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00:00For more information, visit www.fema.gov
00:30Until recently, this was Soviet airspace.
00:52And these warplanes were the foundation of the USSR's enormous protective shield.
01:00Among these aerobatic jet fighters is the Sukhoi-25.
01:16The Su-25 soared onto the world stage during the war which was to become the Soviet's Vietnam.
01:23Today, even though the Soviet Union is no more and the Cold War is over,
01:32Russia's elite group of fighter pilots uphold a long and distinguished tradition.
01:37We have to give advice to young pilots joining our squadron.
01:46The main thing is to give young pilots the opportunity to fly,
01:52to give them the opportunity to do what they would love to dedicate their lives to.
01:57With the advent of market forces and the collapse of the military funding systems,
02:04these pilots at Lipetsk Air Base, as well as everyone else in Russia,
02:08are experiencing severe cutbacks.
02:10For Sukhoi-25 squadron commander, Andrei Samotsviet,
02:22getting enough flying time for his pilots is a constant challenge.
02:26Unfortunately, a lot of good pilots had to change their occupation.
02:36For the Air Force, it was not good.
02:44The Lipetsk Air Base Simulator facility has seen better days.
02:48However, bare light bulbs and tattered linoleum have always been the standard here,
02:59even in the days of the mighty Soviet Empire.
03:08The Russian Air Force has lacked the technological edge
03:11which the Western Air Forces have taken for granted.
03:13This 1985 model flight simulator
03:18is symbolic of the underfunding in the Russian military.
03:26A scrolling terrain board is used for practicing flight maneuvers.
03:31The same practice in the US Air Force
03:33is done with elaborate 3D virtual landscapes.
03:37Because jet fuel is in short supply,
03:40this may be the only flying pilots will do this month.
03:43Money is so tight,
03:49a mechanic cannot be hired
03:50to repair the simulator cockpit's roll, pitch, and yaw motions.
03:58We have a whole
03:59massive force of people
04:02who have been laid off
04:03half, probably, if not more,
04:05maybe two-thirds or three-quarters,
04:07who are redundant,
04:08waiting for this to pick back up.
04:10And they will do it for free
04:12if they have to.
04:14If nothing else, they get lunch.
04:17Everything in the Russian Air Force,
04:19from personnel to planes,
04:21has been affected by massive downsizing.
04:24Before 1991,
04:26the Soviet Air Force
04:27had 20,000 pilots
04:28and 13,000 planes.
04:30The morale of the Air Force,
04:36both soldiers and officers,
04:38was very high at all times.
04:43And it was a special, additional weapon.
04:46It is true that pilots
04:55were always considered
04:56to be more intelligent.
04:58They were always the elite
04:59of the armed forces.
05:01That is why
05:01they are more democratic.
05:04They have
05:05a different relationship
05:06among themselves.
05:07And pilots are
05:12good guys.
05:15The largest
05:16Western stereotype
05:17of the Russian pilot
05:18was that he had
05:19no independent thought capability.
05:20This guy took orders
05:21from the ground,
05:22listened to a radio,
05:24just basically a robot.
05:25He was an automatic pilot
05:26that was made out of flesh.
05:28And he simply was told,
05:29turn right to 070
05:31and launch your missile
05:32at 25 miles.
05:34Well, the biggest surprise for me
05:35was these guys
05:36weren't like that at all.
05:36They didn't care
05:38what the guy on the ground said.
05:39I mean, they will
05:40certainly obey orders.
05:42And if they don't obey orders,
05:43they end up in
05:45a pretty rugged
05:46rest camp somewhere.
05:48So they certainly
05:49listened to their superiors.
05:50But they were a little more
05:51independent thinking than that.
05:52And most military pilots
05:53really are.
05:55They'll tell you on the outside
05:56we're keeping rules,
05:57we'll look like robots,
05:58we're supposed to do our job.
05:59But on the side,
06:00we'll just go do
06:00what we're supposed to do.
06:01Peter, we're going to lunch.
06:06During the Cold War,
06:13a Soviet pilot's job
06:14would never have included
06:15providing joyrides
06:16for rich Westerners.
06:19Today,
06:19the Russian aviation industry
06:21is in the midst
06:22of a worldwide promotion.
06:25Their unusual sales pitch
06:27is an opportunity
06:28to fly in one of Russia's
06:29most impressive jet fighters,
06:30the Sukhoi 27.
06:35Like the American F-16,
06:38this fighter interceptor
06:39demands attention.
06:42The passenger is treated
06:44to a once-in-a-lifetime experience
06:46as Russian pilots
06:47perform acrobatics
06:49for the sake of a possible sale.
06:52Thrill-seeking Westerners
06:53line up for the joyrides
06:55at $15,000 each.
06:58There have been allegations
06:59that these fees
07:00disappear into individual pockets
07:01rather than where the money
07:03is really needed
07:04in the hands of
07:05Air Force pilots
07:06and technicians.
07:10For the man in the cockpit,
07:12the joyride provides
07:13a double bonus,
07:14a chance to show off
07:15his own flying skills
07:17while getting additional
07:18flying time.
