Spetsnaz: The Inside Story of the Soviet Special Forces

by Viktor Suvorov

aircraft, but this is a risky method which has yet to be perfected. Better

  methods are needed for evacuating men from territories where there is no sea

  nearby, where the helicopter cannot be used and where an aircraft cannot

  land.

  ___

  A Soviet general named Meshcheryakov opened up a vast area for study

  and research when he made the proposal that the armed forces should `create

  for spetsnaz the kind of conditions in which no one should interfere with

  its work'. There are many problems here which Soviet science is

  concentrating on trying to solve. Who interferes with the work of spetsnaz?

  Primarily the enemy's radar system. Radar installations interfere with the

  activity of the entire Soviet Army. In order to open the way for the Soviet

  Army into the territory of the enemy it is necessary first of all to `blind'

  the enemy's radar system. That is always one of spetsnaz's principal tasks.

  But to carry it out, the radars obstructing spetsnaz itself have somehow to

  be put out of action. One solution to this problem is, prior to dropping the

  main spetsnaz force, to send small groups behind the enemy's lines who will

  clear the way for spetsnaz which will in turn clear the way for the whole

  Soviet Army. Such a solution can be regarded as satisfactory only because no

  other solution has so far been found. But terrific effort is being put into

  the work of finding some other solution. The Soviet high command needs a

  technical solution, some method that would make it possible, even for a

  short period, simultaneously to `blind' the enemy's radar over a fairly wide

  area, so as to give the first wave of spetsnaz the opportunity to carry out

  its mission.

  Anti-aircraft systems are the main killers of spetsnaz. The soldier in

  a transport aircraft is utterly defenceless. One quite small missile, or

  even a shell, can kill spetsnaz troops in whole groups. What can be done to

  put out of action the anti-aircraft defence systems at least on a narrow

  sector before the arrival of the main force of spetsnaz on the enemy's

  territory? Much thought is being devoted to this. The solution may be

  technical. GRU's spies may help. But spetsnaz can help itself by recruiting

  an agent long before the war begins and teaching him what to do on receipt

  of a sign from the centre.

  Once it has arrived in enemy territory spetsnaz is vulnerable from the

  moment of landing to the moment of meeting up with its own troops.

  In order to increase its effectiveness and create conditions in which

  `no one should interfere with its work' intensive work is being done on the

  development of jamming stations to be used in areas where spetsnaz is

  operating, to prevent the enemy's electronic devices (radio receivers and

  transmitters, radars, optical-electronic devices, computers and any other

  instruments) from working normally so as to interfere with the co-ordination

  of the various enemy forces operating against spetsnaz.

  Aircraft and helicopters cause a great deal of trouble for spetsnaz.

  Spetsnaz already has fairly impressive means of its own for defending itself

  from air attacks, but work is now going on to provide spetsnaz groups with a

  reliable anti-helicopter weapon, and to develop a weapon capable of covering

  considerable areas or even of establishing zones free of all air activity by

  the enemy.

  Finally, weapons systems are being developed of which the main purpose

  will be to isolate fairly large areas from penetration by the enemy's ground

  forces. This involves the use of mines and automatic guns mounted and hidden

  near bridges, crossroads, tunnels and so forth, which operate automatically

  and destroy the enemy trying to transfer reinforcements into the area where

  spetsnaz is operating and so to interfere with its work.

  ___

  The process of seeking out especially important targets in the enemy's

  territory will in future be carried out not so much by spetsnaz men on foot

  or even `jumping' as by automatic machines of a fairly simple (not by

  today's standards perhaps, but certainly by tomorrow's) and reliable

  construction.

  Work has been going on for quite a long time on the development of

  light (up to 100 kilograms) cross-country vehicles with remote control. The

  vehicles tested have mostly been driven by electricity. They have been

  steered by remote control with the aid of television cameras installed

  inside them, similar to some modern bomb-disposal equipment. Apart from

  using them to find the targets, experiments have been conducted into using

  them to destroy targets by means of a grenade-launcher mounted in the

  vehicle or an explosive charge that detonates on contact with the target.

  The rapid advances in electronics open up enormous possibilities for the

  development of light remote-controlled vehicles capable of covering large

  areas quickly and noiselessly and of destroying targets in enemy territory.

  Pilotless aircraft have long been used for identifying targets over

  large areas, and the Soviet Union is a leader in this field. Take, for

  example, the Soviet strategic high-flying pilotless rocket-driven plane

  known as the `Yastreb'. A tremendous amount of work is being done on the

  development of relatively small pilotless spy-planes. In the future such

  planes will take off not only from Soviet territory but from enemy territory

  as well. Soviet airborne troops and spetsnaz have for long been very keenly

  interested in the possibility of developing a very light pilotless aircraft

  that could be put together and launched on enemy territory, survey vast

  areas and transmit a picture to Soviet troops. The ideal aircraft would be

  one carrying not only the equipment for carrying out reconnaissance but an

  explosive charge as well. Once it discovered the target and transmitted a

  picture of it, it could attack it independently. There is nothing fantastic

  about this plan. Modern technology is quite capable of building such an

  aircraft. The problem is simply to make the aircraft sufficiently light,

  cheap, reliable and accurate.

  Advances in spetsnaz follow the usual paths. While this research goes

  on at the cutting edge of Soviet military power: improvements are being made

  to the familiar weapons and increases in the range, accuracy and fire-power

  of grenade-launchers, rifles and other armament; improvements in the quality

  of footwear, clothes, soldiers' equipment and means of communication of all

  kinds; and reductions in the weight of weapons like mines along with an

  increase in their destructive potential.

  --------

  Chapter 15. Spetsnaz's First World War

  I was standing on the top of an enormous skyscraper in New York when I

  saw King Kong. The huge gorilla surveyed Manhattan triumphantly from a dizzy

  height. Of course I knew it wasn't real. But there was something both

  frightening and symbolic in that huge black figure.

  I learnt later that the gorilla was a rubber one, that it had been

  decided to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the showing of the first

  film about King Kong by creating a gigantic inflatable model of the beast

  and placing it high above New Yo
rk. The rubber monster was hauled up and

  swayed about in the wind. From the technical point of view the operation had

  been a real triumph by the engineers and workmen who had taken part in it.

  But it was not an entire success. The monster turned out to be too huge,

  with the result that holes appeared in its body through which the air could

  escape. So the gigantic muscular frame quickly collapsed into a shapeless

  bag. They had to pump more air into it, but the harder they pumped the

  bigger the holes became and the quicker the air escaped from the monster. So

  they had to keep on pumping....

  The Communist leaders have also created a rubber monster and have

  hauled it up to a dizzy height. The monster is known as the Union of Soviet

  Socialist Republics, and the Soviet leaders are faced with a dilemma: to

  expand or to decline rapidly and become a flabby sack. It is interesting to

  note that the Soviet Union became a superpower in the course of the most

  destructive war in the history of civilisation, in spite of the fact that it

  suffered the greatest loss of life and the greatest destruction on its own

  territory. It has become a military superpower and perhaps war is essential

  for its existence.

  I do not know how or when World War Three will start. I do not know

  exactly how the Soviet high command plans to make use of spetsnaz in that

  war: the first world war in which spetsnaz will be a major contributor. I do

  not wish to predict the future. In this chapter I shall describe how

  spetsnaz will be used at the beginning of that war as I imagine it. It is

  not my task to describe what will happen. But I can describe what might

  happen.

  ___

  The last month of peace, as in other wars, has an almost palpable air

  of crisis about it. Incidents, accidents, small disasters add to the

  tension. Two trains collide on a railway bridge in Cologne because the

  signalling system is out of order. The bridge is seriously damaged and there

  can be no traffic over it for the next two months.

  In the port of Rotterdam a Polish supertanker bursts into flames.

  Because of an error by the captain the tanker is far too close to the oil

  storage tanks on the shore, and the burning oil spreads around the harbour.

  For two weeks fire brigades summoned from practically the whole country

  fight an heroic battle with the flames. The port suffers tremendous losses.

  The fire appears to have spread at a quite incredible speed, and some

  experts are of the opinion that the Polish tanker was not the only cause of

  the fire, that the fire broke out simultaneously in many places.

  In the Panama Canal the Varna, a Bulgarian freighter loaded with heavy

  containers, rams the lock gates by mistake. Experts reckoned that the ship

  should have remained afloat, but for some reason she sinks there and then.

  To reopen the canal could well take many months. The Bulgarian government

  sends its apologies and declares itself ready to pay for all the work

  involved.

  In Washington, as the President's helicopter is taking off, several

  shots are fired at it from sniper's rifles. The helicopter is only slightly

  damaged and the crew succeed in bringing it down again safely. No one in the

  craft is hurt. Responsibility for the attack is claimed by a previously

  unknown organisation calling itself `Revenge for Vietnam'.

  There is a terrorist explosion at Vienna airport.

  A group of unidentified men attack the territory of the British

  military base in Cyprus with mortars.

  A serious accident takes place on the most important oil pipeline in

  Alaska. The pumping stations break down and the flow of oil falls to a

  trickle.

  In West Germany there are several unsuccessful attempts on the lives of

  American generals.

  In the North Sea the biggest of the British oil rigs tips over and

  sinks. The precise reason for this is not established, although experts

  believe that corrosion of main supports is the culprit.

  In the United States an epidemic of some unidentified disease breaks

  out and spreads rapidly. It seems to affect port areas particularly, such as

  San Francisco, Boston, Charleston, Seattle, Norfolk and Philadelphia.

  There are explosions practically every day in Paris. The main targets

  are the government districts, communication centres and military

  headquarters. At the same time terrible forest fires are raging in the South

  of France.

  All these operations -- because of course none of these events is an

  accident -- and others like them are known officially in the GRU as the

  `preparatory period', and unofficially as the `overture'. The overture is a

  series of large and small operations the purpose of which is, before actual

  military operations begin, to weaken the enemy's morale, create an

  atmosphere of general suspicion, fear and uncertainty, and divert the

  attention of the enemy's armies and police forces to a huge number of

  different targets, each of which may be the object of the next attack.

  The overture is carried by agents of the secret services of the Soviet

  satellite countries and by mercenaries recruited by intermediaries. The

  principal method employed at this stage is `grey terror', that is, a kind of

  terror which is not conducted in the name of the Soviet Union. The Soviet

  secret services do not at this stage leave their visiting cards, or leave

  other people's cards. The terror is carried out in the name of already

  existing extremist groups not connected in any way with the Soviet Union, or

  in the name of fictitious organisations.

  The GRU reckons that in this period its operations should be regarded

  as natural disasters, actions by forces beyond human control, mistakes

  committed by people, or as terrorist acts by organisations not connected

  with the Soviet Union.

  The terrorist acts carried out in the course of the `overture' require

  very few people, very few weapons and little equipment. In some cases all

  that may be needed is one man who has as a weapon nothing more than a

  screwdriver, a box of matches or a glass ampoule. Some of the operations can

  have catastrophic consequences. For example, an epidemic of an infectious

  disease at seven of the most important naval bases in the West could have

  the effect of halving the combined naval might of the Soviet Union's

  enemies.

  The `overture' could last from several weeks to several months,

  gradually gathering force and embracing fresh regions. At the same time the

  GUSM would become involved. Photographs compromising a NATO chief appear on

  the front pages of Western newspapers. A scandal explodes. It appears that

  some of the NATO people have been having meetings with high-ranking Soviet

  diplomats and handing over top secret papers. All efforts to refute the

  story only fuel the fire. The public demands the immediate dismissal of

  NATO's chiefs and a detailed enquiry. Fresh details about the affair are

  published in the papers and the scandal increases in scope. At that moment

  the KGB and GRU can take out and dust off a tremendous quantity of material

  and put it into circulation. The main victims now
are the people whom the

  Soviets had tried to recruit but failed. Now carefully edited and annotated

  materials get into the hands of the press. Soviet Intelligence has tried to

  recruit thousands, even tens of thousands, of people in its time. They

  include young lieutenants who have now become generals and third secretaries

  who have now become ambassadors. All of them rejected Soviet efforts to

  recruit them, and now Soviet Intelligence avenges their refusal. The number

  of scandalous affairs increases. The nations discover to their surprise that

  there are very few people to be trusted. The Soviet intelligence service has

  nothing to lose if the press gets hold of material showing that it tried to

  recruit a French general, without saying how the attempt ended. It has even

  less to lose on the eve of war. That is why the newspapers are full of

  demands for investigations and reports of resignations, dismissals and

  suicides. The best way of killing a general is to kill him with his own

  hands.

  There is a marked increase in the strength of the peace movement. In

  many countries there are continual demands to make the country neutral and

  not to support American foreign policy, which has been discredited. At this

  point the `grey terror' gathers scope and strength and in the last days of

  peace reaches its peak.

  From the first moment of the first day of war the main forces of

  spetsnaz go into action. From then on the terror is conducted in the name of

  the Soviet Union and of the Communist leadership: `red terror'.

  But between the `grey' and the `red' terror there may be an

  intermediate period -- the `pink' terror, when active military operations

  have not yet begun and there is still peace, but when some of the best

  spetsnaz units have already gone into action. The situation is complicated

  by the fact that, on the one hand, Soviet fighting units are already in

  battle, but that, on the other hand, they are not yet operating in the name

  of the Soviet Union. This is an exceptionally risky moment for the Soviet

  high command. But he who risks nothing gains nothing. The Soviet commanders

  want to gain a great deal, and so are ready to risk a lot. A great deal has

  of course been done to reduce the level of risk. Only a relatively small

  number of spetsnaz troops take part in the `pink' terror, but they are the

  best people in spetsnaz -- professional athletes of Olympic class.