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Soviet Airborne Forces
Branch of the Soviet armed forces / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Soviet Airborne Forces or VDV (from Vozdushno-desantnye voyska SSSR, Russian: Воздушно-десантные войска СССР, ВДВ; Air-landing Forces) was a separate troops branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. First formed before the Second World War, the force undertook two significant airborne operations and a number of smaller jumps during the war and for many years after 1945 was the largest airborne force in the world.[1] The force was split after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, with the core becoming the Russian Airborne Forces, losing divisions to Belarus and Ukraine.
Soviet Airborne Forces | |
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Vozdushno-desantnye voyska SSSR Воздушно-десантные войска СССР | |
![]() Shoulder patch of the Soviet Airborne Forces, 1969–1991 | |
Active | 4 September 1941 – 14 February 1992 |
Country | ![]() ![]() |
Branch | ![]() |
Type | Airborne forces |
Role | Light infantry Airborne infantry Airmobile infantry Peacekeeping |
Size | January 1990 – 53,874 August 1991 – 77,036 |
Nickname(s) | Войска дяди Васи (Uncle Vasya's Troops) |
Motto(s) | Никто, кроме нас! (Nobody, but us!) |
Engagements | Battle of Lake Khasan Battles of Khalkhin Gol World War II First Nagorno-Karabakh War Soviet–Afghan War |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Gen. Vasily Margelov |
Insignia | |
Flag of the Airborne Forces | ![]() |
Troops of the Soviet Airborne Forces traditionally wore a sky blue beret and blue-striped telnyashka and they were named desant (Russian: Десант) from the French Descente.[2]
The Soviet Airborne Forces were noted for their relatively large number of vehicles, specifically designed for airborne transport, as such, they traditionally had a larger complement of heavy weaponry than most contemporary airborne forces.[3]