On the occasion of the professional holiday - Day of formation of the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces , to questions from a correspondent of the newspaper “Ural Military News” Sergei Korogod answers.

- Valery Yuryevich, you recently headed the air defense forces of the district. How do you assess the level of their combat skills? What are the results of the completed academic year?

Summing up the results of combat training in 2016, we can say with confidence that the air defense troops of the military district coped with the assigned tasks.
Mine high level The air defense forces of the Central Military District once again confirmed their combat training at this year’s exercises, all-army competitions and field exercises at the Kapustin Yar training ground in the Astrakhan region, where excellent and good ratings were received based on the results of live firing.

- What priorities have you outlined for yourself in combat training of troops? How will the experience of recent armed conflicts be used in combat training?

The main priorities of combat training will be related to increasing the field training of personnel of formations and military units, preparation and participation in tactical exercises with live firing at the Kapustin Yar training ground, mastering the incoming new types of weapons and military equipment, as well as participation in all-army competitions.
As you noted, a lot of analytical work is being done to assess the experience of recent armed conflicts. Together with the Military Academy of Military Air Defense of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, new forms and methods of conducting combat operations are being developed, which are tested and implemented during scheduled combat training classes, during exercises and field exercises of air defense troops. Particular attention is paid to non-standard methods of combat use of enemy air reconnaissance assets, anti-aircraft missiles and anti-aircraft artillery systems, which have become widespread in the last 2-3 years.

- Today, the Armed Forces continue to re-equip themselves with the latest models of equipment. How modern technical means and the weapons that the district’s air defense units are currently equipped with? To what extent do they meet the objectives?

The air defense troops of the military district continue their planned rearmament with new, modern designs weapons and special equipment. We are working together with industry representatives to modernize and maintain equipment. The question of how modern the technical equipment and weapons that the military units and air defense units of the district are currently equipped with can be answered by the results of the exhibitions and displays held, the interest of foreign experts in domestic air defense weapons and the number of contracts concluded.
Anti-aircraft missile systems and complexes prove their reliability, noise immunity and multi-channel capabilities not only in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, but also in countries that import our weapons.
Returning to the experience of recent armed conflicts, we can say that military air defense military equipment has proven itself to be reliable, unpretentious to various climatic conditions and relatively easy to operate, making it possible to reliably carry out missions to destroy enemy air in the entire range of speeds and altitudes.

- How fully are air defense units staffed with officers and soldiers? How is the training of specialists for anti-aircraft missile and radio engineering troops? Which option of service is preferable - conscription or contract?

The Air Defense Forces, traditionally, just like the Air Force, have always enjoyed increased interest from those wishing to connect their destiny with the profession of Defender of the Fatherland, as a result of which it can be noted that the troops are well staffed.
Whatever the power and combat capabilities of modern military air defense weapons, only real professionals, whose training is given close attention, can use them with high efficiency.
Specialists such as senior and junior officers are trained at the Marshal Military Academy of Military Air Defense of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky.
Training of junior specialists for military air defense is carried out at the Yeisk and Orenburg training centers.
Priority in recruiting air defense troops of the military district is given to military personnel serving under contract - this is due to the incoming new types of weapons and special equipment that require special training and preparedness of personnel.

- Which of your subordinates and which military teams would you commend for the better?

Based on the results of the past academic year, the air defense troops of the military district showed decent combat training. And it’s difficult to single out anyone in particular. All teams deserve prizes. I would like to commend for the better the commander of the anti-aircraft missile unit, Colonel Alexei Nikolaenkov, and the head of the command post, Lieutenant Colonel Roman Anokhin.

- What festive events are planned in the air defense forces of the district?

In the air defense forces of the military district, ceremonial meetings will traditionally be held with the participation of veterans of the air defense forces, where they will convey the order of the commander of the troops of the Central Military District, Colonel General Vladimir Zarudnitsky, in which the best specialists of the military air defense will be recognized and rewarded with departmental awards based on the results of combat training of the past academic year.
In conclusion, I would like to cordially congratulate the anti-aircraft gunners, veterans of the air defense forces, scientific and labor teams who have contributed and continue to improve the air defense shield of the Fatherland, on our professional holiday, wish them good health and further success in protecting the air borders of our Motherland.

