War

Soviet-Afghan War

Contemporary

The Soviet-Afghan War was fought from December 1979 to February 1989 after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to prop up its faltering communist client government against a growing insurgency of Islamist and nationalist Afghan mujahideen fighters. Soviet forces controlled major cities and lines of communication but struggled for a decade to suppress a rural guerrilla insurgency that operated across difficult mountainous terrain and drew extensive covert support, including Stinger anti-aircraft missiles from 1986 onward, funneled through Pakistan by the United States, Saudi Arabia and other states opposed to Soviet expansion. The war became a prolonged and costly quagmire for the Soviet Union, inflicting tens of thousands of Soviet casualties and far greater Afghan losses, including millions of refugees who fled to Pakistan and Iran. Mikhail Gorbachev ordered a full Soviet withdrawal, completed in February 1989, and the war's cost is widely cited among the contributing pressures on the Soviet Union's eventual collapse, while the power vacuum left in Afghanistan fed directly into the civil war and rise of the Taliban that followed.

Facts

Start Year

1979 1

End Year

1989 1

Combatants

Soviet Union and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan versus the Afghan mujahideen, backed by Pakistan, the United States and others 1

Outcome

Mujahideen victory; Soviet withdrawal by February 1989 and the fall of the PDPA government in 1992 1

Classification

Conflict Type

Civil War 1

Soviet-Afghan War

5 entries

Weapon Type or Class

Caliber

Introduced Era

Service Status

Operator

Manufacturer

Connections

Associated With

AK-74

The AK-74, chambered for a new small caliber round, was the Soviet infantry rifle of the Soviet-Afghan War

Dragunov Sniper Rifle

Soviet marksmen carried the Dragunov sniper rifle during the Soviet-Afghan War

Stinger Missile

US-supplied FIM-92 Stinger missiles given to the mujahideen from 1986 sharply reduced Soviet air superiority and are widely credited with turning the war

Source Wikipedia: Soviet-Afghan War

Stinger Missile

American supplied Stinger missiles, in the hands of Afghan mujahideen, took a heavy toll on Soviet aircraft during the Soviet-Afghan War

Uses

152 mm gun-howitzer D-20

Source Wikipedia: 152 mm gun-howitzer D-20

2B14 Podnos

Source Wikipedia: 2B14 Podnos

2K11 Krug

Source Wikipedia: 2K11 Krug

2S1 Gvozdika

Source Wikipedia: 2S1 Gvozdika

2S3 Akatsiya

Source Wikipedia: 2S3 Akatsiya

2S7 Pion

Source Wikipedia: 2S7 Pion

2S9 Nona

Source Wikipedia: 2S9 Nona

9K32 Strela-2

Source Wikipedia: 9K32 Strela-2

AGS-17

Source Wikipedia: AGS-17

AK-74

Source Wikipedia: AK-74

AKS-74U

Source Wikipedia: AKS-74U

Barrett M82 Rifle

Source Wikipedia: Barrett M82

BGM-71 TOW

Source Wikipedia: BGM-71 TOW

Blowpipe Missile

Source Blowpipe (missile), Wikipedia

BM-21 Grad

Source Wikipedia: BM-21 Grad

BMP-2

Source Wikipedia: BMP-2

BTR-50

Source Wikipedia: BTR-50

BTR-70

Source Wikipedia: BTR-70

BTR-80

Source Wikipedia: BTR-80

D-30 Howitzer

Source Wikipedia: 122 mm howitzer 2A18 (D-30)

FIM-43 Redeye

Source Wikipedia: FIM-43 Redeye

FIM-92 Stinger

Source Wikipedia: FIM-92 Stinger

GP-25

Source Wikipedia: GP-25

Hanyang 88

Source Wikipedia: Hanyang 88

Heckler & Koch MP5

Source Wikipedia: Heckler & Koch MP5

KPV heavy machine gun

Source Wikipedia: KPV heavy machine gun

Lee-Enfield Rifle

Source Lee-Enfield (Wikipedia)

M134 Minigun

Source Wikipedia: M134 Minigun

M18 Claymore Mine

Source Wikipedia: Claymore mine

M1917 Enfield

Source Wikipedia: M1917 Enfield

M203 Grenade Launcher

Source Wikipedia: M203 grenade launcher

M3 submachine gun

Source Wikipedia: M3 submachine gun

M40 recoilless rifle

Source Wikipedia: M40 recoilless rifle

Makarov PM Pistol

Source Makarov pistol, Wikipedia

Mk 19 Grenade Launcher

Source Wikipedia: Mk 19 grenade launcher

Mosin-Nagant Rifle

Source Mosin-Nagant (Wikipedia)

MP5 Submachine Gun

Source Wikipedia: Heckler & Koch MP5

MT-LB

Source Wikipedia: MT-LB

Norinco CQ

Source Wikipedia: Norinco CQ

NSV machine gun

Source Wikipedia: NSV machine gun

PPSh-41

Source Wikipedia: PPSh-41

R-17 Elbrus

Source Wikipedia: R-17 Elbrus

Renault FT

Source Wikipedia: Renault FT

RPG-18

Source Wikipedia: RPG-18

RPK-74

Source Wikipedia: RPK-74

RPO Rys

Source Wikipedia: RPO Rys

RPO-A Shmel

Source Wikipedia: RPO-A Shmel

Stinger Missile

Source Wikipedia: FIM-92 Stinger

T-34

Source Wikipedia: T-34

TOW Missile

Source Wikipedia: BGM-71 TOW

Type 56 Assault Rifle

Source Wikipedia: Type 56 assault rifle

Type 81 assault rifle

Source Wikipedia: Type 81 assault rifle

Zastava M72

Source Wikipedia: Zastava M72

ZSU-23-4 Shilka

Source ZSU-23-4 Shilka (Wikipedia)

In the Other Atlases

Also in History Atlas: Soviet-Afghan War, the same subject.

Sources

1. Wikipedia: Soviet-Afghan War

Wikipedia

Lead section (start year)
the conflict resulted in the deaths of one to three million Afghans, while millions more fled from the country as refugees
Lead section (end year)
the conflict resulted in the deaths of one to three million Afghans, while millions more fled from the country as refugees
Lead section (combatants)
the conflict resulted in the deaths of one to three million Afghans, while millions more fled from the country as refugees
Lead section (outcome)
the conflict resulted in the deaths of one to three million Afghans, while millions more fled from the country as refugees
Conflict-type attribute (soviet-afghan-war)
Mikhail Gorbachev ordered a full Soviet withdrawal, completed in February 1989, and the war's cost is widely cited among the contributing pressures on the Soviet Union's eventual collapse, while the power vacuum left in Afghanistan fed directly into the civil war and rise of the Taliban that followed.