Why did The Soviets had such a large army?

[DarK-LorD]

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I am surprised by the Size of the Soviet Army,wasn't it a waste of Resources.Please discuss.

In 1990, the Soviet Army possessed:

55,000 Tanks. Including 4,000 T-80, 10,000 T-72, 9,700 T-64, 11,300 T-62, 19,000 T-54/55, and 1,000 PT-76
70,000 Armored Personnel Carriers. Including BTR-80, BTR-70, BTR-60, BTR-D, BTR-50, BTR-152, and MT-LB
24,000 Infantry Fighting Vehicles. Including BMP-1, BMP-2, BMP-3, BMD-1, BMD-2, and BMD-3
3,500 BRDM-2 and BRDM-1 reconnaissance vehicles.
33,000 Towed Artillery Pieces. Including 4,379 D-30, 1,175 M-46, 1,700 D-20, 598 2A65, 1,007 2A36, 857 D-1, 1,693 ML-20, 1,200 M-30, 478 B-4 Howitzers and D-74, D-48, D-44, T-12, and BS-3 Field/Anti-Tank Guns
9,000 Self-Propelled Howitzers. Including 2,751 2S1, 2,325 2S3, 507 2S5, 347 2S7, 430 2S4, 20 2S19, 108 SpGH DANA, ASU-85, and 2S9
8,000 Rocket Artillery. Including BM-21, 818 BM-27, 123 BM-30, 18 BM-24, TOS-1, BM-25, and BM-14 Multiple Rocket Launchers
SS-1 Scud, SS-21, SS-23, and FROG-7 Tactical Ballistic Missiles
1,350 SA-4, 850 SA-6, 950 SA-8, 430 SA-9, 300 SA-11, 70 SA-12, 860 SA-13, 20 SA-15, 130 SA-19, ZSU-23-4, and ZSU-57-2 Army Air Defense Vehicles
12,000 Towed Anti-Aircraft Guns. Including ZU-23-2, ZPU-1/2/4, S-60, 72-K, 61-K, 52-K, and KS-19
4,300 Helicopters. Including 1,420 Mi-24, 600 Mi-2, 1,620 Mi-8, 290 Mi-17, 450 Mi-6, and 50 Mi-26

Soviet Air Force inventory as of 1990

205 strategic bombers
160 Tupolev Tu-95 Bear
15 Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack
30 Myasishchev M-4 Bison

230 medium bombers
30 Tupolev Tu-22M Backfire
80 Tupolev Tu-16 Badger
120 Tupolev Tu-22 Blinder

1,755 fighters
90 Su-27 Flanker
540 MiG-29 Fulcrum
700 MiG-23 Flogger
185 MiG-21 Fishbed
200 MiG-31 Foxhound
40 MiG-25 Foxbat

2,135 attack aircraft
630 Su-24 Fencer
535 Su-17 Fitter
130 Su-7 Fitter-A
500 MiG-27 Flogger-D
340 Su-25 Frogfoot

84 tankers
34 Ilyushin Il-76 Midas
30 Myasishchev M-4 'Molot' Bison
20 Tupolev Tu-16 Badger

40 AWACS
40 Beriev A-50 Mainstay

1,015 Reconnaissance and ECM aircraft
50 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 Fishbed
170 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 Foxbat
190 Sukhoi Su-7R
235 Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer
200 Yakovlev Yak-28 Brewer
130 Tu-16 Badger
30 Tu-22M Backfire
10 Il-20 Coot

620 transport aircraft
45 Antonov An-124 'Ruslan' Condor
55 Antonov An-22 'Antey'
210 Antonov An-12 Cub
310 Ilyushin Il-76 Candid
2,935 civilian and other transport aircraft, usually Aeroflot aircraft which were easily converted.

