Georgian Versus Russian Weapons

Russian Kamov Ka-52

By Land, Air, Sea & PC, Georgia Tried to Match
Russian Arsenal -- Popular Mechanics

Last Thursday, Georgian troops attacked pro-Russian separatists in the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Defying expectations and escalating the pitch of the battles to come, the Russian army fought back—with massive firepower. Tanks deployed, jets flew top cover, and the once-mothballed Black Sea fleet sailed toward Georgian ports, while Russian hackers took down Georgian networks.

The fighting, which claimed as many as 2000 lives, represents a sort of hybrid war for the 21st century: a chaotic, fast-moving conflict that combines cutting-edge technology with old-fashioned brute force.

Russia and Georgia used many of the same Soviet-designed weapons, with predictable results. "Frightened people everywhere ... confusing Georgians and Russians," Gia Jandieri, a consultant, e-mailed from Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, as computer networks failed all around him. But Russia's army is more than 20 times larger than Georgia's, and Moscow's counterattack was "disproportionate," according to NATO secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. In plain English: tiny Georgia never really had a chance.

But Georgian air defenders and tank killers put up fierce resistance even as defeat loomed. In the wake of a Moscow-ordered pullback, which left South Ossetia firmly in Russian hands—even as the truce has proved fragile on Wednesday—we take an in-depth look at how the combatants stacked up.

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My Comment: One more reason to buy American .... if you can afford it.