Inside the Blue Berets: A Combat History of Soviet & Russian Airborne Forces, 1930-1995 [Hardcover]

Steven J. Zaloga (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0788160826 | ISBN-13: 978-0788160820 | Publication Date: April 1, 1995 | Edition: 1St Edition

The Red Army was the pioneer of modern special forces. In the 1930s, it fielded the world's largest paratrooper force, conducting futuristic experiments in mass air landing. From these roots sprang the modern Soviet shock troops: paratroopers of the elite VDV, army Spetsnaz, & KGB secret assassination teams. Yet little is known about Russia's main elite combat forces. With the declassification of Soviet documents, many of their missions have been publicly disclosed. Zaloga, using insider memoirs & original documents, fills this gap in the history of elite forces. Also discusses Russia's missile & nuclear weapons programs.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Zaloga (Target America) has taken advantage of the declassification of Soviet archives to write this accessible, authoritative history of the Soviet airborne forces, or Blue Berets. He clearly establishes Russia's legitimate claim as one of the pioneers of airmobile warfare in the 1930s; but the book's biggest surprise is the coverage of major WWII Russian paradrops-most of which ended in disaster. It wasn't until the Cold War era, he discloses, that the so-called Blue Berets came into their own (as enforcers of the Brezhnev Doctrine, Moscow's interventionist policy toward Warsaw Pact allies), first in Hungary in 1956, then in Czechoslovakia in 1968. Zaloga emphasizes that Soviet airborne forces bore the brunt of the 1979-1988 war in Afghanistan (they were, he says, "the reliable backbone of the Afghan adventure"). Since the demise of the Soviet Union, the Blue Berets have been called on to deal with dissension and revolt in the newly independent republics. Now Russia's main elite combat force, they are, writes Zaloga, well-suited to the kind of low-intensity conflict that is typical of warfare in the late 20th century. Maps.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Zaloga (Target America) has taken advantage of the declassification of Soviet archives to write this accessible, authoritative history of the Soviet airborne forces, or Blue Berets. He clearly establishes Russia's legitimate claim as one of the pioneers of airmobile warfare in the 1930s; but the book's biggest surprise is the coverage of major WWII Russian paradrops-most of which ended in disaster. It wasn't until the Cold War era, he discloses, that the so-called Blue Berets came into their own (as enforcers of the Brezhnev Doctrine, Moscow's interventionist policy toward Warsaw Pact allies), first in Hungary in 1956, then in Czechoslovakia in 1968. Zaloga emphasizes that Soviet airborne forces bore the brunt of the 1979-1988 war in Afghanistan (they were, he says, 'the reliable backbone of the Afghan adventure'). Since the demise of the Soviet Union, the Blue Berets have been called on to deal with dissension and revolt in the newly independent republics. Now Russia's main elite combat force, they are, writes Zaloga, well-suited to the kind of low-intensity conflict that is typical of warfare in the late 20th century. Maps. -- Publishers Weekly

Product Details

• Hardcover: 339 pages
• Publisher: Presidio Press; 1St Edition edition (April 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0788160826
• ISBN-13: 978-0788160820
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,452,130 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Steven Zaloga is a senior analyst for Teal Group Corp., an aerospace consulting firm. His professional specialization is the commercial and technological aspects of the international trade in missiles, precision guided munitions, and unmanned aerial vehicles. He also serves as an adjunct staff member with the Institute for Defense Analyses, a federal think-tank.

Mr. Zaloga has published numerous books and articles on military technology and military history. His books have been translated into Japanese, German, Polish, Czech, Romanian, and Russian. He has been a special correspondent for "Jane's Intelligence Review" and is on the executive board of the "Journal of Slavic Military Studies". From 1987 through 1992, he was the writer/director for Video Ordnance Inc., preparing their TV series "Firepower" that aired on The Discovery Channel in the US.

Mr. Zaloga was born in 1952 and received his BA in history from Union College, Schenectady, NY. He received an MA in history from Columbia University specializing in modern East European history, and did graduate research and language study at Uniwersitet Jagiellonski in Krakow, Poland.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Zaloga is the Russian BMD expert!, August 13, 2000

By 

Sam Damon Jr. (Fort Bragg, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Inside the Blue Berets: A Combat History of Soviet & Russian Airborne Forces, 1930-1995 (Hardcover)

The greatest contribution Mr. Zaloga makes is how he has stayed on top of the developments of the Russian Airborne's unique 8-ton BMD family of Armored Fighting Vehicles (AFVs) which have kneeling landing gear to better fit inside fixed and rotary-wing aircraft. As he and David Glantz (refer to his book on the Russian Airborne) detail, the Russian Airborne is seen as the decisive ground maneuver "knock-out" punch of an Airborne Warfare strategy that uses air and missile strikes using what we call today "Weapons of Mass Destruction" (WMD) to stun the west before airdropping entire Airborne Divisions with BMD AFVs to fully protect them and give armored mobility/firepower. To the Russians, WMD does not cause them to give up on ground maneuver as "deep strike" and "air power" theorists in the west assume.

