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Spetsnaz are the Soviet equivalent of the British SAS or American Delta force. These Soviet 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 that description I would say sounds very much like Spetsnaz the elite of the Russian elite.
Soviet special forces are known as Spetsialnoe Naznachenie, a.k.a Spetsnaz, and they were formed in 1974 by Yuri Andropov to carry out special missions. Whether these missions were legal or not was never questioned.
Spetsnaz is an acronym from the Russian word Spetsialnoe Naznachenie which translates as Special Purpose. Spetsnaz 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 American Delta Force. They do however specialize in reconnaissance, sabotage and the best assassination techniques. Assassination by Spetsnaz operatives is always deniable of course. The Soviet Military Encyclopaedia defines Special Reconnaissance in the following way...
Spetsnaz troops normally
operate deep inside enemy territory and carry out typical militaristic actions
such as destroying facilities, air fields, communications, missile silos etc.
Some Spetsnaz units train for kidnapping
Spetsnaz units are lightly equipped to be able to move and cover ground fast. A typical Spetsnaz soldier will be equipped with a modern 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 eight hand grenades of various types including smoke and fragmentation. Other weapons that are carried in the team include, RPG16 grenade launchers, R350 burst type transmitter radios ( 1000 Kilometers range) plastic explosives and anti-personnel mines. Also SA14 and SA7 surface to air missile launchers are available to the Spetsnaz team if needs be.
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. FIGHTING SKILLS AND TACTICS Skills and tactics that are employed by the Spetsnaz teams include but are not limited to the following: Parachuting in all weather conditions with HALO...high altitude low opening, as well as LALO...low altitude, low opening. Also free fall sky diving is practised. Swimming underwater for long periods and buoyancy tests with both hands and feet tied together. 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. Many Spetsnaz operatives also have I.T and computer skills.
Foreign language and culture, including " sleeping" in a foreign country for years to learn about a countries society and 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. Also how to disable or attack any such vehicle.
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 the use and familiarization with all current satellite navigation aids. Also methods of interrogating prisoners and also techniques on how to survive interrogation themselves. Overall they learn how to become capable and dependable special forces operatives.
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 webpage does not advertise itself or promote
its existence, it is in many ways a secret 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 that around
fifteen thousand Spetsnaz operatives exist worldwide. These
operatives are however viewed as a peace time contingency, but they are
always " tooled up " and ready to deploy to any trouble spots
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 the rebel Amin and every insurgent 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
"
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
forty-eight hour deadline for the hostage release was passed, negotiations Included with the severed head was a small note telling them that if they did not surrender, then another severed head would soon follow. The choice was up to them. 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.
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 any weapons from any country. Below is a Spetsnaz operative preparing to fire his silenced (suppressed) assault weapon the AS Val.
The AS Val it is a favorite of Spetsnaz operatives as this gun is totally silenced and when fired, the muzzle report is barely audible, reduced to only a slight phutt sound. The only other noise the gun makes when being fired is the sound of the firing pin hitting the cartridges primer, which makes a small but audible click sound. Below is shown an AS Val with several attachments including forward grip, torch and telescopic sights. The folding skeleton shoulder stock comes as standard as does the silencer. The AS Val is chambered for a specially adapted armor piercing 9x39mm subsonic round that produces a velocity about three hundred meters per second and has an effective maximum range of four hundred meters. However, due to the fact that the gun is silenced, only low power subsonic ammunition can be fired.
All subsonic ammunition is designed to travel much slower than regular bullets so 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. A target who is shot in the head with one of these bullet weapon combinations would be dead before they hit the ground. The bullet may be low velocity, but it would do the trick every time, as long as it was a dead on shot. And we can suspect that it would be, if fired by a highly trained and motivated special forces Spetsnaz operative. ASSAULT RIFLES AK-104 7.62mm assault rifle as seen below also available in 5.54mm and 9.3mm to Spetsnaz operatives. The AK-104 is based on the very successful world famous AK-47 design. These weapons are also fitted with folding shoulder stocks for airborne assault. They can of course also be adapted to use telescopic sights and other optical shooting aids by changing the shroud for a Milspec scope rail.