Born on July 28, 1969, graduated from the Leningrad VZRKU (1990) with honors, the Military Academy of Air Defense of the Ground Forces of the Russian Federation (1997) with honors, and the Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (2007). He served in the Leningrad Military District as a crew chief, deputy commander of an anti-aircraft missile battery, and commander of an anti-aircraft missile battery. He served as commander of an anti-aircraft missile battery in the Western Group of Forces and commander of a separate anti-aircraft missile division, chief of staff of an anti-aircraft missile unit in the Moscow Military District. From November 2002 to August 2016, he served in the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces as a senior operator officer, group chief, department head, and deputy department chief. On August 11, 2016, by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, he was appointed head of the air defense and aviation forces of the Central Military District. Married, has a son and daughter.

Major General BURMAN Georgy Vladimirovich

Head of the defense of Petrograd from air attack (1914-1915). Head of the air defense of Petrograd and Tsarskoe Selo (1915). Head of defense against air attack of the imperial residence in Tsarskoe Selo and Petrograd (1915-1917). Head of the air defense of Petrograd (1917-1918).

Russian military leader.

In military service since September 1883. Graduated from the 1st Cadet Corps (1883), Nikolaev Engineering School (1886). He served in the following positions: teaching in the senior class of a sapper battalion school, commanding a company, directing a school for soldiers’ children, heading a non-commissioned officer class, and serving as a battalion adjutant. Since 1905 . - Adjutant Inspector General for Engineering of the Military Department, from August 1908 - Head of the Officer Electrical School (OESH).

During the First World War, while remaining the head of the OES, he headed the air defense in the following positions: head of the defense of Petrograd against air attack (from November 30, 1914); head of the air defense of Petrograd and Tsarskoye Selo (from 05/11/1915); head of defense against air attack of the imperial residence in Tsarskoye Selo and Petrograd (from 07/22/1915); head of the air defense of Petrograd (from 08/31/1917). At the same time, from May 1916, he was chairman of the Committee under the Main Military-Technical Directorate for the Construction of Permanent Radio Stations. Under his leadership and with his personal participation, an air (anti-aircraft) defense system was created for Petrograd and its environs.

During the Civil War in Russia: head of the Military Electrotechnical School (VESH, until 03.1918 - Petrograd, until 03.1919 - Sergiev Posad), assistant to the military head of the Military Council of the Petrograd District (03-04.1918), from March 1919 to February 1922 - inspector engineering schools and courses, at the same time reorganized the Higher School of Economics into the electrical engineering department of the Soviet Engineering School of the Red Army command staff, and. Head of this department (04/03/1919), then was seconded to the department (04/07/1919). He was arrested unjustifiably and placed in prison where he died of typhus (1922).

Awards: Order of St. Stanislaus, 3rd class. (1895), St. Anne 3rd Art. (1898), 2nd Art. (1904), St. Vladimir 3rd Art. (1909).

General of Artillery KHOLODOVSKY Nikolai Ivanovich

Acting as non-staff chief of air defense of the Odessa Military District (1916-1917).

Russian military leader.

In military service since September 1869. Graduated from the Poltava Cadet Corps (1869), Mikhailovsky Artillery School (1872, 1st category).

He served in the following positions: company commander of the Kyiv fortress artillery (09.1877 - 08.1886), battalion commander (05.1885 - 08.1886), head of practical training (08.1886 - 11.1893), commander of the fortress artillery battalion (11.1893 - 04.1898). From April 1898 - commander of the Kwantung Fortress Artillery, from August 1900 - head of the artillery unit of the Kwantung Region, from February 1903 - assistant chief of artillery of the Amur Military District. In January-February 1904 - at the disposal of the Main Artillery Directorate. Participant in the Russian-Japanese War (1904 - 1905): general for special assignments under the Viceroy of His Imperial Majesty in the Far East (03.1904 - 08.1905). Chief of siege artillery of the Manchu armies (08.1905 - 05.1907). From May 1907 - chief of artillery of the Odessa Military District, from January 1916 - chief of the district artillery department of the OdVO. In February 1916 . involved in solving the problems of air defense (AD) of the district, and. non-staff chief of the Odessa Military District (06.1916 - 01.1917). Chief of artillery supplies for the armies of the Romanian Front (1917). Later - in exile.

Awards: Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd class. with swords (1903), St. Stanislaus 1st Art. (1904), St. Anne 1st Art. with swords (1906), St. Vladimir 2nd Art. (1911), White Eagle (1915); foreign awards.

Major General FEDOROV I.A.

Chief of Air Defense of the Odessa Military District (1917)

Russian military leader.

