Aircraft
The Russians have been using Sukhoi Su-27 to control the airspace. This was developed in the late 1970s and began production in 1984. Its a air superiority aircraft, its main aim is to keep control of air space. It is able to perform almost all combat operations. Its very similar to the American F-15 Eagle.
The Russian and Georgians are also using the Sukhoi Su-25. This is a single seater close air support jet. Main role is to provide support for ground forces and can be equipped with a wide
range of weapons, a part from the standard machine gun with 250 rounds it can be equipped with up to 11 disposable-ordinance (or bombs as most people know them). These may be air-to-air missiles or air-to-ground. It can also carry cluster bombs and laser guided missiles. Georgia has around 7 of these. Russia has significantly more. This plane was built during the Soviet Union in Georgia when it was part of the Union.One of the jets shot down by the Georgians was a
Tupolev Tu-22M. This is a very interesting aircraft. Its a swing-wing strategic and marine bomber. it was developed in the late 60s/early 70s. Its actually a supersonic jet with a maximum speed of march 2.3. It can carry Kh-22 anti-ship missiles (which may have been used in the Poti bombing) and KSR-5 which is a cruise missile these may have been used during the Poti bombing but I cannot confirm that!The Russians have been seen to be using Mil Mi-24 "Hind" helicopter gun ship. The Hind was designed during the Soviet Union in 1968 and has been operating since 1974. It was one of the last aircraft the Helicopter design genius Mikhail Mil. Like a lot of Soviet war-machines it has evolved over time with many variants and upgrades some for certain types of fighting and for export. It is also now known as the Mi-35.
The Hind is one of the few gun ships that are capable of both carrying troops and been a gun ship. It is also fast, the stub wings on each side of the aircraft provide lift, the retractable landing gear lower the drag, this gives the Mi-24 a Maximum speed of 335km/h (205MPH). This is quicker than the American AH-64 Apache which only manages 293km/h!
The Hind is capable of carrying a wide range of armament. Internal weapons include a twin-barrel machine gun capable of carrying 750 rounds and a door-mounted PKT machine gun. A wide selection of guide anti-tank missiles and it is even capable of dropping bombs.
The Hind's conflict history is long and not just by the Former Soviet Union, 2 Hinds were used in the Sierra Leone civil war by South African mercenaries to drive back the RUF. It was used extenisvely in the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan but also suffered heavy losses after the US exported Stinger missiles to the Afghan fighters. The same fighters that struck the US on September 11th, 2001.
Tanks
Both sides appear to be mainly using the T-72 main battle tank. This is a very popular tank in the former soviet countries and some African countries. 25,000+ of T-72 is many different variants. Judging by images coming in from news sources the tanks have been equipped with reactive armour. Both Russian and Georgian tanks will have been updated. Georgian tanks have been fitted with GPS navigation and friend or foe detection system to avoid friendly fire incidents.Guns
Unlike the British Army or American army, which mainly use just one rifle, like the M4 used by the Americans and the SA80 used by the British, Georgia and Russia mix it up a bit.
Georgia is using, mainly AK-47s and AK-74s. The AK-47 is the most popular assault rifle on
earth and has been built in the millions, it is never a surprise to see this weapon in a war zone. The AK-74 is a more modern rifle, it was built in, you guessed it 1974! it is a clear evolution of the AK-47. The Ak-74 is the main gun of choice for the Russian Army.Georgian "Special Police" have been photographed with some other guns. As Georgia's ties with the west improve it has brought some weapons from these countries. Some M16s have been brought from the Americans. This is a very modern weapon and is still used by the Americans in some areas. The Georgians have also purchased a some H&K G36s from the Germans, this is a highly modern rifle used by law enforcement agencies, the German army and special forces. It can be added with a under slung grade launcher. The Georgians have also brought some IMI Tavor TAR-21 assault rifles from Israel, this can also have a grenade launcher attached to it. These all appear to be used by Special forces.
Russian military have been seen to be carrying SVD sniper rifles in Gori. This is one of the standard equipment used by the Russians and is a very popular sniper rifle with Warsaw Pact nations, Africa, Asia and the middle east. It was designed as part of a contest in the Soviet Union to desig
n a new sniper rifle for the Red Army, it was won by Evgeny Dragunov in 1958. Extensive testing of the rifle followed and the rifle was finally introduced into the Red Army in 1964, it is still been produced today. The SVD features a adjustable iron sights but is also given a standard issue “PSO-1” optical sights that has 4x magnification and 6 degrees field of view. The SVD uses a 7.62x54mm which is mainly only used in the SVD. Like all Soviet weapons there have been variants. There is the SVDS that features a folding stock for greater portability. The SVDSN was also developed that is a night-capable variant.Other weapons
During the initial fighting (before Russia stepped up its involvement) Georgia began firing on the Capital of South Ossetia with rockets. These rockets were fired from BM-21 a multiple-launch rocket system. These rockets can cause a lot of damage to buildings and may be why the Russians felt they need to increase there troops in South Ossetia if these were been fired at the city. There not the most accurate missiles and can't be used for pinpoint firing.
Wikipedia says that Georgians actually used RM-70s to attack Tskhinvali. This is an updated version of the BM-21 giving increased performance over the BM-21. It is designed to cover fire over a large area in one volley. It was originally designed in the Czechoslovakia and is basted on a Tatra T813. Despite the upgrades it doesn't offer huge upgrades over the older design BM-21.
3 comments:
unfortuatly the picture shows AKMS wich is very often misstaken for ak-47
You're correct that it is an AKM (I cannot see evidence of a folding stock on the receiver so I cannot agree that it is an AKMS) but this is an issue of semantics. The "true" Ak47 has a milled receiver, etc. The AKM and variants are mechanically identical ( in terms of both their operation an ballistics) to the original AK47 with specific design improvements made (AKM basically translates as "modernized AK"). The AKM was designed to simplify and reduce costs of the production of the Avtomat design by using a stamped steel receiver, etc. My point being that while you are correct, the majority of the "AK47's" around the world are AKM variants and not "true" AK47's, their similarity to the original design is so great that it is generally acceptable to group them all together. The difference between an AKM type weapon and the original AK47 is minute compared to the differences between an AK47 and an AK74 or AN94. It's like if I posted a picture of a US Marine holding "an M-16" and you wrote in "no, that's an M-16a4" you might be more correct but that doesn't mean that the original description is wrong. The best way to cite these weapons is by grouping them all together as "AK47 type" or "Kalashnikov type" automatic rifles.
When I refer to an AK-47, I use that as a term that someone who is unfamiliar with weapon systems will be able to understand. The AK-47 is a household name and it conjures up an image in peoples minds. Not a lot of people know that the AK-47 became the AKM, then its 100s of variants, I want to make that post accessible to the average person and not be a long long story on a particular system.
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