The history of the creation and development of air defense systems. The structure of the air defense forces, what was, what is, what will be. Air and Missile Defense Troops
The Great Patriotic War ,
Soviet-Japanese War,
Chinese Civil War,
Korean War,
Arab-Israeli War,
Vietnam War
Composition and armament
In October 1925, the air defense forces had 214 anti-aircraft guns, in October 1928 - 575. In 1930, there were 85 separate special air defense units, of which 58 were anti-aircraft artillery units. In the interwar years, the problem of equipping the troops with weapons and military equipment. The beginning of the solution of these problems was laid in the years of military reform (1924-1925). In 1924, in Leningrad, the leadership of the artillery adopted a program for improving anti-aircraft artillery - increasing the reach of anti-aircraft guns in height and range, increasing their efficiency and rate of fire, and improving fire control automation. Work continued to identify the most advantageous calibers of anti-aircraft guns, new anti-aircraft guns of small and medium calibers began to be created. New types of anti-aircraft guns are coming into service with anti-aircraft artillery: 76.2 mm model 1931, 76.2 mm model 1938, 85 mm model 1939 and automatic 37 mm model 1939. New weapon systems were introduced. Sound detectors appeared in the troops, working in tandem with a searchlight - sound sound. In 1932, the PUAZO-1 (artillery anti-aircraft fire control device) was adopted, the data from which was transmitted to the guns by voice or by telephone, and in subsequent models a system for synchronous data transmission for firing was developed. In 1935 - POISOT-2, in 1939 - POISOT-3. In 1939, the RUS-1 radar was adopted, in 1940 - RUS-2.
In the 1930s, there was no fighter aircraft in the Air Defense Forces. The air units of the Air Force could only be transferred to operational subordination for use in air defense purposes. So, in 1932, for the purposes of air defense, it was supposed to use parts of the Air Force armed with 263 fighter aircraft. At the same time, the fighter aircraft of the Air Force continued to be updated. I-15, I-16, I-153 appeared in service, and since 1940 - Yak-1, MiG-3, LaGG-3.
From October 31, 1938, the Air Defense Directorate was headed by Ya. K. Polyakov. Since June 4, 1940, the Air Defense Directorate has been headed by Major General M.F. Korolev. From November 21, 1940 - Colonel A. G. Prozorov, from December 18 - Lieutenant General D. T. Kozlov. In December 1940, the Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army was transformed into the Main Directorate of the Red Army. On January 14, 1941, Colonel General G. M. Stern became the head of the Main Directorate of Air Defense of the Red Army. On June 8, 1941, Stern was arrested in the "Aviator Case".
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Air Defense Forces during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945)
Organization
During the war, changes continued to occur in the organization of the air defense forces. In August 1941, the directorates of the Northern, North-Western, Western, Kyiv and Southern air defense zones were disbanded, and formations and parts of these zones were directly subordinated to the command of the respective fronts. In November 1941, the post of commander of the air defense forces of the country's territory was established (Major General Gromadin M.S., chief of staff, Major General Nagorny N.N.) - Deputy People's Commissar of Defense for Air Defense. The air defense troops, with the exception of the troops in the Leningrad region, were withdrawn from the command of the commanders of the military districts and fronts and were subordinate to the commander of the air defense forces. The air defense zones that existed on the territory of the European part of the USSR were disbanded and corps and divisional areas were formed on their basis. The Trans-Baikal, Central Asian, Transcaucasian and Far Eastern air defense zones were preserved. In the first half of 1942, the Moscow Air Defense Corps District, with the 6th Fighter Aviation Corps operationally subordinate to it, was transformed into the Moscow Air Defense Front. Accordingly, the Leningrad and Baku air defense corps regions were reorganized into air defense armies, and the Gorky, Stalingrad and Krasnodar air defense divisional regions were reorganized into air defense corps regions. By order of the NPO of the USSR dated January 22, 1942, formations and units of fighter aircraft that performed air defense tasks were transferred to the command of the commander of the country's Air Defense Forces. In the middle of 1942, the air defense included one air defense front, two air defense armies and 16 air defense corps and divisional areas (plus air defense zones in the Asian part of the country).
In the summer of 1943, the Rostov and Krasnodar corps and Kharkov divisional air defense regions were created. In the same year, the Office of the Commander of the Air Defense Forces of the country was disbanded. The control of the air defense forces was entrusted to the commander of the artillery of the Red Army (Marshal of Artillery Voronov N.N.), under which the Central Headquarters of the Air Defense Forces and the Central Headquarters of the Air Defense Fighter Aviation were formed. The air defense forces were divided into Western (defense of Murmansk, Moscow, Yaroslavl, Voronezh and front-line facilities) and Eastern (defense of facilities of the Northern and Southern Urals, Middle and Lower Volga, Caucasus and Transcaucasia) air defense fronts. The Leningrad Air Defense Army and the Ladoga Air Defense Divisional District remained under operational control of the Leningrad Front; air defense forces in Central Asia and the Far East did not affect the changes. The Western Front was headed by Gromadin M.S., the Eastern Front - by G.S. Zashikhin. The fighter aviation that defended Moscow was merged into the 1st Air Defense Fighter Army. In the spring of 1944, the Western and Eastern fronts, as well as the Transcaucasian air defense zone, were reorganized. Three air defense fronts were formed on their basis: Northern, Southern and Transcaucasian. At the same time, the air defense corps and divisional areas were renamed into air defense corps and divisions, respectively. In December 1944, instead of the Northern and Southern air defense fronts, the Western (colonel general of artillery Zhuravlev D.A.), Southwestern (colonel general of artillery Zashikhin G.S.) and Central air defense fronts (colonel general Gromadin M. FROM.) . In March 1945, on the basis of the Far Eastern and Trans-Baikal air defense zones, as well as air defense forces regrouped from the European part of the USSR, three air defense armies were created - Transbaikal (Major General of Artillery Rozhkov P.F.), Amur (Major General of Artillery Polyakov Ya.K. ) and Primorskaya (Lieutenant General of Artillery Gerasimov A.V.). The air defense areas existing in the zones are being reorganized into air defense corps and divisions.
Composition and armament
To the beginning of the Great Patriotic War The country's air defense forces included: three air defense corps, two air defense divisions, nine separate air defense brigades, 28 separate anti-aircraft artillery regiments, 109 separate anti-aircraft artillery battalions, 6 VNOS regiments, 35 separate VNOS battalions and other units. Moscow, Leningrad and Baku were defended by air defense corps, which contained 42.4% of all medium-caliber anti-aircraft artillery batteries. Air defense divisions covered Kyiv and Lvov. The air defense forces numbered 182 thousand personnel, 3329 medium-caliber anti-aircraft guns, 330 small-caliber anti-aircraft guns, 650 anti-aircraft machine guns, 1500 anti-aircraft searchlights, 850 barrage balloons, 45 radar stations. Air Force units intended for use in air defense consisted of 40 fighter aviation regiments and had about 1,500 aircraft. Of these 40 fighter regiments, there were 11 in the Moscow region, 9 each in the Leningrad and Baku regions, 4 in the Kyiv region, one each in Riga, Minsk, Odessa, Krivoy Rog and Tbilisi; 2 regiments were located in the eastern part of the USSR. Fighters by type were distributed as follows: I-15 - 1%, Yak-1 and MiG-1 - 9%, I-153 - 24%, I-16 - 66%.
In 1943, up to 80% of VNOS platoons armed with radars were transferred from VNOS to fighter aviation formations. All medium-caliber anti-aircraft artillery regiments by the end of 1944 were equipped with gun-guided radar stations, and searchlight units with radio searchlight stations; also in all air defense fighter regiments there were radar detection and guidance. Composition of anti-aircraft artillery batteries small caliber was increased from 4 to 6 guns.
An example of the organization of air defense of a large political and industrial center was the air defense of Moscow. It was carried out by the 1st Air Defense Corps and the 6th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Corps. By the beginning of the massive Nazi air raids, these formations included more than 600 fighters, more than 1000 medium and small caliber guns, about 350 machine guns, 124 posts of air barrage balloons, 612 VNOS posts, 600 anti-aircraft searchlights. The presence of such large forces, the skillful organization of command and control frustrated the enemy's attempts to deliver massive air strikes. In total, 2.6% of the total number of aircraft broke through to the city. The air defense forces defending Moscow destroyed 738 enemy aircraft. In addition, the 6th Fighter Aviation Corps, inflicting assault strikes, destroyed 567 aircraft at enemy airfields. In general, the Air Defense Forces destroyed 1305 aircraft, 450 tanks and 5000 vehicles were destroyed in battles with a ground enemy.
By the end of World War II, the USSR Air Defense Forces were armed with 9800 medium-caliber anti-aircraft guns, 8900 small-caliber anti-aircraft guns, 8100 anti-aircraft machine guns, 5400 anti-aircraft searchlights, 1400 barrage balloons, 230 detection radars, 360 gun-guided radars, 3200 fighters.
Fulfilling their tasks, the air defense forces of the country's territory destroyed 7313 aircraft of Nazi aviation, of which 4168 - by the forces of the IA, and 3145 - by anti-aircraft artillery, machine-gun fire and barrage balloons. The largest number of enemy aircraft, 33, among anti-aircraft gunners during the fighting was destroyed by the 1st battery of the 93rd anti-aircraft artillery regiment under the command of senior lieutenant Gennady Olkhovikov.
To train a new kind of command personnel armed forces in 1956 in the city of Kalinin (now Tver) the Military Command Academy of Air Defense was established (today's name is the Military Academy of Aerospace Defense named after Zhukov). The scientific support of the activity was carried out by the unified integrated research institute NII-2 PVO (later - the 2nd Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense), which was also located in Kalinin, established in 1957.
In 1960, 20 air defense formations and formations were enlarged to 13, including two air defense districts, five air defense armies and six air defense corps. After the reorganization, the air defense corps and divisions received a mixed composition, the types of troops were represented in them at the regimental level.
Air defense forces in combat operations in the post-war period
In the post-war period, the USSR Air Defense Forces participated in the following armed conflicts:
Korean War
In the period from November 1, 1950 to July 27, 1953, the 64th Fighter Aviation Corps took part in the defense of the airspace of the DPRK, which in turn included 3 air defense divisions and 4 anti-aircraft artillery divisions.
Arab-Israeli War
Fighting in Egypt
In the period from January 13, 1970 to July 16, 1972, during the War of Attrition in the defense of Egyptian airspace (ARE), the 18th special anti-aircraft missile division, which was armed with S-125 complexes, took part.
Fighting in Syria
In the period from the beginning of 1973 to the end of 1975, the 716th anti-aircraft missile regiment of the 24th Iron Samara-Ulyanovsk motorized rifle division, which was armed with the Kvadrat air defense system, took part in the defense of the airspace of the Syrian capital (SAR) of the city of Damascus.
In the period from January 1983 to July 1984, the airspace of Syria was defended by the 220th anti-aircraft missile regiment and the 231st anti-aircraft missile regiment, which were armed with S-200 systems.
Air Defense Forces Day
Command of the Air Defense Forces
Structure
Main Air Defense Command (Moscow)
- Order of Lenin Moscow Air Defense District:
- 1st Special Purpose Air Defense Army (Balashikha). It became part of the Air Defense Forces of the Russian Armed Forces, in 1994 it was reorganized into the 1st Air Defense Corps;
- 2nd Air Defense Corps (Rzhev), renamed 5th Air Defense Division in 1994;
- 3rd Air Defense Corps (3rd Formation) (Yaroslavl), renamed 3rd Air Defense Division in 1995;
- 7th Air Defense Corps (Bryansk), renamed 7th Air Defense Division in 1994;
- 16th Air Defense Corps (Gorky), disbanded in 1994.
