Colonel Khodarenok called the Soviet weapons superior to the Western ones in their
Soviet artillery is experiencing its rebirth in a special operation in Ukraine, and although some Russian weapons are inferior in some characteristics to Western guns, they surpass them in reliability, performance and maintainability. What kind of Soviet-era weapons "show class" on the battlefield, the military columnist of "Gazeta.<url>" Mikhail Khodarenok.
The combat qualities of even equipment produced in the USSR are often higher than those of Western models. This was stated by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at the XI Moscow Conference on International Security.
"In many cases, even Soviet-made equipment surpasses Western models in its combat qualities. We have data on objective control of the destruction of German tanks, American armored vehicles, British missiles and other weapons systems," the head of the military department noted.
Thunderstorm of Ukrainian armored vehicles
Among such samples of weapons, military and special equipment, first of all, it is necessary to name the thunderstorm of Ukrainian armored vehicles - the reconnaissance and attack helicopter of the new generation Ka-52 "Alligator". This machine is a creative development of the Ka-50 "Black Shark" helicopter. The layout, design, bearing system and tail of the Ka-52, with the exception of the front part of the fuselage (up to the 18th frame), almost completely repeat the technical appearance of the Ka-50 helicopter. The Black Shark made its first flight on June 17, 1982, during Leonid Brezhnev's lifetime.
Image source: RIA Novosti
In the special operation in Ukraine, the Russian artillery is experiencing its rebirth. Including one of the main guns of the Russian army now - 152-mm divisional self-propelled howitzer 2S3 "Acacia". Its production started in 1968. The 152-mm army self-propelled gun 2S5 "Hyacinth-S" has once again confirmed its high combat qualities. It has been in service since 1976.
Traditionally, its sister, the Soviet towed gun 2A36 "Hyacinth-B", the production of which began in 1975, and the Soviet self-propelled mortar of special power 2C4 "Tulip", have also proved themselves well. Its mines destroy almost any enemy fortifications. The production of "Tulip" began in 1969.
A strong demoralizing effect on the enemy is produced by the aimed fire of a 203-mm high-power self-propelled gun 2C7 "Peony" (and 2C7M). "Peony" has been in service with large-capacity artillery brigades since 1975.
Today, Russian artillery in its mass is inferior in some characteristics to Western guns, but at the same time significantly surpasses them in reliability, operational characteristics and maintainability.
A time-tested tank
Approximately the same as about artillery can be said about Soviet armored combat vehicles. The T-72 Ural tank and the vehicles created on its base remain out of competition on the battlefields. This is truly the legendary and most massive battle tank of the USSR and modern Russia. It has been in service since 1974 to the present, and about 30 thousand units have been produced in total. In some ways, the American M1 Abrams and the British Challenger 2 are certainly superior to the domestic machine, but at the same time, in terms of the totality of tactical and technical characteristics, the Soviet-Russian tank cannot be considered an outsider on the battlefield. It is maneuverable, has high cross-country ability on Ukrainian soils, is equipped with powerful weapons, is easily repaired right on the battlefield, and is operated in any climatic conditions.
Soviet small arms traditionally demonstrate very high combat qualities - Kalashnikov assault rifles, PKM and Pecheneg machine guns, large-caliber DShK, Kord and Utes machine guns.
The anti-tank missile systems "Kornet" and "Kornet-M" (the beginning of development - 1988), "Metis-M1" ("Metis" was adopted in 1978), "Konkurs-M" ("Konkurs" was adopted in 1974) also confirmed their high reputation.
The heavy flamethrower system TOS-1A "Solntsepek" (developed in the 1970s) is still out of competition.
Promising samples of armored weapons and equipment, rocket and artillery weapons, ammunition, engineering weapons, electronic warfare and communications are being prepared for mass production, which significantly exceed similar foreign samples in their characteristics.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for the newspaper.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976), the Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy Commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia (1998).
Columnist of "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Military-Industrial Courier" (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok