Doctrine, Equipment and Organization for Reserve African Rifles in the Caribbean

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by DeadParrot

If former Soviet vehicles can be had for pennies on the dollar and the new owners have lots of time and labor, the vehicles could be converted to something more suited for whatever uses the new owners need.

Examples - modify existing Land Rovers to take Soviet wheels and tires. Use a Soviet engine to get a ag tractor moving again. Build a total custom ATV that can deal with the mule friendly trails.

Bonus if the vehicles were not de-milled before the sale. A turret mount gun might make a decent pill box weapon. Any comm gear could be useful and provide an alternative to western gear. Some vehicles have limited Surface to Air defense and maybe even offense capabilities. Also, even older tanks can make a decent if short ranged 'shoot and scoot' artillery system.

During the fall of the Soviet Union, more than one base commander with no idea where their next paycheck would come from allowed arms dealers to buy all kinds of arms, helicopters, scout vehicles and tanks. Aside from bribing the necessary officials and the cost of transport, the equipment was basically free for the taking, for those arms dealers who were courageous, canny and quick.

As the billionaire setting up a secret counter-supernatural network from 1986 was already employing a number of grey market (at best) arms dealers with contacts in the less-than-legal sectors of the arms market, as soon as the Soviet Union fell, they contacted everyone they knew who had connections behind the 'Iron Curtain' and basically handed them wish lists of every piece of post-Soviet equipment that could be of any use to a network preparing to defend the Caribbean from supernatural incursions. This includes arms caches all over the Caribbean, but also a full complement of arms for the Commandos on the Commonwealth of Dominica, as they are the in-extremis military solution.

Everything needs to be airmobile or easy to ship, so tanks are not really useful. Not because of the expense, but because you couldn't get them to Hispaniola or the Virgin Islands if you needed to intervene in a major supernatural event. You couldn't even get them from Petite Soufriére Bay to the capital of Roseau, on Dominica, to defend it from coup attempts. I imagine that vehicles armoured against small arms and armed with weaponry that could decimate foreign mercenaries arriving by boat or plane would be more effective to defend Government House in Roseau, anyway, but wouldn't mind some artillery and anti-air guns to mount around the Prime Minister's house.

There will be no repeat of the 1990 hostage situation in Trinidad and Tobago on Dominica and Dame Eugenia Charles is prepared to lay down some defences around Government House, though her budget is tiny and she won't accept donations of money or equipment (but will allow loyal Dominicans, immigrants or no, to help find good deals on surplus gear, and to volunteer for military service, to be discharged by setting up defences and training the Commonwealth of Dominica Police Force Special Service Unit who'll be responsible for security of the ministers and president).

For vehicles supporting any foreign deployment of the Commandos, helicopters and armoured vehicles you can transport by helicopters are much more practical than actual tanks. If the Soviets had any decent roll-on, roll-off ferries, especially ones developed for amphibious assaults, that would be great, especially if such craft could be disguised as commercial ferries or other relatively inconspicious nautical craft. Of course, though it might be more expensive than taking advantage of the crisis and chaos in the former Soviet Union in 1990-1991, maybe they'll buy commercial ferries. Depends on what their friendly arms dealers find and whether any Soviet naval bases are subject to the same malaise as their warehouses, surplus storage and some military bases.

I don't know how much Soviet equipment helps with crossing jungle covered mountains. That demands extremely light vehicles and I'm not sure Soviet doctrine prioritized those much. Helicopters will do in a pinch, of course, and An-2 aircraft are good for island hopping with improvised air strips, but commercial ATVs are probably better at navigating a hiking trail that mules can barely cover than any Soviet vehicle. Though I'd be pleased to see suggestions of light, all-terrain Soviet military vehicles, as operations on most Caribbean islands might benefit from such vehicles to supply a military force.