Introduced in Wargame: European Escalation, the Spetsnaz is the main Soviet Special Forces infantry unit. In Wargame: Red Dragon, the unit was re-rolled to Commando Squad, as Special Forces units were more specialized in recon, while Spetsnaz remained an elite assault unit.
History[]
The term "Spetsnaz" is a generic term (Spetsialnogo Naznacheniya/специального назначения) that describes the special brigades within the USSR and RF armies, they are trained quickly and rigorously so they are always available to respond to any special operation, regardless of losses.
Primary conception of strategy and tactic of application of the special forces really belongs to the Russian military theorist Michael Svechnykov (Stalin destroyed him in 1938), and could to starting from the bold dream about victory in an unequal fight because had dependence with Russian military traditional readiness to the nervous fight, but practical realization was begun by the "grandfather of the Russian spetsnaz" Ilya Starinov.
During World War II, reconnaissance and diversionary forces were formed under the supervision of the Second Department of the General Staff. These forces were subordinate to the commanders of Fronts. In 1957, the first Spetsnaz battalions were formed, five to eliminate enemy nuclear weapons systems such as the MGR-3 Little John and the MGM-1 Matador. The first brigades were formed in 1962, reportedly to reach up to 750 kilometres in the rear to destroy US ballistic missile systems such as the MGM-52 Lance. Two 'study regiments' were established in the 1960s to train specialists and NCOs, the first in 1968 at Pechora near Pskov, and the second in 1970 at Chirchiq near Tashkent.
During the Afghan war, Spetsnaz were relied upon heavily, to infiltrate the ranks of the local militia, and to clear them off of hills using helicopter transport. According to the GRU defector Vladimir Rezun aka "Viktor Suvorov", there were 20 Spetsnaz brigades plus 41 separate companies in the 1980s. Thus, the total strength of Spetsnaz forces was around 30,000 troops at the time.
It is anachronistic for the Year of Spetsnaz in Red Dragon still marked as 1975, since their new AS Vals were developed in late 1980s. The AS Val has the basically same construction with the VSS Vintorez used by Spetsnaz VMF, however in-game it was represented as a pistol-caliber SMG with the same stats as MP5SD used by Delta Force. The 9x39mm cartridges of AS Val was developed from the 7.63×39mm M43.
Overview[]
Spetsnaz are a different kind of elite infantry to those fielded by most other nations, as they are totally specialised towards close-range infantry combat. They are armed with napalm rocket launchers, which can quickly destroy enemy infantry and unarmored vehicles, but this weapon does not have an AP value. As such, Spetsnaz can destroy just about any enemy infantry unit, but cannot effectively fight against anything else, especially tanks and aircraft. Ideally Spetnazs should be paired with Spetsnaz GRU and IFVs, such as the BTR-90 or the BTR-80A for a powerful all around combo capable of defeating most BLUFOR compositions at close range.
Available transports[]
European Escalation[]
Red Dragon[]
- BTR-60PB
- BTR-70
- BTR-80
- BTR-80A
- BTR-90
- BTR-D
- BTR-RD Robot
- BTR-ZD Skrezhet
- Mi-8T
- Mi-8TV
- Mi-8MTV
- Mi-24A
- Mi-24D
Weapons[]
European Escalation[]
| Weapons | 
|
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Assault Rifle | Rocket Launcher | Grenade |
| Name | AK-74 | RPO Rys | RGN |
| Caliber | 5.45mm | Naplam | Concussion |
| Ammo | x 1920 rounds | x 6 rounds | x 8 rounds |
| Range | Ground = 700 m Helicopters = N/A m  Airplanes = N/A m
|
Ground = 875 m Helicopters = N/A m Airplanes = N/A m
|
Ground = 438 m Helicopters = N/A m Airplanes = N/A m
|
| Accuracy | 9 | 8 | 12 |
| AP Power | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| HE Power | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Rate of fire | 685 r/min | 7 r/min | 7 r/min |
Red Dragon[]
| Weapons | 
|
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Assault Rifle | Rocket Launcher | SAW |
| Name | AS Val | RPO Rys | RPK-74 |
| Caliber | 9mm PB | Napalm [NPLM] [STAT] | 5.45mm [CQC] |
| Ammo | x 1600 | x 8 | x 2475 |
| Range | Ground = 455 m Helicopters = 455 m Airplanes = N/A m
|
Ground = 525 m Helicopters = N/A m Airplanes = N/A m
|
Ground = 770 m Helicopters = 595 m Airplanes = N/A m
|
| Accuracy | 40% | 50% | 50% |
| Stabilizer | 40% | N/A | 30% |
| AP Power | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| HE Power | 1 | 5 | .5 |
| Suppression | 40 | 225 | 40 |
| Rate of fire | 533 r/min | 10 r/min | 519 r/min |
Gallery[]
See also[]
Spetsnaz on Wikipedia- Wasteland - European Escalation campaign where player is a Spetsnaz commander
- Spetsnaz GRU
- Spetsnaz VMF
