Air Power, Insurgency and the “War on Terror” - Prof. Joel Hayward's ...

Night of <strong>the</strong> Flying Hooligans
Pakistani, Saudi Arabian <strong>and</strong> American sponsors. However, low-altitude quick manoeuvres
could outfox <strong>the</strong> missile. 307 This did, however, increase wear <strong>and</strong> tear on <strong>the</strong> airframe
<strong>and</strong> could on occasions cause <strong>the</strong> main rotor blades to collide with <strong>the</strong> tail boom with
disastrous consequences. 308
The danger of <strong>the</strong> missions that <strong>the</strong>y performed, coupled with <strong>the</strong>ir inventive flying
skills, gave <strong>the</strong> Krocodil pilots a heroic reputation throughout <strong>the</strong> Soviet armed forces,
leading to <strong>the</strong>ir “Flying Hooligans” nickname. The Mi-24s were amongst <strong>the</strong> most heavily
tasked aircraft in <strong>the</strong> conflict, <strong>and</strong> AA performed around 75 percent of all close air support
missions while performing 33 percent of <strong>the</strong> planned strike sorties during <strong>the</strong> war. No
surprise <strong>the</strong>n that <strong>the</strong> Hind’s crew slogan became “Let <strong>the</strong> rotor be turning <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>
machine gun firing”. 309
Fighter-bombers
The conduct of <strong>the</strong> desants saw <strong>the</strong> area being prepared by <strong>the</strong> gunners in true Soviet
tradition. After “<strong>the</strong> God of War,” as Stalin had termed artillery, had done its work, fighterbombers
would hit identified Mujahideen targets before <strong>the</strong> engagement. The air <strong>and</strong>
artillery bombardment was designed to sow as much confusion into <strong>the</strong> Mujahideen as
possible, <strong>and</strong> would be followed by fur<strong>the</strong>r attacks from <strong>the</strong> Hinds before <strong>the</strong> Hips arrived
to deliver <strong>the</strong> troops. 310 As <strong>the</strong>y were flying to <strong>the</strong> LZs, <strong>the</strong> Hips would often fake l<strong>and</strong>ings
to draw out Mujahideen fire to allow <strong>the</strong>m to <strong>the</strong>n be attacked by <strong>the</strong> Mi-24Vs. 311
Fighter-bombers began <strong>the</strong>ir war with high-level bomb drops from around 5,000-ft.
(1,524-m.) above ground level, although this did not give <strong>the</strong> required accuracy, <strong>and</strong> soon
pilots were joining <strong>the</strong>ir Hind-flying cousins down in <strong>the</strong> grass. As well as using <strong>the</strong>
“star” pattern of unpredictable attack discussed above, ano<strong>the</strong>r favourite tactic was to hit a
Mujahideen target from opposing axes to confuse <strong>the</strong> rebels regarding <strong>the</strong> direction of <strong>the</strong>
attack. 312 Generally speaking, fixed-wing aviation would hit targets up to 4.3 miles (seven
kilometres) behind <strong>the</strong> expected line of contact with <strong>the</strong> Mujahideen. 313
The Soviets struggled to find an adequate aircraft for strike missions in Afghanistan at
<strong>the</strong> start of <strong>the</strong> war. Both <strong>the</strong> MiG-21F (“Fishbed-B”) <strong>and</strong> Sukhoi Su-17M (“Fitter-C”)
operated in Afghanistan, but nei<strong>the</strong>r liked <strong>the</strong> mountainous, arid environment. MiG-21s
faired particularly badly manoeuvring in narrow canyons <strong>and</strong> valleys. Things improved
once <strong>the</strong> MiG-23BNs (“Flogger-F”) <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Su-24s (“Fencer-B”) arrived on <strong>the</strong> scene
from 1980 <strong>and</strong> 1982. 314 By 1984, <strong>the</strong> 40th <strong>Air</strong> Army, subordinate to <strong>the</strong> 40th Army, which
was in comm<strong>and</strong> of <strong>the</strong> air war, had <strong>the</strong> 143rd Bombardirovch’nyi Aviatsion’nyi Polk (BAP)
bomber regiment at its disposal with 26 Fencers at Karshi-Khanabad AFB, in what is now
Uzbekistan. 315 These aircraft flew long-range strike missions from <strong>the</strong> sou<strong>the</strong>rn Soviet
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<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Power</strong>, <strong>Insurgency</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> “War on Terror”