In 1916, in the reserve ranks of the district artillery department of the Odessa Military District. From January to April 1917 and. non-staff chief of air defense of the district, since April - full-time head of air defense of the Odessa Military District.

In December 1917, due to disagreement with the tasks assigned to the military leadership of air defense, he was removed from his position.

Air Defense Forces (until March 1998)

Divisional Commander BLAZHEVICH Joseph Frantsevich

Air defense inspector and head of the air defense service of the Red Army (1930).

Soviet military leader.

In military service since September 1910. Graduated from the Vilna Infantry Military School (1913), Military Academic Courses for Higher Command Staff of the Red Army (1922). During the First World War: in command positions from the head of a reconnaissance team, platoon commander to battalion commander, lieutenant colonel. In October 1917 he was sent to enter the Academy of the General Staff, and in February 1918 he was transferred to the reserve. In July 1918 he joined the Red Army.

During the Civil War: assistant regiment commander of the Moscow Division, head of the operational department of the group of forces of the 5th Army (1918), commander of the 1st Simbirsk separate rifle brigade, 3rd brigade of the 27th rifle division, 26th and 27th rifle divisions (1919), commander of the 59th rifle division (until 12.1920), commander of the 1st Army of the Turkestan Front (12.1920-01.1921). Since September 1922 . commander of the rifle corps in the Volga, then in the Belarusian military district. Since 1926 . in the Main Directorate of the Red Army - inspector of the rifle-tactical department. Air defense inspector (since 12.1929). Directly participated in the formation of one of the first air defense formations for the defense of Moscow. Head of the 6th Directorate of the Red Army Headquarters, at the same time an air defense inspector and head of the Red Army Air Defense Service (05 - 10.1930). With his direct participation, the country's first general air defense plan for 1930-1933 was developed. and fundamental documents on the organization of air defense, including regulations on the country's air defense. Since December 1930 . - inspector, then head of the air defense inspection, from October 1933 - deputy head of the air defense department of the Red Army.

Unreasonably repressed (1939). Rehabilitated (1956, posthumously).

Awards of the Russian Empire, republics before 1918 not identified (the service record dated July 22, 1920 states that I.F. Blazhevich had “all the insignia of military distinction in the old army” and presented himself in 1915 G. to the ranks of “lieutenant” and “staff captain” ahead of schedule “for military distinction”).

Awards of the RSFSR, USSR: 2 Orders of the Red Banner (1920, 1924).

Divisional Commander KUCHINSKY Dmitry Alexandrovich

Head of the 6th Directorate of the Red Army Headquarters (air defense, 1930-1931).

Soviet military leader.

In military service since 1916. He graduated from an accelerated course at the Alekseevsky Military Engineering School (1917), the Military Academy of the Red Army (1922), and advanced training courses for senior command personnel (1926).

In the First World War: commander of an engineer semi-company, then company commander, warrant officer. Chairman of the regimental committee (from 11.1917), later headed the demobilization commission of the rifle corps. Since May 1918 - in the Red Army. During the Civil War in Russia: senior instructor of the 1st Moscow Cavalry Regiment (05-12/1918), commander of a separate combined cavalry division (01-03/1919).

After the war - in responsible staff positions: senior assistant to the division chief of staff for operational affairs, chief of staff of the 3rd combat sector of the Tambov province, head of socio-economic sciences of the Military Academy of the Red Army (1921 - 1922). In 1922 - 1923 - service in the troops of the OGPU of the Republic as head of school and educational institutions, head of the military service department, inspector. From April 1924 at the Red Army Headquarters: head of the 1st department of organizational management (04 - 11.1924), head of the department of organizational and mobilization management (11.1924 - 04.1925). From April 1925 - assistant, from November of the same year - deputy head of the same department. In September 1926 - head of the 1st department of the 2nd directorate of the Red Army Headquarters. Since August 1928 - Chief of Staff of the 14th Rifle Corps. Head of the 6th Directorate of the Red Army Headquarters (air defense, 10/01/1930 - 01/31/1931).

He took an active part in the preparation of the general program for the deployment of active air defense units for 1930-1932. for the defense of the country's main points and facilities in border military districts. From February 1931 - chief of staff of the Ukrainian (from May 1935 - Kyiv) military district, at the same time from November 1934 - member of the Military Council of the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR. In April 1936 - head and commissar of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Red Army.

Unreasonably repressed (1938). Rehabilitated (1956, posthumously).

Awards: (not installed).

