Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Soviet & Russian Airborne Forces Combat Vehicles

Soviet & Russian Airborne Forces Combat Vehicles

Kinnear, James

Hardcover

Series: Technology@war

AviationAir Combat

Publisher Price: $44.95

PREORDER - Expected ship date October 30, 2026

ISBN10: 1806721503
ISBN13: 9781806721504
Publisher: Helion & Company
Published: Oct 30 2026
Pages: 172
Language: English
Soviet and later Russian airborne forces evolved into the most heavily armed paratroop units, integrating air-landing and parachute-dropped armored firepower through wartime innovation and postwar development.

The Soviet Union was a pioneer in the formation of airborne forces, with the first airborne brigade formed as early as 1932 and Soviet military exercises in 1935 already practicing the air-landing of heavy support vehicles and armament. During the Second World War Soviet airborne operations were limited, but with high losses due to ground dispersal and a lack of heavy support weapons against enemy ground forces equipped with armoured vehicles.

The Soviet military determined based on wartime combat experience that airborne forces required integral armoured firepower support, with the first specialised prototype armoured vehicles specifically designed for airborne forces being developed before the end of the war.

In the immediate post-war era, specialised armoured vehicles began to be introduced into Soviet airborne divisions, primarily as tank destroyers, with the initial lead in such work being taken by Plant No. 40 in Mytischi under the direction of the light tank designer N.A. Astrov.

As a direct result of the combination of pre-war experiments and wartime combat experience, Soviet airborne forces during the Cold War became the most heavily armed and equipped airborne forces in the world, with specialised armoured vehicles and artillery that could be air-landed or parachute dropped. After a hiatus in the 1990s following the break-up of the Soviet Union, specialised airborne vehicle development continued in the Russian Federation, such that the modern Russian airborne forces still retain the Soviet era accolade of being the most heavily armed airborne forces in the world.

This is the story of these specialised vehicle developments, written entirely from original sources.

Also from

Kinnear, James

View All

Also in

Air Combat

View All