Overwhelmed by the arsenal of the Soviet Red Army

Not counting in the air and at sea, the army possesses tens of thousands of tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery guns.

In the composition of the Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the army, also known as the Soviet Army (nicknamed "Soviet Red Army”) is considered the largest component with a standing army in 1991 reaching 3.66 million people, not including 4.12 million reservists.

With such a large army, it was clear that the heavy equipment on the ground of the Soviet Red Army was extremely terrifying.

Indeed, according to relative statistics, the number of weaponsSoviet Armycan be said to be unimaginable.

As of 1990, the Soviet Red Army possessed 55,000 tanks of all types. The most modern was the T-80, and the largest number was the T-54/55.

Specifically, the Red Army at that time had 4,000 T-80s, 10,000 T-72s, 9,700 T-64s, 11,300 T-62s, 19,000 T-54/55s and 1,000 PT-76s.

Note that currently the Russian Army owns the largest number of tanks inherited from the Soviet Union, only about 15,000, China is also very strong but has less than 10,000, and the US military power only maintains about 5,000.

The number of armored personnel carriers and reconnaissance vehicles of the Red Army was about 73,500, including 70,000 BTR-50/60/70/80/152, MT-LB armored vehicles and 3,500 BRDM reconnaissance armored vehicles.

Number of infantry fighting vehicles – usually equipped for mechanized infantry divisions including 24,000 BMP-1/2/3

Regarding artillery, the number of towed artillery pieces was up to 33,000 pieces of all sizes including: 4,300 D-30 122mm pieces; 1,175 M-46 130mm pieces; 1,700 D-20 152mm pieces; 598 2A65 152mm pieces; 1,000 2A36 152mm pieces; 1,600 ML-20 152mm pieces....

The number of self-propelled guns is up to 9,000 including: 2,700 2S1 122mm guns; 2,300 2S3 152mm guns; 507 2S5 152mm guns; 347 2S7 Pion guns; 430 2S4 guns...

Notably, the number of the most modern self-propelled guns of the Soviet Army at that time, the 2S19 Msta, was estimated to be only about 20 guns. This number increased to 500 guns under the Russian Army, including many new, more modern versions.

The number of rocket artillery was up to 8,000, mainly BM-21 Grad, while heavy rocket artillery such as BM-27 220mm and BM-30 300mm were not many (857 and 123 respectively). Although it was said to be not many, that was compared to the general level of the Soviet Red Army, but in reality it was a very large number.

The Soviet artillery at that time also organized operational-tactical missile units equipped with ballistic missiles with ranges of 500km or less including Scud, Tochka, Oka and Luna-M.

The Soviet Army Air Defense Force possessed “terrifying” power with the ability to destroy most airborne targets, including ballistic missiles. The Army Air Defense Force’s equipment up to 1990 included:

1,350 2K11 Krug (SA-4) missile launchers; 854 2K12 Kub (SA-6); 950 9K33 Osa (SA-8); 430 9K31 Strela-1 (SA-9); 860 9K35 Strela-10 (SA-13); 130 9K22 Tunguska; 300 Buk (SA-17) launchers and 70 S-300 missile launchers. Not to mention the number of ZSU self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery batteries.

The number of towed anti-aircraft guns is up to 12,000, ranging from small 12.7-14.5mm to large 100mm KS-19. In the photo is the KS-19 high-altitude anti-aircraft gun battery, with this weapon, Vietnam once used to shoot down the "flying fortress" B-52.

In addition, the Soviet Army's ground forces also organized their own air force with 4,300 aircraft - a number equal to several countries' air forces combined.

Specifically including: 1,420 Mi-24 attack helicopters; more than 3,000 Mi-2/6/8/17/26 transport helicopters.