07:22There is a glamour
07:23about this plane,
07:24but the true workhorse
07:25of the Russian Air Force
07:26is the Sukhoi 25,
07:28often known in the West
07:30by its NATO designation
07:31the Frogfoot.
07:40This snub-nosed attack plane
07:42is simple,
07:43sturdy,
07:44fast,
07:45and highly maneuverable.
07:48The Su-25
07:50is the Russian fighter pilot's
07:52plane of choice.
07:53Zeni pilot,
07:56every pilot loves his plane.
07:58I love my plane
07:59because I flew it
08:00over 15 years.
08:04You know,
08:05I want to tell you a story.
08:07We were flying planes
08:08to deliver them
08:10to the army
08:11of one of the
08:12friendly countries.
08:14When we arrived,
08:15one of the pilots
08:16stepped out
08:18of his plane
08:20and kissed it.
08:24This is how
08:25we expressed
08:26our love
08:27of the plane,
08:28which gave us
08:29so many opportunities
08:31and saved
08:31our lives
08:33so many times.
08:35That's why
08:36we love them
08:37so much.
08:40You American pilots
08:41fell in love
08:42with this plane
08:43too.
08:44When the Blue Angels
08:46visited us
08:47and we flew together,
08:49we flew F-18s
08:51with your pilots
08:53and they flew
08:55MiG-29s
08:57Su-27s.
09:01I invited them
09:02to try the
09:03Su-25.
09:05Most of them
09:06looked
09:06at the plane
09:08suspiciously.
09:09They didn't want
09:10to try it.
09:10Then we pushed
09:12one of their pilots
09:13into the plane.
09:14When he tried
09:15flying it,
09:16he liked it very much.
09:17He didn't expect
09:18this performance
09:19from this plane.
09:20After that,
09:21the American pilots
09:22were standing
09:23in line to fly.
09:29I've flown it.
09:32And I was very impressed.
09:34I was the first
09:35Western pilot
09:35to fly the airplane.
09:37And the reason?
09:38Nobody else
09:38wanted to fly it.
09:39Nah, see,
09:40it's an old Su-25.
09:41Same thing about
09:42it's an old A-10.
09:43Who wants to fly that?
09:48Now, there's something
09:49unique in our country
09:49about the A-10.
09:53It has an institutional
09:54hatred.
09:55People don't like the A-10.
09:57Let's get rid of the A-10.
09:58Because it's a low-tech
09:59box.
10:00And you don't cram
10:09billion-dollar pieces
10:11of equipment in it.
10:11You cram a man in it
10:13with a good gun
10:14and some guts
10:15and some training
10:16and the airplane survives.
10:18Just like it did
10:19in Desert Storm.
10:22The Su-25
10:23is their idea
10:25of our A-10.
10:25It has a decent
10:2930-millimeter gun.
10:30Certainly not like
10:31the gun in the A-10,
10:32but it fires a big round
10:33and it'll punch
10:33a hole in a tank.
10:38It'll carry a lot
10:39of weapons on the outside,
10:40bombs, rockets.
10:41And what's interesting
10:45about the Su-25
10:46is once you punch
10:47everything off of it,
10:49it will go over Mach 1.
10:52The A-10 doesn't
10:53even come close.
10:55It slows down
10:56and stops
10:56right around 400 knots.
11:00Whereas the Su-25
11:01will go straight
11:02through the speed of sound
11:03and it'll turn on a dime
11:04in great acceleration.
11:11Our planes can work
11:15in any weather condition.
11:17Our operating parameters
11:19are from plus 50,
11:21plus 60 degrees centigrade
11:22in the shade
11:24to minus 80,
11:25minus 60 degrees centigrade.
11:28This is a wide range
11:29of parameters
11:30from negative to positive
11:32because of the territory
11:34of Russia is huge
11:35and climate
11:36is very different
11:37and difficult.
11:40Our planes
11:40and helicopters
11:41are designed
11:43to work
11:43in any region.
11:54Perhaps it's appropriate
11:55for a plane
11:56nicknamed Frogfoot
11:57to have such an unassuming
11:58and decidedly
11:59unglamorous home.
12:08This is the flight line
12:09at Lipetsk Air Base
12:11in the windswept steps
12:13of central Russia.
12:15By Western standards,
12:16it appears to be suffering
12:18from years of neglect
12:19and disrepair.
12:21Lipetsk is actually
12:22not much different
12:23from its days
12:23as an important
12:24Soviet air base.
12:27The Russians
12:28never took great care
12:30with their facilities.
12:32Crumbling concrete
12:33was a standard
12:33because Russian concrete
12:34was of very poor quality.
12:35so it would decay
12:37on its own
12:38and the rubble
12:39would be pushed aside.
12:41Since 1991,
12:43that reality
12:44has been amplified
12:46many times over.
12:47Now, everything
12:48is pretty much
12:49in a state of rubble.
12:51Grass grows everywhere.
12:53Our machines
12:54aren't like that at all.
