Is T2k Poland 2022 Ukraine?

[Raellus]

I imagine the Polish gov't/military would be handing out RPG-76 Komars like candy.

I'm really surprised that neither the Soviets nor the Warsaw Pact* developed any SOF like the Green Berets to train and lead partisan units behind enemy lines in the event of a NATO invasion, especially given the important role that partisans played in resisting the Nazi occupation of large swaths of European Russia during WWII. For example, Spetsnaz doctrine and training was almost exclusively oriented towards covert and direct action offense. I understand that the post war Soviet Union's strategic mindset was one of preemption, not reaction, but it just seems weird given the USSRs almost atavistic fear of a reprise of Barbarossa 1941 that it didn't develop more of a backstop guerilla warfare capacity during the Cold War.

*Perhaps the one exception to this rule was the Romanian Patriotic Guards. They were essentially militia, not SOF, but they were trained and equipped to resist an invasion of Romania using guerilla tactics. Ironically, it was an invasion by its Warsaw Pact "allies" that the Romanian government was fearful of/preparing for, more so than an invasion by NATO.

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[Tegyrius]

Originally Posted by Raellus

I'm really surprised that neither the Soviets nor the Warsaw Pact* developed any SOF like the Green Berets to train and lead partisan units behind enemy lines in the event of a NATO invasion, especially given the important role that partisans played in resisting the Nazi occupation of large swaths of European Russia during WWII.

I wonder if the folks in charge of doctrine were afraid of such lessons being turned back on them, particularly after Hungary in '56 and Czechoslovakia in '68 demonstrated that not all Warsaw Pact members were wholly committed to the glorious Soviet cause.

- C.

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by Tegyrius

I wonder if the folks in charge of doctrine were afraid of such lessons being turned back on them, particularly after Hungary in '56 and Czechoslovakia in 68 demonstrated that not all Warsaw Pact members were wholly committed to the glorious Soviet cause.

I was thinking the same thing. Seems to be a case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, but it certainly is congruent with the Cold War Soviet psyche.

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

The thing is, the Tankbreaker program (it was a real weapons program here in the US) would have had to have some major funding and R&D to appear in T2K; the real Tankbreaker (and it's associated program which also has a mention in T2K, the Assault Breaker program, which became the Skeet and SFW Bomb) was bloated, over budget, and behind schedule (again, as was Assault Breaker). There were some other FF ATGM in development, such as TOW 3 (which later got another name and then got cut from the budget for costs), and the Swedish N-LAW (which after being years behind schedule, is finally seeing some action in Ukraine). FF ATGMs are simply expensive -- to develop and produce, despite how cost-effective they turn out to be. That's why the Javelin took so long to develop.

As for certain pet projects that were given some extra funds and development in T2K -- we've all done that.

Your point is well taken. I should have clarified that I was referring to the T2kU c. 1996, as opposed to the real world. I think that, if the Cold War hadn't ended (a la v1), that FF ATGMS would have appeared sooner than IRL, due to continued Cold War-level funding of military R&D.

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