ザパド81

Also known as Запад-81

thumb|Left to Right: Marshals Nikolai Ogarkov, [[Dmitry Ustinov, and General Alexei Yepishev pose with airborne troopers during exercise Zapad-81.]] Zapad-81 () was a large military exercise carried out by the Soviet Union, according to NATO and US sources. It was conducted from 4 September 1981 and lasted approximately eight days, it involved between 100,000 and 150,000 troops. It was a joint operation including elements from all Soviet service branches and introduced several new systems such as the RSD-10 medium-range strategic missile (known often to the West as the SS-20 Saber) and the Pro