DIA artists completed this series of paintings during the Cold War when the Soviet Union posed the major threat to the security of the United States. The Agency commissioned these works of military art to illustrate publications and support official briefings. DIA analysts and artists worked closely to achieve an accurate portrayal of the military system being illustrated. The artwork often depicted classified photography or imagery that could not be used in its original form. Many of these paintings were classified and have only recently been declassified.
SOVIET GROUND-BASED LASER
by Edward L. Cooper, 1986
The Soviet Strategic Defense Program involved extensive research on advanced technologies in the 1980s. The USSR already had ground-based lasers, conceptually illustrated here, capable of interfering with some US satellites.
SOVIET SPACE-BASED STRATEGIC DEFENSES
by Ronald C. Wittmann, 1987
While publicly opposed to the US Strategic Defense Initiative, the Soviet Union forged ahead with research and development of land-, air-, and space-based ballistic missile defenses. The Soviets had already deployed and tested ground-based lasers.
SOVIET SS-18 MOD 5 INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILE
by Ronald C. Wittmann, 1989
The silo-launched SS-18 Mod 5 was the core of the Soviet Union's modernized ICBM arsenal in the 1980's. The SS-18 featured hard-target-kill capability and ten nuclear warheads on each missile. The Soviets converted silos to replace the older version SS-18 Satan with the MOD 5.
SOVIET RAIL-MOBILE SS-24 MOD 1
INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILE
by Edward L. Cooper, 1988
The accuracy and survivability of the rail-mobile SS-24 deployed in the 1980's significantly increased the lethality of the USSR's intercontinental ballistic missile force. This missile could be deployed throughout the Soviet Union.
SOVIET SA-12B GIANT AIR DEFENSE SYSTEM
by Ronald C. Wittmann, 1989
The SA-12B, developed in the 1980s, was an accurate and long range air defense system for use against aircraft, some stand-off command and control platforms, and possibly some types of cruise and ballistic missiles.
SOVIET BM-27 MULTIPLE ROCKET LAUNCHER
by Edward L. Cooper, 1986
The Soviet 16-tube, 220-mm BM-27 multiple rocket launcher was capable of firing high-explosive conventional rounds, scattering mines, and delivering chemical warheads as far as 40 kilometers. In the 1980s, it was widely used to provide long-range fire support to Soviet forces in Afghanistan.
SOVIET HOKUM AND HAVOC ATTACK HELICOPTERS
by Brian W. McMullin, 1987
The new HOKUM attack helicopter, flight-tested in the late 1980s, gave the Soviets a significant rotary-wing, air-to-air combat capability for which no Western counterpart existed. Development of the HOKUM and HAVOC (lower right) added to the serious Soviet conventional threat.
SOVIET MI-24 HIND DELIVERING CHEMICAL SPRAY
by Edward L. Cooper, 1986
The USSR maintained the world's largest stockpile of chemical warfare agents in the 1980s. Virtually all conventional systems used by the Soviets--mortars, artillery pieces, helicopters such as these Mi-24 HINDs, aircraft, and long-range tactical missiles--could deliver chemical munitions.
SOVIET 300-MM MULTIPLE ROCKET LAUNCHER
by Edward L. Cooper, 1988
The large 300-mm multiple rocket launcher developed by the Soviets in the 1980s was capable of laying down a broad field of fire, threatening armored vehicles, infantry, airfields, and rear service areas.
SOVIET 203-MM 2S7 SELF-PROPELLED GUN
by Edward L. Cooper, 1987
The 203-mm 2S7 self-propelled gun developed in the 1980's could fire nuclear and conventional rounds to a range of at least 30 kilometers.
SOVIET BLACKJACK LOADING AS-16 MISSILES
by Edward L. Cooper, 1987
AS-16 nuclear missiles carried in the rotary launchers aboard the BLACKJACK strategic bomber in the 1980s were a threat against theater and intercontinental targets. The BLACKJACK bomber entered the Soviet operational inventory in 1988. The AS-16 was a new short range, nuclear armed, air to surface missile.
SOVIET BLACKJACK BOMBER WITH ESCORTS
by Richard J. Terry, 1988
The introduction of the BLACKJACK intercontinental bomber in the late 1980s made the third leg of the Soviet strategic triad far more robust. The BLACKJACK bomber could perform various missions, including nuclear strike, conventional attack, antiship strike, and reconnaissance. Two MiG-29 FULCRUMS escort this bomber.
