Plausibility: Russian Invasion of USA

I have to say it is possible, because the idea of Red Dawn is that the USA somehow loses a nuclear exchange. That appears to be ASB in the extreme, but all it would take is something like Jimmy Carter being POTUS, and then refusing to launch nukes even after they are spotted.

If you want a Cold War era US president who might not launch Mr. Reagan is the right candidate, not Carter. After all, Carter was one who started studies towards protracted nuclear war while Reagan was mainly (and rightfully) scared of the concept. Reagan might have launched counterstrike, or might have not.

As for the original thread concept, if small scale incursions count then at any point during Cold War there's a possibility of small scale raids on US territory, especially on Alaska. Succesfull? Maybe, maybe not.
 
So incredibly implausible, yet the film Red Dawn seems to have an incredibly powerful effect on Americans, even some on these boards (see the How Many Commies did You Help Patrick Sose To Kill thread which is one of the board's most viewed).

Maybe it's the desire to make America the plucky underdog, something it never has been in its modern history.

Well, I don't like the film much either, but I can see the appeal, given that Americans tend to be more overly patriotic than other western nations. One good example of a Soviets Invade USA story is RA2--silly and eyebrow raising like others, but least it doesn't take itsef seriously. ;)
 
Well, I don't like the film much either, but I can see the appeal, given that Americans tend to be more overly patriotic than other western nations.

The film is a very real part of my movie history as I must have watched it a hundred times growing up. I love(d) the film and it's still something l like to pop in and watch often enough. I'm not convinced it had as much impact mainstream as mentioned earlier though. I think even at the time it was just niche type movie. As for 'overly patriotic' I would agree that Americans held more open patriotic tendencies but I would never call it overly by any means. And even what held in the 1980's and into the 90's is on the way out. The culture today tosses patriotic into the bin containing old traditional cheesy things no longer important or cool enough for today.


One good example of a Soviets Invade USA story is RA2--silly and eyebrow raising like others, but least it doesn't take itsef seriously. ;)

Amen to that ... I enjoy both types but RA2 does present a lot of the silly elements in a way to just laugh and enjoy. General Carville is hilarious for one.
 
The most realistic Soviet invasion of the continental USA I have ever seen is in World In Conflict- and even that's a far stretch.
 
We've all seen Red Dawn, but what I'm wondering, is how far could they really go? What would happen afterwards?
Typical answer to this type of scenario: How do you want to define an invasion? A few Spetnaz running around blowing things up is a certainty in a WW3 type scenario; a small Russian force grabbing one of the Aleutian Islands is possible but not that likely under 'normal' circumstances; A large scale landing and occupation of part of mainland Alaska is technically possible but would really require the US to be loosing badly before it'd happen; a Red-Dawn-esque type invasion is -in any scenario even vaugly resmebling OTL- an ASB level event.

Edit: BTW, this kind of question is a very serious mark of n00bery.
 
sorry but i think it might be apropriate to include the rusian plan of an invasion of china (I can't remember who said it origionally)

Day 1: Kill 100,000 Chinamen
Day 2: Kill 1,000,000 Chinamen
Day 3: Kill 10,000,000 Chinamen
Day 4: Surrender
 
If there were no central government, you could invade part of it. A Shanghai Cooperation Organization peacekeeping force lands in the Northwest to restore order, and defeats the few people who put up resistance at the battle of the Sam's Club Supermall.
 

Angel Heart

Banned
Moscow 1984.
Kremlin
A Red Army General talks with the Soviet Prime Minister about the preperations of invading the US.

GENERAL:
So comrade Bossman...we're going to invade America?

PRIME MINISTER:
Yes. This movie needs a plot anyways.

GENERAL: Aaaaand...you're sure it will succeed?

PRIME MINISTER: Of course! God dammit where 's your optimism?

GENERAL: We're already fighting a war in Europe...

PRIME MINISTER: And?

GENERAL: We're also at war with the Chinese, the Klingons, the Saiyans and the Martians which recently landed in Siberia.

PRIME MINISTER:
I know...

GENERAL: And our troops are also fighing against the angels up there to claim Heaven for Socialism.

PRIME MINISTER:
And your point is?

GENERAL: Besides the fact that we're getting our asses handed to us on almost every front...why do you think that an invasion of America might be a success? I mean...you know things like logistics, strategy and other stuff from which neither I nor the other comrades have a clue...

PRIME MINISTER: You know that Japan is obeying different laws of physics. So is America obeying different laws of sense and logic. This is why you comrade will be sending the VDV to central America in order to take a random highschool...

GENERAL:
Well...we could take other things instead...like...power plants, air bases and stuff...

PRIME MINISTER: (interrupts) NO! Do not forget! It 's all about show there in the US. We have to demonstrate our almighty power. Nothing proves the omnipotence of the USSR more than invading an unarmed random high school and shooting a bunch of angsty teenagers.

GENERAL: You know...this isn't a Japanese cartoon we're in here...

