

спецназ: Spetsialnoe Naznachenie
The Яussian equivalent of the British SAS, or USA's Delta Force

From the former Soviet Union
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These Russian Special Forces are now supposed to be disbanded, but I personally don't believe this and would estimate that they are still very real and very active. After all Russia still needs a security force of some description and the description I would say would sound very much like ' Spetsnaz ' Soviet special forces are known as Spetsnaz, and they were formed in 1974 by Yuri Andropov to carry out special missions. Whether these missions are legal or was not questioned.
Spetsnaz is an acronym from the Russian word Spetsialnoe Naznachenie which translates as Special Purpose. Spetnaz are run by the Soviet Intelligence Directorate or GRU Glavnoe Razvedyvatelnoe Upravlenie. Spetsnaz soldiers function in much the same way as the British SAS or the United States Delta Force. They do however specialize in reconnaissance, sabotage and the best assassination techniques (deniable) The Soviet Military Encyclopaedia, defines Special Reconnaissance as, Reconnaissance carried out to subvert the political, economic and military potential and morale of a probable or actual enemy. The primary missions of special reconnaissance are: acquiring intelligence on major economic and military installations and either destroying them or putting them out of action, organizing sabotage and acts of subversion; carrying out punitive operations against rebels; conducting propaganda; forming and training insurgent detachments, etc. Special reconnaissance is ... conducted by the forces of covert intelligence and special purpose troops.
Spetsnaz troops normally operate deep in enemy territory and carry out typical militaristic actions such as destroying facilities, air fields, communications, missile silos etc. Some Spetsnaz units train for kidnapping and assassination of enemy personnel...again this is deniable.
Spetsnaz units are lightly equipped to be able to move fast. A typical Spetsnaz soldier will be equipped with an AK-104 assault rifle, RMP heavy caliber belt fed machine gun or an SVD Dragunov 7.62 mm sniper rifle, a silenced 9mm pistol or .40 Varjag pistol, a combat knife and 8 hand grenades of various types including smoke and fragmentation. Other weapons that are carried in the team include, RPG-16 grenade launcher, R-350 burst type transmitter radio ( 1000 Kilometers range) plastic explosives and anti-personnel mines. Also SA-14 and SA-7 surface to air missile launchers are available to the Spetsnaz team if needs be. Spetsnaz teams normally consist of 8 men who are highly trained in specific fields of warfare. Each team member also has certain knowledge of other members of the teams specialist training ( cross-training ) so that a mission can still go ahead even if one of them is killed.
The training that they go through is all based upon pain from start to finish, where they exert themselves to the limits of human endurance including assault course fitness and martial arts training with real knives where trainees end up getting minor stab wounds and cuts. Skills and tactics that are employed by the Spetsnaz teams include the following:
Parachuting in all weather conditions with 'HALO' ...high altitude low opening, as well as 'LALO' low altitude low opening and sky diving along with swimming underwater for long periods. Unarmed combat and silent killing techniques, including judo, karate, and knife fighting. Sabotage using explosives, incendiaries, acids, chemicals and anything else that is available. Plus training on how to make explosives from everyday substances. Infiltration techniques, including the defeat of locks and high tech security systems. Foreign language and culture, including " sleeping" in a foreign country for years to learn about the countries economic infrastructures etc and to report back any and all information gathered for whatever purpose the knowledge is required for. Foreign weapons familiarization, foreign tactics, their skills and knowledge. Plus the ability to operate any foreign vehicles, including tanks, armored cars, trucks, helicopters, motorcycles and planes. Survival in all environments including arctic, desert, jungle, urban, woodland, wasteland as well as survival in open and confined spaces. Reconnaissance and map reading, including satellite navigation aids. Also methods of interrogating prisoners and also techniques on how to survive combat interrogation themselves. Spetsnaz operatives swear an oath of loyalty and this is on pain of death if they ever reveal their secrets to outsiders. Pretty much similar to the official secrets act and blood oaths that western organizations use.
Spetsnaz In Action Spetsnaz as a military organization and unlike this web page...does not advertise itself or promote its existence, it is in many ways a secret organization. In most cases the uniforms of Spetsnaz soldiers are not distinctive from that of the ordinary Russian soldier conscript. Spetsnaz soldiers are not always of Russian extraction either and they will employ selected operatives from foreign counties, usually as agents or "sleepers" who gather information and will offensively act upon any orders. There is a conservative estimate of around 15,000 Spetsnaz operatives worldwide. These operatives are however, viewed as a peace time contingency, but they are "tooled up" and ready to deploy to any trouble spot anywhere at any time and " do the business "
During the Afghanistan uprising in Kabul, December 1979, Spetsnaz operatives surrounded President Hafizullah Amins palace and with the use of commando daggers and silenced weapons they successfully killed Amin and every soldier in the palace, without losing a single operative. They then secured Kabul airport and this enabled the safe mass landings of airborne troops. Subsequent operations in Afghanistan included attempts to ambush the rebel leader Ahmed Shah Massoud, infiltration of rebel held territory, helicopter ambushes of rebel units and sabotage and destruction of rebel bases.
