Soviet Air Assault Btg Rapid Fire

[italwars]

Hello
i'm in the process of building a Soviet Air Assault Btg. during the Afghanistan War to use with Rapid Fire rules (modern version)...i found on the web a nice pict ...sorry to have stolen the idea from the gentleman who psoted it .. ..i cannot remenber where did a find it but many thanks to  the guy who made this project and posted the pict..
may somebody help to identify the material represented in A, B, C support weapons bases ..and which model is the Helicopter in D..which should be the one used by the btg. HQ....i've already identified and purchased all the rest of material that could be see in the pict...i suppose the air portable tank and support motor gun wheren't used during Afghanistan airborne actions but the 'll justify the use of the big transport helicopter of which i already purchased a Vacuform version...many thanks

[SJWi]

Hi, the resolution on my phone isn't brilliant but I suspect the helicopter is a Mil Mi2 "Hoplite". Two of the weapons look like recoilless rifles which could be the B10 or later SPG9, both of which I think were used by airborne troops. I can't make out the final support weapon but it's squat shape vaguely looks like an ATGW.

[carlos marighela]

‘A’ appears to be SPG-9 recoilless gun, which you would find in an airmobile or parachute battalion. ‘B’ might be a Sagger team, although, the definition is so poor it might just be an 82mm mortar. Both are possible within a parachute/ airmobile battalion. ‘C’ looks like an AT-4 or likely AT-5 Spandrel ATGM. With that in mind it’s more likely that ‘B’ is indeed a mortar. Crew positions seem to support that too. The base behind it is an AGS-17 Plamya automatic grenade launcher.

‘D’ is indeed a Mil Mi-2 Hoplite.

BMDs were used in Afghanistan, at least initially but the VDV battalions so equipped tended to exchange them for BTR-70s and BMP-2s

[AKULA]

A great looking collection - its a shame that no one does a Mil-6 or a Mi-26 in 1/48 scale

[CapnJim]

I agree with the same surmisements with which Carlos came up.  Great minds and all that., I reckon..

[italwars]

Thanks Carlos a real gentleman and an expert..thank SJW and Akula...all great identifications...i've just found an affordable 1:72 hoplite helicopter on ebay Italy...just thinking if it was really used as a mobile Btg HQ also in Afghanstan  as the pict seems to suggest..if i would have been a Soviet Colonel i would have prefered to overview the battle from a relatively safer Hind 24 instead of from a  small helicopter..but if historically correct i like the variety
thanks again...

[cuprum]

Mi-2 was almost never used in Afghanistan. This is an unarmed training helicopter (in Soviet operation - there was an armed version in Poland). In addition, according to its technical characteristics, it was not suitable enough for operations in the mountains. Only two such helicopters are known in Afghanistan, which were quickly sent back to the USSR.

Mi-26 is a transport helicopter. It was not used in combat operations. His task in Afghanistan is the transportation of goods and the evacuation of damaged equipment. But not in combat.

Here is an article about the weapons of Soviet paratroopers in Afghanistan (automatic translation):

https://translated.turbopages.org/proxy_u/ru-en.ru.972b7907-62e6aacb-e8974ce5-74722d776562/sro-sdr.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=217&Itemid=566

[cuprum]

Soviet tracked armored vehicles in Afghanistan. The paratroopers quickly received infantry samples and even tanks instead of standard armored vehicles (automatic translation):

https://translated.turbopages.org/proxy_u/ru-en.ru.2018b4b8-62e6abc7-e1ebfa70-74722d776562/https/kramscalemodels.vavik96.com/history/sovetskaya-boevaya-gusenichnaya-texnika-v-afganistane.html


Brief essay on the actions of the Soviet Airborne Forces in Afghanistan:

https://translated.turbopages.org/proxy_u/ru-en.ru.0da10c5a-62e6ac43-4a7305e0-74722d776562/https/bstudy.net/668001/bzhd/primenenie_vozdushnyh_desantov_lokalnyh_voynah_koree_vetname

[cuprum]

So I recommended that you get rid of the Mi-2 and Mi-26. To support the paratroopers, use the 82-mm automatic mortar "Vasilek", automatic grenade launcher AGS-17, 12.7 mm machine gun NSV "Utyos", BTR-80, BMD-2 or BMP-2, tank T-62, 122 mm howitzer- cannon D-30A.

[italwars]

Cuprum..thanks very much..always a pleasure to read you and an honour that you take the trouble to help with such higly expert infos that i'll duly study tonight..
well i can avoid the small helicopter..thanks so much for the punctual info as i was just buying a few minutes ago a diecast in the "Polish Version"..happy that the greedy italian ebay seller did'nt accept my offer for just a 0,99€ discount 
but you really want me to waste my big M26 helicopter that i purchased paying it a leg and a arm as far from Lituania? 
but i read that a few of those big monsters were downed by the Afghan terrorists ..maybe a scenario to rescue the surviving crew by Spetnaz...anyway i'll follow your precious suggestions Ubi Mayor 

[cuprum]

Well, of course! You decide what and how to use in your game I'm just reporting the facts that I know.
Only two Mi-26 helicopters were lost for combat reasons:
- On August 19, 2002, in Chechnya (Khankala), a Russian army helicopter with Russian soldiers on board was shot down by Chechen rebels on takeoff from the airfield with an Igla MANPADS missile. 119 people died.
- July 13, 2009 in Afghanistan in the Lashkargah District, fire from the ground (presumably RPG-7) shot down a Moldovan civilian helicopter carrying humanitarian supplies.
There is another "muddy" story about a Russian civilian Mi-26 shot down in Afghanistan on December 3, 2006, which, under a contract, was involved in the evacuation of downed Western coalition helicopters. But officially this story has not been confirmed by anyone except the Taliban. For official reasons, the helicopter is considered lost for an unknown reason.

[italwars]

So no M26 shot down by mujaideen during the 80s War in Afghanistan ?…happy to have known that…well it seems that , in this case, wiki  propaganda isn’t confined to to day events .
I can understand that to risk such a big helicopter to land in a insecure zone would have been a mad decision

[italwars]

Mi-2 was almost never

Mi-26 is a transport helicopter. It was not used in combat operations. His task in Afghanistan is the transportation of goods and the evacuation of damaged equipment. But not in combat.

Here is an article about the weapons of Soviet paratroopers in

By the way..the big helicopter on the top of the picture could be an MI 6 instead of a MI 26? ..even in that case certainly used, as Cuprum told us, only for transport duties..but the MI 6 could nt  be the same big helicopter downed in chechenia in 2002 as the human load could reach about 60 soldiers not 119..I suppose that the wargamer behind the project shown in the picture choosed an helicopter  appropriate, if not for Afghanistan, at least for the Cold War period from which the represented minis and support weapons clearly belong.

[carlos marighela]

No, it’s definitely an Mi-26. Different nose arrangement on the Mi-6 and the Mi-6 had fairly prominent winglets just aft of the engine outlets.

[italwars]

Ok thanks...hope that my model is an MIL 6 ..otherwise i'll dispose of it has suggested by Cuprum