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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Armored trains back in service as Russians fight railway terrorism in North Caucasus |
| 2010-03-02 |
| A weapon thought by many to belong to military museums is making a return to active anti-insurgency operations in the North Caucasus: the armored train. First used for such purposes in the American Civil War, armored trains and the tactics associated with their use were most fully developed in the vast expanses of Russia, where they were used in large numbers in World War One, the Red-White Civil War of 1917-22 (including extensive operations in the Caucasus), the Second World War and the Sino-Soviet border conflict of the 1960's. More recently, Russian armored trains were deployed to secure railway lines against Azeri nationalists during the 1990 Soviet military intervention in Baku. Now Russia's defense ministry has announced the return of armored trains for use against Islamist insurgents in the North Caucasus (Interfax, January 5; Russia Today, January 5). The growing insecurity of Russia's railway system led to an announcement by President Dmitry Medvedev on December 2 that he had just signed a special order regarding the prevention of terrorist attacks on railways (ITAR-TASS, December 2, 2009). Medvedev's announcement followed remarks by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that called for pre-emption as the best means of eliminating attacks on the rail system (The Moscow Times, December 1, 2009). Bombings of Russian trains in Dagestan have become a major security problem, with some seven explosions occurring on trains in the last six months of 2009 alone. The attacks appear to be part of a new campaign by North Caucasus Islamist insurgents to strike Russian infrastructure, including railways (EDM, December 10, 2009). A review of recent attacks on railway infrastructure gives some sense of the growing problem: skipped Building on the 1919 innovation to include a desantniy ortryad (raiding team) with every armored train for offensive and defensive missions, modern armored trains include detachments of armor and infantry that can be quickly offloaded and deployed around the area of the train or sent on reconnaissance missions. This makes it difficult for insurgents to prepare ambushes or destroy sections of track without detection. Meanwhile, the armored train can provide mobile artillery fire in support of infantry operations. In the wake of continuing insurgent attacks on the railroads of the North Caucasus, Russia will return two Stavropol-based armored trains to service in Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan. The trains, which have been held in reserve for two years, are equipped with "special devices for the removal of landmines and heavy weapons capable of countering an attack by armed militants." The armored trains will likely be manned by railway troops of the 76 ZhDK, based in Volgograd. The unit is considered well-trained, well-equipped and ready for combat operations. |
| Posted by:gromky |
| #10 And armored trains only do you any good so long as the threat is weak enough to not attack the unguarded rails themselves. I was wondering that myself, just what happens when 20 feet of roadbed, Tracks, Ties and all are missing? |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2010-03-02 22:53 |
| #9 ION TOPIX >SERGEY SHAKARYANTS: A MISSLE CRISIS IS FORMING IN THE CAUCASUS. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-03-02 19:06 |
| #8 And armored trains only do you any good so long as the threat is weak enough to not attack the unguarded rails themselves. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2010-03-02 18:23 |
| #7 They have 28 brigades of railway troops? How many brigades do they have total? |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2010-03-02 18:22 |
| #6 I'll take a double, please.... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-03-02 17:50 |
| #5 Q-Trains? Carrying F-150s? |
| Posted by: Beldar Threreling9726 2010-03-02 17:27 |
| #4 Q-Trains? |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2010-03-02 16:11 |
| #3 I seem to remeber one of the less popular Mexican gov'ts (maybe Maximilian?) trying the same thing in the 1800's. War "en camion" or some such. Didn't end well." |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2010-03-02 15:05 |
| #2 Kinda like the CTA Police methinks... |
| Posted by: borgboy 2010-03-02 13:17 |
| #1 More info here Russia maintains a unique formation of Railway Troops (Zheleznodorozhniki -ZhDk), composed of four railway corps, 28 railway brigades and a number of military and research units under the control of the defense ministry since 2004 (ITAR-TASS, May 2, 1999). The Railway Troops are responsible for securing and rebuilding railroads in support of combat and mobilization efforts, the construction of new railways and the repair or reconstruction of rail systems destroyed by enemy forces or natural calamities. Railway troops were active in these roles in the First Chechen War of 1994-96. Shortly after the Second Chechen War began in 1999 the Railway Troops began operating an armored train to protect commercial cargo and military supply trains (Nezavisimaya Gazeta, June 10, 2008). The 76th is one of the 4 corps. |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2010-03-02 11:20 |