12:57Ours could not take
12:58anything along those lines
13:00to speak of,
13:01whereas theirs could.
13:02Russian equipment
13:04was made to operate
13:05in those conditions.
13:06It was made to operate
13:08in crumbling concrete,
13:09mud, sand, dirt,
13:11all kinds of things
13:12that don't starve
13:14the machinery
13:15of air or fuel.
13:16And this was to become
13:17self-evident
13:18in the disastrous
13:19Afghan war.
13:28Historically,
13:29Russian aviation design
13:31has differed greatly
13:31from its U.S. counterpart.
13:34It's often been said
13:35that American aviation
13:36designers go overboard,
13:38sacrificing simplicity
13:39for the sake
13:40of unneeded
13:41high-tech extras.
13:43Russian planes
13:45reflect Soviet
13:46military design policy,
13:47both practical
13:48and unfussy.
13:51Russian airplanes
13:52are uncluttered.
13:54In this air force,
13:55the emphasis
13:55is on sheer weight
13:56of numbers.
13:57The intent
14:01is to overwhelm
14:02the enemy,
14:03often at the cost
14:04of many pilots.
14:06Those who survive
14:07will most likely
14:08fly the Sukhoi 25.
14:12Like the U.S. Air Force
14:13A-10,
14:15the Su-25 cockpit
14:16is a titanium
14:17strongbox.
14:18A barrage
14:27of 20mm gun rounds
14:29barely dents
14:30the flying tank's
14:31protective shield.
14:33Pilot
14:33and plane
14:34often escape
14:35unscathed.
14:36Su-25
14:37belongs to
14:41ground attack
14:42aviation.
14:44It is a
14:45modern
14:45flying tank.
14:50We find out
14:51quickly,
14:51once we start a war,
14:52we need that
14:53kind of
14:54in-the-face
14:54knife-fighting
14:55type of airplane
14:56that will support
14:57the guy on the ground
14:58quickly,
14:58easily
14:58and close.
15:00You've got to get in
15:01close to support
15:01somebody.
15:02You don't stand off
15:03at 20 miles
15:04and support the guys
15:05on the front line.
15:05You've got to get in
15:06there with a gun
15:07and some skill
15:08and maybe some
15:10night vision goggles
15:10and learn how to
15:11mix it up
15:12at the FIBA,
15:14at the forward edge
15:14of the battle area.
15:15That's what the
15:16Su-25 does.
15:17And that's why
15:17frontal aviation
15:18will never get rid of it
15:19as long as they've
15:20got some money.
15:21It's a simple airplane.
15:22It's got two
15:23MiG-21 engines in it.
15:24Reliable.
15:25Been around for a long time.
15:26They can throw them
15:27away like cordwood
15:28and put more of them in.
15:29You can belly it in
15:30and jack it up,
15:31do a few repairs
15:32and fly it off.
15:34It is a rugged,
15:35rugged airplane.
15:35War breaks out
15:48on the Soviet
15:48southern border.
15:50This rugged terrain
15:51will become
15:51the flying tank's
15:52proving ground.
15:54Until now,
15:55the Su-25
15:56was an untested
15:57prototype.
16:00The place
16:01is Afghanistan.
16:03Soviet troops
16:04invade on
16:05December the 27th,
16:071979.
16:13When I went there,
16:15I believe that
16:16we were helping
16:17the Afghans
16:17to defend themselves
16:18from a foreign
16:19aggressor,
16:21which the
16:23Babrak-Karmal regime
16:24was fighting.
16:25I believe it was
16:29a noble cause.
16:36The so-called cause
16:37was to support
16:38the struggling
16:38Afghan communist
16:39regime.
16:40For 25 years,
16:51the Soviets poured
16:52foreign aid
16:53into Afghanistan.
16:57Then,
16:58the help came
16:59in the form
16:59of military might.
17:00the Kremlin
17:05employed its
17:06usual strategy,
17:07deploying 100,000
17:09troops and
17:10almost 5,000
17:11advisers.
17:12In other words,
17:13to simply overwhelm
17:14the Afghan
17:15resistance.
17:16the Russians
17:29were used
17:30to smashing
17:31any resistance
17:32so quickly,
17:33but soon
17:35they find out
17:36in Afghanistan
17:36that Afghanistan
17:37was not
17:38Yugoslavia
17:38or Poland
17:39or Hungary.
17:40Freedom-loving
17:41tribesmen
17:42have never
17:43learned
17:44submission.
17:44Afghanistan's
17:48seven main
17:49tribes have
17:49had a history
17:50of fighting
17:50among themselves
17:51long before
17:52the Soviets
17:53invaded.
17:56Yet,
17:57the brutal
17:58Soviet actions
17:59served only
18:00to unify
18:00the seven
18:01tribes.
18:02They now
18:03rallied together
18:04in a shared
18:05bitter hatred
18:06for the Soviets.
18:11I wanted
18:12to avenge
18:12the deaths
18:13of the one
18:14which were close
18:14to me
18:15and my family
18:16because vengeance
18:16in the Afghans
18:17is something
18:18which has
18:21very deep
18:21deep roots.
