Q: What sort of tents did the Soviets use?
A: None.
Actually, that's a lie. The Soviet army did use tents but they were mandated for use only in night marches.
Instead they used
Dugouts.
(Note these are not fortifications but accommodation even though they do allow some protection from fragments.)
Each Motor Rifle Section would prepare a dugout and it should be able to be completed within 24 hours while still standing watches etc. It requires a total of 100 man hours work using the following components:
12 x 2.5 m poles (sourced locally)
70 x 6.0 m poles (sourced locally)
120 x 5.5 m planks (sourced locally)
12 x 2.0m poles (sourced locally)
5m³ spruce branches (sourced locally)
8 kg wire
2 x roofing iron
1 x field oven
1 x door
1 x window
These 1 metre-deep positions had a triangular roof made of 3cm to 5cm round logs laid over 5cm to 11cm supports and then covered by a layer of clay 15cm to 25cm thick and then covered by turf. The supports would be either nailed or wired together.
A normal individual can stand upright inside the dugout and each bed is 30cm to 60cm wide and 1.8m long. Duffel bags are placed at the head of the bed.
Winterisation is achieved by the application of more clay on the end walls and drainage ditches around the position. Many dugouts had electrical power sourced form a generator position.
While this dugout was standard other sizes existed, some capable of housing a motorised rifle platoon.
