Mark Galeotti

Afghanistan 1979-88 (eBook, ePUB)

Soviet air power against the mujahideen
Illustrator: Groult, Edouard A.

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

The first English-language book to examine the crucial part air power played in the Soviet-Afghan War.

The Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan was fought as much in the air as on the ground. From the high-level bombing raids that blasted rebel-held mountain valleys, to the Mi-24 helicopter gunships and Su-25 jets that accompanied every substantial army operation, Soviet control of the air was a crucial battlefield asset. Vital to every aspect of its operations, Mi-8 helicopters ferried supplies to remote mountain-top observation points and took the bodies of fallen soldiers on their last journey home in An12 'Black Tulips'.

But this was not a wholly one-sided conflict. Even before the Afghan rebels began to acquire man-portable surface-to-air missiles such as the controversial US 'Stinger,' they aggressively and imaginatively adapted. They learnt new techniques of camouflage and deception, set up ambushes against low-level attacks, and even launched daring raids on airbases to destroy aircraft on the ground.

Featuring information previously unknown in the West, such as the Soviets' combat-testing of Yak-38 'Forger' naval jump jets, Soviet-expert Mark Galeotti examines the rebel, Kabul government and the Soviet operation in Afghanistan, drawing deeply on Western and Russian sources, and including after-action analyses from the Soviet military. Using maps, battlescenes and detailed 'Bird's Eye Views', he paints a comprehensive picture of the air war and describes how, arguably, it was Soviet air power that made the difference between defeat for Moscow and the subsequent stalemate that they decided to disengage from.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury UK eBooks
• Seitenzahl: 96
• Erscheinungstermin: 16. Februar 2023
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781472850737
• Artikelnr.: 66258604

Autorenporträt

Mark Galeotti is a scholar of Russian security affairs with a career spanning academia, government service and business, a prolific author and frequent media commentator. He heads the Mayak Intelligence consultancy and is an Honorary Professor at University College London's School of Slavonic and East European Studies as well as holding fellowships with RUSI, the Council on Geostrategy and the Institute of International Relations Prague. He has been Head of History at Keele University, Professor of Global Affairs at New York University, a Senior Research Fellow at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and a Visiting Professor at Rutgers-Newark, Charles University (Prague) and the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. He is the author of over 25 books including A Short History of Russia (Penguin, 2021) and The Weaponisation of Everything: A Field Guide to the New Way of War (Yale University Press, 2022).

Inhaltsangabe

INTRODUCTION Flying in an Afghan summer CHRONOLOGY ATTACKER'S CAPABILITIES The Soviet Air Force in Afghanistan Close air support Bombing Airlift Supporting the war The DRA Air Force DEFENDER'S CAPABILITIES Countering Soviet air power Deception, evasion and camouflage Anti
aircraft artillery MANPADS Mines and ambushes Raids CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVES A decade in Afghanistan 1. Invasion, 1979
80 2. Reluctant escalation, 1980
84 3. Chernenko's war, 1984
86 4. The 'bleeding wound', 1986
88 5. Withdrawal, 1988
89 THE CAMPAIGN Jets and helicopters fight a guerrilla war 1. Invasion, 1979
80 2. Reluctant escalation, 1980
84 Operation Rhombus and the Yak
38 3. Chernenko's war, 1984
86 Operation Trap: The end of 'Chernenko's war' 4. The 'bleeding wound', 1986
88 The Stinger Operation Highway, 1987
88 5.Withdrawal, 1988
89 Operation Air
Bridge, January
February 1989 AFTERMATH AND ANALYSIS FURTHER READING GLOSSARY INDEX