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CaptainCrunch · 09-30-2004, 08:31 PM

Interesting concept with the Soviet loss in Afganistan. Cow you a partially right, the introduction of Stinger missiles completely neutalized the Soviet air advantage as far as low ground support is concerned.

The second thing that caused the failure of the Soviet Army in Afganistan was the fact that in the second year of that war the Afghans went from a more conventional strategy to one where they forced the Soviet Army to fight them in mountain passes causing the Soviets to lose the advantage of vehicle mobility.

The third impact on the Soviets was the destruction of the moral of the average Soviet Soldier. Between the treatment of soldiers by the Afghans, to the poor support from the homefront, to the poorly trained officers and the fact that thier seargents were no better trained then they were (goofy soviet ranks system) it destroyed thier will to fight.

The fundemental poor performance of Soviet armour and frontal aviation units caused the battle to become a man against man battle instead of a modern army against a primitive insurgency. The advantage always go to the home team in that kind of situation.

And Afghanistan was a big factor in the collapse of the Soviet Union

as was the fact that the Star Wars defense project caused the Soviets to spend billions to try to develop a mirror system.

The American build up of conventional naval and army forces in Europe forced the Soviets to spend a bucket full of money to maintain thier 5-1 numbers advantage

The continued poor performance of the agriculture and resource based industries.

The very public quashings in Poland and other warsaw pact nations caused the wall to come down.

The fact that while externally East Germany looked like a fraternal socialist country, they were basically at war with the Russians over policy and security and the Soviets never trusted them, caused them to lose a grip on Germany.

The whole folding of communism in Russia is a interesting study because everyone knew it was coming, but nobody predicted the speed and lack of resistance that was initially witnessed.

09-30-2004, 08:31 PM	#4
CaptainCrunch Norm! Join Date: Jun 2002 Exp:	Interesting concept with the Soviet loss in Afganistan. Cow you a partially right, the introduction of Stinger missiles completely neutalized the Soviet air advantage as far as low ground support is concerned. The second thing that caused the failure of the Soviet Army in Afganistan was the fact that in the second year of that war the Afghans went from a more conventional strategy to one where they forced the Soviet Army to fight them in mountain passes causing the Soviets to lose the advantage of vehicle mobility. The third impact on the Soviets was the destruction of the moral of the average Soviet Soldier. Between the treatment of soldiers by the Afghans, to the poor support from the homefront, to the poorly trained officers and the fact that thier seargents were no better trained then they were (goofy soviet ranks system) it destroyed thier will to fight. The fundemental poor performance of Soviet armour and frontal aviation units caused the battle to become a man against man battle instead of a modern army against a primitive insurgency. The advantage always go to the home team in that kind of situation. And Afghanistan was a big factor in the collapse of the Soviet Union as was the fact that the Star Wars defense project caused the Soviets to spend billions to try to develop a mirror system. The American build up of conventional naval and army forces in Europe forced the Soviets to spend a bucket full of money to maintain thier 5-1 numbers advantage The continued poor performance of the agriculture and resource based industries. The very public quashings in Poland and other warsaw pact nations caused the wall to come down. The fact that while externally East Germany looked like a fraternal socialist country, they were basically at war with the Russians over policy and security and the Soviets never trusted them, caused them to lose a grip on Germany. The whole folding of communism in Russia is a interesting study because everyone knew it was coming, but nobody predicted the speed and lack of resistance that was initially witnessed. __________________ My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!