The Soviet Navy: Landing Their Landing Force

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Changes in the structure of the Soviet Naval Infantry, the receipt of new weap­ons and vehicles by Naval Infantry units, and the continuing production of ad­vanced, high-speed assault craft are im­proving Soviet amphibious assault capa­bilities significantly.

The primary mission of the Soviet Naval Infantry (Morskaya Pekhota) is to seize control of territory adjacent to im­portant straits and other waterways. This can be accomplished by independent amphibious landings, by spearheading combined marine-army operations, or in combined operations with airborne troops. The secondary mission of Soviet marines is to defend captured coastal ter­ritory and naval bases.

During the past few years, the marine units of the three European fleets (North­ern, Baltic, and Black Sea) have been increased from regiments to brigades, and the Pacific Fleet brigade has been replaced by a division structure. The Naval Infantry’s new weapons include: the T-72 main battle tank, armed with a 125-mm. smooth-bore cannon; the M-1974 122-mm. self-propelled howit­zer; and new antitank and antiaircraft missiles.

Several types of air cushion assault craft appear to be in series production, the latest being the Pomomik and Tsaplya classes introduced in the past few years.¹ (The Soviets now have more than 70 air cushion assault craft in service with their amphibious forces.)

Recent increases have given the Soviet Naval Infantry an estimated strength of 16,000 officers and enlisted men.² This represents a slow, continued growth, adding about 4,000 men during the past five years. Exact Naval Infantry strength is difficult to determine; some confusion has occurred because of the recent growth of the naval special forces (Spetsnaz) units in the Soviet fleets. (U. S. intelli­gence sources believe that there is a bri­gade of naval Spetsnaz forces in each of the four fleets, but the relationship of the Naval Infantry and Spetsnaz forces is not clear.)

The small size of the Soviet marine force compared to that of the U. S. Ma­rine Corps, its distribution among the four Soviet fleets, and the limited capac­ity of Soviet amphibious ships would tend to prevent Soviet marines from being employed in large-scale landings in the manner planned by the U. S. Marine Corps. Indeed, Soviet Navy’s leadership has carefully stated that the Naval Infan­try is not intended to be employed like U. S. Marines.

A Soviet marine brigade has 3,000 to 4,000 officers and enlisted men. The lat­ter number reflects the addition of one or two rifle battalions above the standard three rifle battalions, which is the basic triangular structure of Soviet combat units. These brigades are “combined arms” units, as shown in Figure 1. A tank battalion is attached to each brigade, along with several weapon battalions and separate batteries. Command and support functions for the brigade are provided by several small companies.

The principal components of the bri­gades are:

• Infantry Battalions: Each of the infan­try battalions has about 400 men, orga­nized primarily into three infantry com­panies of about 100 men each; each company has three platoons.

Battalion transportation is provided by 34 armored BTR-60PB amphibious as­sault vehicles. These combat vehicles mark a significant difference between U. S. and Soviet marines: U. S. units do not have armored vehicles for carrying landed troops into combat.³

Each battalion has a mortar platoon with three 82-mm. or 120-mm. mortars, and an antitank platoon with AT-3 Sagger or AT-5 Spigot guided missiles.

• Tank Battalion: The tank battalion has one medium tank company with ten T-54/55 or the newer T-72 tanks, and three light tank companies, each with ten PT-76 amphibious light tanks.

The T-54 medium tank, with a 100­mm. main gun, entered service in 1959; the improved T-55 version has been oper­ational since about 1961. The more- capable T-72 tank, carrying a 125-mm. main gun, entered service with the Soviet Ground Forces in 1976 and was probably introduced into the Naval Infantry shortly afterward. The PT-76 is a fully amphibi­ous light tank with a 76-mm. gun; it was used by communist forces in the Vietnam War.

► Howitzer Battalion: The brigades’ ar­tillery components consist of self-propel­led howitzer, rocket launcher, and an­titank battalions plus an air defense battery. The recent addition of the 122­mm. M-1974 self-propelled howitzer bat­talion represents a significant improve­ment in marine firepower. The battalion probably has three firing batteries, each with six guns, for a brigade total of 18 weapons.

• Rocket Launcher Battalion: The rocket launcher battalion has 18 BM-21 multiple rocket launchers, descendants of the infa­mous “Stalin’s organ” of World War II. The BM-21 is a truck-mounted, 40-tube, 122-mm. rocket launcher. Range is about 22,500 yards and manual reload time is ten minutes.
• Air Defense Battery: The brigade’s antiaircraft defense is provided by a bat­tery consisting of one platoon armed with four ZSU-23-4 Shilka self-propelled quad 23-mm. guns, and one platoon with SA-9 Gaskin guided missiles fitted on four armored vehicles. In addition to these vehicle-mounted missiles, Naval Infantry units are armed with shoulder-fired anti­aircraft rocket launchers.
• Antitank Battery: This unit has 18 mul­tiple-rail AT-3 Sagger or AT-5 guided missile systems mounted on armored vehicles. There are also several SPG-9 73-mm. recoilless rifles and AT-3 man- carried guided missiles in marine units.
• Reconnaissance Company: The bri­gade’s reconnaissance company has three PT-76 light tanks and nine armored re­connaissance vehicles.
• Engineer Company: These troops are used primarily to clear underwater and land obstacles in the assault area. They use several amphibious cargo vehicles, but also come ashore in advance of the assault waves in armored personnel car­riers, helicopters, and high-speed boats.

