Russia and Georgia in Battlefield

Russian premier Dmitry Medvedev called a halt to Russian operations into Georgia just as IDR was going to press. It was too early to judge how final the decision is and what the repercussions will be - accusations and recriminations were still flying back and forth over who had initiated operations - but several points can be drawn out of the situation so far.

Firstly, Russia did not appear to use its more modern weapons in this short campaign, as the units nearest to Georgia were equipped with older equipment, much of it fielded over 20 years ago. However, in large numbers and with substantial air support, they proved to be more than adequate to carry out their mission against Georgian forces.

Both sides deployed similar ground forces. Russia used itsT-72 series main battle tanks (MBTs) fitted with explosive reactive armour, BMP-1 and BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), BTR-80 series armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and MT-LB multipurpose tracked vehicles.

In addition, Russian air assault units played a key role and were able to rapidly deploy BMD-1 and BMD-2 air assault vehicles (AAVs) and BTR-D airborne armoured carriers with organic fire support provided by 120 mm 2S9 Anona self-propelled gun/howitzers.

Russia also deployed a number of 2S3 152 mm series self-propelled gun/howitzers and various multiple rocket launchers to provide indirect fire support to their rapidly moving units, while 2S6 Tunguska, SA-19 'Gopher' and manportable systems provided air defence.