The Soviet-Afghan War MODERN WAR STUDIES Theodore A. Wilson General Editor Raymond A. Callahan J. Garry Clifford Jacob W. Kipp Jay Luvaas Allan R. Millett Carol Reardon Dennis Showalter Series Editors The Soviet-Afghan War How a Superpower Fought and Lost The Russian General Staff Translated and edited by Lester W. Grau and Michael A. Cress Foreword by Theodore C. Mataxis University Press of Kansas The Russian General Staff authors' collective is headed by Colonel Professor Valentin Runov, candidate of history. Members of the authors' collective include P. D. Alexseyev, Yu. G. Avdeev, Yu. P. Babich, A. M. Fufaev, B. P. Gruzdev, V. S. Kozlov, V. I. Litvinnenko, N. S. Nakonechnyy, V. K. Puzel', S. S. Sharov, S. F. Tsybenko, V. M. Varushinin, P. F. Vazhenko, V. F. Yashin, and V. V. Zakharov. © 2002 by the University Press of Kansas All rights reserved Published by the University Press of Kansas (Lawrence, Kansas 66049), which was or- ganized by the Kansas Board of Regents and is operated and funded by Emporia State Uni- versity, Fort Hays State University, Kansas State University, Pittsburg State University, the University of Kansas, and Wichita State University. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Soviet-Afghan War : how a superpower fought and lost: the Russian General Staff / translated and edited by Lester W. Grau and Michael A. Gress ; foreword by Theodore C. Mataxis. p. cm. — (Modern war studies) Translated from Russian. Includes index. ISBN 0-7006-1185-1 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-7006-1186-X (paper : alk. paper) 1. Afghanistan—History—Soviet occupation, 1979-1989. 2. Soviet Union—Military policy. 3. Soviet Union—History, Military. I. Grau, Lester W. II. Gress, Michael A. III. Series. DS371.2.S665 2002 958.104'5—dc21 2001006560 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Printed in the United States of America 10 9876543 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.48-1984. Contents List of Illustrations vii Foreword, Theodore C. Mataxis, Brigadier General (Retired) xi Editors' Preface xvii Acknowledgments xxvii General Staff Introduction 1 1. Phases and Course of the Conflict 15 2. Organization, Armament, and Training of the Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces and Government of Afghanistan Armed Forces 35 Organization and Equipment of Soviet Forces 35 Training of Soviet Forces 42 Organization and Training of the Armed Forces of the DRA 48 3. Organization, Armament, and Tactics of the Mujahideen 53 4. Operational Art 73 5. Combined Arms Tactics 93 Raids 93 Cordons and Searches 106 Ambushes 125 Marches and Convoy Escorts 138 6. Combat Arms Branch Tactics 167 Artillery 167 Armored Forces 190 Airborne and Air Assault Forces 197 Army Aviation 209 7. Combat Support 223 Reconnaissance 223 Security 233 Engineer Support 242 Chemical Support 255 v vi THE SOVIET-AFGHAN WAR 8. Combat Service Support 264 Technical Support 264 Ammunition Support 265 Logistics Support 282 Post Exchange, Housing, and Pay 292 Medical Support 295 9. Conclusion 304 Tactics 311 Technology 312 Morale 313 Appendix, 1: 40th Army Order of Battle 315 Appendix 2: Soviet Artillery Planning 323 Notes 327 Glossary 345 Key to Map Symbols 353 About the Editors 355 Index 357 Illustrations MAPS Map 1. Map of Afghanistan 2 Map 2. Invasion and occupation of Afghanistan 16 Map 3. Raid on Sherkhankel 22 Map 4. Mujahideen ambush on Soviet convoy 66 Map 5. Mujahideen raid on a security outpost 68 Map 6. Panjshir valley operation 76 Map 7. Joint combat actions in Operation Magistral 86 Map 8. Maneuver in Operation Magistral 87 Map 9. Withdrawal operation 89 Map 10. Western corridor security plan for the withdrawal operation 90 Map 11. Ghorband raid 95 Map 12. Kirgak raid 98 Map 13. Deh Khusk raid 100 Map 14. Stylized motorized rifle battalion raid 107 Map 15. Helicopter-inserted blocking positions 109 Map 16. Encirclement with converging subunits 110 Map 17. Blocking and sweeping Nishin 112 Map 18. Blocking and sweeping Rabati-Payeen 115 Map 19. Blocking and sweeping a canyon 118 Map 20. Sweeping Ishkamesh 120 Map 21. Sweeping a green zone 123 Map 22. Soviet ambush 127 Map 23. Artillery ambush 178 Map 24. Artillery support of a moving force 180 Map 25. Fire support of a withdrawing force in the mountains 181 vii viii THE SOVIET-AFGHAN WAR Map 26. Ambush-Spetsnaz Company and Recon Company of the 345th Parachute Regiment 225 Map 27. Reconnaissance raid 227 Map 28. Security zone for a garrison and airfield 235 Map 29. Securing part of the Kabul-Jalalabad highway 238 Map 30. Chemical support of an advance 259 Map 31. Chemical support of a force when breaking contact and withdrawing 260 Map 32. Soviet motorized rifle division medical points in mountainous terrain 299 FIGURES Figure 1. Basic data on machine guns 39 Figure 2. Tactical and