18:23There is an
18:24Indian power
18:24that God
18:25saved me
18:26from the
18:26teeth of the
18:27tiger,
18:28from the
18:28venom of the
18:29Kobra,
18:29and the
18:29vengeance
18:30of the Afghans.
18:30you know,
18:35from a pilot's
18:36point of view
18:37it's very difficult
18:38to describe
18:38an enemy
18:39which you
18:40cannot see.
18:41The opposition
18:41which we
18:42felt and saw
18:44when we
18:44attacked
18:45indicated
18:45that the
18:46people were
18:47defending
18:47a definite
18:48interest.
18:49but what
18:51exactly
18:52those interests
18:53were
18:53we did not
18:54know.
18:58We felt
18:58that they
18:59were a well
19:00prepared people
19:01who knew
19:02what they
19:03were fighting
19:03for.
19:04The Afghan
19:14rebel fighters
19:15are called
19:15Mujahideen
19:16meaning
19:17fighters of
19:18God.
19:26Strengthened
19:26with the
19:27spirit of
19:27a higher
19:27calling,
19:28these warriors
19:29cut through
19:29the ranks
19:30of the
19:30Soviet
19:30aggressors.
19:34The
19:47Soviets
19:48had a
19:48severe
19:48handicap.
19:50They
19:50had long
19:51trained
19:51for
19:51World War
19:52III
19:52against
19:53NATO
19:53troops
19:54on the
19:54open
19:55plains
19:55of
19:55Central
19:56Europe.
20:04The
20:11Soviets
20:11quickly
20:11discovered
20:12that
20:12their
20:12enemy
20:13were
20:13stealthy
20:13guerrillas
20:14fighting
20:15in the
20:15narrow
20:15high
20:16mountain
20:16passes
20:17of the
20:17Hindu
20:17Kush.
20:22The
20:23Soviet
20:23ground
20:23troops
20:24didn't
20:24stand
20:25a
20:25chance.
20:27Most
20:27conscripts
20:28were
20:28under-trained
20:29and only
20:3018 and
20:3019 years
20:31old.
20:35By
20:36April
20:371980,
20:38it was
20:38soon
20:38becoming
20:38obvious
20:39that the
20:39troops
20:39would need
20:40more air
20:41support
20:41if they
20:42had any
20:42chance
20:42of gaining
20:43ground.
20:48Enter
20:49the
20:50Su-25.
20:52I was
20:53with a
20:53colleague
20:53of mine,
20:54a cameraman,
20:55and I
20:55think we
20:56were probably
20:56among the
20:57first journalists
20:58to have
20:58seen the
20:58Su-Hoy's.
21:00And I'd
21:00never come
21:01across
21:01fighter jets
21:02like that.
21:03They literally
21:03would fly in
21:04beneath you
21:04in the
21:05mountain
21:05valleys,
21:06and their
21:07maneuverability
21:08was
21:08extraordinary.
21:10And from
21:11what I
21:12gathered from
21:12the
21:12guerrillas,
21:13they were
21:13very anxious
21:14about the
21:15Su-Hoy's.
21:18The MiGs
21:19tended to come
21:20into much
21:20higher levels.
21:21They would
21:21fly over
21:21the mountains,
21:22and they
21:23tended to fly
21:23in straighter
21:24paths than
21:25the Su-Hoy's
21:26would.
21:26So when
21:27the Su-Hoy's
21:28first appeared,
21:29they apparently
21:29were quite
21:30effective against
21:31the guerrillas,
21:32and the
21:33guerrillas didn't
21:33quite know how
21:34to deal with
21:34them as well.
21:41When people
21:42saw their
21:42first aircraft
21:43coming,
21:44they would
21:44run,
21:45which would
21:45draw attention
21:45to the
21:46pilots.
21:47despite a
21:54great technological
21:55advantage over
21:56the
21:56Mujahideen,
21:58Soviet by-the-book
21:59training and
22:00strict combat
22:00orders didn't
22:01allow for the
22:02flexibility required
22:03in this guerrilla
22:04war.
22:08At times,
22:09the Western
22:10stereotype of the
22:11robotic Soviet
22:12pilot held
22:13true.
22:18The Soviet
22:18pilots had
22:19their orders,
22:20and they
22:21would not
22:21waver from
22:22these orders.
22:23Their order
22:23might be to
22:24move from
22:25point A to
22:26point B,
22:26and you could
22:27have an entire
22:28army of
22:28guerrillas moving
22:29underneath,
22:30and they
22:30wouldn't go
22:31to attack.
22:33Also, the
22:33Soviets tended
22:34to fight a
22:35very nine-to-five
22:35war with their
22:36pilots.
22:37They would come
22:37in the morning,
22:38and they would
22:38stop at midday,
22:39and they'd
22:40be back at
22:40two in the
22:41afternoon.
22:41There was no
22:42element of
22:43surprise.