- Red Banner Baku Air Defense District (Baku, from 1954 to May 1980):
- 12th Air Defense Corps (Rostov-on-Don, became part of the 8th Air Defense OA);
- 14th Air Defense Corps (Tbilisi
- 15th Air Defense Corps (Alyaty, became part of the Air Defense of the Transcaucasian Military District);
- 10th Red Banner Air Defense Division (Volgograd, disbanded in 1973, units transferred to the 12th Air Defense Corps);
- 16th Guards Yassky Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Air Defense Division (Krasnovodsk) → Mongolia → after withdrawal (since 02.02.1986) 50th Separate Guards Yassky Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Air Defense Corps (Chita);
- 2nd separate air defense army (Minsk):
- 11th Air Defense Corps (Baranovichi);
- 28th Air Defense Corps (Lviv) in the army from March 1986 to January 24, 1992;
- 4th Separate Red Banner Air Defense Army (Sverdlovsk):
- 19th Air Defense Corps (Chelyabinsk);
- 20th Air Defense Corps (Perm);
- 28th Air Defense Division (Kuibyshev);
- 6th Separate Air Defense Army (Leningrad)
- The 27th Air Defense Corps (Riga) from March 1960 to December 1977 was part of the 2nd Air Defense Division, from March 1986 to 1994 - as part of the 6 Air Defense Division;
- 54th Air Defense Corps (Thais);
- 14th Air Defense Division (Tallinn);
- 8th separate air defense army (Kyiv):
- 19th Air Defense Division (Vasilkov)
- 49th Air Defense Corps (Dnepropetrovsk);
- 60th Air Defense Corps (Odessa);
- The 28th Air Defense Corps (Lvov) in 1986 was transferred to the 2nd Air Defense Division, after the collapse of the USSR on January 24, 1992, it again became part of the 8th Air Defense Division;
- 12th Air Defense Corps (Rostov-on-Don). In 1989, the corps was transferred to the 19th Air Defense Division (Tbilisi);
The history of military air defense is an integral part of the history of the Russian army, the Soviet Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The origin and development of the air defense forces, spanning more than nine decades, is inextricably linked with the improvement of the forms and methods of armed struggle against enemy air attack means. The improvement of anti-aircraft weapons was most often a response to improving their flight characteristics, increasing combat capabilities, and changing tactics.
Frolov Nikolai Alekseevich, head of the military air defense, colonel general, candidate of military sciences, professor, academician of the Academy of military sciences.
Using the experience of the Great Patriotic War and local wars of the second half of the 20th century, the leadership of the country and the Armed Forces created a powerful and effective air defense weapon system for the Ground Forces. Modern anti-aircraft missile systems and complexes are the best examples of anti-aircraft weapons in the world.
Existing organizational and staffing structures and composition of sets of forces and means military air defense provide reliable air defense of combined arms units, formations and operational formations from air strikes.
The successes achieved in the development of military air defense were obtained thanks to the hard work of a huge number of people: officers and generals, soldiers and sergeants, designers and workers, employees of the Armed Forces, I would like to remember these people and express our gratitude to them.
1. The origin of the means of air defense of the troops (1915–1917)
The emergence of air defense systems is inextricably linked with the adoption by the armies of the most developed countries of controlled aircraft. Anti-aircraft artillery arose as one of the means of combating aircraft in the First World War.
In Russia, mastering shooting at aerial targets, which were used as tied balloons and balloons, began at the end of the last century. The most successful were the shootings carried out on July 13, 1890 at the Ust-Izhora training ground and the next year near Krasnoye Selo.
In 1908, in Sestroretsk and in 1909 near Luga, the first experimental firing at a moving target was carried out - hot air balloon towed by horses. Shooting was carried out from three-inch field guns (model 1900, 1902) and showed the possibility of destroying moving air targets.
M. V. Alekseev
Back in 1901, a young military engineer M.F. Rosenberg developed a project for the first 57-mm anti-aircraft gun. But the final design of the anti-aircraft gun was approved by the Chief artillery control in 1913.
The formation of the first anti-aircraft battery began in early 1915 in Tsarskoye Selo. Captain V.V., an active participant in the creation of the first domestic anti-aircraft gun, was appointed battery commander. Tarnovsky. In March 1915, the first anti-aircraft battery was sent to the active army. On June 17, 1915, the battery of Captain Tarnovsky, reflecting a raid by nine German aircraft, shot down two of them, opening the account of enemy aircraft destroyed by domestic anti-aircraft artillery.
On December 13, 1915, the Chief of Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Infantry General M. V. Alekseev, signed order No. 368 on the formation of four separate light batteries for firing at the air fleet. This date is considered by military historians as the day of the formation of the military air defense forces.
In total, during the years of the First World War, 251 anti-aircraft batteries were formed. However, only 30 of them were armed with anti-aircraft guns.
Thus, by the end of the First World War, anti-aircraft defense had already taken on certain forms of organization, and means and methods of combating aviation were developed, which were characteristic of the level of development of technology at that time.
2. Formation and development of the air defense forces during the civil war and the pre-war period (1917 - 1941)
After the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution, the tsarist army of the Red Army inherited a few armaments of individual anti-aircraft batteries scattered along the fronts. Anti-aircraft artillery essentially had to be created anew.
On April 8, 1918, the Steel Artillery Division was formed at the Putilov Plant, which received the name Putilov.
In the difficult time of the Civil War, the country's leadership created the first military educational institutions to train command personnel for air defense from workers and peasants. In February 1918, a training and instructor team was created in Petrograd, which trained specialists for anti-aircraft artillery.
December 8, 1919 in Nizhny Novgorod, the formation of a shooting school for the air fleet was completed.
In 1927, anti-aircraft artillery, as a branch of the Red Army, was withdrawn from the subordination of the chief of artillery of the Red Army and subordinated directly to the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR. At the Headquarters of the Red Army, the 6th department was created, which was in charge of air defense.
In 1930, the air defense department was reorganized into the 6th Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army Headquarters. In the military districts, the Air Defense Directorates were created, headed by the chiefs of the air defense of the districts. They led all formations and air defense units stationed in the districts.
The main weapons of this period were 76-mm anti-aircraft guns, searchlights, sound-catching and machine-gun installations placed in the bodies of vehicles.
Before the start of the Great Patriotic War, work was actively carried out to create early warning radar stations (RLS). Through the efforts of the outstanding designers D. S. Stogov, Yu. B. Kobzarev, with the active participation of A. I. Shestakov and A. B. Slepushkin, the first radar stations RUS-1 "Rhubarb" and RUS-2 " Redoubt".
In 1940, on the basis of the Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army, the Main Directorate of Air Defense of the Red Army was created, which was directly subordinate to the People's Commissar of Defense. In various years, the Main Directorate of Air Defense was headed by D. T. Kozlov, E. S. Ptukhin, G. M. Stern, N. N. Voronov, A. A. Osipov.
The troops of the military air defense entered the Great Patriotic War, being in the stage of re-equipment and deployment, insufficiently equipped with small-caliber anti-aircraft guns, with a large percentage of obsolete weapons in the troops. Despite the insufficient number of the latest anti-aircraft guns in the troops, by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, a fairly well-organized weapon system and the organizational structure of air defense formations and units had developed.
3. Air defense of troops during the Great Patriotic War and the post-war period (1941 - 1958.)
On June 22, 1941, the anti-aircraft artillery of the fronts on all frontiers, from the Barents to the Black Sea, entered into battles with the Nazi invaders.
The main burden of the fight against the air enemy fell on the military air defense. During the war, 21,645 aircraft were shot down by ground-based military air defense systems, of which: FOR medium caliber - 4,047 aircraft; FOR small caliber - 14657 aircraft; anti-aircraft machine guns - 2401 aircraft; rifle and machine-gun fire - 540 aircraft. In addition, the ground forces of the fronts destroyed over a thousand tanks, self-propelled guns and armored personnel carriers, tens of thousands of enemy soldiers and officers. The anti-aircraft artillery of the fronts and the RVGK divisions attached to them made a significant contribution to the overall victory in the Great Patriotic War.
In the first post-war years, all ground-based air defense systems remained subordinate to the artillery commander, whose management was included in the Main Command of the Ground Forces. The direct management of the combat training of formations and units was carried out by the department of military anti-aircraft artillery. The first head of this department was Lieutenant General of Artillery S. I. Makeev.
At the end of 1947, a special commission on air defense problems was appointed by a decree of the country's top leadership. The work of the commission was headed by Marshal of the Soviet Union L. A. Govorov. As a result of the work done, the Air Defense Forces of the country became a branch of the Armed Forces and were removed from the subordination of the commander of artillery and the Main Command of the Ground Forces.
Responsibility for air defense in the border zone was assigned to the commanders of the military districts.
Thanks to the initiative and perseverance of the First Deputy Commander of Artillery of the Soviet Army, Marshal of Artillery V.I. the need to create a new type of troops in the Ground Forces - air defense troops was recognized. The General Staff and Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces were assigned specific tasks to substantiate these proposals.
The conclusion was unequivocal - in the interests of the unity of leadership of all forces and means of air defense of the troops, increasing efficiency in the fight against an air enemy, improving interaction with the Air Force (Air Force), the Air Defense Forces of the country and the covered troops, it is necessary to create a new type of troops in the Ground Forces - air defense forces.
4. Creation in 1958 and the subsequent development of the air defense forces of the Ground Forces
On August 16, 1958, by order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR No. 0069, such a branch of the troops was created, the position of Chief of the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces was introduced. Marshal of Artillery V. I. Kazakov, Hero of the Soviet Union, was appointed the first head of the Air Defense Forces of the SV, who actively participated in the formation of the armed forces and directly supervised them in the period from 1958 to 1965.
The air defense forces of the SV included separate anti-aircraft missile regiments, anti-aircraft artillery divisions of the RVGK, radio-technical regiments of military districts and groups of troops, radio-technical battalions of armies and army corps, air defense forces and means of motorized rifle and tank divisions and regiments, as well as higher educational institutions and training centers military air defense.
In the Main Command of the Ground Forces (SV), the Office of the Chief of the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces is being created. In military districts, armies and army corps, combined-arms formations and units, the post of chief of troops (chief) of air defense with the corresponding administrative apparatus is being introduced. The first chiefs of the air defense forces of the military districts and groups of troops were:
lieutenant generals A. N. Burykin, A. M. Ambartsumyan, major generals N. G. Dokuchaev, P. I. Lavrenovich, O. V. Kuprevich, V. A. Gatsolaev, V. P. Shulga, N. G. Chuprina, V. A. Mitronin, T. V. Melnikov, N. V. Basansky, A. D. Konovod, P. S. Bimbash, N. S. Zheltov, N. L. Podkopaev, F. E. Burlak, P. I. Kozyrev, V. F. Shestakov, O. V. Kuprevich, Colonel G. S. Pyshnenko.
Before 1940
First of all, the task arose of equipping the Air Defense Forces of the SV with modern anti-aircraft weapons. With the creation of aviation equipped with jet engines, the flight speed of aircraft, their practical ceiling and maneuverability of operations have significantly increased. Anti-aircraft artillery could no longer effectively solve the tasks of combating an air enemy. Anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM) were called upon to become the main means of air defense.
However, it should be noted that the maneuverability of the air defense system was very low. There was an urgent need to develop anti-aircraft missile systems for military air defense. The main requirements for them were mobility and patency no lower than that of the covered troops. Therefore, already in 1958, work began on the development of anti-aircraft missile systems for military air defense and "Cube".
Improved and anti-aircraft artillery systems. In 1957, under the leadership of chief designers N. A. Astrov and V. E. Pikkel, the development of an all-weather self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery system began, which was already adopted by the Air Defense Forces in 1962. It was the first self-propelled gun in the history of the development of domestic anti-aircraft weapons capable of firing at air targets in motion.
In the 60s, the sets of air defense troops of the SV were determined, substantiated by the experience of the Great Patriotic War and verified during combat training. Air defense units, units and formations of the SV are included in all combined arms formations and associations: in a motorized rifle company - a squad of anti-aircraft gunners armed with a man-portable anti-aircraft missile system “; in a motorized rifle (tank) battalion (as part of the battalion headquarters) - a squad of anti-aircraft gunners armed with "; in a motorized rifle (tank) regiment - an anti-aircraft artillery battery as part of a ZU-2Z-2 platoon and a ZPU-4 platoon; in a motorized rifle (tank) division - an anti-aircraft artillery regiment armed with ZAK S-60 (4 batteries of six 57-mm AZP); a radar reconnaissance and communications platoon (two P-15 radars and a R-104 radio station); in the combined arms (tank) army - a separate anti-aircraft missile regiment (3 divisions with 6 launchers each); a separate radio engineering battalion consisting of four radar companies; in the military district - an anti-aircraft artillery division consisting of two zenaps armed with ZAK KS-19, two zenaps armed with ZAK S-60; a separate radio engineering regiment consisting of three radio engineering battalions of four radar companies each.