PRIME MINISTER:
Any questions?

GENERAL:
Well er-

PRIME MINISTER:
(interrupts) No? Fine! F*ck off! Bring me America on a plate!

SECRETARY: Comrade Prime Minister, we have a situation developing in the heaven 's front. I have God on the line and he want 's to negotiate with you.

PRIME MINISTER: Really? Oh hell yeah! Put him trough...





...

Don't take this too serious. :D
 
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It makes no sense why they'd do it, but the USSR probably could have invaded Alaska very easily, and possibly maintain a foothold longer than one might imagine, although it would ultimately be a suicide mission. Assuming the invasion was launched without any preceeding crisis or warning, the US would be relatively unprepared for such a wierd action. I would imagine special forces could be landed by both submarine and air at many points. Rather than aim for (the few) population centers, troops and airstrikes would secure/render inoperable isolated military facilities (radar installations, airfields, etc) and especially occupy key locations of Alaska Pipeline. Troops would then hunker down, taking a risk that the US would not just try to blow them to pieces with airstrikes because of the risk of damage to the vital pipelines, pumping stations, oil ports, etc, being held as "hostages". The Russians might even use these as negotiating chips in some other conflict (such as why don't you quit arming and asisting all those mujahadeen in Afghanistan). This would force the US to consider mounting a land military campaign in very harsh conditions, which would take some time to get underway. Regarding nukes, I seriously doubt this sort of invasion would prompt a mass missile strike at the USSR. It is one thing to threaten MADD as a deterrence measure during a cold war, quite another thing to actually be Mad (insane) in a hot one.
 

To be fair, that's not quite how it went in the movie. There were still a lot of silly elements (eg, the Cuban army snuck in by pretending to be illegal immigrants), but they tried to provide a realistic back story. Germany has disarmed after the Green Party took power and anti-military sentiment generally spread in Europe. Western Europe is staying neutral, with the exception of Great Britain. They say it's because the continent "already had enough world wars for one lifetime" or something along those lines. Britain would still obviously be able to do a lot, but it has no nukes, so Russia will have a big advantage there (dunno if Britain actually got nuked or not). China is in a similar boat; the massive Soviet first strike killed off a third of China's population; I doubt they're in a good enough position to do much. They do say that communications and logistical hubs were destroyed. Cuban commandos took them down prior to the events of the film. Omaha, Kansas City, and Washington are specifically said to be nuked; however, those aren't necessarily the only cities that have been. The latter two are major communications centers, which is why they were targeted despite not exactly being huge cities. So America's left with two failing allies (Canada's probably doing pretty decently, but Canada doesn't have a big enough military to be much more than a consolation prize), a decent chunk of its leadership presumably dead in the DC bombing, communications down, fucked up logistics, etc.

Not sure why a tiny Colorado shithole was chosen as such a big hub. God knows we don't need a few hundred elite commandos paratrooping in to conquer it. I guess if it's near Denver (currently under siege), it could be used as a base. More realistically, I assume it's just to get a better atmosphere for the movie. It wouldn't work nearly as well set in New York or LA or something.

It makes no sense why they'd do it, but the USSR probably could have invaded Alaska very easily, and possibly maintain a foothold longer than one might imagine, although it would ultimately be a suicide mission. Assuming the invasion was launched without any preceeding crisis or warning, the US would be relatively unprepared for such a wierd action. I would imagine special forces could be landed by both submarine and air at many points. Rather than aim for (the few) population centers, troops and airstrikes would secure/render inoperable isolated military facilities (radar installations, airfields, etc) and especially occupy key locations of Alaska Pipeline. Troops would then hunker down, taking a risk that the US would not just try to blow them to pieces with airstrikes because of the risk of damage to the vital pipelines, pumping stations, oil ports, etc, being held as "hostages". The Russians might even use these as negotiating chips in some other conflict (such as why don't you quit arming and asisting all those mujahadeen in Afghanistan). This would force the US to consider mounting a land military campaign in very harsh conditions, which would take some time to get underway. Regarding nukes, I seriously doubt this sort of invasion would prompt a mass missile strike at the USSR. It is one thing to threaten MADD as a deterrence measure during a cold war, quite another thing to actually be Mad (insane) in a hot one.

Wouldn't it make more sense to cut the pipeline, and/or just take the oil for themselves? It provides a tenth of America's oil usage. In a war, oil is going to be in even higher demand. I'm not going to say cutting the pipeline will win the war for the Soviets or anything, but it'll certainly be a help. Besides, if the Soviets are going to actually invade a US state, I doubt we'll be willing to just bargain with them and stop assisting an ally.
 
Edit: BTW, this kind of question is a very serious mark of n00bery.
Well thanks for not wondering why I asked :rolleyes:. I've been argueing this topic with someone for days, and apparently my words have no merit, so I figured I'd have a huge topic of convincing points to show them instead of continueing to waste my breath.



Gawd, I hate assuming pigs
 
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