilation system and a more comfortable fit.

The sand uniform consisted of trousers, a jacket and a cap and was used in combat missions in regions with a hot climate.

What are modern paratroopers wearing?

The form of the airborne forces of the new sample is based on the principle of layering. Depending on weather conditions, military personnel are allowed to combine clothing:

• the modern form of employees of the Russian Airborne Forces includes several combinations and sets of diverse clothing;
• in the cool season, an additional lined jacket is provided for soldiers;
• often the military from the special forces of the Airborne Forces are allowed to wear a jacket under the jacket;
• in rainy, damp weather, the uniform is a fleece undershirt and overalls with waterproof impregnation.

Thus, what form the airborne soldiers will have in a particular case is decided independently by the unit commander, taking into account weather conditions.

A modern hat with earflaps has elongated ears, thanks to which it easily overlaps and fastens with Velcro, protecting the chin.

Additionally, the hat is equipped with a top flap, allowing it to turn inside out and transform into a visor. Felt boots were replaced with warm boots with thermal inserts. The outer jacket is a constructor and easily transforms from a windbreaker into a warm pea coat.

The new unified set of uniforms of the Airborne Forces of the Russian Federation for soldiers and officers of the field uniform includes 19 items:

• several jackets;
• insulated vest;
• suit;
• three types of boots (summer, demi-season and winter);
• balaclava;
• mittens and gloves.

The summer uniform of the special forces of the Airborne Forces includes:

• underwear (T-shirt and boxer shorts);
• light jacket;
• trousers;
• kepi (takes);
• summer boots.

For sewing a lightweight version of the Airborne Forces uniform, a mechanical stretch treated with a water-repellent composition is used.

Winter uniform for the Airborne Forces option includes:

• two sets of insulated underwear (lightweight and fleece);
• demi-season suit;
• wind and waterproof suit;
• insulated vest;
• boots;
• balaclava.

In winter, it is allowed to wear a blue sweater under a jacket that is part of the uniform.

The winter uniform of an officer and ensign of the Airborne Forces allows the wearing of a black fur hat and a black jacket.

For a hot climate, a separate set of uniforms for the landing troops was developed. The new uniform of the Airborne Forces has a light brown or sand color.

The first option consists of a short-sleeved shirt with a turn-down collar, shoulder straps, trousers and boots in the base color. As a headdress, a soft cap is used, similar to a baseball cap with a hard peak and a field cockade.

Shorts are allowed instead of trousers. Insignia on this type of uniform are placed similarly to everyday uniforms. This version of clothing does not provide for award straps. The second option is an elongated jacket with fastened shoulder straps, trousers tucked into berets. On the head is a forage cap or panama in the tone of the statutory form.

Casual or office overalls for the air infantry are similar to the uniform of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, only in blue.

The field uniform of an officer is exactly the same as that of an airborne rank and file, only the front dress is different.

The parade uniform of the Airborne Forces consists of a blue jacket and trousers, a vest, a blue beret, an aiguillette, white gloves and berets.

Officer ceremonial uniform:

• blue tunic;
• loose blue trousers;
• shirt;
• black tie;
• White gloves;
• black boots;
• golden aglet;
• blue cap with a cockade.

The winter dress uniform of midshipmen and officers of the Airborne Forces includes a black jacket, a woolen cap or a blue beret, a vest and berets. For enlisted personnel and cadets:

• gray hats with earflaps;
• demi-season blue jacket;
• suit;
• vest;
• beret.

Special forces of the Airborne Forces take part in the parade in field uniform. Not only pagons are used as insignia, but also chest and sleeve patches and chevrons.
Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the uniform was identical for all employees of the Airborne Forces, regardless of the republic.

Today, each country that was part of the USSR has its own version of the form. In the Russian Federation, the main color of the uniform of the Airborne Forces is blue.

For example, not so long ago, the uniform of the highly mobile troops of the Airborne Forces of Ukraine was completely changed, in particular, the blue beret was removed from the clothes of military personnel, replacing it with a similar crimson headdress. The main reason for this transformation is that in Russia the blue beret is an integral part of the uniform of the Airborne Forces.

In turn, in the Republic of Belarus, the uniform of the special forces of the special forces of the Airborne Forces still includes a blue beret, as in Russia.

Clothing option for women

Despite the fact that girls have met in the ranks of the paratroopers before, until recently, service in the Airborne Forces was the privilege of men. So in 2008-2009, “Ryazan Higher Airborne School named after. Margelov” conducted a recruitment of girls to master the profession of a paratrooper officer. Six years later, the school repeated the experiment.

The combat female form of the Airborne Forces is exactly the same as that of men:

• several jackets;
• suit;
• three options for boots;
• mittens and gloves;
• balaclava;
• insulated vest.

Ceremonial female form of the Airborne Forces:

• blue jacket;
• blue skirt;
• White gloves;
• white scarf;
• black boots.

What is a birch pattern

Camouflage is an obligatory part of the equipment of the military and, in particular, the reconnaissance troops of the Airborne Forces. The range of camouflage suits is wide, which allows you to choose the perfect disguise for any climatic and weather conditions. Despite this, until recently, the birch tree (the official name of KZM-P) was the leader in camouflage clothing.

Initially, birch-pattern camouflage was developed for the border troops, later it was also liked by the intelligence officers of the Airborne Forces.

A camouflage coat with a birch pattern was created in 1957 and was used as part of the summer outfit for border guards and paratroopers. This disguise ideally hid the fighter in deciduous forests and swampy areas. Due to the special pixel pattern, KZM-P is able to scatter the silhouette of a person at short and long distances.

The raster drawing of the birch camouflage suit resembles spots with jagged edges. The large and small design creates an optical illusion of the silhouette melting. The light and dark colors of the camouflage suit suggest its use in the daytime and at night.

Camouflage suits with a birch pattern are presented in the form of a camouflage suit with a voluminous hood, overalls and a jacket with trousers.

Although today birch camouflage does not apply to the authorized form, it is still popular, not only among the military, but also among civilians.

What are the paratroopers' demobilization uniform

The tradition of sewing a demobilization outfit comes from the Soviet Union, when military service was considered honorable. DMB is a kind of confirmation that the soldier served well and is proud of his army uniform. What can we say about the guys who gave their debt to the Motherland in the ranks of the Airborne Forces.

And although, in the early 90s, demobilization preferred to go into reserve in civilian clothes, today the military has returned to this beautiful custom.

The demobilization uniform of a soldier of the Airborne Forces is prepared on the basis of a field uniform using several rules:

• the costume should not be pretentious, overly elegant;
• placement of insignia, external chevrons is carried out in accordance with the statutory rules.

For the layout for the costume, an acanthus tunic or “slide” can be used, which is more often chosen by the special forces of the Airborne Forces, trousers, a vest and berets. A mandatory attribute of the finished outfit is a blue beret.

Today it is not at all necessary to sew a demobilization suit on your own, as in online stores they offer to buy ready-made options.

It is an honor to serve in the airborne troops and many guys would like to be in the ranks of the blue berets. But such an honor is not granted to everyone, which does not prevent civilians from trying on the form of a paratrooper.

On sale today there is not only an adult, but also a children's form of the Airborne Forces. Why do civilians at events dedicated to the celebration of victory and other celebrations come out in the form of a VD? Everyone has their own reasons for this. For example, the children's military uniform of the Airborne Forces is popular during the celebration of Victory Day.

On the other hand, as boxer Denis Lebedev explained, in this way, respect for the paratroopers is expressed. It's hard not to agree with the athlete, they really deserve respect.

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