22:52Ambush was
22:53the Mujahideen
22:53strong suit.
22:55They broke up
22:56into small
22:56bands and
22:57spread out over
22:58Afghanistan's vast
22:59desert and
23:00high mountains.
23:09The land's
23:11natural nooks
23:12and crannies
23:13provided a
23:13perfect foil
23:14for the
23:15SU-25's bulk
23:16and natural
23:17speed.
23:19I suppose
23:20these mountains
23:21were dangerous
23:22for their
23:23pilots also.
23:25They are the
23:25same for
23:26everyone.
23:27And don't
23:28go on,
23:28or you will
23:29end up
23:29crashing into
23:30mountains.
23:38We had
23:39to attack
23:39from one
23:40direction,
23:40or let
23:41us say,
23:41from one
23:42side of
23:43the mountains.
23:44And the
23:44air defense
23:45naturally
23:46could expect
23:47from which
23:48side the
23:48attack was
23:49coming from.
23:54The flying
23:55tanks carried
23:56the latest
23:57ordnance in
23:57the Soviet
23:58arsenal.
23:59Laser-guided
24:00bombs destroyed
24:01the narrow-mouthed
24:02caves of the
24:03Mujahideen.
24:06Also,
24:07the indiscriminate
24:08bombing of
24:08civilian centers
24:09in the Afghan
24:10valleys became
24:11an SU-25 mission.
24:18For 25 years,
24:20the Soviets
24:20helped build a
24:21modern infrastructure
24:22in one of the
24:23world's poorest
24:24countries.
24:25Now,
24:26they set out
24:27to destroy it.
24:30The flying tank
24:32was largely
24:32responsible for this
24:33carnage,
24:34dropping on average
24:35four-tonne loads
24:36of unguided bombs,
24:38salvos of 57-millimeter
24:40rockets,
24:41and cluster munitions.
24:43The Soviets
24:44suffered the same fate
24:46as the Americans
24:46in Vietnam
24:47when trying to break
24:48the guerrillas'
24:49support systems.
24:50Very often,
24:51there were attacks
24:52against villages
24:52to try and make
24:53life as difficult
24:54as possible,
24:54to punish the
24:55civilians for their
24:56support of the
24:57guerrillas.
24:58punishing duty
25:06became the order
25:07for Soviet pilots.
25:09They were often
25:10sent on five
25:11missions a day.
25:12The conflict
25:13could no longer
25:14be called a
25:15nine-to-five war.
25:16With less time
25:17to prepare,
25:18pilots depended
25:19more than ever
25:20on ground controllers
25:21who constantly
25:22corrected frog-foot
25:23maneuvers.
25:27Sometimes we
25:27could not see
25:28a thing
25:29when we were
25:29flying,
25:30and we had
25:31to bomb
25:31according to
25:32the radio
25:32direction finder.
25:34Sometimes we
25:35could see a fight,
25:36a firefight
25:37over here,
25:38a firefight
25:38over there,
25:39so we could
25:40tell approximately
25:41where the
25:42front line was.
25:43I do not
25:51have any
25:52information
25:52that I have
25:53ever hit
25:54a civilian
25:54target,
25:56but it is
25:56possible.
25:57War is war,
25:58but I do not
25:59know about it.
26:04Pilots knew
26:05that their bombs
26:05could stray
26:06anything up
26:07to 60 meters.
26:13Accurate strikes
26:15depended on
26:16accurate intelligence.
26:18This information
26:19was supplied
26:19to the Soviet
26:20ground forces
26:21by local
26:21friendly Afghans.
26:23But the Soviets
26:24quickly learned
26:25that the Afghan
26:25was an adept
26:26guerrilla fighter,
26:28and that
26:28included using
26:29deception.
26:33Mistakes
26:34were made,
26:35but there is
26:36also the fact
26:36that Afghan
26:37military or
26:38civilian
26:38intelligence
26:39or forward
26:41observers
26:41who were
26:42pointing out
26:43targets for
26:44us.
26:45We were
26:46actually
26:46pointing out
26:47their personal
26:48blood enemies.
26:50The battle
26:51lines were
26:52often blurred
26:53and uncertain.
27:06Compounding
27:06a lack
27:07of intelligence,
27:08the Soviets
27:08also had to
27:09deal with
27:10misinformation
27:10and especially
27:12spies
27:12within their
27:13own ranks.
27:16Among them
27:17is MiG pilot
27:18Major Jalal
27:19Wardak.
27:23For most
27:24of the war
27:24he passed
27:25information
27:25to the
27:26Mujahideen.
27:27Then,
27:28on the verge
27:28of being discovered
27:29as a spy,
27:30Jalal narrowly
27:31escaped to
27:32Pakistan
27:32in his
27:33MiG-21.
27:34He joined
27:40the Mujahideen
27:40after years
27:41of flying
27:42alongside his
27:43communist
27:43countrymen
27:44and their
27:44Soviet
27:45supporters.
27:46They were
27:47confused about
27:48me.