In order to retrain the personnel of air defense units of small and medium-sized enterprises (tp) for new military equipment, air defense systems "", MANPADS "" () "in 1958, a training center for the combat use of military air defense was created in Berdyansk, Zaporozhye region. Heads of Berdyansk training center in different years were: Colonels I.M. Ostrovsky, V. P. Bazenkov, V.P. Moskalenko, N.P. Naumov, A.A. Shiryaev. A.T.Potapov, B.E.Skorik, E.G.Scherbakov, N.N.Gavrichishin, D.V.Pasko, V.N.Tymchenko.
In the period of 60-70s. were developed, tested at the ranges of the Ground Forces and put into serial production of the air defense systems of the air defense forces of the first generation "", "Cube", "", "", portable anti-aircraft missile system (MANPADS) "".
In the same period, new mobile radar stations for detecting an air enemy P-15, P-40, P-18, P-19 were put into service. The development of these radars was carried out under the direct supervision of the chief designers B.P. Lebedev, L.I. Shulman, V.V. Raisberg, V.A. Kravchuk. A. P. Vetoshko, A. A. Mamaev, L. F. Alterman, V. N. Stolyarov, Yu. A. Vainer, A. G. Gorinstein, N. A. Volsky .
In the period 1965-1969, Colonel General V. G. Privalov was in charge of the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces. He went through a glorious military path from the commander of a platoon of an artillery regiment to the head of the Air Defense Forces of the SV. During the Great Patriotic War, he commanded an anti-aircraft artillery regiment, served as deputy commander of an air defense division, and chief of staff of an army air defense.
During his tenure as chief of the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces, he managed to solve the following main problems: to achieve the creation of the first serial samples of anti-aircraft missile weapons for military air defense: air defense systems “, “Cube”, “, MANPADS “”,; to organize joint tests (by industry and troops) of anti-aircraft weapons being created at state training grounds; create a training center for the combat use of air defense troops at the Emba training ground and a training center in the city of Kungur; organize the retraining of anti-aircraft artillery units for anti-aircraft missile systems, followed by live firing; to improve the educational and material base of universities and training centers of the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces; to include in the military districts and armies anti-aircraft missile brigades "Krug", motorized rifle (tank) divisions - anti-aircraft missile regiments "Cube", motorized rifle (tank) regiments - anti-aircraft platoons, armed and.
The homeland highly appreciated the merits of Colonel-General V. G. Privalov, awarding him the Order of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, two Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, two Orders of the Red Star and numerous medals.
The anti-aircraft armament of the Air Defense Forces of the SV was actively used in local wars and armed conflicts of the post-war period. So, in the Vietnam War (1965-1973), for the first time in combat conditions, anti-aircraft missile systems S-75 "Dvina". During the period of hostilities, only from the fire of this air defense system, American troops lost more than 1300 combat aircraft. In the period from April 28 to July 14, 1972, the patriots of South Vietnam carried out 161 firing from MANPADS "", while shooting down 14 enemy aircraft and 10 helicopters. In the Arab-Israeli conflict (1967-1973), the Kvadrat air defense system (a modification of the Cube air defense system), MANPADS, and anti-aircraft artillery were actively used. The highest firing efficiency was shown by the Kvadrat air defense system. For example, on October 7, 1973, 3 rdn 79 zrbr shot down 7 aircraft, and 2 zrdn 82 zrbr - 13 enemy aircraft. Most firing was carried out in conditions of intense fire and jamming opposition from the enemy. The units armed with MANPADS "" and. During the war, anti-aircraft gunners conducted about 300 firing at air targets, while shooting down 23 enemy aircraft. Between October 6 and 24, 1973, 11 aircraft were shot down by anti-aircraft batteries armed with . Local wars with the use of Soviet-made anti-aircraft weapons confirmed the high effectiveness of anti-aircraft weapons created for the air defense forces of the SV. The experience of the combat use of anti-aircraft formations, units and subunits was actively used in order to improve the combat use of the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces, and to train personnel.
In April 1965, with the adoption of the air defense system "", the Orenburg training center was formed and began to retrain personnel. Since 1985, he switched to retraining anti-aircraft missile brigades, armed, since 1992 - anti-aircraft missile regiments armed with Tor air defense systems. A great contribution to the training of specialists for the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces was made by the heads of the training center: Major Generals A.I. Dunaev, V.I. Chebotarev, V.G. Gusev, V.R. Volyanik, Colonels B.V. I. Shcherbakov, N. N. Gavrichishin, I. M. Gizatulin.
In October 1967, the Kungur Training Anti-Aircraft Missile Center of the Air Defense Forces of the SV was formed in the Urals Military District, which began retraining military units re-equipped with the Kub air defense system, and since 1982 - with air defense systems. A huge contribution to the development of the center and the training of specialists for the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces was made by the heads of the training center: colonels I.M. Pospelov, V.S. Boronitsky, V.M. Ruban, V.A. Starun, V.L. I. Petrov, L. M. Chukin, V. M. Syskov.
In November 1967, in the Aktobe region (Republic of Kazakhstan), on the territory of the State training ground, a training center for the combat use of the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces was created. The training center was intended for conducting tactical exercises with live firing of formations and units of the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces. The exercises were carried out against a complex tactical background with the actual performance of long combined marches. Over the years of the existence of the training center, over 800 tactical exercises with live firing have been conducted on its territory, about 6,000 combat launches of missiles have been completed. The heads of the training center in different years were: Colonels K. D. Tigipko, I. T. Petrov, V. I. Valyaev, D. A. Kazyarsky, A. K. Tutushin, D. V. Pasko, M. F. Pichugin , V. N. Tymchenko, R. B. Tagirov, A. B. Skorokhodov.
It was widely practiced at the Emba Training Center, together with the Military Academy of the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces, universities and research institutes, to conduct practical checks of the provisions of the Combat Manuals, the Rules for firing anti-aircraft missile systems, the Fire Control Manuals and experimental work to improve equipment and weapons in the course of tactical exercises with combat shooting.
In the 70s, there was a further improvement in the organizational structure of the Air Defense Forces of the SV. Thus, the following were introduced into the states of units, formations and associations: in a motorized rifle (tank) battalion - an anti-aircraft missile platoon armed with MANPADS; in a motorized rifle (tank) regiment - an anti-aircraft missile and artillery battery consisting of two platoons armed with and; in a motorized rifle (tank) division - an anti-aircraft missile regiment armed with a five-battery Kub or Osa air defense system; a platoon of radar reconnaissance and control of the head of the air defense division; in the combined arms (tank) army - the Krug anti-aircraft missile brigade of three divisions; a separate radio engineering battalion consisting of four radar companies; Army Air Defense Command; in the military district - an anti-aircraft missile and artillery division as part of an anti-aircraft missile regiment S-75; Zenap armed with ZAK KS-19; two Zenaps armed with ZAK S-60; anti-aircraft missile brigade "Circle"; separate radio engineering regiment; District Air Defense Command.
From 1969 to 1981, Colonel-General P.G. Levchenko was the head of the Air Defense Forces of the SV. During this period, under his leadership, it was possible to solve the following main problems: lay the foundations for the further development of second-generation anti-aircraft weapons for the air defense forces of the SV: ZRS V, ZRK "", "", "; organize tactical exercises with live firing of formations and units of air defense forces at the Emba State training ground at least once every two years; to create in Kyiv a branch of the Military Artillery Academy, and then the Vasilevsky Military Air Defense Academy of the Land Forces; - to create a training center for the training of foreign air defense specialists in the city of Mary and organize the supply of air defense weapons to the foreign countries; to create a research institute for the Air Defense Forces of the SV in the city of Kyiv.
The motherland highly appreciated the merits of Colonel-General of Artillery P. G. Levchenko, awarding him the Order of the October Revolution, three Orders of the Red Banner of War, two Orders of the Red Star and many medals.
In order to conduct scientific research in the interests of the development of the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces, in 1971 it was decided to create 39 research institutes. The Institute was headed by the head of the State testing ground, Major General V.D. Kirichenko. In a short time, the staff was staffed, the placement of employees was organized, the staff of the institute began to fulfill the tasks assigned to it. In 1983, Major General I.F. Losev was appointed head of the 39th Research Institute. In general, the purposeful work of the staff of the 39th Research Institute made it possible to correctly determine the development paths for the type of troops, create new types and systems of weapons, and form balanced sets of air defense forces and equipment.
After 1940
In the 80s, the second generation of anti-aircraft systems for the air defense forces of the SV was formed: an anti-aircraft missile system (ZRS), an air defense system "", "", an anti-aircraft cannon-missile system, with reconnaissance and automated control tools integrated into them.
For the effective use of the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces, modern automated control systems (ACS) are being created. The main areas of development of automated control systems for the air defense forces of the ground forces were: the creation of complexes of automation equipment (KSA) of front (army) air defense command posts (KSHM MP-06, MP-02) and the command post of the air defense chief of the division (MP-22, MP-25, MP -23); creation of automated control posts for radar companies of air defense units and formations (PORI-P2, PORI-P1); creation of means for automating the control of combat operations of units, units and air defense units of the SV: "Polyana-D1", "Polyana-D4", a mobile reconnaissance and control point PRRU-1 "Ovod-M-SV", a unified battery command post (UBKP) " Ranking".
In 1980, another reorganization of the air defense system was carried out. There was a merger of the Air Defense Forces of the SV with the Air Defense Forces of the country. To this end, the country's air defense formations and formations deployed on the territory of the border military districts were reorganized into air defense corps and, together with air defense fighter aircraft, were transferred to the command of the commanders of the military districts. The Office of the Chief of the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces was also reorganized and headed by the Commander of the Air Defense Forces - the First Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Defense Forces - was included in the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Defense Forces.
The commanders of the military districts were responsible for the air defense of the country's facilities and troops within the established boundaries, operational planning and use of the Air Defense Forces, their mobilization and combat readiness, organization of combat duty, control over the flight modes of aviation of all ministries and departments, provision of weapons and equipment , construction of air defense facilities. In fact, this was a return to the practice of organizing air defense of the period 1948-1953, rejected by the practice. Therefore, such a structure could not exist for a long time. In April 1985, it was considered expedient to withdraw the military air defense troops from the country's Air Defense Forces and return them to the Ground Forces.
In the late 80s, he began to practice new method the exit of the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces to the training ground - as part of an army (corps) group. This ensured the development of issues of command and control of troops in the course of hostilities, their interaction, the involvement of command posts at all levels, as well as officers of command and control bodies, both full and reduced, in command and control of troops.
In the period 1980–1989 the personnel of the Air Defense Forces of the SV carried out combat missions as part of a limited contingent of Soviet troops on the territory of the Republic of Afghanistan. The direct command of the air defense forces of the army was carried out by the air defense commanders, Major General V.S. Kuzmichev, Colonel V.I. Chebotarev. Air defense units and subunits did not conduct combat operations to repel air strikes, but all elements of the air defense system of the 40th Army were deployed and ready to perform combat missions. Anti-aircraft artillery units, mainly armed with ZAK "Shilka" and S-60, were involved in escorting columns, fire destruction of enemy personnel and firing points.
A large number of officers of the Air Defense Forces of the SV served in Afghanistan during this period. Among them are Colonels V.L. Kanevsky (later Lieutenant General), S.A. Zhmurin (later Major General), A.S. Kovalev, M.M. Fakhrutdinov, A.D. Svirin, S.G. Spiridonov, A.Ya.Osherov, S.I.Chernobrivets, B.P.Goltsov, A.A.Konstantinov and many others.
