Infantry Tactics - Mountain Warfare

Mountain Warfare

During the Soviet war in Afghanistan, the Soviet Army and Air Force fought forces called the Mujahideen. Although the Soviet Army had greater firepower and modern equipment than the Mujahideen, they were not able to completely destroy them because of the difficulty of countering guerrilla tactics in the mountains.

When the Stinger missile was supplied to the Mujahideen, they began to ambush Soviet helicopters and fixed wing aircraft in proximity of the military airfields. This was because the Stinger was only effective at a range of 15,000 feet (4,600 m), requiring the Mujahideen to attack the aircraft as they were landing or taking off. The Stinger, however, was not the "weapon that won the war". Although it did have a significant effect on the conduct of war, it was not used to shoot down very many aircraft. It did force the Soviets to modify their helicopter tactics. Helicopters begun to cooperate more closely with the ground forces, fixed wing aircraft began flying at higher altitudes, and armor and anti-missile electronic defense systems were added to aircraft to help protect them from the Stinger.

The Soviets countered the Mujahideen tactics in various ways. The Spetsnaz were used extensively in special operations by being deployed by helicopter into areas identified as areas often transited by the Mujahideen, or sites of ambushes. Spetsnaz tactics were effective against Mujahideen because they employed tactics similar to those used by the Mujahideen; tanks and aircraft were comparatively less effective due to terrain and enemy mobility in it. The only technology with a significant impact on Mujahideen were land mines and helicopters, although over time Mujahideen were able to find ways to avoid and evade both.

As the Soviet operations stalled, they began retaliating against the civilian population for supporting the Mujahideen. It was not uncommon for Soviet helicopters to raze an Afghan village in retaliation for an attack against Soviet soldiers. At other times they dropped mines from aircraft in the fields and pastures, or shooting the livestock with helicopter weapons. Without the support of the villagers, the Mujahideen were forced to carry their own food in addition to weapons and military supplies. Another common tactic was to cordon off and search villages for Mujahideen. These tactics were not unlike those used by the United States in Vietnam, or by the Germans against Soviet partisans in World War Two.

Conventional infantry tactics are generally modified before implementation in Mountain Warfare as the defending side generally has a decisive advantage over the attacking side by holding the heights and forcing the enemy to attack uphill against a fully prepared well entrenched position. So generally, frontal assault is avoided by implementation of blockade tactics and cutting off the supply lines, thereby creating a siege. This changed in the Kargil War of 1999 when Indian forces were faced with the huge task of flushing out intruders and disguised Pakistani soldiers who had captured high mountain posts. Instead of employing blockade tactics, Indian Army launched frontal assault against Pakistani Army positions but the tactics were intensely modified by employment of heavy artillery cover often firing in direct role and relentless air-strikes before the ground attack. As any daytime attack would be suicidal, all the attacks were made under the cover of darkness to minimize casualties. The operation took time but was successful and all the positions were recaptured by the Indian Army after two months of fighting.