On November 5, employees of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Russia (GRU General Staff of the RF Armed Forces) and soldiers and officers of all military intelligence units of all types and branches of all military structures of the Russian Federation celebrate their professional holiday. Naturally, on the eve of the holiday, a lot of materials appear concerning this sphere of activity of the RF Armed Forces.
Many times in conversations with officers and simply with people interested in the problems of the army and navy, I came across a quite reasonable question. Why do we talk a lot about the threat of a third world war, about a sharp increase in the danger of its beginning due to any mistake of one or two people or even a computer, and at the same time the media are full of materials about the Special Operations Forces, Airborne Forces, marines, intelligence officers and special forces?
Indeed, with all due respect to the special forces or paratroopers (regardless of whether it is the Airborne Forces or the Marine Corps), whose fighters for the most part are better prepared than the rest of the soldiers and officers, it is not particularly difficult to destroy the landing or RDG in their own rear.
A motorized rifle company, with the appropriate reinforcement, will "drive" the enemy reconnaissance group with any intelligence training. Simply because the difference in weapons and equipment is colossal. And the intelligence systems today are such that the scouts are unlikely to be able to sit out in any cache. And the reinforced regiment will throw the marines into the sea or destroy the airborne battalion in a fairly short time.
The 20th century is remembered for the fact that it was in this century that humanity first saw what a war of destruction is. Classic wars associated with the seizure of territory or a change in the political regime in a state are a thing of the past. Two world wars, and the subsequent military conflicts, were primarily the destruction of the population of the participating countries. This is easy enough to understand. Look at the losses among the civilian population and the military.
The third world war is quite possible
The post-war period was “peaceful” for quite a long time simply because those who were personally affected by the war were alive and ruled by countries. Who saw and experienced all its "charms" and understood what could be in the future with more advanced weapons and equipment.
But time is running out. A generation of great-great-grandchildren of those people has already been born. And power passed to those for whom World War II was just history. Moreover, a story that can be easily transformed and made quite beautiful and smooth. Without the horrors, shit and filth of war. This is what we see with our own eyes today. Both in our country and in the West.
It is difficult to ignore the fact that today's youth is ready to kill. She grew up watching computer games and movies about Rimbaud and the like. Look at Ukraine, look at Syria. Look at Europe. They are ready to kill, but not ready to be killed. They don't die in the game.
The change in the ethnic composition of European countries, the entry into the legal political scene of nationalists, open fascists and other radicals is already a fact. What we see in Europe today is very reminiscent of the European society of the 30s of the last century. It seems to me that in 10-15 years we will witness really terrible events. And given that we are always "the enemy of Europe", most likely, we will become participants in these events.
This is the reason that most of the media materials, most of the topics at international forums, meetings and other platforms for discussion are connected precisely with the real danger of another big war. With the danger of a sharp decrease in the population of planet Earth, or even the destruction of humanity as such.
But most of the media deliberately ignore a completely different concept of war, which is actively used today by the leading countries of the world.
Why the world's media pay so much attention to the MTR and special intelligence units
The danger of a third world war does not answer the question that was posed at the beginning of this material. On the contrary, it pushes us to increase interest in global means of destruction. To the weapon of containment. To those weapons and those units and formations, the very presence of which "calms" any aggressor.
Remember the screams of the Ukrainian military, which began only after the announcement of the decision of the RF Ministry of Defense to recreate divisions in the western direction. Remember the panic in the Baltics and Poland over the deployment of modern weapons in the Kaliningrad region. And the emergence of modern air defense and missile defense systems in Syria …
War is just a continuation of diplomacy. And, accordingly, the "dead ends" in the negotiations of diplomats are always eliminated by the military. So, if we simplify international relations as much as possible, the modern world is arranged. And the interests of various states today extend to only neighboring countries, but also far from their own borders. Understanding this fact led to the emergence of the concept of limited war. And for such a war, airborne units and special forces are most suitable.
In general, the use of airborne troops in the conduct of combat operations has been practiced for a long time. True, in the form in which the airborne assault was originally conceived, namely as the massive use of units and even formations to capture important strategic areas in the enemy's rear, it is impossible to use the landing today. Such an operation will be accompanied by huge losses, and the likelihood of its success is doubtful for the reasons that I mentioned at the beginning of the article.
Today, the landing is used to solve local, tactical problems. DRGs or paratrooper units suddenly land in an area, destroy enemy targets or personnel, and return to base even before the enemy's reaction appears.
Let's remember the recent history of Soviet intelligence
Memories are always different from reality. This is probably how human memory works. Even participants in the events over the years remember the past in different ways. We trust scientists, historians, eyewitnesses, analysts, experts. We "remember" the reality already lacquered by all these people (often invented at all).