In the period from 1981 to 1991, Colonel General Yu. T. Chesnokov was the head of the Air Defense Forces of the SV. During this period of leadership of the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces, he succeeded in: returning the Office of the Commander of the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces to the GK SV; to create a clear structure of the sets of air defense troops of the ground forces from the small post (tp) to the district, inclusive, taking into account the new air defense systems adopted for service; combine disparate air defense systems of the MSR, MSB into anti-aircraft divisions of the MSP (tp); to create automated control systems for air defense troops from small and medium-sized enterprises (tp) to the front, inclusive, on the basis of the Manevr automated command and control systems; to equip the Air Defense Forces of the SV with new anti-aircraft systems, "", "", ""; develop a draft order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR on the deadlines for the operation of ZAK, SAM and achieve its implementation, which made it possible to have real plans for the rearmament of the air defense forces of the SV.
The merits of Colonel General Yu. T. Chesnokov were highly appreciated. He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, two Orders of the Red Star, Orders for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR II and III degree, as well as many medals and foreign orders.
In 1991, Colonel-General B.I. Dukhov was appointed head of the Air Defense Forces of the SV. During the period up to 2000, under his leadership, it was possible to: create on the basis of the Smolensk Higher Engineering School of Radio Electronics the Military Academy of Air Defense of the Ground Forces of the Russian Federation and a research center; during the period of large-scale reduction of the Armed Forces as a whole, to maintain sets of air defense troops as part of military districts, armies (AK), divisions (brigades), regiments; carry out work on the practical unification of the military forces and means of air defense of various types of aircraft and combat arms into the military air defense of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
The military work of Colonel-General B.I. Dukhov was highly appreciated. For services to the Fatherland, he was awarded the Orders of the Red Banner, the Red Star, "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" III degree, "For Military Merit" and nine medals.
In 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed. The government of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Defense faced a difficult task - in a short time, in conditions of limited material and financial capabilities, to carry out radical reforms, to recreate the educational institutions lost for Russia for the training and education of military personnel, conducting scientific research, including for the troops Air Defense Ground Forces of the Russian Federation. Therefore, on March 31, 1992, by order of the President of the Russian Federation in Smolensk, on the basis of SVIURE, the Military Academy of Air Defense of the Ground Forces of the Russian Federation was established. Lieutenant-General V.K. Chertkov was appointed head of the academy.
The structure of the Military Academy of Air Defense Forces of the Russian Federation, as mentioned above, included a research center designed to conduct scientific research on topical problems in the development of the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces, arising from the tasks of reforming the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Colonels G.G. Garbuz, O.V. Zaitsev, Yu.I. In 1997, further changes took place in the history of the development of the armed forces. In accordance with the order and directive of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation "On improving the leadership of military air defense troops", the air defense troops of the ground forces, formations, military units and air defense units of the ground and coastal troops of the Navy and the Airborne Forces, as well as formations, military air defense units of the reserve of the Supreme High Command are united in a single type of troops - troops of military air defense. The basis of the military air defense is the air defense troops of the Ground Forces.
From 2000 to 2005, Lieutenant General Danilkin V. B. (later Colonel General) was the head of the military air defense of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Over the years of work in his position, Colonel-General Danilkin V. B. managed to solve the following problems: to defend front-line and army sets of military air defense from being transferred to the Air Force Main Command; to resume tactical exercises with live firing of anti-aircraft battalions of small and medium-sized enterprises (tp) of military districts at the air defense training center of the SV (Yeisk) and the training centers of the Far Eastern Military District and the Siberian Military District and TU with live firing of zrbr and zrp at the Ashuluk, Telemba, Zolotaya Dolina firing ranges; defend against the transfer of the Air Defense Military University (Smolensk) to the Air Force Military University (Tver); work out the new structure of the Yeysk training center, including in its composition a brigade for providing training and live firing (from the North Caucasus Military District). For services to the Fatherland, Colonel General Danilkin V.B. He was awarded the Order of the Red Star, the Order of Military Merit and many medals.
At present, by Order of the Minister of Defense of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation No. 50 dated February 9, 2007, the date of the birth of military air defense as a branch of service is approved - December 26, 1915.
Every year, on the second Sunday of April, servicemen of the Russian Air Defense Forces celebrate their professional holiday. Back in February 1975, the Soviet government established the "Day of the USSR Air Defense Forces", in accordance with the decree of 1980, the celebration takes place in the very middle of spring. Despite the collapse of the Soviet Union, Air Defense Day still falls in mid-April, as evidenced by the corresponding decree of the President of the Russian Federation of May 31, 2006. In our military store there is a section dedicated to this type of troops, where anyone can buy air defense paraphernalia for themselves or as a gift to relatives, friends, colleagues for this bright holiday.
A story about the history of creation and development domestic troops air defense will start from the beginning of 1914, when the first anti-aircraft combat weapon. This 76-mm cannon, authored by Franz Lender, soon entered service with the Russian Imperial Army. A native of the Czech Republic F.F. Linder - a brilliant military scientist and designer - became the founder of the air defense system in Russia and the USSR. Linder, who died in 1927 - the creator of all anti-aircraft weapons of the Red Army in the 20s, moreover, the legendary B-4 howitzer, a thunderstorm German tanks in the Great Patriotic War, created on the basis of his developments. In addition to active design work, and significant participation in the creation of anti-aircraft batteries of the Red Army, Linder was engaged in scientific research, taught, developed the theory of aimed fire at air targets moving at high speeds.
The first air defense formation was the air defense of Petrograd organized in December 1914. The corresponding order No. 90 was issued on November 30 by General K.P. Fan der Fliet, the former artillery engineer, Major General Burman, was appointed commander of these troops. On December 8, two belts of artillery fire were organized on the approaches to the city, equipped with the mentioned Linder cannons and long-barreled machine guns. At the same time, courses for fighter pilots were opened on the basis of the Gatchina Aviation School. However, the development of German aviation did not stand still, bombers appeared in service with the Wehrmacht, flying at altitudes up to 5000 meters, unattainable for ground artillery guns - the need for the speedy formation of fighter squadrons loomed more and more clearly. As part of the fight against sudden enemy air raids, a network of observation towers was organized. Two lines of observation - the first at a distance of 140 kilometers from the city, the second at 60 kilometers - had the task of promptly reporting the approach of German aircraft to the air defense headquarters. At the initiative of Burman, at the beginning of the 17th year, the “Radiotelegraph Defense of Petrograd” was created, which was ordered to find the direction of the enemy’s radio communications and transmit information about the raids planned by the Germans on the city. At the same time, an aviation division of fighters was created - the formation of the air defense of Petrograd was completed.
After the October Revolution, a committee for the revolutionary defense of the city was created under the leadership of Y. Sverdlov. The 1st Corps of the Red Army, formed in 1918, also included air defense units - at that time there were three aviation detachments (19 aircraft), 228 personnel on the ground - anti-aircraft gunners (16 artillery batteries), headquarters, searchlight team and observers. In April 1918, the main provisions for the organization of the air defense of Moscow were determined, it was assumed that the Moscow air defense would consist of 30 anti-aircraft batteries, an air cover division, a group of artillery reconnaissance officers, signalmen, and observers. The relevant department, under the leadership of N.M. Edena started functioning in May. The scheme of functioning and interaction of air defense units was similar to that tested in Petrograd. It should be noted that already next year the composition of the air defense troops almost doubled, the same system was created in Tula.
We should pay tribute to the Soviet government - despite the confusion of the Civil War, attention was paid not only to solving pressing issues, but also to creating educational institutions and preparing the material and technical base for the air defense system. In February 1918, courses were created in Petrograd to train the commanders of anti-aircraft batteries; by the end of the decade, there were 20 such educational institutions in the USSR. The first specialized anti-aircraft artillery school in the USSR was opened in Nizhny Novgorod; by 1920, 4 courses for anti-aircraft battery commanders had been graduated. To coordinate the work of anti-aircraft detachments and create a single structure, in 1918, the “Management of the head of anti-aircraft battery formations” was created, the centralized command made it possible to put the system on its feet by the end of the civil war, the Putilov plant produced new means of combating aircraft attacks, armored trains equipped with guns were put into service Linder and other means of air defense of the ground forces.
After the end of the Civil War, the Soviet government somewhat diverted from the ideas of the world revolution and began to pay due attention to building a strong, combat-ready state. The reform of the armed forces included a significant reduction in personnel due to the dismissal of insufficiently qualified personnel, of whom there was a majority in the worker-peasant army - a course was taken to train soldiers and officers, improve the material and technical base. The 10th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks in March 1921 decided, among other things, to pay maximum attention to the development and production of weapons for artillery, machine guns and armored parts. In August 1923, the terminology for the air defense forces was approved - "anti-aircraft batteries", "anti-aircraft artillery", etc. During the military reform of 1924-1925, a program was adopted to improve the ZA, aimed at creating guns capable of hitting enemy aircraft with high accuracy at previously inaccessible heights. On August 25, a competition was announced for the creation of new anti-aircraft guns, aiming devices and protective structures. At the same time, work was carried out to improve existing weapons and adapt them to firing at air targets - carts were created for machine guns and 76-millimeters by N.P. Shchukalov, complex machine-gun installations, optical rangefinders were introduced. All this, coupled with theoretical developments, significantly increased the mobility and combat readiness of the air defense forces. By 1928, the Soviet army was armed with 575 anti-aircraft guns. In 1924, anti-aircraft artillery regiments began to form as part of the Red Army, on the basis of which the first stationary units of the air defense troops were created (Leningrad, Moscow, Sevastopol). Thus, the organizational structure of anti-aircraft units took shape: battery - division - regiment. Each regiment had at its disposal a school for junior officers. All these organizational principles were documented in the "Regulations on the Air Defense of the USSR in 1928".
In the 30s, new technical developments finally began to arrive at the disposal of the Red Army - this determined new round development of air defense of the USSR. In 1931, a new 76-mm anti-aircraft gun, developed under the direction of G.P. Tagunova. In 1932, new artillery fire control devices (PUAZO-1) began to be supplied to the troops, and in 1935 PUAZO-2 was created, here for the first time the technology of direct data transmission from the aiming device to an anti-aircraft gun was implemented, which, of course, became a revolutionary innovation.
In 1938, Loginov's 76.2-mm semi-automatic anti-aircraft gun entered service, and the following year, under the guidance of the same designer, an 85-mm gun was created on its basis. The 52-K gun was in service with the USSR Armed Forces until the creation of the air defense system. At the same time, the PUAZO-3 device and a new development - stereoscopic rangefinders of the DYA type, capable of determining the exact coordinates of air targets, were supplied to the army, which made it possible to conduct truly aimed fire. The new DShK heavy machine guns were used to fire at targets flying at low altitudes.
At the same time, in 1939, a new Yak-1 fighter was created, and in the next 1940, the technical base was replenished with MiG-3 aircraft - the brainchild of a group of designers led by A. Mikoyan and M. Gurevich. The high-speed and high-altitude characteristics of this USSR Air Force air defense fighter-interceptor made it possible to successfully fight Nazi bombers and reconnaissance aircraft in World War II.
In the 30s, a clear hierarchical structure of the air defense forces was developed. Within the framework of the military districts, air defense directorates are being created, the heads of which administratively report directly to the commanders of the military districts, and in specialized matters - to the central command. In strategically important centers anti-aircraft artillery divisions were formed as part of air defense corps. In December 1940, the Main Directorate of Air Defense of the Red Army was created with direct subordination to the People's Commissar of Defense. New educational institutions are being opened to train junior officers of anti-aircraft formations in Orenburg and Gorky ( Nizhny Novgorod) - in total, by the beginning of the Second World War, 8 specialized schools functioned in the country. In 1941, a higher air defense school was established on the basis of the Frunze Military Academy. Based on the experience of the military campaign in Spain and Finnish war new rules for the operational-tactical use of air defense forces are being developed. The most serious drawback of the system was the lack of large-caliber weapons at the disposal of Soviet anti-aircraft gunners - many Luftwaffe aircraft flew at altitudes beyond the reach of Soviet guns.
Most of the air defense units by June 1941 were located in the western regions of the country, the zone system of location assumed the attachment of these units to large centers. Because of this, from the first days of the war, air defense formations entered into active combat operations. Already on June 22, the 374th separate anti-aircraft division entered the confrontation with the Luftwaffe bombers, whose task was to destroy the Kovel railway junction. The attack was repulsed, 4 enemy vehicles were destroyed. Over the next 5 days, this unit stopped another 10 raids, destroyed 12 bombers - a strategically important object continued to function.