Zaloga shows how the BMD can transport a Squad of Paratroopers under complete armored protection with tracked x-country mobility, solving the Paratrooper is lightly-equipped handicap we SAY is unsolvable in the west. That we could easily have developed our own fantastic, light tracked M113s into Airborne Combat Vehicles with turreted autocannon and ATGM firepower shows how more advanced the Russian Airborne is than the Airbornes in the west. The Russian Airborne is an Air-Mech force that can 3-D maneuver into positions of strategic advantage, then continue maneuvering 2-D with armored tracked mobility and firepower. If that were not enough, once VDV Paratroopers dismount their BMDs, they have legendary lightfighter skills as combat in Afghanistan proved and documented by Zaloga and many others like Les Grau.

Zaloga is THE expert when it comes to the BMD family as he was the first to report on the BMD-3 variant to the rest of the world, and its unique airdrop all occupants inside feature using specially padded seats. O, what we could do in the west with such an Air-Mech 3-D force with digitized situational awareness and not the oversized, too-heavy for helicopters road-bound armored cars we seem infatuated with! Consider that if the Russians were on our side for Desert Storm in 1991, they could have parachute air-dropped an entire Airborne Air-Mech Division behind Iraqi lines without any fear of Iraqi tanks overwhelming Paratroopers on foot. Russian Paratroopers in their lethal BMD-2s would have mauled the Republican Guard and not let any of these forces escape as they were able to elude U.S. forces air-inserted but foot-mobile from that point on. We could learn a lot from the Russian Airborne and Zaloga's book is a good place to start!

4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, but dated now., March 22, 2007

By 

Scott Downing (Indianapolis, Indiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Inside the Blue Berets: A Combat History of Soviet & Russian Airborne Forces, 1930-1995 (Hardcover)

The first part of this book repeats much that was covered by LTC D. Glantz' work, The Soviet Airborne Experience. Glantz' work covers the creation of the VDV through WWII and into the early 1970s. Zaloga's work continues the history into the late 1980s, and the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union.

This is a wide look at the airborne forces of the USSR and doesn't get into details below Brigade level. The Photos found in it are now common place, but overall it is a good book for those who want to learn about the hisotry of the VDV up until the fall of the Soviet Union.

Along with Glantz' The Soviet Airborne Experience, Inside the Blue Berets will educate people about the history- but not much else.

I do recommend this book as a begining read.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inside look at the Soviet VDV, May 1, 2008

By 

T. Kunikov (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Inside the Blue Berets: A Combat History of Soviet and Russian Airborne Forces, 1930-1995 (Hardcover)

The author does an excellent job detailing the history of the Soviet and, to a degree, Russia's airborne forces. From their talented beginning during the 1930's the reader gets a feeling for how far ahead the Soviet Union really was in regards to their military endeavors. The purges, in the late 1930's, put a stop to a lot of the research and exercises setting back Soviet paratroops years. Ultimately, this was seen in the various, but few, airborne operations throughout WWII. Most would lack reconnaissance, planes were often lacking in their quality and most notably in their quantity, to speak little of the inexperience of the pilots and navigators who were often incorporated from the civilian air fleet and, at times, hardly had the talent to fly at night and more so behind enemy lines. Although these units had some success it was far outweighed by the casualties they took, the detailed reasoning behind their failures is well described within the pages of this book.

For the most part these troops would be used as light infantry throughout WWII, be it around Kiev during the encirclement, at Stalingrad or Kursk. Although the first year of the war saw them take heavy defeats and it wasn't until Stalingrad and Kursk that they, in my opinion, earned their 'guards' titles. Airborne divisions and corps would be built and rebuilt throughout the war as units were sacrificed and lost in various operations. By the end of the war the Soviets were as weary to use them as the Germans were after Crete.

I found it quite interesting to see the different way the Soviets thought of their airborne forces when compared to the US. While in the US they were seen as light infantry in the Soviet Union they were more and more moved toward the role of a regular mechanized division. Their armament was increased, their fire power expanded, and their manpower declined. The details, in regards to the use of these troops during the invasion of Hungary, were very interesting as well as their role during Prague Spring, not to mention the fighting they took part in during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. So, for those interested in airborne units/forces I highly recommend this book for an interesting and at times eye opening look at the Soviet/Russian Blue Berets.