Soviet Airborne Forces

Soviet Airborne Forces
Vozdushno-desantnye voyska SSSR Воздушно-десантные войска СССР
Shoulder patch of the Soviet Airborne Forces, 1969–1991
Active	4 September 1941 – 14 February 1992
Country	Soviet Union (1941–1991)  Commonwealth of Independent States (1991–1992)
Branch	Soviet Armed Forces
Type	Airborne forces
Role	Light infantry Airborne infantry Airmobile infantry Peacekeeping
Size	January 1990 – 53,874 August 1991 – 77,036
Nickname(s)	Войска дяди Васи (Uncle Vasya's Troops)
Motto(s)	Никто, кроме нас! (Nobody, but us!)
Engagements	Battle of Lake Khasan Battles of Khalkhin Gol World War II First Nagorno-Karabakh War Soviet–Afghan War
Commanders
Notable commanders	Gen. Vasily Margelov
Insignia
Flag of the Airborne Forces

The Soviet Airborne Forces or VDV (from Vozdushno-desantnye voyska SSSR, Russian: Воздушно-десантные войска СССР, ВДВ; Air-landing Forces) was a separate troops branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. First formed before the Second World War, the force undertook two significant airborne operations and a number of smaller jumps during the war and for many years after 1945 was the largest airborne force in the world.^[1] The force was split after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, with the core becoming the Russian Airborne Forces, losing divisions to Belarus and Ukraine.

Troops of the Soviet Airborne Forces traditionally wore a sky blue beret and blue-striped telnyashka and they were named desant (Russian: Десант) from the French Descente.^[2]

The Soviet Airborne Forces were noted for their relatively large number of vehicles, specifically designed for airborne transport, as such, they traditionally had a larger complement of heavy weaponry than most contemporary airborne forces.^[3]