The air defense units of the ground forces that found themselves on the front line, in addition to performing direct tasks of repelling enemy air force attacks, supported the ground forces of the Red Army in difficult confrontations with tanks and infantry of the Reich army. Anti-aircraft guns, in accordance with the directive of the commander of the air defense forces Voronov, took an active part in repelling enemy tank attacks, it was this direction that was given priority, often to the detriment of the main purpose. At the beginning of the war, too many airfields were bombed, which created an additional problem - due to the lack of fighters, the entire burden of repelling air raids fell on the shoulders of anti-aircraft gunners.
A significant role in minimizing the consequences of the bombing was played by the activities of the Air Surveillance, Warning and Communications Troops (VNOS). The task of the VNOS units was to promptly alert the headquarters of units of all types of troops and civilian authorities about upcoming air attacks, which made it possible to evacuate civilians and organize air defense on the ground. In addition, the military personnel of the VNOS managed to become one of the main sources of information about the ground situation, often remaining in their positions located on the territory captured by the enemy.
Parts of the Northern Air Defense Zone of the ground forces played a special role in the war, they participated in ground operations and waged war with Luftwaffe aircraft, in addition, it was thanks to their actions that the blockade of Leningrad did not produce the expected results. In July 1941, the first stage of the air operation began to destroy the most important objects in the city. Within two months, 17 massed raids by German bombers were made, however, thanks to the efforts of air defense units, only 28 out of more than one and a half thousand aircraft broke through to the city, 232 were shot down. The maneuverable anti-aircraft groups operating in Leningrad ensured the movement of goods on Lake Ladoga, the safety of bridges across the Neva.
During the historic battle near Moscow, about 200 enemy aircraft were shot down by the efforts of air defense batteries. In addition, anti-aircraft gunners fought on the ground - they took a full part in the destruction of Wehrmacht tank formations, participated in operations against the most powerful infantry and motorized formations.
In 1942, Luftwaffe bombers made several raids on the largest industrial centers of the country, it must be admitted that, despite the maximum dedication of anti-aircraft gunners, it was far from always possible to hit the latest German vehicles using the existing weapons that the air defense had. The raid on Gorky, the main supplier of weapons for the Soviet troops, is noteworthy. Local VNOS posts on the evening of October 29 discovered three HE-111 heavy bombers approaching the city. Their goal was to destroy the Gorkovskaya State District Power Plant, which would lead to a cutoff in the supply of electricity and the subsequent shutdown of all production facilities. The task was not completed only due to the mistake of the fascist pilots - the coordinates were incorrectly determined, this saved the city and the front.
The turning point of the war, which came at the end of 1942 and 1943, was accompanied by a significant increase in the material and technical base of the air defense forces, in addition, new types of weapons finally began to arrive. In 1943 anti-aircraft troops received new level fighters Yak-7 and Yak-9. The old-style 76-mm cannons were finally removed from the armament of anti-aircraft units, they were replaced by medium-caliber guns of the 1939 model. New location stations for gun guidance entered the troops. In the same 1943, the first VNOS detachments were formed, which used only radio communications to transmit information - 4 radio battalions.
The Stalingrad confrontation began depressingly for the air defense forces of the Red Army - the dominance of the Luftwaffe in the air was overwhelming and beyond doubt. Suffice it to say that in October, German bombers, in parallel with the offensive on the Volga, were able to destroy the oil plant in Grozny and calmly continue air raids on Stalingrad. The onset of cold weather somewhat suspended the offensive impulses of the Wehrmacht aviation, in December the counteroffensive began, and, despite the retreat of the ground forces, the German Air Force still dominated the sky over the Volga. However, everything changed - enemy transporters and fighters were used to supply ammunition and food to the encircled grouping of troops, however, forced to fly at low altitudes, the Luftwaffe divisions fell under heavy anti-aircraft fire, suffered huge losses and could not complete the task. Thus, despite the lack of technical readiness, the anti-aircraft defense units made a more than significant contribution to the success of the "Ring" operation, cutting off enemy aircraft that were supplying the Paulus army.
The air defense troops conducted active combat operations not only on the fronts, but also as part of the defense of strategically important facilities in Gorky, Murmansk, and the North Caucasus. The protection of river crossings and railways, constantly subjected to raids by the Luftwaffe, was also carried out by anti-aircraft detachments. Unfortunately, in many respects, Wehrmacht aviation was head and shoulders above domestic air defense, however, the dedication of anti-aircraft gunners made it possible, on the whole, to fight on an equal footing with the most modern developments Reich.
During the strategic offensive of the Red Army troops, the tasks of air defense primarily included the protection of strategically important objects from the ongoing raids of Luftwaffe bombers, in addition, mobile anti-aircraft systems on armored trains, which ensured the protection of railways and support for troops, acquired a special role. Anti-aircraft artillery was actively used for artillery preparation during offensive operations in the main directions. There was a redeployment of reserve and rear units of air defense to the liberated territories - this was necessary to protect the cities occupied by the troops. A very important step in improving the effectiveness of the country's air defense forces was the introduction of radio communications and radar installations to correct air strikes. Since June 1944, the command of the Wehrmacht began to use projectile aircraft, as part of the fight against this type of weaponry, the military component, which was engaged in the organization of a balloon barrage, increased.
Large forces of air defense troops were involved in the final offensive operation on Berlin, and units from the deep rear were transferred to the main direction. This was necessary for the massive artillery support of the advancing 1st and 2nd Belorussian, 1st Ukrainian fronts, as well as the organization of the protection of river crossings and railway facilities. During the operation, domestic air defense destroyed 95 enemy aircraft, more than 100 fortified machine-gun points, 10 mortar batteries, 15 bunkers, 5 artillery pieces.
The role of the USSR Air Defense Forces in the victory can hardly be overestimated - the organization of defense against air raids made it possible to maintain the efficiency of the country's largest military factories and communications. Without fire support from anti-aircraft gunners, the ground forces would hardly have coped with the tasks of repelling the enemy’s offensive power in the first period of the war, and artillery fire on enemy infantry, motorized rifles and tank formations became the key to the success of ground operations. Suffice it to say that more than 80 thousand soldiers and officers were awarded various state awards, 92 were awarded the title of "Hero of the Soviet Union". The fighting exposed a lot of problems related primarily to the technical equipment of the troops, the theoretical base also required active study.
The invention of nuclear weapons, the Cold War and the arms race, which began on March 6, 1946, when Churchill first uttered the term "Iron Curtain", served as an impetus for a qualitative new round in the development of air defense forces. The development of radio communication and surveillance technologies was the reason for the renaming of the VNOS into radio engineering troops. In 1948, the Air Defense Forces left the USSR Air Force and were transformed into a separate department. Work on the creation of anti-aircraft guided missiles began in the Union in 1946, here the German samples "Reintochter", "Typhoon" and others, which fell into the hands of the USSR Armed Forces, were taken as a basis. In the first half of the 1950s, the introduction of surface-to-air missiles began in the USSR. The first message to this was the decision taken in 1950 to create new system Air defense of Moscow. As part of the implementation of this program, the Berkut project is being launched, the result of which was the creation of the C-25 missile defense system. The Berkut system was one of the most powerful types of weapons of that time - it was possible to hit targets moving at speeds up to 1500 km / h, at altitudes up to 20,000 meters. S-25 missiles entered service in 1955 and was used exclusively to organize an air defense barrier in Moscow from a possible massive air raid (up to 1200 bombers). Four corps, each consisting of 14 anti-aircraft regiments, made up the 1st Special Purpose Air Defense Army.
The Berkut missile defense system, due to its high cost at that time, was adopted only by Moscow's air defense, in general, the missile defense system in the USSR was underdeveloped. The only reason why the Truman government did not start a nuclear campaign is that there are insufficient ground forces in Europe to confront the Red Army. Only in 1958, the first domestic mobile anti-aircraft missile system S-75, created at NPO Almaz, entered service with the Soviet army. The introduction of the Dvina air defense system brought the country's air defense to a new level - for the first time, a potential enemy did not have aircraft that our troops could not destroy. The S-75 hit air targets at altitudes up to 30 kilometers and at a distance of up to 43x. The pride of the national defense industry, this air defense system and its modifications were supplied to many countries of the world and were in service for more than 30 years. These anti-aircraft systems were successfully used during the American military campaign in Vietnam, including against B-52 bombers. The C-75 became a panacea in the fight against reconnaissance aircraft of Great Britain and the United States, first of all, they finally managed to shoot down the legendary English U-2 Lockhead - the only aircraft of that time that flew at altitudes of more than 20,000 meters. When the "Lockhead" was first discovered by a Soviet pilot, the command decided that this was an optical illusion. For more than 7 years it was not possible to shoot down a single such reconnaissance aircraft; before the appearance of the S-75, the British felt absolutely safe in Soviet airspace.
Talking about the history of the domestic air defense forces, one cannot ignore the Almaz Research and Production Association (today - Almaz-Antey State Design Bureau). Founded in 1947 as SB-1, the design bureau is still the supplier of all weapons for the Strategic Missile Forces and Air Defense. It was here that the Moscow air defense system based on the S-25 was designed and created, and three years later, the Dvina air defense system was put into operation on the basis of the same enterprise. In June 1961, the first anti-aircraft missile system to destroy low-flying enemy S-125 Neva aircraft rolled off the assembly line, it was precisely this flight tactic that NATO intelligence officers used, trying not to fall under S-75 fire. The idea of creating the Neva belonged to Alexander Andreevich Raspletin, the chief designer of NPO Almaz. The legendary scientist essentially became the creator of the Soviet air defense system, under his supervision all domestic air defense systems up to the S-200 were developed, and the latest S-300 was developed after the death of A.A. Raspletin (1967) using the theoretical base he created. GSKB Almaz-Antey today bears the name of this great designer.
In the 60s, the famous domestic portable anti-aircraft missile systems "Strela" were created. These miniature, relatively "senior comrades" MANPADS were used to support ground forces and destroy enemy aircraft at altitudes up to 3.5 kilometers. These were the first generation MANPADS, on the basis of which new mobile anti-aircraft systems were subsequently created. The portable air defense system of the third generation "Igla" was put into service in 1983 - a completely new, revolutionary guidance system was introduced here, a sensor was installed on the rocket that provoked an explosion of a projectile when passing in close proximity to the aircraft, a new aerodynamic system made it possible to develop high speed and reach the rocket heights up to 5200 meters. Adopted in 2002, the Igla-S modification reaches a height of up to 6 kilometers and hits the target with a probability of up to 90%. This MANPADS is rightfully considered today one of the best in the world.
The arms race provoked an increase in the number of air defense troops and the improvement of the material and technical base. By the beginning of the 60s, ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads SM-65 Atlas were entering the arsenal of the US Army - this was a new level of threat to the country's security. On the basis of NPO Almaz, the development of a new air defense system capable of withstanding an attack using such weapons begins. The first samples of the Azov air defense system were manufactured in 1965, anti-missile systems are being created on the basis of this system, the first - in 1975 in Kamchatka. The formation of such complexes assumed the presence of modern radar systems. Projects to create an early warning radar started in the USSR in 1954 as part of the development of the Moscow air defense system. In the 60-70s of the last century, the location systems "Dniester", "Daryal", "Dnepr" were developed. Radar "Daryal" entered service with missilemen in 1984 and became the basis of the country's missile attack warning system. The system guarantees the detection of approaching enemy ballistic missiles at a distance of up to 6,000 kilometers. Stations based on this system still function today as part of the air defense and missile defense system of Russia, these are the largest military facilities in the country and not only, functioning in a mode of constant combat readiness.