Soviet Air Defence Forces Inventory (1987/1990)

The PVO inventory of 1990 was:

2,410 interceptors
210 Su-27 Flanker
850 MiG-23 Flogger
350 MiG-25 Foxbat
360 MiG-31 Foxhound
500 Su-15 Flagon
90 Yak-28 Firebar
50 Tu-128 Fiddler

AWACS aircraft
7 Tupolev Tu-126 Moss
1 Beriev A-50 Mainstay

Surface to air missiles on strength in 1990 included:

1,400 S-25 Berkut - being replaced by the Almaz S-300 and expected to be replaced by the Almaz S-400 Triumf
2,400 Lavochkin S-75 Dvina
1,000 Isayev S-125 Neva\Pechora - 300+ sites, 2 or 4 missile launchers and rails
1,950 Almaz S-200 Angara\Vega\Dubna - 130 sites
1,700 Almaz S-300 - 85 sites, 15 more building.

Soviet Navy possessed around 140 nuclear subs & 300 diesel subs.

Source:WIKIPEDIA.

[Gentle Typhoon]

Yea its mind boggling.

[farhan_9909]

And still they collapsed

it means economy matter more then weapons in war time

or it was ISI who broked them into dozens

[rcrmj]

the soviet defence was the direct product of 'quantity over quality' pholosophy heavily infuenced by the outcome of WWII, it affected Chinese for quite few years, only recently we started to focusing on quality as it saves much resourses and efficiency``

[DarK-LorD]

And still they collapsed

it means economy matter more then weapons in war time

or it was ISI who broked them into dozens

ISI thwarted the Soviets in Afghanistan using US help,but played very little part in Collapse of USSR.

[T-Faz]

They Soviets put a lot of effort and resources in their military as they were always under the impression that they might have to engage in conventional warfare with the Americans. This reason led them to concentrate solely on building up a force that was adequate in warfare capabilities and had the capacity to invade foreign land(s) if required.

This was their downfall, they spend so much on their military overlooking other aspects of their nation and it eventually led to their downfall.

The problem with such drastic concentration on military might is that it distracts the nations from other important aspects such as economical, development and social. An army should be limited yet made to be highly effective, a nation cannot disregard other areas for the sake of their military.

Are you listening Pakistan?

[Ahmad]

Economy and frustration of the public with the dictators faciliated the collapse of the soviet union.

[nForce]

Why did The Soviets had such a large army?

errr.....because they had the biggest country in the World,nearly 1/6th of entire landmass of the World??So they a vast piece of land to defend...

[Muhammad-Bin-Qasim]

USSR had to collapse because Communism can only last for that long... It is now the turn of Capitalism to collapse... Watch this space folks as to what happens to "Rome"

[Patriot]

This army gave headaches to All Western/European Leaders.They could single handley take over the entire Europe if they wanted to...of course nuclear factor comes into play but i doubt US would risk nuclear weapons for Europeans when they knew Soviet could take out entire US.Most powerful Army on earth.

[nForce]

USSR had to collapse because Communism can only last for that long... It is now the turn of Capitalism to collapse... Watch this space folks as to what happens to "Rome"

I think it will not be right to blame Communism for downfall.Look at China.

[rcrmj]

I think it will not be right to blame Communism for downfall.Look at China.

China is not communism, we'd already abolished free medical system and free education system and state welfare```China now is more capitalist than those traditional capitalism countries like U.K, France and U.S``

[nForce]

China is not communism, we'd already abolished free medical system and free education system and state welfare```China now is more capitalist than those traditional capitalism countries like U.K, France and U.S``

Agreed,China has evolved a lot towards Capitalism,but the country is still ruled by the CPC.Free medicines,free education,state welfare etc. are not basic pillars of Communism.Even in India,we have free medication,state welfare ,free primary and secondary education etc.that does not make India a communist state.These are all different policies provided by different government,irrespective of the type of government.

This may be a good read,try it:

The Principles of Communism

[desioptimist]

China is not communism, we'd already abolished free medical system and free education system and state welfare```China now is more capitalist than those traditional capitalism countries like U.K, France and U.S``

I think you abolished the really good things about communism, free health care and education etc.

[VKVM]

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Because the Soviet Union was a military empire, hence a massive army.