SOVIET BLACKJACK BOMBER FIRING AS-15 MISSILE
by Brian W. McMullin, 1987
The BLACKJACK bomber, developed in the 1980s, could carry nuclear-armed AS-15 cruise missiles for its strike and reconnaissance role in a nuclear war. The new BLACKJACK and the AS-15 long-range, air-launched cruise missile significantly increased the Soviet bomber force's weapons delivery capability and survivability.
SOVIET MAINSTAY AWACS AIRCRAFT WITH ESCORT
by Brian W. McMullin, 1987
The MAINSTAY airborne warning and control system (AWACS), deployed in the late 1980s, provided the Soviet Air Forces with a battle management capability for their new FLANKER and FULCRUM (pictured here) aircraft. An effective AWACS capability was essential for the Soviet drive for theater air superiority over NATO.
SOVIET MIDAS TANKER REFUELING BEAR BOMBER
by Richard J. Terry, 1988
The MIDAS tanker aircraft, which became operational in 1987, was used to support strategic bombers such as the BEAR H (pictured here) and possibly tactical and air defense aircraft. In peacetime, in-flight refueling extended the Soviets' reach from their homeland.
SOVIET FULCRUM TESTED FOR AIRCRAFT CARRIER USE
by Ronald C. Wittmann, 1988
In the 1980's, the Soviets adapted fixed-wing aircraft for their new conventional aircraft carriers. The MiG-29 FULCRUM and other aircraft were adapted and evaluated for ramp-assisted takeoff at Saki naval airfield on the Crimean Peninsula.
SOVIET WING-IN-GROUND EFFECT AIRCRAFT
by Brian W. McMullin, 1988
During the 1980s, the Soviets continued testing various wing-in-ground effect vehicles for use in coastal defense and amphibious operations. The ORLAN-Class, seen here, takes advantage of the increased aerodynamic lift that occurs when a wing operates near the surface. This greatly increases the craft's ability to carry heavy loads over long distances, especially over water, making it well-suited for amphibious warfare.
SOVIET TBILISI-CLASS CARRIER AT NIKOLAYEV
by Brian W. McMullin, 1987
The lead ship of the USSR's 65,000-metric ton TBILISI-class aircraft carriers being fitted out in the late 1980s in Nikolayev Shipyard. This carrier marked an evolutionary advance in naval capabilities over 40,000-metric ton KIEV-Class carriers then operating with the Soviet fleet.
SOVIET DELTA SUBMARINE FIRING SS-N-18 MISSILES
by Edward L. Cooper, 1987
A Soviet DELTA III nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine firing SS-N-18 missiles. The DELTA III submarine was 155 meters long, had 16 missile firing tubes, and carried SS-N-18 nuclear missiles.
SOVIET BALLISTIC MISSILE SUBMARINE BASE
by Brian W. McMullin, 1986
The USSR's strategic nuclear forces included a growing number of new TYPHOON-class and DELTA IV-class strategic ballistic missile submarines deployed in the 1980s. These advanced submarines, fitted with the latest generations of nuclear missiles, could operate from bases with tunnels for protection.
Soviet Ships in Cam Ranh Bay
by Edward L. Cooper, 1985
In the early 1980s, the USSR began transforming Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, into a major forward deployment base enhancing Soviet military capabilities in the Pacific, Southeast Asian, and Indian Ocean regions. The Soviets routinely deployed between 25 and 30 ships to the South China Sea, including surface combatants, attack and cruise missile submarines, and naval auxiliary ships.
FREESTYLE on a TBILISI-Class Carrier
by Brian W. McMullin, 1989
The first unit of theUSSR's new 65,000-metric ton carrier (this class went through several names--BREZHNEV, TBILISI, and finally KUZNETSOV), constructed in the 1980s, was to mark a significant evolutionary advance over the KIEV-class carriers. The navy tested the Yak-41 FREESTYLE vertical takeoff fighter/interceptor as a candidate aircraft for the carrier’s air wing.
Soviet Space Station and Shuttle
by Brian W. McMullin, 1986
In the mid-1980s, Moscow announced plans to have a large, permanently manned space station orbiting the Earth in the 1990s. They launched MIR, the core vehicle of a modular space station, in February 1986. The Soviets planned to use the space shuttle orbiter, then in development, to carry payloads and assist in the assembly of the space station.