The first integrated missile system in the USSR capable of destroying targets even in the upper stratosphere was the S-200 Angara. This air defense system was also equipped with an integrated radar system for the first time. Here the principle of semi-active homing of the missile is implemented, protection against radio interference is provided, control is carried out using a computer. However, a really new word in the organization of air defense was the introduction of the S-300PMU anti-aircraft missile system, such weapons were developed as a counter to cruise missiles capable of moving at extremely low altitudes, taking into account the terrain. The S-300 could hit air targets moving at top speeds at any altitude and had an unprecedentedly short time to put it on alert. This air defense system was put into service in 1980, at the same time it began to be exported to states friendly to the USSR. The S-300 is still in service today, with many modifications, including those adapted for use in conditions navy(S-300F Fort). The S-300 PT-1 modification provides for the possibility of a cold start - the time to put it on alert is less than 30 minutes. ZRS S-300V Antey-300 includes firepower anti-aircraft division, one radar of a circular and sector view, a command post and is actually a full-fledged ground air defense formation. The system is capable of launching missiles with a combat weight of 133, 143 and 180 kg with an interval of 3 seconds, hit objects flying at speeds up to four speeds of sound, is equipped with contact and proximity fuses.
By the time of the collapse of the USSR, the most modern models of equipment were in service with the domestic air defense forces. The structure included a separate Moscow Air Defense District and 10 separate air defense armies.
In the troubled times of the early 90s, the air defense forces remained one of the most combat-ready units of the army in the field, possessing enormous firepower and qualified personnel. Of course, the situation in the country could not but affect the state of the army - as a result of the reform of the armed forces that began in 1992, the officer corps of the air defense troops was significantly reduced, the reduction in funding and the receipt of new models of military equipment did not contribute to raising morale. In July 1997, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, the air defense forces ceased to exist as an independent branch of the armed forces. Anti-aircraft missile units were transferred to the Strategic Missile Forces, and units that specialized in confronting enemy aircraft - to the Air Force. By the beginning of the new century, the economic situation in the country began to stabilize, funds appeared for arming and maintaining the personnel of the armed forces. In 2002, the draft "Concept of Aerospace Defense of the Russian Federation" was approved, and the development of new weapons for organizing air defense began. In April 2007, the new generation S-400 Triumph air defense system was adopted. The complex is designed to destroy any air targets - enemy aircraft at a distance of up to 400 kilometers and ballistic missiles at a distance of no more than 60 kilometers. We repeat, the Triumph air defense system hits any aircraft (including Stealth stealth aircraft) and any ballistic missiles (even from the category of those being developed). Targets can move at a height of up to 5 meters above the surface and at speeds up to 4.8 km / s, the radar system detects missiles and aircraft at a distance of up to 600 kilometers - this type of weaponry has no worthy competitors in the world today. The first unit that received this air defense system at its disposal was a separate air defense division in Elektrostal - the defense of the capital is still a priority. Also, S-400s today have air defense units in Dmitrov, the Kaliningrad region, and Nakhodka. The program for the full support of the troops of the Triumph air defense system is designed until 2020, we note that the equipment samples are not intended for export.
Today, on the basis of the Almaz-Antey air defense concern of Russia, the latest S-500 Prometheus system is being developed, it is assumed that this air defense system will be implemented in accordance with the principle of separating the tasks of destroying enemy aircraft and ballistic missiles. "Prometheus" will be able to hit up to 10 ballistic objects at the same time, the detection range compared to the S-400 will increase by more than 100 kilometers. It is planned to begin operation of the S-500 air defense system in 2017, everyone is waiting - some with joyful awe, some with apprehension.
The reform of the Russian Air Defense Forces in 2010-2011 changed their structure of functioning - now the air defense units are under the operational control of the air defense command of the military districts. The corps and divisions were transformed into brigades of the Aerospace Defense. The air defense-missile defense system includes space troops, the Moscow air defense system and air defense brigades. The experience of warfare in the modern world shows how great the role of aviation is today, and, consequently, the means of preventing such a threat. The probability of a space attack is increasing every year, and therefore, the state of the air defense system is an indicator of the state's combat capability.
In general, for almost a century of history, air defense troops have gone through fire and water, have undergone a lot of changes, experienced ups and downs - today they are the most combat-ready high-tech troops. But something has not changed - for more than 40 years, former and current military personnel of the air defense forces have been celebrating their holiday on the second Sunday of April. Voentorg "Voenpro" has at its disposal a number of solid gifts and small souvenirs with air defense symbols - this is an air defense flag, air defense T-shirts, stickers, key rings and other souvenirs. In order to buy a gift for your friends or relatives on the day of air defense, you just need to choose the right product and place an order, which will be promptly, like a ballistic missile, delivered to anywhere in the country. Note that we have products available that can please military personnel and veterans of any kind of military service, remember your loved ones and take care of gifts in advance.
And today they rightfully remain at the forefront of the defense of the Fatherland
Every year on the second Sunday of April, the whole country, its Armed Forces, veterans military service celebrate the Day of the Air Defense Forces. This holiday was established by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 20, 1975 in honor of the great merits of the Air Defense Forces in the Great Patriotic War and their performance of especially important tasks in peacetime.
Domestic air defense has a long and very difficult history. Its beginning can be considered the decision taken by the military command of Russia in December 1914 to deploy anti-aircraft (then called air) defense of the capital - St. Petersburg and the imperial residence in Tsarskoye Selo. In subsequent years, the air defense of Odessa and a number of other cities was created.
At the same time, even then the basic principles of such defense were formulated, which are still relevant today: the integrated use of various means, including ground (anti-aircraft) and air (aviation); concentration of the main forces on the defense of the most important objects; circular construction of the defense of objects with its strengthening in the most dangerous directions; the creation of a reconnaissance system in the form of a network of observation points (on the defense of St. Petersburg and Odessa, these points were combined into a "radio-telegraphic air defense").
The beginning of the creation of air defense in the USSR should be considered 1924-1925, when, under the leadership of M.V. Frunze, a military reform began to be carried out in the country. In the course of the reform, a strategically completely correct understanding of the vast prospects for military aviation and the scale of its threat in future wars was developed. And most importantly, it was recognized as important and necessary to organize an active fight against enemy military aircraft.
To do this, it was proposed to create special air defense forces on the basis of anti-aircraft (anti-aircraft) weapons (since August 1924, the term "air defense" began to be used). These troops were to be used in cooperation with the Air Force fighter aircraft.
Here we should pay attention to one more important aspect: already in those years, the authors of the military reform understood that the rapidly developing military aviation would sharply increase the depth of the zone of armed struggle, cover not only the front, but also the rear of the country; accordingly, the air defense troops must solve the tasks of repelling air strikes both on the active troops and on objects and communications in the rear. Thus, for the first time, the need for the creation and development of military air defense and air defense of the country was declared.
After the sudden death of M. V. Frunze, the military reform was essentially curtailed. The development and comprehension of conceptual provisions in the field of building air defense was not completed either. At the same time, part of the developments was put into practice.
In 1925, the Red Army Headquarters developed proposals for organizing the air defense of the USSR and creating bodies to manage it in the center and in the field. In the same year, the directive of the Headquarters of the Red Army announced that the Headquarters of the Red Army was starting to organize the country's air defense. The directive formulated the tasks of the country's air defense in peaceful and war time, their difference from tasks in the front line.
With the radar of the P-35/37 family, the creation of the country's radar field began
Photo: Alexey MATVEEV
In 1927, a department was created at the Headquarters of the Red Army, which in 1930 was transformed into the 6th Air Defense Directorate of the Headquarters of the Red Army. Given the ever-increasing importance of air defense, in May 1932 the 6th Directorate was reorganized into the Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army, directly subordinate to the People's Commissar of Defense. At the same time, despite the official division of air defense into military air defense and air defense of the country, all air defense forces on the ground were subordinate to the commanders of the military districts.
The basis of the air defense forces were formations and units of anti-aircraft artillery. They also included units and subunits of anti-aircraft machine guns, anti-aircraft searchlights, air barrage balloons, air surveillance, warning and communications troops (VNOS). Fighter aircraft of the Air Forces of the military districts were not included in the Air Defense Forces and were involved in the fight against an air enemy on the basis of interaction.
From the beginning of the 1930s the process of a significant build-up of air defense forces and assets in the border military districts began. In 1932, the first anti-aircraft artillery divisions were formed. In 1937, air defense corps were formed for the defense of Moscow, Leningrad and Baku, and for the defense of others major cities(Kyiv, Minsk, Odessa, Batumi, etc.) - divisions and separate air defense brigades.
In February 1941, 4 months before the start of the war, the entire border area of the country was divided into air defense zones, the boundaries of responsibility of which were combined with the boundaries of military districts. In total, 13 air defense zones of the country's territory (air defense of the CU) were created. In 9 air defense zones of the CU with large spatial dimensions, brigade areas of the air defense of the CU were created. There were 36 such districts. In a number of air defense districts, air defense points were allocated - separate objects covered by units and subunits of anti-aircraft artillery.
The commanders of the air defense zones of the CU were the assistants to the commanders of the troops of the military districts. The exceptions were the Central (Moscow) and Northern (Leningrad) zones of the air defense of the CU, where the commanders of the 1st and 2nd air defense corps, respectively, were appointed commanders. The commanders of the air defense zones found themselves in dual subordination - the military districts and the Main Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army (the latter was formed in 1940 on the basis of the Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army). Practice has shown that such dual command is ineffective.
In the last pre-war years, the air defense forces were intensively equipped with new weapons and equipment. The anti-aircraft artillery unit began to receive 37-mm automatic and 85-mm anti-aircraft guns, artillery anti-aircraft fire control devices - PUAZO-2 and PUAZO-3. Since 1939, the VNOS service began to receive the first domestic detection radars RUS-1 and RUS-2.
The industry mass-produced searchlights, sound collectors and air barrage balloons. From 1940, the Yak-1 and MiG-3 fighters began to enter service with fighter aviation, and from 1941 - LaGG-3.
However, there was not enough time for sufficient rearmament of the air defense forces.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, shortcomings in the organization of the country's air defense were sharply revealed, when all air defense forces were subordinated to the fronts. Already in the first months of the war, the five main air defense zones of the TS - Northern, North-Western, Western, Kyiv and Southern, which, according to the plan of the military leadership, constituted the first echelon of air defense, actually ceased to exist.
Bolshoe Savino airfield (Perm). Fighter-interceptor MiG-31
Photo: Leonid YAKUTIN
German aviation, bypassing scattered groups of anti-aircraft artillery, penetrated 500-600 kilometers into the interior of the country with virtually impunity and bombarded defenseless industrial and communication facilities.
In this regard, the General Staff of the Red Army even issued a special directive dated July 9, 1941, which ordered "to release the commanders of the air defense zones - assistant commanders of the front troops in air defense from the direct leadership of the air defense of the troops of the fronts and turn them to direct duties in the air defense zones."
The directive could not change the state of affairs, since it did not change anything in the air defense organization itself. And only after the devastating German air raids on defense facilities in the city of Voronezh far beyond the front line in August 1941 did I. V. Stalin intervene in air defense.
As a result, on November 9, 1941, the Decree of the State Defense Committee of the USSR No. 874 “On strengthening and strengthening the air defense of the country's territory” was issued. In this document, modest in name, for the first time, a fundamentally new organization of the air defense of the CU and its structure are outlined.
The pre-war organization of the country's air defense, subordinate to the military districts (fronts), was completely rejected. The air defense forces of the country were withdrawn from their subordination and for the first time transformed into an independent branch of the Red Army, subordinate to the people's commissar of defense and headed by the commander of the air defense forces of the Customs Union - deputy people's commissar of defense for air defense. Major General M. S. Gromadin was appointed the first commander of the Air Defense Forces of the Customs Union.
Somewhat later, the TS was transferred from the Air Force to operational subordination to the Air Defense Forces, and in January 1942, 39 fighter aviation regiments were introduced into the state, more than 1,500 aircraft in total. Now, along with the tasks of defending individual objects, the air defense forces of the CU could solve the tasks of covering the country's regions. The operational construction of a new air defense system of the TS was not tied to the borders of the fronts and military districts, but was determined by the location of the covered objects and communications.
The Moscow air defense system has become a classic example of organizing an effective air defense of a large administrative and industrial center. It included the 1st Air Defense Corps (commander - Major General of Artillery D. A. Zhuravlev) and the 6th Fighter Aviation Corps operationally subordinate to him (commander - Colonel I. D. Klimov).