The way Spetsnaz units deal with terrorists is with a " We don't mess about " attitude. This was further illustrated when in 1985 a Soviet embassy had several of its personnel taken hostage by terrorists. They demanded that Syria stop in its efforts to forcibly push Palestinians out of Lebanon because the Palestinians unsurprisingly gave PLO leader (at that time) Yasser Arafat lots of support. The demands were initially agreed to by the Soviets who were desperately trying to prevent hostage casualties. The terrorists however, later broke several of their agreements and concessions. Once the 48 hour deadline for the hostage release was passed, negotiations ceased and Spetsnaz operatives rapidly moved in and kidnapped four of the terrorists by surprise. Out of site, the Spetsnaz team executed one of the terrorists...beheaded him and then they delivered his decapitated head in a plastic bag back to the terrorists at the embassy. Included was a small note telling them that if they did not surrender, then another decapitated head would soon follow In effect the Spetsnaz had cleverly and ruthlessly reversed the tables. Very soon after this, all of the hostages were released, the terrorists discarded their weapons and with hands held high...they surrendered.
Spetsnaz Fire-Power Here are a few examples of some of the weapons that Spetsnaz forces use. They are all of Russian manufacture, but Spetsnaz operatives will of course utilize weapons from any country. Below is seen the AS 'Val' it is a favorite of Spetsnaz operatives as this gun is totally silenced and when fired, the muzzle blast is barely audible, reduced only to a slight 'phut' sound. The only other noise the gun makes when being fired is the sound of the firing pin hitting the cartridges primer at the base of the bullet itself which makes a small but audible 'click' sound.
The AS Val is chambered for a specially adapted armor piercing 9x39mm subsonic round that produces a velocity about 300 meters per second and has an effective maximum range of 400 meters. However; due to the fact that the gun is silenced, only subsonic ammunition can be fired. All subsonic ammunition is designed to travel much slower than regular bullets as they do not create a loud sonic blast, there is also a reduction of stopping power. But in the hands of a well trained Spetsnaz field operative, who would get closer to the enemy and fire a head or neck shot, the loss of stopping power is not a concern. AK-104 7.62mm assault rifle as seen below also available in 5.54 and 9.3 mm to Spetsnaz operative.
Below, the AK-104 fitted with forward grip for better control and optical sights for better accuracy over longer ranges.
The AK-104 is based on the very successful AK-47 design. These weapons are also fitted with folding skeleton shoulder stocks for airborne assault. Below: The AK-105 which is an improved and upgraded version of the AK-104 and was also intended to replace the AK S-74U. It is made from a lot of thermo setting plastics and poly carbon fiber including the magazine, stock and fore-grip. The use of plastics keep the weight down and also reduce metal knocking against metal sounds.
Below the AKS-74U was the Spetsnaz answer for
a sub-machine gun with folding stock. It can easily be fired in one hand like a pistol
except that of course it offers greater firepower. It is more often than
not, carried by Spetsnaz paratroopers.
The Spetsnaz SVD Dragunov 7.62mm
sniper rifle as pictured below is a very accurate and powerful rifle. Its self
loading mechanism works on the same gas blow back principle
as found in the standard AK47 as it is in fact a built from the ground up
factory modification of this weapon.
At 100 meters the
SVD Dragunov shot holes in a 16mm thick piece of armour plate with
special 7.62mm armor piercing bullets.
The Armour
piercing bullets go clean through, literally like the proverbial hot knife
through butter.
The Spetsnaz 5.45 mm x 39 mm
armour piercing bullets also penetrate steel plate quite easily, this time
10mm thick steel at 100 meters.
You would not stand a chance against these bullets
even if you wore modern body armour !
Special Spetsnaz 9.3
x 64mm soft point ammunition is designed to expand and fragment on impact as the soft lead
core is exposed. They are in effect dum-dum rounds, and are outlawed by the
Geneva convention. as all bullets fired in the theatre of combat should be FMJ
or Full Metal Jacket. This means that no lead core is exposed, instead the
copper jacket that surrounds a bullet completely covers it.
As stated
earlier, they won't pussy foot around, they go in, take the objective, finish
business and leave.