technical characteristics of RPG-7, SPG-9, and ACS-17 41 Figure 3. Basic characteristics of hand grenades 41 Figure 4. Soviet 40th Army war dead, derived from preliminary data 44 Figure 5. Organization, armaments, and personnel of an "Islamic Regiment" 57 Figure 6. Structure, armaments, and personnel of typical Mujahideen detachments and groups 59 Figure 7. Basic tactical-technical characteristics of tube artillery and MRLs 169 Figure 8. Artillery reconnaissance system characteristics 171 Figure 9. Sources of intelligence before and during combat 228 Figure 10. Tactical-technical characteristics of earthmoving machines 251 Figure 11. Characteristics of rocket-assisted, man-portable flame throwers 255 Figure 12. Characteristics of smoke systems 258 PHOTOS Soviet motorized rifle company hikes into the mountains 151 82mm Podnos mortar 152 Soviet engineers probe for mines 153 Mi-24 "Hind" helicopter gunships in the Panjshir valley in June 1985 154 BM-21 "Grad" multiple rocket launcher battery 155 Destroyed Soviet fuel tank trucks 155 Mujahideen supply trucks moving by daylight 156 Soviet sapper in a protective suit 157 ILLUSTRATIONS ix Soviet R-300 "SCUD" missiles 158 SU-25 "FROGFOOT" close air support aircraft 159 T-62D tanks guarding approach to the Salang tunnel 160 Battery of 122mm D-30 howitzers in circular firing position 160 Artillery fire direction center 161 Motorized rifle regiment command post, 1983 162 Field repair of a BMD-1 airborne personnel carrier 162 Rubber water reservoirs positioned at key points to support Soviet forces 163 Female warrant officer 164 A soldier and his mother meet at Termez 165 Monument to fallen comrade 166 Foreword Editors' note: General Mataxis is one of the premier authorities in the United States on guerrilla war. During his illustrious career, he fought as an infantry- man in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. He was continually involved with the observation and study of guerrilla forces. At the end of World War II, when his battalion was deactivated in Berlin, he was put in charge of a prisoner of war camp for German generals and general staff officers. He supervised historians who recorded the German accounts of their operations in the Soviet Union, including the collection of German accounts of German efforts against the Soviet and Yugoslavian partisans. While en route to the Indian Defense Staff College in 1950, he stopped at Singapore where the British instructed him in their ongoing counter-guerrilla efforts in Malay. At the Indian Staff College, he studied the guerrilla aspects of the British-Afghan wars in detail. He graduated from the Staff College in 1951 and then served for a year as an observer in the guerrilla- plagued Kashmir. On his way to the Korean War, he took personal leave to visit French Indochina to observe France's war with the Viet Minh guerrillas. General Mataxis put his studies of guerrilla warfare to practical use in Viet- nam. From 1964 to 1966, he served as the senior adviser to the South Vietnamese II ARVN Corps. He helped conduct the Vietnamese defense against the lesser known, but more dangerous, Tet Offensive of 1965. When U.S. regular units entered South Vietnam, he took over the 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne Divi- sion and swept through key provinces in the II Corps Region, fighting Viet Cong guerrillas and regular North Vietnamese forces. In 1968 to 1970, he was assigned as an adviser to the Military Advisory Group in Tehran, Iran, where he advised the Iranians on their covert plans to assist Kurdish guerrillas in eastern Iraq. He returned to South Vietnam in 1970 where he served as deputy comman- der and acting commander of the 23rd Infantry Division. The counter-guerrilla war was winding down and American forces were taking increasing casualties xi xii THE SOVIET-AFGHAN WAR from mines and booby traps. General Mataxis was reassigned to Cambodia with one day's notice. He became the Chief of the Joint Military Equipment Team in Phnom Penh with the mission to build a Cambodian military force of 200,000. However, the American ambassador to Cambodia was more hindrance than help in this effort, and the door was left open to the Khmer Rouge. General Mataxis retired in April 1972 after 32 years of uniformed service. After retirement from the military, General Mataxis continued his study of guerrilla warfare. He served the Singapore Minister of Defense from 1972 to 1975 as a consultant. During this time, he was able to study the files on the Japanese attack on Singapore and the Malayan Emergency. From 1980 to 1990, he advised and assisted Mujahideen freedom fighters in his capacity as Field Director of the Committee for a Free Afghanistan. He was also active in helping raise support for the anticommunist resistance to the Khmer Rouge in Cambo- dia.