By the beginning of the massive air raids on Moscow (July 22, 1941), this grouping included more than 600 fighters and 1000 anti-aircraft guns, about 350 anti-aircraft machine guns, over 600 anti-aircraft searchlights, 124 posts of air barrage balloons, 612 VNOS posts. The Moscow air defense system was built on the principle of all-round defense, its depth was 200–250 kilometers.
During the war years, the German Luftwaffe carried out 141 raids on Moscow, a total of about 8,600 sorties. According to official data, 234 aircraft (less than 3%) broke through to the city, almost 1,400 aircraft were shot down. These successes are largely due to the massive use of air defense forces and means and the effective organization of defense: no other capital, including London and Berlin, had such a concentration of air defense forces during World War II.
Unfortunately, the history of Russian air defense knows less brilliant examples. So, in the course of three massive German air raids on the automobile plant. Molotov in the city of Gorky in June 1943, the plant suffered enormous damage, despite the very strong grouping of the Gorky air defense divisional area. The most important defense enterprise was actually put out of action, and it took more than three months and almost 35,000 workers to restore it.
Later in the course of the war, the CU Air Defense Forces underwent organizational changes, which were objectively dictated by an increase in their combat strength and changes at the front. In April 1942, the Moscow Air Defense Front was formed, and air defense armies were formed in Leningrad and somewhat later in Baku. Thus, the first operational formations of air defense forces appeared. The transition of the Red Army to broad offensive operations significantly changed the nature of the combat use of the air defense forces. In June 1943, the Office of the Commander of the Air Defense Forces of the Customs Union was abolished, and two air defense fronts were created instead: Western and Eastern. The air defense troops on the cover of Moscow were reorganized into the Special Moscow Air Defense Army.
On-load tap-changer S-300PM and NVO at one of the sites of the Ashuluk test site
Photo: Georgy DANILOV
By the end of the war, all formations that carried out air defense in the rear of the country were consolidated into the Central Air Defense Front with headquarters in Moscow. Forward formations and units of the air defense forces formed the Western and Southwestern air defense fronts. In the Far East in March 1945, on the eve of the start of hostilities against Japan, three air defense armies were created: Primorsky, Amur and Transbaikal, which became part of the fronts.
In general, during the Great Patriotic War, the Air Defense Forces solved a number of the most important operational-strategic and operational tasks, saved many large administrative and industrial centers, hundreds of industrial enterprises and groupings of troops from destruction and destruction. Organizationally, anti-aircraft artillery and fighter aircraft took shape as branches of the air defense forces. The VNOS Service has been greatly developed. Operational formations and operational-tactical air defense formations, formations and units of military branches were created. For merits in the performance of military duty, over 80 thousand soldiers and officers of the air defense forces were awarded orders and medals, 92 soldiers became Heroes of the Soviet Union.
With the end of World War II, humanity, alas, did not receive peace and tranquility. Former allies in the anti-Hitler coalition again found themselves on opposite sides of the barricades. A long-term political and military confrontation between the two world systems, called the Cold War, began. Many associate its beginning with the famous speech of W. Churchill on March 5, 1946 in the American city of Fulton (Missouri).
Then the British Prime Minister for the first time voiced the term "Iron Curtain", which divided Europe, and called for relations with the USSR to be built exclusively from a position of strength. At the same time, the United States already possessed nuclear weapons and their means of delivery - strategic aviation, which created a real air threat not only to the groupings of the Soviet Armed Forces, but also to the economic potential of the country, including the strategic rear.
In this regard, despite the general reduction in the Armed Forces and the most difficult post-war economic situation in the country, the Supreme Military Council in July 1946 takes a strategic decision to deploy air defense of the TS throughout the country, even where it was not in the war. Somewhat earlier, in February 1946, the post of Commander of the Air Defense Forces of the Customs Union was re-introduced, who now reported directly to the Commander of Artillery. The command of the Air Defense Forces of the Customs Union was instructed to develop a plan for strengthening air defense in the Volga region, the Urals and Siberia, as well as its creation in Central Asia.
In terms of organizing the country's air defense, the ambitions of the branches of the Armed Forces again escalated: the air defense forces proposed to increase the number of air defense districts and create the country's air defense by analogy with the military air defense of the vehicle, Ground troops proposed to return to the pre-war organization, dividing the country's air defense forces into military districts, the Air Force proposed to include the air defense forces in their composition.
In 1948, an "intermediate option" was adopted: the country's territory was divided into a border strip and an inland territory; in the border zone, responsibility for air defense was assigned to the military districts, in the interior - to the air defense forces of the country, in which instead of the four air defense districts that existed in the first post-war years, 12 air defense districts were created.
On April 4, 1949, a military-political union of 11 states of Europe and the USA was created - the NATO bloc (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). With the creation of this structure, the general political and military tension in Europe and in the world as a whole, as well as the intensity and scale of provocative and reconnaissance flights by NATO aircraft in the airspace of the USSR, increased.
At the same time, the reorganized air defense system of the vehicle proved unable to effectively counter air intruders, which had already reached the regions of Leningrad, Minsk, and Kyiv.
A whole series of organizational transformations of the air defense troops of the Customs Union began. In an attempt to introduce an organized principle into the fragmentation of the air defense system, so-called border air defense zones (BCAA) were formed in the border districts and in the fleets. The organization and leadership of the Air Defense Forces were still assigned to the military districts and fleets. Having not received the expected result, the military leadership based on the air defense system created the "air defense of the border line" (BOPL).
At the same time, the leadership of the VOPL was transferred to the commander-in-chief of the Air Force (the first deputy commander-in-chief of the Air Force was also the commander of the VOPL troops). The direct responsibility for air defense in the VOPL areas (that is, in the military districts) was shifted from the commanders of the military districts to the commanders of the air armies of the Air Force.
However, the remaining fragmentation of the air defense essentially did not change anything. Violations of air borders continued to increase, and the depth of incursions by foreign aircraft reached the Moscow region.
It soon became clear that the VOPL, headed by the Air Force, was an unnecessary and essentially useless structure. Therefore, in June 1953, the VOPL command under the Air Force Commander-in-Chief was disbanded. One part of the VOPL forces was transferred to the military districts and fleets, the other to the air defense troops of the Customs Union. At the same time, overall responsibility for the entire air defense of the country, including within the boundaries of military districts, was assigned to the commander of the air defense forces of the Customs Union.
Such a unification of all the air defense forces of the CU was of a very conditional nature, since in the border areas the forces and means were still part of the military districts and fleets. The interaction between them was weak. This was soon confirmed. On April 29, 1954, three American B-47 strategic bombers violated the state border from the Baltic Sea, penetrated as far as Novgorod, Smolensk and Kyiv, and went west with impunity. 10 days later, on the eve of Victory Day, a new daring violation of the border followed.
These outrageous pre-holiday incidents did not go unnoticed by the country's top political leadership. In the course of an urgent inspection, serious shortcomings in the organization of the entire air defense of the country were revealed, which were based on the fragmentation of the air defense forces.
On May 27, 1954, a special resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR “On unpunished flights of foreign aircraft over the territory of the USSR” was issued. The same resolution announced a new organization of air defense of the vehicle. Taking into account the rapid development of military aviation, a significant increase in its combat capabilities, as well as the ever-increasing scale of violations of the airspace of the USSR by NATO aircraft, it was considered expedient to deploy the Air Defense Forces of the Customs Union from the armed forces into the form of the Armed Forces - the Air Defense Forces of the country. It included all the main air defense forces and established the boundaries of responsibility along the state border of the country. In the military districts, only parts of the military air defense of land formations remained, and in the fleets - ship assets. In the Air Defense Forces of the country, the generally accepted army military structures created back in 1944 were restored: air defense formations (districts, armies) and air defense formations (corps, divisions). Fighter aviation of the military districts was promptly subordinated to the new structures of the Air Defense Forces of the country.
Simultaneously with the above-mentioned resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR, a resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On providing the Air Defense Forces of the country with new equipment" was adopted. This decision proved to be very timely, as last years there has been a noticeable lag in the development of air defense weapons from the development of military aviation.
Marshal of the Soviet Union L. A. Govorov was appointed the first Commander-in-Chief of the Air Defense Forces of the country. However, soon after his death, Marshal of the Soviet Union S.S. Biryuzov became the commander-in-chief. An experienced military leader and a thoughtful organizer, he made a great contribution to the formation and development of a new kind of Armed Forces. It was under him that the foundations of the operational art and tactics of the Air Defense Forces were formed and many of the fundamental principles of the integrated organization of the fight against an air enemy, which are still relevant today, were implemented.
On the initiative of S. S. Biryuzov and under his leadership, military science in the Air Defense Forces was essentially re-created and in 1957 organizationally formalized by combining disparate scientific units of the armed forces into the first in the Armed Forces of the USSR a single integrated research institute of the type of Armed Forces Research Institute -2 air defense (subsequently - the 2nd Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense, and now - the Air Defense Research Center of the 4th Central Research Institute of the Russian Federation).
In connection with the massive rearmament of troops on a fundamentally new technology the need for highly qualified personnel of commanders and military engineers has sharply increased. Therefore, on the initiative of S. S. Biryuzov in the mid-1950s. a number of new higher military air defense educational institutions were created.
Since 1956, the Air Defense Military Academy began training in Kalinin (now Tver). Today it is the Military Academy of Aerospace Defense, which has become a forge of military command and engineering personnel for the Air Defense Forces (VKO) not only of our country, but also of a number of countries near and far abroad.
1950s - truly revolutionary in terms of the development of air defense weapons, the creation of fundamentally new models. It was during this period that the formation of anti-aircraft missile troops, jet fighter aircraft, radio engineering troops.
In August 1950, a decision was made to create an anti-aircraft missile defense system for Moscow. The project was named Berkut. The lead developer of the system was the specially created Design Bureau No. 1 (KB-1) - the future glorified NPO Almaz, known throughout the world for its anti-aircraft guided systems. missile weapons. A. A. Raspletin became the leader of the development. The air defense system consisted of 10 A-100 all-round radars and two rings around Moscow of stationary sectoral multi-channel air defense systems (56 in total), each consisting of a B-200 guidance radar and V-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles of vertical launch. The air defense system was created in a fantastically short time - less than five years. And this despite the fact that all its elements were developed practically from scratch, and the volume of capital construction was truly enormous. Already in May 1955, the Moscow S-25 air defense system was put into service and served for three decades.
In 1957, the first transportable (that is, non-stationary) S-75 medium-range air defense systems began to enter service with the country's Air Defense Forces. These complexes, like no other, were widely used in real combat operations, including in Vietnam and the Middle East. In Vietnam, in 1972 alone, the last year of the war, 421 American aircraft were destroyed by S-75 systems, including 51 B-52s. Such losses were one of the decisive factors that forced the Americans to withdraw from Vietnam. Upgraded S-75 air defense systems are still in service in a number of countries near and far abroad.
In 1961, the development of the S-125 short-range air defense system was completed, the main specialization of which is the fight against low-altitude targets. For the SAM, the V-600P solid-fuel missile was developed for the first time. The export version of the air defense system ("Pechora") was supplied to 35 countries of the world. The air defense system received its first baptism of fire in 1970 in Egypt. Then there were Syria and Libya. In March 1999, in the skies over Yugoslavia, an American F-117A stealth aircraft was shot down by an S-125 air defense system.
In June 1958, a government decree was adopted on the development of the S-200 long-range air defense system. By January 1960, its draft design was already ready. For the first time in domestic practice, the air defense system implemented the principle of homing missiles at a target. When creating the air defense system, the developers faced a number of technical difficulties, many of which had to be solved during field and state tests. The S-200 air defense system was adopted in February 1967.
Thus, within 10 years, a well-thought-out set of types of anti-aircraft missile weapons was created in the USSR, which made it possible to build effective anti-aircraft missile defense systems for various objects and regions of the country.
The development of fighter aviation proceeded at an impressive pace. The MiG-15 became the first mass domestic jet fighter of the 1st generation. The first air regiments with MiG-15 fighters were formed back in 1949. The debut of the large-scale combat use of these aircraft was the war in the skies of Korea (November 1950 - July 1953), where our MiGs were in no way inferior to the latest American F-86 Saber fighters : in total, Soviet pilots shot down about 1100 enemy aircraft, their losses amounted to 335 fighters.
