Soviet Army Ground Forces in the Cold War: U.S. Army FM 30-40 Handbook on Red Army Organization, Weapons, Tactics, Doctrine, and Combat Capabilities, 1975

A Cold War U.S. Army intelligence handbook on Soviet Ground Forces, Red Army doctrine, Warsaw Pact combat power, and the military threat that shaped NATO planning in 1975.Originally issued by Headquarters, Department of the Army as FM 30-40, Handbook on Soviet Ground Forces provided U.S. Army personnel and other defense readers with an unclassified reference on the organization, personnel, tactics, equipment, and combat capabilities of the Soviet Ground Forces during one of the most consequential periods of the Cold War.Written in the era of NATO concern over a possible Soviet or Warsaw Pact offensive into Western Europe, this manual examines the Soviet military system from historical background and political indoctrination to unit organization, combined arms doctrine, armor, artillery, infantry, airborne forces, air defense, engineers, logistics, and tactical employment. It reflects the U.S. Army’s effort to understand how the Soviet Union trained, organized, equipped, and prepared its ground forces for modern war.This Milstar Books Military Doctrine Collection reprint edition includes a new publisher’s foreword placing the manual in its 1975 Cold War context.Inside, readers will find coverage of:This volume is especially valuable for military professionals, planners, ROTC and military science students, Cold War historians, veterans, defense analysts, wargamers, collectors of U.S. Army field manuals, and readers interested in the Soviet Army, NATO defense planning, and the military balance in Cold War Europe.For anyone studying Soviet doctrine, Cold War strategy, or the military problem NATO faced in the 1970s, FM 30-40 remains an essential primary source. Read more