Soviet CAS in Afghanistan

[Squiggs]

I am doing some research into the use of Soviet airpower in Afghanistan during their brief visit there during the 80s with a view to developing some missions once the map gets released. I know that the Soviet military was more rigid than NATO in terms of flying designated mission (fly here, blow this up), but from my research, in Afghanistan they started to develop a more flexible CAS approach especially to leverage the early dominance of the Mi24. I read that the Soviets did not have trained Forward Air Controllers but rather used normal soldiers. Anecdotally the best ones were former pilots/navigators that no longer were able to perform flying duties (this makes sense, but these were rare).

 

Having said all that, most people are aware of the Western CAS nine line, talk on and associated procedures used by JTACs and this information is readily available on Youtube/other sources. But I can't find anything about how Soviet ground forces in the 80s interacted with air assets when calling for air support. Does anyone have any insight into this or able to point me toward some sources? I'm trying to make sure radio comms are as authentic as possible.