I am no expert but...

[Conquistador]

I look at page 69 of FoF and I see a picture labeled "Paratrooper, Soviet VDV, Afghanistan, 1980s" then I se a picture on page 71 "Soviet Naval Infantryman 1975" and they look like they might be reversed.  Para as a  "Sailor" looking hat and striped shirt under camo that looks more "navy" to me...

Gracias,

Glenn

Hell they all look like small slow agile targets to a advocate of Billy Mitchell like myself...

[The Travelling Man]

Haven't my copy with me but think the captions are correct.  VDV did indeed wear a striped tee shirt under their BDU blouse- it's pretty much a trademark of Soviet airborne forces. 

[Conquistador]

Okay.

Like I said, no expert...

Gracias,

Glenn

[Arlequín]

Yes the Soviet Airborne do seem to have taken their inspiration from a Gaultier advert and do wear a sky blue beret with a striped 'sailor' style shirt. Naval infantry wear a black (or is it a dark navy blue?) one and the stripes on their shirt are a darker blue. The camouflage is beyond me though... not something I know anything about at all.


Edit: I've since discovered that the shirt or 'Telnyashka' is actually the treasured symbol of the elite forces, where mostly elsewhere it's the beret. Even Vasilii Zaitsev apparently refused to give his up when he transferred from the Naval Infantry. Perhaps one of our Russian members can confirm this?

[argsilverson]

Indeed the elite forces of ex soviet union and nowdays russia,  do wear the blue striped shirt.
The armed forces of the newly formed independent states have their elite airborne following the same mode. I have lots of actual photos for example ukraine and kazakhstan to have the same blue striped shite shirt.

The story says that when the first unit of soviet airborne was created , the commanding officer was a naval admiral who fancied this striped shirt and introduced it in the airborne units, too.

Actually I think thta the beret type of the cap worn by naval infantry was a reversed story. they adopted this cap to show thei elite status. Maybe this is not true. 

[Hildred Castaigne]

Naval infantry wear a black (or is it a dark navy blue?) one and the stripes on their shirt are a darker blue.

Dark blue, only priests' socks are actually black! 

[dadlamassu]

1980s


more modern

[cuprum]

Hi colleagues.

 Vest in the Soviet / Russian army - a tribute to tradition. As part of the spetsnaz all the armed forces are descended from the Soviet Marines.
 Here's an article that will give you some idea about this situation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telnyashka

 And here on my forum about berets in the Soviet Army:

http://siberia-miniatures.ru/forum/showthread.php?fid=14&tid=62

But the pictures can not always be trusted. The color of objects in the photo are often severely alters the color - depending on the lighting. It is better to find authentic hand-drawn illustration.

[Conquistador]

<snip>

But the pictures can not always be trusted. The color of objects in the photo are often severely alters the color - depending on the lighting. It is better to find authentic hand-drawn illustration.

Interesting but given availability of pigments in the field/on site, illustrations drawn from memory after the fact, Illustrations drawn from verbal descriptions of others, and "artistic license" I always have grave concerns about hand drawn/colored efforts too.

As we say at work it's  all about the accuracy, precision, and reliability of the sources.

Gracias,

Gleen