Front Air assault Brigade consists of:
- 4 Bn's of Infantry, a mix of either BMD (assault) or Light Infantry (parachute). The usual mix is 2 Assault and 2 Parachute.
- Each Assault BN has 3 companies of 10 BMD's each, an automatic Grenade launcher platoon with 6 AGS-17's and 3 BMD's, a mortar battery of 8 mortars (either 120mm SP or 120mm wheeled), an Air Defense platoon with 9 SA-14/16, and the HQ with one BMD. The infantry is about the same as a BMP company.
- Each Parachute BN is composed of 3 Parachute companies (infantry companies without BMP),Antitank Platoon with 6 ATGM teams and 3 SPG's,
- An automatic Grenade Launcher Platoon with 6 AGS-17, a mortar battery of wheeled 120mm, an Air Defense Platoon of 9 SA-14/16 and the HQ platoon.
- A Reconnaissance Company which varies a great deal...I would use an all BRDM company with 12 BRDM and infantry teams.
- A Composite Artillery Battalion with 3 batteries of D30 towed 122's or similiar, and a battery of 122mm MRLS
- A Air Defense Artillery Battery with towed ZSU-23-2's
- A Engineer company
The Front Airmobile Assault Brigade is very similiar, except it has:
- No BMD BN's, all Parachute/Light Infantry BN's.
- The Artillery is only one D30 Battery
- Adds an Anti Tank Battery of 9 BRDM AT-5
The Air Assault Brigade use the Front Airforces Helo's also.
Front Airforces Helicopter Units are:
- Attack Helo Regiment of 40 Hinds, and 20 Hips
- 2 Transport Helicopter Regiments of 24 Mi-26 and 32 Hips each.
- Use the corresponding numbers of Heavy and Medium Air Transports as Helos for figuring out how many are needed to air drop the Brigade.
Air Assault brigades lack organic lift assets, they rely on Front or Army aviation assets. An older Airmobile brigade, which is basically a light Air Assault Brigade, has its own lift assets, and requires 2 lifts to move the Brigade.
Air Assault Bde: 2000-2600 men 18 D-30 Howitzers 6 M1975 122mm MLRS 24 120mm mortars 24-45 SA-14/7 SAM's 6 ZU-23 AA (or SA-9) 9 BRDM-2 AT-5 14-18 Manpack AT-4/5 36 SPG-9 73mm AT guns 6 SD-44 85mm AT guns 81-150 RPG-16 24 AGS-17 111 RPK MG's 68 BMD 4 BRDM scouts 48 Vasilyeks Organization: Bde HQ 2 airborne AA bns (BMD equipped) 2 airborne bns (light) 1 composite arty bn 1 recon co 1 AA btry 1 Engineer co 1 signals co 1 AT Btry (Not in all bdes) 1 parachute rigging & resuply co 1 transport and maintenance co 1 NBC defense plt 1 med co 1 supply co *some bdes have 3 light and 1 BMD bn Lift requirements: Full BDE w/o BMD's: 75 HIP, 35 HOOK Full BDE w/BMD's: 41 HIP, 125 HOOK Rifle BN: 13 HIP rifle bn team: 17 HIP bn mortar plt: 6 HOOK BMD equipped BN: 37 HOOK BDE HQ Co: 3 HIP Arty Bn: 24 HOOK ADA Btry: 6 Hook Recon Co (BRDM): 24 HOOK Recon Co (no BRDM): 2 HIP Eng Co: 3 HOOK Support Elements: 4 HIP
The airmobile Bde I mentioned earlier has 1 composite helicopter regt under it, but it doesn't have the BMD's to carry, either. The Regt has: 1 heavy-lift helo sqdns (4x3 Hook flights, total 12). 2 medium lift sqdns (4x4 HIP, total 16)
Frontal Aviation assets: Helicopter transport regiment (don't know how many in a Front): 2 or 3 transport sqdns, each with 4x4 HIP, total 32-48. One sqdn with 3/4x4 HOOK, total 12-16. Regiment can handle one MRB, plus trucks and 122mm Btry in one lift.
Army assets: 30 HOPLITE, used for recon, liaison, and transport.
Realistically, it looks like you could give them enough helos to move 1/3 to 1/2 of the Brigade in one lift. Of course, if it were a Front main effort, they would probably get more assets.
Regarding aircraft OOB's. It is my understanding that there was no set "aircraft" OOB for airborne operations. However, the rule of thumb seemed to be 90-115 AN-12's to transport a BMD equipped regiment Each AN-12 could carry either 90 troops, 60 paratroops, 20 metric tons or 2 BMD's
It would take 50-65 Il-76 aircraft to deliver the BMD airborne regiment. Each Il-76 carrying either up to 120 paratroops, or 3 BMD's or 40 Metric tons.
The An-22 can carry four BMD's, or 175 paratroops or 80 metric tons
Principal items of equipment, for a Soviet Air Assault Brigade (1991), are listed as follows:
32 120mm mortar (M1943/M120)
12-18 122mm howitzer (D-30)
6 122mm MRL (BM-21V)
45 SAM (Man portable)
6 23mm AA (ZU23)
12 ATGM Manpack Console, AT-4
6 73mm recoilless AT Gun,SPG-9
150 ATGL (RPG-16D)
24 30mm Auto grenade launcher AGS-17
68 AAICV,BMD and variants
The combat elements of the Air Assault Brigade consist of 2 BMD equipped bnsand 2 parachute bns, a recce coy, a composite artillery bn, an ADA battery, and the brigade HQ. Attached are a variety of the usual support units. Some brigades may consist of 1 BMD and 3 para bns.