27:49I told the
27:49Mujahideen,
27:50okay,
27:50tomorrow,
27:50the day after
27:51tomorrow,
27:52this base
27:52going attack
27:53this area,
27:54that much
27:54planes.
27:55They were
27:55bombing that
27:56neighborhood.
27:56And they
27:59get away
27:59from that
28:00area.
28:01They
28:01completely
28:02changed
28:02their plan.
28:04Of course,
28:05the Russians,
28:05they have
28:05intelligence
28:06service.
28:06When they
28:07got a report
28:08back from
28:08there,
28:09how many
28:09people
28:09died,
28:10they said
28:10two women,
28:11two kids,
28:11and two,
28:12three animals,
28:13no gorillas.
28:13And they
28:15got shot.
28:15They said,
28:16gosh,
28:16how it's
28:17happened like
28:18that?
28:20One Russian,
28:20they were
28:21bombing somewhere,
28:22and we just
28:22see that
28:23destroying the
28:24country,
28:25destroying the
28:25villages,
28:26and destroying
28:26the buildings,
28:28and the
28:28houses.
28:29And we
28:30had some
28:31feeling,
28:31like,
28:32we feel
28:32bad,
28:33you know,
28:33like,
28:33what's going
28:34on?
28:34And they
28:35said,
28:36this is the
28:36enemy.
28:38But we
28:39couldn't ask
28:40them,
28:40which
28:40enemy?
28:41Anime,
28:42that's your
28:42enemy,
28:43but the
28:43country is
28:43mine,
28:44you know.
28:45And I
28:45know that's
28:45not enemy,
28:46that's my
28:46brother,
28:47that's my
28:48blood,
28:48that's the
28:49person who's
28:49fighting for
28:50my land.
28:52For
28:52Jalal
28:53Wadak,
28:54defecting to
28:54the
28:55Mujahideen
28:55meant
28:56sacrificing
28:56his flying
28:57career.
28:58But
28:58expelling
28:59the Soviets
29:00was a
29:00cause more
29:01important than
29:02his chosen
29:02occupation.
29:07At
29:07first,
29:08the
29:08Mujahideen's
29:09best defense
29:10against the
29:10Soviet
29:10jets were
29:11leftovers from
29:12an earlier
29:12war with
29:13the
29:13British.
29:18Mostly,
29:19they had
29:19British
29:19303 rifles
29:20and captured
29:21recoilless weapons.
29:26Chinese-made heavy
29:27anti-aircraft machine
29:29guns and
29:30hand-held Soviet-made
29:31missiles became part of
29:33the Mujahideen
29:33arsenal.
29:35These arms were
29:36numerous, but not
29:37reliable.
29:38eventually, highly
29:42mobile Stinger
29:42missiles became an
29:44essential part of
29:44the Mujahideen
29:45arsenal.
29:51The Stinger had an
29:52immediate impact on
29:54the Soviet jets.
29:55Among the early hits
29:56were four flying
29:57tanks.
29:58Two Soviet crew
29:59members perished.
30:10It was hard, but we
30:12survived it.
30:14It's hard for anyone
30:15to lose a close
30:16friend.
30:17We all became
30:18close friends
30:19there.
30:21It probably had
30:23psychological
30:23effectiveness.
30:24The number of
30:25singers I saw, I saw
30:26probably five or six,
30:27said, each one I saw
30:28being fired, missed.
30:30I think the
30:31information now,
30:32which has come out
30:33in recent years,
30:34indicates that the
30:35Stinger was not
30:35really that
30:36effective.
30:43The ultimate
30:44psychological warfare
30:45waged was the
30:46graphic reports of
30:47Mujahideen atrocities
30:49against captured
30:50Soviet soldiers and
30:51airmen.
30:57At best, the
31:04Mujahideen would
31:05not give their
31:06prisoners water or
31:07food.
31:08At worst, the
31:10captors were
31:10inhumane, torturing
31:12and killing their
31:13prisoners.
31:13This prompted Soviet
31:34Su-25 pilots to
31:36expand their safety
31:37margin by flying
31:38higher and faster.
31:40The result was that
31:41ground troops became
31:42more vulnerable to
31:43capture or destruction.
31:52Russians began to
31:53get shy.
31:55They didn't roam the
31:56skies.
31:57They were all the
31:58time looking at their
31:58back.
31:59The pilots were
32:00afraid of being
32:01knocked out of the
32:02sky.
32:03And that's, of course,
32:03very bad for an
32:05attack pilot.
32:06When he begins to
32:07think about his own
32:08safety, he tends to
32:10release his weapons and
32:11flee instead of hanging
32:13there and attacking and
32:15attacking and helping
32:15the ground troops.
32:17And that's, of course,
32:19changed the Russian
32:20effort.
32:22The Russian army began to
32:24get less and less
32:25effective air support.
32:28And that really created a
32:30lot of havoc here in
32:31Moscow.
32:32Everyone began to yell
32:33that we need to find
32:34something to stop the
32:36Stinger.
32:37There was lots of
32:39billions of rubles and
32:41then billions of rubles
32:42were a lot of money.
