ABSTRACT
A massive and thorough expansion and modernization of Soviet tactical airpower got underway in the early 1970s. The Soviet Union possesses the largest tactical air force in the world, 4,480 combat aircraft and 2,300 armed helicopters. Military Transport Aviation has been greatly developed by the USSR in the 1970s and massively employed in the Middle East, Angola, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan. Russian airborne units have seen action from Czechoslovakia to Afghanistan. One division is stationed in the Soviet Far East and a brigade has been deployed to Tan Son Nhut in Vietnam. A Soviet airborne division numbers approximately 7,900 men and includes three infantry regiments, an artillery regiment an anti-aircraft battalion, and other supporting units. The focus will be upon those aircraft most widely deployed abroad and most relevant in supporting Soviet intervention in the developing countries. The Soviet airborne force supported by attack helicopters is another strong card that Moscow may bring into play in Africa or the Middle East.