Soviet Space Shuttle on the Launch Pad
by Ronald C. Wittmann, 1986
As part of its efforts to militarize space, the USSR pressed forward in the 1980s with an active research and development program centered at Tyuratam. The Soviets designed the SL-W heavy lift space launch vehicle for use with the space shuttle orbiter, as well as with other heavy payloads.
Soviet Anti-Satellite System
by Ronald C. Wittmann, 1986
Soviet military space capabilities posed an ever-increasing threat to U.S. land, sea, air, and space forces in the 1980s. The USSR. operated and tested an orbital antisatellite weapon that was designed to destroy space targets with a multi-pellet blast.
Soviet SS-25s Firing
by Edward L. Cooper, 1986
The deployment of road-mobile SS-25 intercontinental ballistic missiles in the 1980s marked a Soviet decision to make the land component of its strategic forces more survivable. The SS-25 SICKLE was about the same size as the U.S. Minuteman and carried a single nuclear-tipped reentry vehicle.
Soviet SS-20s in Firing Position
by Edward L. Cooper, 1986
The Soviets deployed hundreds of mobile, SS-20 intermediate force missile launchers in the 1980s--with three nuclear warheads on each missile and reloads for each launcher. These were targeted against Western Europe, China, and Japan. The highly accurate SS-20 had great mobility when field deployed to ensure survivability.
Soviet Artillery Supporting River Crossing
by Richard J. Terry, 1982
Moscow pursued a comprehensive program of upgrading its artillery fire support and deployed a new 122-mm self-propelled howitzer, the 2S1, to Central Europe beginning in the 1980s. The nuclear-capable, technically advanced 2S1 could keep pace with the tank and motorized rifle units of the Red Army.
Soviet Tanks Crossing a River
by Ronald C. Wittmann, 1985
In the mid-1980s, 28,000 of the USSR's 52,000 main battle tanks threatened NATO in Central Europe. The Soviets also pre-positioned some 27,000 meters of pontoon bridges and other river crossing equipment in Eastern Europe to speed the forward thrust of the Red Army's tank and motorized rifle divisions in the event of conflict.
Soviet Mobile Laser in Afghanistan
by Edward L. Cooper, 1985
The Soviets continued a large, well-funded program to develop tactical laser weapons in the 1980s. There were reports that the USSR employed mobile laser platforms in Afghanistan against personnel, unprotected targets, and sensors.
Soviet ZSU Anti-Aircraft Guns
by Edward L. Cooper, 1987
The 2S6, deployed in the 1980s, was the newest antiaircraft system designed to operate with the motorized rifle and tank divisions. The 30-mm 2S6 represented a significant improvement over the older ZSU-23-4 and complimented the Soviet's highly effective surface-to-air missiles.
SA-5s in Libya
by Ronald C. Wittmann, 1986
SA-5 surface-to-air missiles for Libya were among thousands of tons of weaponry shipped by the Soviet Union to its client states in the 1980s. In return for military and political support to countries such as Libya and Syria, the Soviets were able to advance their political-military objectives and gained access to military facilities in the region.
Soviet Mobile Lasers Defending an Airfield
by Edward L. Cooper, 1987
The Soviets built high-energy laser devices in the 1980s and generally placed more emphasis on the weapons applications of lasers than did the West. The tactical laser program had progressed to the point that by the mid-1980s, U.S. analysts anticipated that laser weapons would be deployed with future Soviet forces.
FULCRUM Escorting a BACKFIRE
by Richard J. Terry, 1986
The MiG-29 FULCRUM all-weather, air superiority fighter-interceptor, seen in company with a TU-22M BACKFIRE strategic bomber, reflected the USSR's continuing drive to modernize its air forces in the mid-1980s. The FULCRUM was fitted with AA-10 missiles and Moscow's most modern look-down/shoot down radar--technology made possible, in part, by technology thefts from the West.
FLANKERs in Formation
by Richard J. Terry, 1986
Su-27 FLANKER all-weather, air-superiority fighters, deployed in the late 1980s, were equipped with a look-down/shoot-down weapons system and beyond-visual-range AA-10 missiles. The FLANKER, built in Komsomolsk, emerged from an expanding industrial base that gave highest priority to military production.
Soviet CANDID Dropping Troops and Equipment
by Richard J. Terry, 1978
The Il-76 CANDID jet transport, which could carry 140 troops or 40 tons of cargo, entered service in the mid-1970s to help meet the USSR's worldwide military airlift requirements. With over 600 of these aircraft, the USSR could rapidly concentrate its aircraft to support military operations anywhere on the Soviet periphery, as they did in December 1979 in Afghanistan.