32:43We're really poured into
32:44developing ways of
32:46deflecting Stingers.
32:52The Stingers set off
32:54alarm bells in Moscow.
32:55It was yet another problem
32:57plaguing the Soviet war
32:59effort.
33:01The war had been
33:02terribly costly, both in
33:04terms of money and lives.
33:06Yet, not a single Afghan
33:08city outside Kabul fell to
33:10communist control.
33:15Seven years into the
33:17fighting, Afghanistan was
33:18referred to as a
33:20bleeding wound by Soviet
33:21President Mikhail
33:22Gorbachev.
33:27I will not give much
33:30credit to the Soviet
33:31Air Force capabilities.
33:34They were definitely very
33:35accurate, very
33:36destructive and
33:39formidable against the
33:40civilian target, especially
33:41the village.
33:42But against the
33:43Mujahideen, I mean, since
33:44Mujahideens were usually,
33:46I mean, we were winning
33:47because we were dispersed.
33:50We were ambiguous.
33:52We were elusive.
33:58Even though the Afghan
33:59rebels didn't regularly take
34:01or hold any ground, they
34:03did continuously chip away at
34:05the Soviet will to stay and
34:07fight.
34:07I would like to add here that
34:14we had a feeling that the
34:16Afghan government wanted to
34:18fight with their opponents
34:19using our hands instead of
34:22using their own means.
34:27The civil war was like
34:28watching a fight between two
34:29lovers.
34:30A third lover was not
34:31needed.
34:321989, the Soviets gave up
34:43and withdrew from
34:44Afghanistan.
34:50In ten years, they had
34:52committed more than one
34:53million troops and pilots to
34:55a war that could not be won.
34:57throughout the history, you
35:06see, they have always won.
35:08I mean, they were able to, in
35:10the past, I mean, to accept
35:11casualties which will be beyond
35:13our imagination.
35:15Like, I mean, in World War II,
35:17in the Battle of Kiev for
35:18smolness, 50 divisions will be
35:20destroyed here, 650,000 there,
35:23and still they will not give a
35:25damn, but because of the
35:27political unrest inside Soviet
35:29Union, I mean, while they were
35:31fighting in Afghanistan, they
35:32were sensitive to accepting a
35:34higher casualty.
35:41More than one million Afghan
35:43civilians died in the war.
35:45Afghanistan has not yet
35:46recovered.
35:48Though not wholly responsible,
35:50Afghanistan was the beginning of
35:51the end for the Soviets.
35:53military and political
35:54disintegration followed.
35:56By 1991, the communist empire
35:59had fallen.
36:04However, this disintegration only
36:07led to further bloodshed on its
36:09borders.
36:13The road to independence is
36:15paved with much misery and
36:17death.
36:21War is evil.
36:23People who have never been to a war
36:27dream about it, play wars.
36:33I remember during the upheaval, guns
36:42got into the White House.
36:45People got excited having weapons
36:47in their hands.
36:48I put my guns aside.
36:51I put my guns aside.
36:54It was nonsense.
36:56Anyway.
37:00These people were naive.
37:02They didn't know what war was.
37:05People coming back from Chechnya are not the same as people returning from a military service.
37:10The war makes them older, much older.
37:16Weakened by internal strife,
37:19Moscow was unable to control rebellious republics on Russia's distant frontier.
37:24And one of these was the Muslim Republic of Chechnya, soon to become yet another military debacle.
37:30In September 1991, Chechnya tried to secede from Russia, ending nearly 175 long years of Russian domination.
37:48At first, Moscow tried financial aid and diplomacy to bring Chechnya back into the fold.
37:56It didn't work.
37:58In 1994, the Kremlin leadership made a tragic decision.
38:11In their eyes, total control could only be achieved through a ruthless military approach.
38:21Just five years after the loss in Afghanistan, Russian troops were sent east.
38:26Chechnya was complex, perhaps even more so than the situation in Afghanistan.
38:34Russian leaders conducted the war from the distance of the Kremlin, to catastrophic consequences.
38:44Colonel Valery Burkov, a decorated Afghan war veteran, was severely injured stepping on a landmine.
38:50Despite the loss of both legs, he's devoted to restoring strength and honor to the Russian air force.
38:59After I got wounded and lost both legs,
39:03my commander came to visit me in the hospital.
39:09First of all, I asked him to help me stay in the air force.
39:14First of all, I knew the problems in the air force.
39:19I wanted to solve these problems.
39:23I didn't want other people to suffer needlessly.
39:26I wanted to raise the combat efficiency of the air force in support of the land forces.
39:31Once again, the Sukhoi-25 was pushed into action.
39:39Pilots from Lipetsk Air Base were sent to local airfields.
39:43From there, Chechnya was well within the 640-kilometer range of a fully loaded Su-25.
39:50Chechnya was treated as an ideal venue for flying tank improvements
39:54devised during Afghanistan, such as precise laser targeting.
39:58Afghanistan also provided new knowledge about tactical airstrikes.
