Early RusFed Rations

[fallout]

Hello! Was wondering if any of you had info on the rations used early on in the Russian Federation, circa 1991-1997?

From what I've been able to gather, the first IRPs were issued for testing in 1996 just before hostilities ended in the First Chechen War, and that it was officially adopted in 1997. There's even a cool video I found showing the early IRP in 1999 just before the Second Chechen War. However the era from 1991 to 1996/97 is unknown to me. I know a decent bit about the Etalon No 1 Soviet ration from 1974 and have plenty of good photos of it however in 1990 a new change was made but I don't have many details on that. I also found reference that there was another change/new regulation put out in 1992 but again no info. The next change after 1992 was the 1997 one which standardized the IRP. My assumption is that ration pack used in the 1991-1997 era was just a slightly modified version of the Soviet Etalon but I can find any photos of contents lists to confirm, any help would be appreciated!

Also if its of any interest, I can post the photos and contents list of the Soviet Etalon No 1 and No 5, I don't think they have been posted here before, at least my search turned up nothing on the forum.

[housil]

Also if its of any interest, I can post the photos and contents list of the Soviet Etalon No 1 and No 5, I don't think they have been posted here before, at least my search turned up nothing on the forum.

Of course, that´s what this forums is for

[Amelieee1]

Did steal these pictures from the Ration Museum, but this is a 1993 pack date IRP.

[housil]

Did steal these pictures from the Ration Museum, but this is a 1993 pack date IRP.

No need to steal, I have that green one too, but no idea about it´s age

but also have a card board boxed version, what was made in Russia too

The best by date reads: 171102

[fallout]

On Soviet rations I can provide info on the main one, the Etalon No 1, standardized in 1974




Contents

Breakfast
-Hardtack/Rusk -100g
-Can of Meat -250g
-Sugar -45g
-Tea -1g

Lunch
-Hardtack/Rusk -100g
-Can of Meat & Vegetables -265g
-Sugar -45g

Dinner
-Hardtack/Rusk -100g
-Can of Meat & Vegetables -265g
-Sugar -45g
-Tea -1g

So in total, 1 box contained 3 packs of hardtack/rusk, 1 smaller can of meat, 2 slightly larger cans of meat & vegetables, 9 packs of sugar(15g each), and 2 packets of tea. This was the default, however there was 4 different variants.



Variant 1
-1 Can of Meat -250g
-3 Cans of Meat & Vegetables -250-265g
-Wheat Bread -400g
-Rye Bread -450g
-Sugar -90g
-Tea -2g



Variant 2
-1 Can of Meat -250g
-2 Cans of Meat & Vegetables -250-265g
-Wheat Bread -400g
-Rye Bread -450g
-Sugar -135g
-Tea -2g



Variant 3
-Can of Meat -475g
-Wheat Bread -400g
-Rye Bread -450g
-Sugar -90g
-Tea -2g



Variant 4
-Can of Meat & Vegetables -250-265g
-Wheat Bread -400g
-Rye Bread -450g
-Sugar -90g
-Tea -2g

This one is weird because it only mentions 1 can but the photo clearly shows 6(!) cans. So based on what the photo shows, 1 can of meat 250g, 5 cans of meat & vegetables 250-265g each.

It should also be noted that each photo shows less sugar than it mentions to be issued. Each pack of sugar is 15 grams, inside is 3 sugar cubes of 5 grams each. It is to my understanding that most if not all of this is store bought food, not specifically for the army. Sometimes the cans still have their labels, most often they are blank. The sugar is the same type you would get on an Aeroflot flight(most are actually marked Aeroflot).

As far as I can tell, this was unchanged until 1990 when a few items were added, namely a can of condensed milk, juice and a few extra tea packets. In 1982 a modification was made for airborne troops, but i'm not familiar with the details on that.

At some point a Etalon No 5 was introduced, probably early 80s.



Contents
-Whole Flour Hardtack -270g
-3 Cans of Meat -300g
-Condensed Milk with Sugar -125g
-Chocolate -45g
-Sugar -45g
-Tea -2g
-Salt -10g
-Soup Concentrate -75g
-Can Opener -1g
-Dry Fuel -25g

The Etalon No 5 was afaik only issued to Spetsnaz & Recon. There is also a Etalon No 5-a but its contents are nearly identical, I think the main difference is packaging as the 5-a comes in a metal can.




Contents
-Whole Flour Hardtack -270g
-3 Cans of Meat -300g
-Condensed Milk with Sugar -125g
-Chocolate -45g
-Sugar -45g
-Tea -2g
-Salt -10g
-Dry Fuel -25g (30g)
-Soup Concentrate -75g (50-75g)
-Can Opener -1g

There was a few other types of Soviet rations in the 80s, Mountain Rations Summer & Winter mainly which were introduced in 1980ish for troops deployed in Afghanistan, however I don't know much about these as I'm still doing research on them, I have some photos and labels, ill post them later on once I've translated and organized them. There is also a Nabor-1 & Etalon 1|3 ration pack but I know very little about it as well, ill post about it later on.


As to the early RusFeb rations, I have seen on several Russian sites mention that the IRP was first designed in 1991 but not adopted in 1997 with some field testing in Chechnya in 1996 but to see those 1993 ones is very interesting, especially the brown one! Likely prototypes/pre production testing. Thanks for the photos guys! Oh and housil, that box one is interesting to me, I don't know really anything about the box type IRPs, the other one I found is the one posted on mreinfo back in 2006: https://www.mreinfo.com/international-r ... ssian-irp/

I was under the impression that they were all in the green type pack from 1997 on, I'd be interested to learn more about the box type.

[Bypah]

NICE.
Most of these are soviet era rats.

[Amelieee1]

[parafireboy]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing!

[prado67]

Did steal these pictures from the Ration Museum, but this is a 1993 pack date IRP.

No need to steal, I have that green one too, but no idea about it´s age
Russ1.jpg

but also have a card board boxed version, what was made in Russia too
IMG_4156.JPG
The best by date reads: 171102

I ate these rations when I was young. They were better quality than modern ones and tastier.