Missile Attack on U.S. F-16s
by Edward L. Cooper, 1985
The Soviets deployed numerous strategic and tactical air defense assets in the 1980s that improved capabilities against aircraft flying at medium and high altitudes. The SA-12 missile, shown here tracking U.S. F-16 FALCONs, was capable of intercepting aircraft at high altitudes.
Soviet DELTA Firing Missile
by Edward L. Cooper, 1985
The USSR deployed an increasingly versatile naval force in the 1980s, including modern submarine, surface ship, and naval air force components. The 1984 launching of the first DELTA IV nuclear submarine as the platform for the SS-N-23 ballistic missile marked still another increase in this capability.
TYPHOON Replenishing in the Arctic
by Edward L. Cooper, 1986
ALEXANDER BRYKIN, the lead unit of a new class of strategic ballistic missile submarine tenders, joined the Red Fleet in the 1980s. These ships enhanced the survivability and sustainablity of Soviet TYPHOON-class submarines by enabling missile-reloading operations in protected waters.
Vostok Launch
by Richard Terry, 1978
Manned space flight began on April 12, 1961, with Yuri Gargarin's single-orbit mission. The liquid-fueled, two-stage Vostok rocket that lifted Gagarin into space was used to launch a variety of military and civilian spacecraft from 1959 to the 1980s. During the 1980s, several years after this illustration was made, the Soviets began using Vostok rockets to place commercial satellites in orbit for other countries. Vostok means "east" in Russian.
Mars Lander
by Brian McMullin, 1986
The Soviet Union had conceptual plans in the 1980s to send manned spacecraft to Mars in the 1990s, even though its program to land cosmonauts on the moon failed. The mission would have required launching the spacecraft’s components into Earth orbit for assembly. The roundtrip journey to Mars would have taken at least a year. Post-Soviet Russia cancelled the program due to its expense and questions regarding its feasability.
Scud B
by Dennis Mosher, 1978
The Soviets first deployed the Scud B in the late 1950s. A tactical, mobile, ballistic missile, it could deliver a conventional, nuclear, biological, or chemical warheads to a target about 320 kilometers (200 miles) away. The Soviets exported Scud B missiles to its Warsaw Pact allies and to such countries as Iraq, China, and North Korea. The Iraqi use of Scuds during the Gulf War showed the continuing threat posed by these weapons.
YAK-25RM Mandrake
by Brian W. McMullan,1978
American U-2 overflights of Soviet territory in the late 1950s prompted the Soviet Union to develop its own high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, the Yak-25RM Mandrake, which is depicted in this 1972 illustration. Unlike the U-2, the Soviets designed the Mandrake around an existing airframe, the all-weather Yak-25 interceptor. Carrying cameras and signals intelligence equipment, the Mandrake flew missions in the early 1960s over the Middle East, South Asia, China, and the border regions of NATO nations.
Cosmos 389 ELINT
by Brian W. McMullin, 1982
This 1982 work shows the Cosmos 389 satellite, which was launched in December 1970 and performed electronic intelligence (ELINT) missions. Cosmos 389 was the first in a series of "ferret" satellites that pinpointed sources of radar and radio emissions to identify air defense sites and command and control centers. Transmitted to ground stations, the data was used for Soviet targeting and war planning.
RORSAT
by Ronald C. Wittmann, 1982
The Soviet Union placed a series of radar-equipped ocean reconnaissance satellites (RORSATs) in low Earth orbit beginning in 1967. Employing powerful radars and working in pairs, they located and targeted U.S. ships for destruction by Soviet naval forces. Nuclear powered RORSATs launched in the 1970s occasionally malfunctioned, including one that crashed and spread radioactive debris across northern Canada in 1978.
Space Particle Beam
by Ronald C. Wittmann, 1987
The Soviets first explored the use of space-based particle beams weapons in the late 1960s. As portrayed in this 1987 illustration, the weapon would have targeted satellites or intercontinental ballistic missiles with high-velocity particle beams. The Soviet Union also studied other space-based directed-energy weapons, including those using laser and kinetic energy technology. None of these types of weapons were ever deployed.
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Crédit: DIA et Justin pour cette belle trouvaille
Ahhhh le bon vieux temps ....
Edit: j'aurrais du mettre "armée URSS" dans le titre .... si un mod' passe par là ...
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