40:05But air force command shelved most of those lessons in favour of brutal superpower warfare.
40:11The flying tank was assigned to deliver massive blows to defenders on the ground,
40:17paving the way for a flood of Russian troops.
40:20Initially, the air force attempted to sway the action in Chechnya through surgical airstrikes.
40:25Early on, the Su-25 exhibited powerful precision in a battle for an important strategic stronghold,
40:32the Chechen Presidential Palace.
40:34The Chechens were in the bunker, and this palace was a former Soviet building,
40:42and it had a good anti-nuclear bunker beneath.
40:49And these Sukhoi-25s, they dropped very precisely several concrete piercing bombs
40:55that destroyed part of the bunker.
40:57Then the Chechens withdrew.
41:03And these were Sukhoi-25s, not more sophisticated, more electronically equipped Russian bombers.
41:09These were just the workhorse Sukhoi-25s.
41:17Flying tank missions in support of the ground troops did not go as smoothly.
41:21They faced a new unforgiving foe, the weather.
41:27Thick cloud cover rendered the Su-25's laser inoperable.
41:32So the Russians resorted to highly inaccurate widespread bombing.
41:36This freed the Chechens to fight as they fought best, in the street.
41:40And, like the Afghan Mujahideen, the Chechens proved highly creative with any sort of arm they could acquire.
41:49Everything from shotguns to shoulder-held anti-tank weapons.
41:56Where they could function, the Su-25s dodged fire from Chechen anti-aircraft guns,
42:02which the former Soviet rulers had left behind.
42:06This turned out to be the only piece of luck for the flying tank.
42:10The Russians managed to divert these weapons.
42:16They have a special kind of electronic in-built system
42:19that doesn't allow Russian soldiers in combat conditions,
42:23when they might go wild, to shoot at their own aircraft.
42:28And so these weapons, the Chechens didn't manage to reprogram them.
42:34And the weapons recognized Russian attacking aircraft as friendly,
42:38and they refused to fire.
42:40By the 1996 ceasefire agreement, only two Su-25s were reported shot down.
42:48And while Russian ground troops fared poorly during the conflict,
42:52the flying tank was a constant threat to the Chechen fighters.
42:55I wouldn't say that the Russian air force has been crippled by Chechnya.
43:00Basically, of all the services of the Russian army,
43:04this is the service that came out best.
43:08They had very low losses.
43:10This was basically their war.
43:12The Chechens hated them very much, and they killed pilots.
43:15If they ever got any pilots, captured them, they killed them immediately,
43:19because it was the air force that was given them the most punishment.
43:25Punishment provided by the flying tank,
43:28scarred land, ruined cities, more refugees.
43:32In purely destructive terms,
43:39Chechnya, and Afghanistan for that matter,
43:42could be described loosely as victories.
43:45In truth, the indiscriminate massacre
43:48is the result of grossly inaccurate bombing missions.
43:51The air war in Chechnya quickly exposed severe weaknesses
44:02in the Russian air force.
44:04Aging equipment, poor training,
44:07and an inability to overcome the weather.
44:17From military and political points of view,
44:19we forgot our experience in Afghanistan
44:22during the war in Chechnya.
44:28We haven't learned much.
44:31We are repeating the same mistakes.
44:42An eternal flame symbolizes the commitment
44:45to soldiers and pilots who fought
44:47in the former Soviet Union's campaigns.
44:49World War II veterans are held in exceptionally high esteem.
45:04But Moscow's Red Square has no memorial
45:06for those who fought and died
45:08in the much more recent wars
45:10in Afghanistan and Chechnya.
45:14It appears the Russian leadership
45:16doesn't want people to remember these conflicts.
45:18But the thousands who fought
45:22will never forget.
45:27We don't have any special privileges.
45:31Sometimes in the press
45:33and among people,
45:35I run across a negative attitude
45:38towards the war.
45:39I feel very bad when I see it.
45:42It was our soldiers' duty.
45:52Devotion to military duty
45:54is nearly the only incentive left for airmen
45:57during Russia's economic crisis.
45:59There is scant hope
46:00for a glorious return of the air force
46:02in the foreseeable future.
46:04What can I say?
46:09And what I'm saying to young pilots
46:10who joined our unit
46:12is that you should not fear.
46:16There is no need to fear.
46:19And you should not fear.
46:20You should go along with your profession,
46:23which was always considered
46:26to be one of the highest
46:28technically intelligent professions.
46:33Because, of course,
46:35pilot combines several professions
46:36for his proficiency.
46:39And basically, I think
46:40that it will remain the same
46:43and especially
46:44in this country,
46:48which always had
46:50a very high respect
46:52for its pilots.
47:00In modern Russia,
47:02respect for airmen
47:03comes at too great a price.
47:08Meanwhile,
47:09back at Lepetsk Air Base,
47:11a rare display of respect
47:12for Russia's pilots was shown.
47:17It was payday.
47:19The first payday
47:20these flying tank pilots
47:22have had
47:22in three months.
47:24two moons.
47:47.
47:48.
47:48Oh