To replace the 1st generation fighters MiG-15, MiG-17, Yak-25 in the late 1950s - early 1960s. fighters and aircraft interception missile systems of the 2nd generation came - Su-9 (1959), Su-11-98 (1961), Su-15-98, Tu-128-S4 and Yak-28 (1965). ARCP Su-15-98 for a long time formed the basis of the fighter aviation of the Air Defense Forces of the country.
In June 1954, the formation of the air defense radio engineering troops was completed. By this time, the domestic industry had mastered the production of a fairly wide range of radar equipment. One of the first mass radars of the post-war period was the P-20 Periscope mobile two-coordinate centimeter-range radar, the P-8 Volga early warning m-range radar (1950) and the PRV-10 Konus radio altimeter.
In 1955–1956 the troops began to receive the P-15 "Tropa" meter range radar for detecting low-altitude targets and the P-12 "Yenisei" radar. The P-12 radar was the first to use the SDC coherent-compensation equipment. This radar gradually replaced almost all previously created meter range radars.
A little later, in 1959, the Oborona-14 mobile early warning radar was put into service, and in 1961, the Altai radar, consisting of four radio altimeters and two range finders. In the same year, the PRV-11 "Vershina" radio altimeter of the centimeter range began to enter the troops. The latest modifications of this radio altimeter are still in service with the RTV of the Russian Air Force and a number of CIS countries.
Gradually, automation tools began to be used for combat command and control of troops. The first adopted control automation system (ACS) was the warning, control and guidance system for fighter aircraft Vozdukh-1. The command posts of the operational level began to be equipped with a complex of automation equipment (KSA) "Almaz-2".
Under the conditions of the new organizational structure of the country's Air Defense Forces and equipping them with new weapons with sharply increased combat capabilities, the ideology and principles of organizing air defense have changed. It was considered expedient in a number of regions of the country to switch from the object-based to the zonal (zonal-objective) principle of organizing defense. In the border (coastal) areas, anti-aircraft missile defense zones were advanced to the 1st echelon of defense with the creation of anti-aircraft missile defense lanes. Fighter aviation formed the basis of the 2nd echelon, but with the ability, if necessary, to operate in the ZRV zones.
Created in the 1960s. the air defense system was mainly focused on the Western, Southwestern and Southern strategic directions, where the main US and NATO air attack forces were concentrated. In the future, with the growth of the capabilities of US strategic aviation and equipping it with strategic cruise missiles, the North direction became potentially dangerous. In this regard, work began on the organization of air defense in this area (the "Shield" system) on the basis of the long-range interception ARCP.
The organizational structure of the Air Defense Forces of the country itself was changing. By 1960, the operational link was enlarged. Instead of 20 air defense formations and formations, 13 were left: two air defense districts, five air defense armies and six air defense corps, whose areas of responsibility covered the entire country. Soon, changes were made at the operational-tactical and tactical level. Instead of corps and divisions of the military branches, air defense formations (corps, divisions) of mixed composition were created, in which the types of troops (ZRV, IA, RTV) were represented by regimental structures.
The relatively calm and very productive development of the Air Defense Forces of the country under the leadership of Marshal S. S. Biryuzov, and then Marshal P. F. Batitsky ended in 1978. The Chief of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces N. V. Ogarkov put forward the idea of creating the so-called Unified Air Defense System of the country and the Armed Forces. The commander-in-chief of the Air Defense Forces of the country, P.F. Batitsky, sharply opposed, but the top political and military leadership (L.I. Brezhnev and D.F. Ustinov) supported N.V. Ogarkov. As a result, Batitsky resigned as commander-in-chief, and in December 1979 a decision was made by the Defense Council, according to which the air defense system essentially returned to the pre-war organization.
The territory of the country was again divided into border and inland regions. In the border areas, the Baku Air Defense District and five separate air defense armies (Minsk, Leningrad, Kyiv, Arkhangelsk, Khabarovsk) were disbanded. The air defense corps and divisions included in them were again subordinated to the military districts. Fighter aviation regiments from these formations were seized and transferred to the Air Force of the military districts. As a result, the unity of command and control of air defense forces and means was disrupted and the unified air defense system of the country actually ceased to exist.
At the end of 1982, after the death of L. I. Brezhnev, P. F. Batitsky managed to draw the attention of the new Secretary General Yu. V. Andropov to the so-called reform of the country's Air Defense Forces. As a result, a commission of the Central Committee of the CPSU was created, which, after two years of work, concluded that the reorganization of N.V. Ogarkov was wrong and "The air defense forces of the country should be returned to their previous state."
The corresponding resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR was adopted on January 24, 1986. In the border areas, five former air defense formations were restored, returning them to direct subordination to the commander-in-chief of the Air Defense Forces. Instead of the Baku Air Defense District, a separate air defense army was formed with headquarters in Tbilisi.
At the same time, the dual command over the Air Defense Forces remained: they were operationally subordinate to the commanders-in-chief of the troops of the directions (soon abolished), and in fact - to the military districts.
Despite organizational fluctuations, in the 1970s and 1980s. there was a dynamic process of equipping the Air Defense Forces with new weapons and military equipment.
Since 1979, the Air Defense Forces began to receive fundamentally new S-300P air defense systems (the lead developer was NPO Almaz). At present, modifications of this system (S-300PS, S-300PM) form the basis of the armament of the anti-aircraft missile system. On the basis of this air defense system, the Moscow S-50 air defense system was created, which replaced the previously existing S-25 system.
Fighter aviation continued to develop. In the 1970s the industry has mastered the mass production of 3rd generation fighter-interceptors - MiG-23P and MiG-25PD, and in the early 80s 4th generation fighters - MiG-31 (1981), MiG-29 (1983) and Su-27 (1984).
The MiG-31 long-range fighter was for the first time equipped with a phased array radar and had high detection and destruction capabilities. cruise missiles. It was considered as the main element of the above-mentioned air defense system in the Northern direction "Shield". Aircraft of the 4th generation currently form the basis of the weapons of the Air Force IA.
The radio engineering troops have almost completely updated their fleet of radar equipment. During the period under review, the RTV received radars and radars ST-68U (UM), Casta 2-1 and Casta 2-2, Periscope-VM, Oborona-14S, P-18, P-37 , "Sky" and "Sky-U", "Desna-M", "Opponent-G", "Gamma-S1", K-66 (M).
EW units and subunits were equipped with new equipment.
Taking into account the high dynamics of the combat operations of the air defense forces, the military leadership paid great attention to the development of means of automation of combat control and equipping the troops with them. At the same time, the process of complex equipment of the KSA of the control points of the operational, operational-tactical and tactical levels of control was underway. The command posts of the operational control level were equipped with Almaz-type KSA. ACS "Luch-1", "Luch-2" were introduced into the operational-tactical level of command. The command posts of formations and units of the military branches were equipped with KSA of the Senezh, Vector-2, Baikal, Rubezh-1, Niva, AKUP-1 types.
In the 1970s the Air Defense Forces of the country included the forces and means of rocket and space defense (RKO). The RKO system combined the missile attack warning system (SPRN), the outer space control system (SKKP), the anti-missile (ABM) and anti-space (PKO) defense systems.
The early warning system officially took up combat duty in 1976 as part of a command post, six early detection nodes (Dnepr radar) and the US-K space echelon. In 1978, the modernized Moscow A-135M missile defense system was adopted as part of the Don-2N radar, a command and computer center and two types of anti-missiles. In November 1978, the PKO IS-M complex was put into service. A few years earlier, a space control center began to function.
The further history of the Air Defense Forces of the country is inextricably linked with the history of the formation and development of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Unfortunately, its beginning was far from joyful. Already in 1992, they announced the reform of the Armed Forces.
The reform was carried out in the absence of a coherent military ideology for ensuring the military security of the state as a whole and a clear understanding of the rational image of the RF Armed Forces (“Concept national security Russian Federation” and the Military Doctrine of the Russian Federation were adopted only at the beginning of 2000).
As a result, the main result of the reform of the Air Defense Forces was a sharp reduction in the combat strength and funding for their maintenance. The troops have practically ceased to receive new weapons, the level of combat training has dropped to a dangerous limit.
In July 1997, a large-scale reorganization of the country's air defense took place. In accordance with the decree of the President of the Russian Federation, the Air Defense Forces were liquidated as a branch of the Armed Forces. The air defense forces from their composition were transferred to the Air Force, and the RKO forces - to the Strategic Missile Forces (later - to the newly formed Space Forces). Among military specialists, disputes about the benefits and harms of these transformations still do not subside.
However, life does not stand still. As Russia's economic position strengthened, so did its Armed Forces. Considerable attention was paid to the air defense of the country.
Military science played a significant role in the development and strengthening of air defense. With her active participation in the early 2000s. a draft "Concept of Aerospace Defense of the Russian Federation" was developed, which in November 2002 was approved by the collegium of the Ministry of Defense. Subsequently, the concept was approved by the President of the Russian Federation and became one of the fundamental documents regarding the development of the country's aerospace defense. At the same time, a system project for the aerospace defense of the Russian Federation was developed, and a little later, a draft design for an integrated system of the aerospace defense of Moscow and the Central Industrial Region.
A large amount of research has been carried out to identify and streamline the most important objects of the Armed Forces, the economy and infrastructure in the interests of improving the organization of their air defense. Active scientific research was carried out in the field of development of the unified air defense system of the CIS, formed in 1996.
In 2010–2011 there have been significant changes in the organization of air defense (VKO) of the country. To date, air defense forces and assets in the Air Force are concentrated in four Air Force and Air Defense Commands, each of which is operationally subordinate to the corresponding military district (in accordance with the new military-administrative division of the country, since December 1, 2010, four military districts have been operating in the Russian Federation - Western , Southern, Central and Eastern). The air defense corps and divisions that existed earlier were transformed into aerospace defense brigades. Fighter aviation has been reduced to air bases.
On the basis of the Space Forces, the Aerospace Defense Troops were formed. They include the Space Command (PRN systems and reconnaissance of the space situation) and the Air Defense-ABM Command, which provides aerospace defense of Moscow and the Central Industrial Region. It includes the Moscow missile defense system and three air defense brigades. On December 1, 2011, the troops of the East Kazakhstan region took up combat duty.
In recent years, the process of re-equipping the Air Defense Forces (VKO) with new equipment has significantly revived. The troops began to receive the latest S-400 air defense systems, Pantsir air defense systems, and 4+ generation fighters. The latest radar equipment is supplied to the radio engineering troops. Control systems are equipped with ever more intelligent and fast automation systems. The country's leadership announced impressive amounts of funding for the Armed Forces, planned for the period up to 2020. The implementation of these plans will significantly increase the rate of rearmament of the troops and ensure a significant increase in their combat capabilities.
The experience of local wars and armed conflicts of recent decades convincingly testifies to the steady increase in the role of aviation in modern war. Outer space is also becoming more potentially dangerous. Under these conditions, the issues of improving the means and methods of countering potential threats from the air and space are becoming increasingly important.
The modern system of aerospace defense of the Russian Federation is designed to provide a solution to the entire set of tasks of combat in aerospace:
- warning of air, missile and space attacks, reconnaissance of the air and space situation and notification of troops about it;
- protection of the state border of the Russian Federation in the airspace and control of the procedure for using the airspace;
- reflection of aggression in the aerospace sphere, air and missile defense of the most important objects of state and military administration, key objects of the Armed Forces, economy and infrastructure.
The Air Defense Forces have traveled a glorious and difficult path. There were ups and downs, moments of glory and years of disappointments, high achievements and failures. And today they rightfully remain at the forefront of the defense of the Fatherland, strengthening and increasing the military glory of our grandfathers and fathers.
Boris Leonidovich ZARETSKY
Candidate of Military Sciences, Corresponding Member of the AVN, Senior Researcher at the Air Defense Research Center (Tver)
Yuri Timofeevich ALEKHIN
candidate of technical sciences, professor of AVN, senior researcher at the Air Defense Research Center (Tver)
Sergei Glebovich KUTSENKO
senior researcher at the Air Defense Research Center (Tver)
