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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Oh, Nothing. Just a major change in Russian air assault doctrine
2024-04-06
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

From the V Kontakte page of Power is in the truth


❗The Russian army is training to drop armored vehicles by parachute.

This is preparation for offensive actions on some part of the front.

On what, history is silent...

Posted by:badanov

#8  Charge the EV Tank's batteries at the convenient charging station they also dropped

We have lots of experience with aerial refueling for our aircraft. Why not aerial recharging for our electric tanks?
Posted by: SteveS   2024-04-06 14:01  

#7  Wiki cite: "The M551 "Sheridan" AR/AAV (Armored Reconnaissance/Airborne Assault Vehicle) was a light tank developed by the United States and named after General Philip Sheridan, of American Civil War fame. It was designed to be landed by parachute and to swim across rivers."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M551_Sheridan
Posted by: NoMoreBS   2024-04-06 13:40  

#6  I recall when I went to eldest son's graduation from jump school at Benning. The AF had been practicing 'slick drops' with an M1A at the air field there. They had to stop, because they broke the Abrams, and the C17.
Meanwhile, the 'black hats' borrowed a North Carolina Air Nat Guard C130 for their drop week runs.
Posted by: ed in texas   2024-04-06 10:06  

#5  Add to Mike's list: *Charge the EV Tank's batteries at the convenient charging station they also dropped
Posted by: Frank G   2024-04-06 09:54  

#4  An air dropped armored force (no tanks, but the Russian do have an armored light 125mm gun carrier: the Sprut) will likely be dropped (as in US doctrine) in an area known to be absent of MANPADs and other AA weapons.

Previously, in order to land their airborne forces, the Russians/Soviets needed to capture an airfield intact, as in Gostomel in the war's early going. This necessarily included a paradrop/heliborne assault by light infantry, to expand their perimeter to allow aircraft in to land the armor vehicles.

The initial air assault to capture an airfield is apparently baked into the Russians airborne doctrine with the twist being the landing by parachute of light armor vehicles instead of aircraft landing on the airfield.

I agree this has never been done in combat conditions, but it now appears we may get free tickets to the show, as long as NATO continues to move troops to eastern Europe.
Posted by: badanov   2024-04-06 09:46  

#3  So, more Kinetic Bombardment than weapon delivery?
Still, what does one do with a battlefield of metal chunks?

What’s the Weight of a Military Tank? The 10 Heaviest Tanks in The World
Posted by: Skidmark   2024-04-06 08:46  

#2  ...We practice this too - have since the mid-50s, when airlifters started getting big enough to make it practical. It's pretty damned cool to watch.

A few very minor drawbacks, however:

*Dumping a tank from altitude is...probably not practical. LAPES = where they motor along about 30 feet off the ground and boot it out the back - work a LOT better, but at that altitude the guys on the ground with AKs have a chance of bringing you down.
*Whatever they're dropping, they have to do it (relatively) slowly and in a straight line, so the air defense guys on the ground and anybody in the air will appreciate it.
*We practice it regularly, and we still drop sh!t straight down.
*No, you can't drop it with the crew in it, because it will give them a severe case of the dead.
*Which means you have to drop the crew before/after the vehicle, and they now have to form up and find it.
*Oh, and unpack it.
*And even the United States By-God Air Force has yet to do any of this under combat conditions.

Past performance would seem to indicate that the Russians aren't going to get this quite right.

Mike
Posted by: MikeKozlowski   2024-04-06 08:10  

#1  “Everything is air droppable, at least once”
Schlock Mercenary”
Posted by: Ululating+Platypus   2024-04-06 04:24  

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