Memories of the war. Not about that - the Great and Patriotic. On the other, about the Afghan war. We remember the two battalions of 345 PDP, which were the first to be deployed to Bagram on December 14, 1979. We remember the battalion of Captain Khabarov from the 56th DShB, which on December 25, with a sudden throw from Hairaton, took control of the Salang Pass. We remember the planes of the 103rd Airborne Division and the 345th Airborne Regiment Battalion, which arrived in Bagram and Kabul on December 25-26.
It was then that the columns of motorized riflemen, tankmen, sappers and other military people went. It was later that these units and formations established control and waged active hostilities against the Mujahideen. It was then that Soviet soldiers and officers showed miracles of heroism, won, died in battles on the territory of the DRA. But the first were the paratroopers.
But there were other soldiers and officers about whom even many Afghans know little. These are special forces units of the GRU of the USSR Ministry of Defense. I am not afraid to call Afghanistan the first baptism of fire of the GRU special forces units.
Remember how many materials have been written about the storming of Amin's palace. Probably, there is no person who would not know that the KGB special forces "Thunder" and "Zenith" fighters stormed the dictator's palace (it was these groups that worked inside the Taj Bek palace).
Against this background, very little is known about the "Muslim battalion" of the GRU, which also took part in this operation. True, it was difficult to distinguish Soviet soldiers from Afghan soldiers during the assault. Major Khalbaev's fighters were not only outwardly Afghans (special selection), but were also dressed in Afghan uniforms. And the Chirchik tan differs little from the Kabul tan.
The first company of the Special Forces, which was introduced into the 40th Army, was the "Kabul company" consisting of 4 reconnaissance groups and a liaison group. The company entered the DRA in February 1980. It was this company that became the source of invaluable experience for the special forces. And it was this company that pushed the Soviet command to a decision to strengthen special forces in Afghanistan.
Then there were two battalions of the GRU special forces, which many had only heard of. But the participants in that war, especially those who often visited the Tashkurgan-Puli-Khumri highway or in the area of the Panjshir gorge, saw them. Then they were called simply separate SMEs. The 1st MRB was in control of the highway to Puli-Khumri, and the 2nd was stationed in the gorge.
Later, in March 1985, the SMRB became part of 2 brigades of the Special Forces of the GRU (15th - KTurkVO and 22nd - SAVO). In total, there were 8 special forces battalions on the territory of Afghanistan in 1985. The total number of RDGs that could be formed at the same time reached 80.
There was another company that was under the command of the army, 897 ORR. She was not formally part of the GRU units, but acted in close contact with the GRU units. The soldiers of this particular company were the very specialists who controlled the specials. equipment "Realia-U" and were attached to perform combat missions.
We talk about scout fighters very often. However, most of the operations carried out by the regular special forces groups simply could not be performed without reinforcement. And these are sappers, radio operators, grenade launchers, flamethrowers, Plame (AGS-17) crews. Even reconnaissance detachments and reconnaissance groups are sometimes included in companies. And then there was artillery, aviation, tankers.
Happy holiday, scouts
In principle, you can remember a lot. I deliberately limited myself to a story about Afghanistan. Although the use of paratroopers and scouts in the Caucasus during the 1st and 2nd Chechen wars, in the operation to enforce peace in Georgia in 2008 was no less. And as always, units and subunits of the Airborne Forces, Marine Corps and reconnaissance went ahead. At the forefront of the attack.
The concept of a limited war, a local war, on a limited territory is used quite actively today. Until recently, such a war gave some countries the opportunity to influence world politics almost everywhere. The United States and NATO accomplished their tasks precisely by force. They overthrew governments, destroyed states, seized territories. It was simply impossible to resist the military machine of NATO or the United States.
But today there are countries that can do this. Moreover, as it turned out, these are not only the "giants" of world politics like China or Russia, but also some other countries that, during the "reign" of the Americans, managed to grow teeth and fists. And the example of the DPRK showed the world that even without superweapons, you can successfully replace the same Americans. Today, the prestige of service in intelligence, in special forces, in the MTR, in rapid reaction units has grown in all the armies of the world.
The love of our people for the Special Forces soldiers, for the special forces, for the Airborne Forces, for the marines, as, indeed, for the army in general, arose for a reason. This is love for the winners, for the heroes. We are genetically engineered to win. It is trite, but the slogan "Victory or Death" is about us, about Russians of all nationalities. And reconnaissance, no matter what genus or type of the Armed Forces it belongs to, is always the first. Always the best. That is why there are more than 700 Heroes of the Soviet Union and Russia in the ranks of the GRU scouts!
Happy holiday, scouts, special forces and all those who at least once performed such tasks during their service!