Below is the MP445 Varjag .40 ACP
pistol that is the weapon of choice for many Spetsnaz operatives.
Spetsnaz use a variety of handguns of various
calibers, this particular weapon
is chambered for the .40 Smith & Wesson ACP round. It is a double action
pistol and is powerful and accurate. An interesting feature
about this pistol is that apart from the barrel the gun is made from a special
ultra tough thermosetting plastic which has the advantage of making it hard to locate with metal
detectors.
The PB model
6P9 pistol as seen below is also a favorite of Spetsnaz operatives. PB
is an abbreviation for Pistolet Besshumnyj ( silenced pistol )
This double action pistol is based on the standard Makarov pistol and is
chambered for the 9x18mm bullet and its magazine holds 8 of them. The
silencer can be detached very quickly which enables the gun to be
carried whilst being concealed.
The gun was so
successful being very quiet and powerful at close range that the
KGB also adopted it for its.....clandestine use. Even though this pistol
was designed in 1967 it is still in use today, if it works well, is tried and
tested...then why change it ?
The Spetsnaz
Today:
Edited
extracts below written by Time reporter Paul Quin Judge in Moscow, reproduced
from http://www.time.com/time/magazine
Now, like the rest of the
Russian armed forces, their special forces are in crisis, demoralized, neglected
and underpaid. Unlike most Russian soldiers, though, the Spetsnaz have salable
skills. They are snipers, explosives and communications specialists, experts in
close quarter combat and surveillance, trained to be cool under extreme pressure and to
think for themselves.
In today's Russian marketplace that makes them perfect
bodyguards and perfect killers. Many veterans have found well paid work in
private security companies or protecting prominent public figures. Many serving
officers are moonlighting to make ends meet. And a small but significant
minority of retired and active duty Spetsnaz have, according to their
colleagues, disappeared into the criminal underworld, where the money is good
and readily available, if you dare to seek it.
For example, a
number of current and former Spetsnaz officers from the Russian Airborne
forces have been arrested in connection with the 1994 murder of Dmitri
Kholodov, an investigative journalist killed by a booby trapped briefcase
while he was working on a story about high level military corruption.
Spetsnaz soldiers hire themselves out to the underworld in less dramatic ways
as well, "Say a crime boss is planning a confrontation with a
rival, He phones his Spetsnaz contact and asks for four to
five guys, it as simple as that"
They take time off from
their units, and stand behind the boss, fully armed with automatic weapons, while he talks to his
rival. The other side sees they are serious guys, and is impressed. For a
couple of hours' work they make $200 each, if there is any shooting, their fee
goes up to $500. This is more than a year's official salary for an experienced
NCO, who officially makes a pitiful $30 a month.
Wretched salaries are not the
only source of demoralization. Living conditions would provoke a mutiny in many
countries. Sergei, the Spetsnaz NCO, lives in a slum. Officially called NCO
married quarters, his single room measures only 5 foot x 8 foot and he lives there
with his wife and daughter.
Ten families share a
rat infested kitchen and a
single toilet whose walls are rotting with damp. Sergei does not wear his
uniform when he goes into the city, "civilians view soldiers as
losers" he
says. Yet when he first joined the
Spetsnaz he felt great pride in the accomplishment. In those days it was rare to
be recruited for the Spetsnaz and even harder to qualify. Spetsnaz veterans
across the country acted as informal talent scouts, identifying promising
soldiers for their old units
The recruits were fit and tough, and sometimes
edging dangerously close to trouble with the law. "The saying used to be..." Ivan recalled, "...that you either went into the Spetsnaz or into
prison." They had something else in common, veterans say, though often
unsophisticated, they were usually very bright guys. Volodya, a well
educated officer
who commanded a Spetsnaz unit, remembers his men as "some of the most
intelligent people I have ever known".
Spetsnaz
soldiers are amongst the best trained in the world, they are handpicked and
training can last a full 5 years, the training is harsh and brutal, and
still culminates in a session of unarmed combat that would probably be banned in
any Western army.
The recruit must hold out for 12 minutes against three or four
successive assailants, all qualified Spetsnaz soldiers. "Basically they try
to kill you," says Alexei, an Ex Spetsnaz operative. Occasionally they
succeed, and soldiers frequently end up hospitalized after the sessions.
These
days, though, when the battered but exhilarated survivors receive their maroon
berets, they sometimes get something extra. Shady looking civilians, there with
the blessing of senior officers and eager to meet the graduates, have been seen
handing out envelopes of money.
For many Spetsnaz vets, such scenes point to the
heart of the matter: in their view the Spetsnaz turned mafia hit man is less to
blame than the corrupt state that has left its special forces to rot.
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