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- Knock it out in one gulp: how is the training of stormtroopers changing in the special operation zone
Knock it out in one gulp: how is the training of stormtroopers changing in the special operation zone
The capture of dugouts in forest plantations, concrete strongholds of defensive lines, and confrontation in rural areas — the goals of the stormtroopers and the conditions of combat in the SVO zone can vary greatly today. Accordingly, fighters may need different knowledge and skills. Therefore, the training of future attack aircraft is not just conducted by experienced instructors — full-fledged simulations of various fortifications are being built at the training ground, and soldiers undergo in-depth training to perform various tasks. The Izvestia report describes how the assault troops of the 228th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 90th Guards Tank Division of the Center Group of Forces are being trained.
How is the training ground for stormtroopers equipped?
Russian units advancing in the Dnepropetrovsk direction are forced to operate in a variety of conditions — to storm well-prepared defense lines with blocked trenches, to fight in urban buildings and on rural streets. The latter are almost always narrow, with single—storey buildings and small vegetable gardens.
Accordingly, similar conditions are recreated at the training ground where groups of attack aircraft train. There are networks of communication passages and dugouts, a killhouse (imitation of corridors and walls for close combat in the building) and a full-scale mock-up of a small village. It impresses with its realism: at the extreme buildings there are trenches going inside the houses, as is often the case; further on there is a "street", and in the center there is a notional administrative building larger in size. There are even signs and plaques on the houses.
— The emphasis in training is on the "sky" and "underfoot", because the enemies are throwing a lot of mines. You need to constantly monitor the situation around you. The first thing every fighter should know is that the drone should always be in front of you, never behind you," says Deputy platoon commander, Senior Sergeant Sergey Lapshitsin.
He trains fighters to storm buildings, but all future stormtroopers begin with the rules of movement and the fight against UAVs. At first, they get used to hiding from drones, recognizing them by ear. And then they start shooting at aerial targets with an emphasis on the machine gun as their main weapon.
Our interlocutor recalls that when he was studying himself, the accents were placed differently. At that time, more attention was paid to the enemy on the ground: ambushes and secrets of the enemy, there were completely different ideas about disguise and stealth.
— There are different situations, and there is no one assault scenario for all cases. We take into account fortifications, for example, concrete NATO strongholds, which are not easy to approach, and then it's also difficult to get inside," says platoon commander Ildar Khalikov.
How fighters are trained for assault operations
Artillery is initially working on the strongholds, and the assault itself is supported by unmanned aircraft. But no matter how effective fire support is, training and preparation for direct melee shooting are still necessary. The fortifications are quite powerful, and there are often enemies who can resist. However, our interlocutors explain, even at distances of 300 m, rifle combat is almost never conducted, in which case attack UAVs are called. The actual shooting contact distance, which is taught to stormtroopers, is up to 100, more often even up to 50 m. We are talking about fighting in the conditions of forest belts and buildings typical of the DPR and the Dnipropetrovsk region.
— When fighters come to my shooting range, first of all, we literally hammer safety requirements into our heads. And after that, we begin to study the theory thoroughly.: what to do and how to do it, assembly and disassembly, store equipment in the daytime and at night. And after that, fire training — shooting at "gongs", moving targets, aerial targets, army tactical shooting," says the fire training instructor.
Hunting rifles of the 12th caliber are used primarily for bench shooting, that is, for plates that are launched using special machines. The soldiers are also trained to work with a single machine gun and a grenade launcher. But the emphasis is on the use of Kalashnikov assault rifles in various situations, including the fight against UAVs. In the latter case, special quasi-test cartridges can also be used, which continue to be produced locally, pending the end of testing and the possible mass entry of large-scale cartridges of similar types into the army.
— The contact distances have decreased so much that we call it a "pistol war". And for this, we focus on working in pairs so that we get used to everything: shots, explosions, all the features. Therefore, the emphasis is on the AK-74 or AK-12 — you can work with them in a trench, in a wooded area, or jump off a buggy. And the wearable ammunition is taken into account," the instructor explains further.
The point is that the weight of ammunition can vary significantly for different types of weapons — for example, if you compare an automatic rifle and a smoothbore shotgun. And if the latter is better for shooting at aerial targets at close range, then the machine gun surpasses it in all other tasks. But it is unrealistic to carry two types of weapons to the assault in the current conditions, and the superiority in foot operations remains with a regular machine gun.
Today, both the Russian defense industry and developers in the countries of the likely enemy are seriously changing small arms, taking into account the experience of assault operations in Ukraine. Variants of compact and subcompact submachine guns, which were considered irrelevant back in 2023, are beginning to enter service with the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. But in the last two years, there has been a tendency to reduce weight, and mobility is beginning to come to the fore before the direct shooting characteristics of "assault" weapons.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
