Zapad-81
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Exercise Zapad-81
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Exercise Zapad-81 (
RSD-10 medium-range strategic missile (known often to the West as the SS-20 Saber) and the Project 1143 aircraft carrier Kiev
.
History
The exercise was first and foremost a show of force. Propaganda tapes were made of the large scale offensives concluding in a large victory parade. Apart from being a show of force to the NATO countries, the exercise was a large-scale demonstration of military capability in Poland. After failed reforms, communism in the People's Republic of Poland during the seventies was in a state of crisis and civil unrest (
Solidarność). Exercise Zapad included amphibious landings in Poland near Gdańsk
, reminding Poles that the Soviet Union could resort to military force if it was deemed necessary for the preservation of communist power.
The exercise was criticised by the US for violating the
Helsinki Final Act
of notification of military exercises.
See also
- Zapad Exercises
- Zapad 2021 exercise
- Vostok 2018
- North China Military Exercise
References
- OCLC 781546161.
External links
- Photos of the Zapad-81 drills, VisualRian (in Russian)
- Historical film footage of the Zapad-81 exercise (Russian: Такой солдат непобедим) (in Russian)