Below the AKS-74U was the Spetsnaz
answer for a sub-machine gun with folding stock. The
original spray and pray weapon! Small, light and
compact, these weapons are ideal for room clearing.
They are also suitable for carrying in automobiles and
armored cars. The AKS-74U also be conceal carried
under a coat, so small is sometimes more useful than large!
The AKS-74U can also be easily fired
in one hand like a pistol if needs be, except that of course it offers greater firepower.
It is more often than not, carried by Spetsnaz paratroopers otherwise known as
airborne assault troops. Below the AK-105, which is an improved and upgraded version of the AK-104 and was also intended to replace the AKS-74U. The twin magazine housing comes as standard with this weapon.
It is made from tough thermo setting plastics and poly carbon fibers including the magazine, stock and fore-grip. The use of plastics keep the weight down and also reduces give away metal knocking against metal sounds. SNIPER RIFLE The Spetsnaz SVD Dragunov 7.62mm sniper rifle as pictured below is a very accurate and exceedingly powerful rifle. Its self loading mechanism works on the same gas blow back principle as found in the standard AK47. The Dragunov is in fact a built from the ground up factory modification of this weapon.
At one hundred meters, the SVD Dragunov shot holes through a sixteen millimeter thick piece of armor plate with special 7.62mm armor piercing bullets.
The Russian armor piercing bullets go clean through, literally like the proverbial hot knife through butter. TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS The Spetsnaz 5.45x39mm armor piercing bullets also penetrate steel plate quite easily, this time, ten millimeter thick steel plate at one hundred meters. The bullets go clean through and daylight is visible through the penetrated steel plate.
You would not stand a chance against these bullets even if you wore modern body armor! If these bullets can penetrate a centimeter of steel plate then they would go clean through your so called bullet proof vest and exit the other side. Armor piercing bullets do not fragment upon impact but stay together as one solid mass of hard hitting metal. Special Spetsnaz 9.3mm x 64mm soft point ammunition however 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.
All bullets fired in the theater of combat should be Full Metal Jacket - FMJ - This means that no lead core is exposed, instead the copper jacket that surrounds a bullet completely covers it. As stated earlier, Spetsnaz operatives won't pussy foot around, they go in, take the objective, finish business and leave. SPETSNAZ HANDGUNS Below is the MP-445 Varjag .40 caliber pistol, this is the weapon of choice for many if not all Spetsnaz operatives.
Spetsnaz do of course use a variety of handguns of various calibers. The MP-445 Varjag 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 Baikal MP-446 Viking, as seen below, is the very latest addition to the Spetsnaz handgun arsenal.
It has a caliber of 9mm Parabellum and holds eighteen rounds in the magazine. The Baikal MP-446 has gained a reputation as being a very reliable handgun with hardly any reported jams during its use. Like the Varjag, it is also largely manufactured from plastic polymers that make it light and strong. Spetsnaz operatives state that this pistol is well on par with the Austrian Glock, but they all prefer the MP-446 instead of the Glock. The Makarov 9mm, as seen below, is also another favorite pistol used by Spetsnaz operatives.
The main reason they like this pistol is because of its compact size. The gun fires 9x18mm rounds that are effective at distances up to twenty five meters. The Makarov has been the official issue sidearm of Soviet military since 1951, its reliability still sees it in service with special forces around the world today. 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 eight 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? So we have gleaned that Spetsnaz operatives prefer to carry weapons that are light, easy to carry, fast to fire and powerful enough to do the business. However, with the break up of communism, life in the Soviet military has taken some drastic turns for its members...
SPETSNAZ TODAY Edited extracts below written by Time reporter Paul Quin Judge in Moscow, reproduced from 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 sellable 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, its 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 are 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 five foot by eight 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..." as 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 five 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 twelve 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. ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- 
Page created July 23rd 2005. Updated November 1st 2012 |
and
assassination of enemy personnel, again, this is deniable.
Spetsnaz
teams normally consist of eight 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.
organization. In most cases the uniforms of Spetsnaz soldiers are not
distinctive from that of ordinary Russian conscripted soldiers.
anywhere, at any time and " do the business "
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.
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 delivered his decapitated head
in a plastic bag back to the terrorists at the Embassy.