The Pacific Fleet’s marine division has about 7,000 men, with three infantry reg­iments (each with three battalions), tank and artillery regiments, and several sup­port battalions, as indicated in Figure 2. Details of the division organization are not publicly available; for example, when there were separate regiments in the fleet they consisted of some 2,000 officers and men, but that number included a tank bat­talion (190 men) and two artillery batter­ies (totalling more than 100 men) that would not be in the divisional regiments. Some support units are probably allo­cated to the division level instead of to the regiments.

Similarly, the principal components of the division’s artillery regiment have not been published. The division has an air defense battalion with vehicle-mounted SA-8 Grechko surface-to-air missiles.

The Naval Infantry brigade with the Northern Fleet is based at Pechenga, near Murmansk; the brigade with the Baltic Fleet at Baltiysk; the Black Sea Fleet bri­gade at Kazachya Bukhta near Sevasto­pol; and the Pacific Fleet’s division head­quarters is at Vladivostok.

Under current Soviet doctrine, Naval Infantry units are landed from amphibi­ous ships primarily by amphibious per­sonnel carriers and supported by amphib­ious tanks. Troop-carrying helicopters and air cushion assault craft are also used. The smaller air cushion craft can be carried in only a few naval and merchant ships while the larger air cushion craft have a strike range of several hundred miles. With speeds of 50 knots or more, the air cushion craft provide a potent strike capability within their radius.

With wheeled personnel carriers still considered the principal means of bring­ing troops ashore, all Soviet amphibious ships, including the large Ivan Rogov class (with a docking well for carrying air cushion landing craft) have bow ramps for unloading heavy vehicles and

supplies onto causeways or directly onto the beach if gradient conditions permit.

Under Soviet amphibious doctrine, the assault echelon amphibious tanks and amphibious tractors are unloaded from amphibious ships directly into the water and “swim” ashore. As more air cushion landing craft become available, they will he used to bring the assault echelon— deluding tanks—ashore faster than the amphibious tractors. The follow-on eche­lons are then landed by the amphibious ^ships coming up to the shore and “beach- ^lng” if the water depth permits. If the Water depth is insufficient, the follow-up pehelons are also brought ashore in land- ^lng craft and vehicles.

During the past few years, troop-carry- ^lng helicopters have been employed in amphibious assault exercises. Troop­carrying helicopters—Mi-8 Hip-C, Ka-27 Helix-B, and Ka-25 Hormone-C— have been observed with Soviet Naval Aviation markings. The two Ivan Rogov- ulass ships are the only Soviet amphibs With a helicopter flight deck and hangar. There is no public evidence that the two Moskva-class helicopter-missile cruisers have ever carried marines or troop heli­copters, although they have supported amphibious exercises.

Most Soviet articles and manuals ad­dressing amphibious tactics point out that naval gunfire support and close air sup­port will be provided in landing opera- dons. The Sverdlov-class cruisers, each With as many as 12 152-mm. (six-inch) guns, are employed in this role; some of the newer Soviet surface warships with 130-mm. (5.1-inch) guns could be, as well. The Baltic and Pacific fleets both have regiments of Fitter-C fighter-ground attack aircraft, highly suitable to provide close air support for amphibious landings within a few hundred miles of Soviet bases.

Soviet landing ships with embarked marines have deployed periodically in the Mediterranean since the mid-1960s. The first amphibious ship deployment to the Indian Ocean (from the Pacific Fleet) took place in 1968, and subsequently, beginning in 1970, amphibious ships with marines on board have been ob­served on deployments off the western coast of Angola. The periodic landing exercises in the fleet areas have been sup­plemented by larger landings in the Sever 1968 exercise and Okean 1970 and 1975 exercises.

During the Zapad exercise in Septem­ber 1981, some 60 Soviet naval units par­ticipated in the largest peacetime maneu­vers ever held in the Baltic. The exercise included amphibious ships and merchant ships landing some 6,000 Soviet marines and ground troops on the coast a short distance from the Polish border. Alligator and Ropucha landing ships from the Northern, Black Sea, and Baltic fleets carried the troops, as did the Ivan Rogov. (This landing, near Baltiysk on the Lithu­anian coast, was the site of several previ­ous exercises; but being only 15 miles

WEST GERMAN NAVY

Rumors persist that the Soviets are building a new amphibious ship, but the Ivan Rogov (here with Hormone- Cs) and her sister ship remain the Soviets’ only large, modern, helo- capable assault ships.

from the Polish border had special signif­icance during this exercise, coinciding with the 1981 unrest in Poland.)

Subsequent landing exercises have been conducted by Soviet marines on the coasts of Syria and Vietnam. Both opera­tions demonstrated the Soviet capability of supporting allies in crisis areas.

In most exercises, the initial marine assault is followed by the landing of ground forces, which come ashore from amphibious ships or merchant ships. Motorized rifle battalions have been seen in this role. Also, the Soviets appear to plan to use airborne troops from the eight Soviet airborne divisions in coordination with amphibious forces.^{[1] [2]}