Russian motor rifle disposable RPGs and rifle optics

[akd]

That's probably because at least 3 of those aircraft were downed by friendly fire. However, the accepted figure is 6 combat losses, not 7-8.

http://www.russiadefence.net/t1697-russian-air-losses-in-georgia-war

[John Kettler]

VladimirTarasov,

 

As I said, the report draws on a wealth of sources, many of them Russian directly or indirectly. By "indirectly," I mean articles in which Russian interviewees" (with or without direct ID) statements are reported or written Russian material is cited in some other context (article, paper, report, etc.). Wish I could find the thing I read on Georgian use of drones for bringing down artillery fire on Russians.  Georgian intel was very bad, and Georgia paid dearly in consequence. As for irregulars, I may've conflated the two scary to Georgia Chechen battalions and the South Abkhazian (?) irregulars. Russia also had a mountain unit in the fight, I believe. The report mentions one. 

 

akd,

 

Terrific article, most of whose contents I knew nothing. Looks like a pretty high amicide rate! The author, Mr. Lavrov, works in a Moscow based military think tank and has a substantial media presence in defense matters.

 

Russia lost a total of six aircraft in combat during the Five Day War: one Su-25SM and two Su-25 ground-attack aircraft, two Su-24M front-line bomber and one Tu-22M3 long-range bomber. Of these, two aircraft were certainly downed by enemy fire, three were probably hit by «friendly fire» and it remains difficult to determine who downed the last. The wreckage of five aircraft fell within the borders of South Ossetia and just one, the Su-24M from the 929th State Aviation Training Centre, fell in Georgia.

 

Judging from the concluding paragraphs, the Russians were lucky their amicide losses weren't even higher. 

 

Of course, it is little consolation that at least half of Russian air losses were attributed to friendly fire. This demonstrates the serious problems facing the Russian Armed Forces with respect to the command and control of forces in battle. The absence of cooperation between the Russian Army and Air Force led to them conduct completely separate campaigns. Pilots were not fully apprised of the situation on the ground, received inexact and late intelligence, and at the start of hostilities, according to the Commander of the 368th Attack Aviation Regiment Colonel Kobylash, they did not even have exact information on the structure and strength of the Georgian Air Defense Forces. 22

 

Russian Ground Forces also lacked information about the situation in the air, and were not sure until the end of combat whether Russia’s aviation had achieved air superiority. In spite of the fact that Georgian Su-25ground-attack aircraft conducted just one combat flight in the early morning of August 8 and did not take to the air again, 23 Russian aircraft were frequently taken by Russian and Ossetian forces as Georgian aircraft, and they were fired upon without identification and in the absence of any aggressive action on their part (although there is some evidence of «friendly fire» from aviation as well. 24). As a result, Russian aircraft were fired at by Russian forces and Ossetian militiamen, with no less than ten MANPAD missiles fired, and fired from infantry combat vehicles cannons, anti-aircraft machine guns mounted on tanks, and light automatic weapons. There are also reports of problems with the functioning of the «Friend or Foe» combat identification systems and their haphazard application when firing MANPADs. All these factors contributed to such a high rate of Russian air losses to friendly fire

 

Regards,

 

John Kettler

Edited August 22, 2015 by John Kettler

[Stagler]

Fair reply from Steve. RPG-30 confirmed!11!!!

[VladimirTarasov]

John Kettler, I was assuming you meant the number of aircraft Georgia downed, Yes Friendly Fire happened do to command problems. Fair argument 

[John Kettler]

Stagler,

 

Great news--as long as I'm playing Russian and Spetsnaz are in! I was blown away when I saw the manufacturer's display and cutaway pic of the RPG-30. Russian ordnance ingenuity at its best. Wonder how much the resulting "get well" program will wind up costing non Russians with APS. What I find especially interesting is that Israel, which has supplied drones and other goodies to Russia, may wind up on the wrong end of RPG-30s!

 

Regards,

 

John Kettler