The Russian special purpose regiment is the Spetznaz or Specnaz. The word has the meaning "special purpose".
This is not simply a corps, but spetznaz is a collective name for all units of somewhat special role. Accurate data is still not available, but its number is above 30000 men. Although not being hyped, as some western ones are in the films, still many have heard, and know about the existence of it, and in spite of the obscurity and the secrets surrounding it, almost every military corps acknowledge their skill, by some means. The videos presented are not retouched. I have spent some time with multiple foreign forces, including the spetznaz, and as a professional, I have to say, that they cope quite well with a real combat situation.
Let's take a look at the members of the special purpose regiment.
The FSB Federal Security Services, more specifically the special operations group, CSN, has the objective of fighting against terrorism, and the defense of the constitutional order in the Russian Federation.
The FSB-CSN consists of three groups:
- I. spetsgruppa "ALFA"
- II. spetsgruppa "VYMPEL"
- III. the so called SOS, the Special Operations Service
There are 76 different training facilities on the approximately 100 acre practice ground. The average training time is 5 years.
Alpha was founded in 1974, for the purpose of professional level terror prevention. It counts 700 men, most of who are stationed in Moscow and in three other great cities: Krasnodar, Yekaterinburg, and Khabarovsk. They receive paratrooper training, one third of them special alpine training, and they have lots of special operations drills, including the continuous service in the North-Caucasus. They have modern Russian and foreign equipment, fitted to their own needs.
The vympel is an elite sabotage unit for the time of cold wars. Opposed to alpha, they have learnt not capturing and destroying vehicles, but controlling them, including buses, combat vehicles, airplanes, and others. They have 18 unique specialties, like infiltrating enemy objects, knowledge of all firearms. They receive medical training, and if needed they protect the Russian nuclear plants, power plants, dams, and other important industrial complexes. They have a total of four units, and all classes of a unit are constantly participating in offensive operations, in round-robin fashion, with the alphas.
We do not have much information about the SOS, but we know that they take part in the special operations of the FSB in the Northern-Caucasus, and in truth they are highly trained security personnel, who are protecting government officials.
The spetznaz MVD consists of 15 units, with well trained corps against revolts, and the protection of the borders is included in their tasks. They can be also deployed against terrorism, but the mostly are infantry, so their profile is mainly reconnaissance, and building fights, therefore they are constantly on CQB trainings.
MILITIA belongs here also, this is the police special forces, which are stationed in every major city, and they are most like the National Guards or the Gendarmerie.
The OMON police shock-troops has mostly drug enforcement work, therefore they are not really belonging to spetznaz.
To sum up: We have learned that the Spetznaz is not a corps, but a big family of special purpose units. It is different to know the way around, this shall be just enough to know about them, to be a bit in touch with the many acronyms. The sure thing about them is: they have good human material, Russian weaponry, and their good and adequate training would make them qualify well among elite forces.
Szabolcs Hídvégi
Translated by: Me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_BIAD3NQzo
ALFA
ALFA
VYMPEL