Brigade commander MEDVEDEV Mikhail Evgenievich

Head of the 6th Directorate of the Red Army Headquarters (from April 1932 - Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army) (1931-1934).

In military service since October 1915. Graduated from the accelerated course of the Vladimir Infantry Military School (1916), Officer machine gun courses (1916), incomplete accelerated course of the Academy of the General Staff (1919), Military Academic Courses for the Higher Command of the Red Army (1922), accelerated course of the Academy of the General Staff at the Higher Military School of Observer Pilots (1924).

In the First World War - head of the machine gun team, staff captain. From January 1917 - in the ranks of the Red Guard, then - the Red Army. During the Civil War in Russia: chief of staff of the brigade, commander of the Gomel fortress brigade, 1st Kazan and 32nd (08.1919 - 09.1920) rifle divisions. After the war - head of a rifle division (1922). Since July 1924 - assistant for operational combat to the chief of the Air Force of the Leningrad Military District, then chief of staff of the district Air Force (until 09.1926). Since September 1926, head of the 3rd department (Air Force and Air Defense) of the operational directorate of the Red Army Headquarters. In 1928, he was transferred to the reserve of the Red Army with a secondment to the Supreme Economic Council of the USSR for appointment as head of the defense industry faculty for air defense courses. Here he also headed the training courses for senior air defense instructors. Head of the 6th Directorate of the Red Army Headquarters (during its reorganization in April 1932) - the Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army (04.1931 - 07.1934).

He took an active part in the preparation of guidance documents on the organization of air defense, including regulations on local air defense units, on air defense air defense units of the country's territory. In July 1934, he was removed from his position, in August he was transferred to the reserves, and later transferred to the reserve (1935). Head of the construction of the Western Railway hospital in Pokrovsky-Glebov.

Unreasonably repressed (1937). Rehabilitated (1956, posthumously).

Russian Awardsnot identified before 1918.

Awards of the RSFSR: Order of the Red Banner (1922).

Commander 1st Rank KAMENEV Sergey Sergeevich

Head of the Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army (1934-1936).

Soviet statesman and military leader. He graduated from the Vladimir Kiev Cadet Corps (1898), the Alexander Military School (1900, 1st category). Nikolaev Military Academy of the General Staff (1907, 1st category).

Served in the following positions: battalion adjutant of the 165th Infantry Regiment (1900 - 1904), company commander (11.1907 - 11.1909), assistant to the senior adjutant of the headquarters of the Irkutsk Military District (11.1909 - 02.1910), senior adjutant of the headquarters of the 2nd Cavalry Division (02.1910 - 11.1911), assistant to the senior adjutant of the headquarters of the Vilna Military District (11.1911 - 09.1914).

During the First World War: senior adjutant of the quartermaster general's department of the 1st Army headquarters (09.1914 - 04.1917), elected commander of the 30th Pavlovsk infantry regiment (04 - 11.1917), elected chief of staff of the 15th Army Corps, then 3rd army (11.1917 - 04.1918), colonel (1915).

From April 1918 - in the Red Army. During the Civil War in Russia: military leader of the Nevelsky district of the Western section of the curtain detachments (04-06/1918), commander of the 1st Vitebsk Infantry Division (06-08/1918), military leader of the Western section of the curtain and at the same time military leader of the Smolensk region (08/1918). From September 1918 to July 1919 (with a break in May 1919) - commander of the troops of the Eastern Front. Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic and member of the RVSR (07/08/1919 - 04/1924). Since April 1924 . - Inspector of the Red Army, member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR, from March 1925 - Chief of Staff of the Red Army, remaining in the position of inspector - chief leader of all military academies in tactics. Chief Inspector (11.1925 - 08.1926), from August 1926 - Head of the Main Directorate of the Red Army, from May 1927 - Deputy People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs and Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR (05.1927 - 06.1934). Head of the Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army (07/01/1934 - 08/25/1936), since November 1934 - member of the Military Council under the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR.

He actively took measures to improve the material and technical support of air defense formations and units, and to improve the overall structure of the air defense of the country.

On August 25, 1936 he died of a heart attack. Later, he was unfoundedly accused of anti-Soviet activities. Completely rehabilitated (1956).

Awards: Order of St. Stanislaus, 3rd class. (1912), Red Banner (1920); Honorary revolutionary weapon with the Order of the Red Banner (1921); Golden weapons with the Order of the Red Banner (1922); Order of the Red Banner of Khorezm, Red Crescent, 1st class. Bukhara People's Soviet Republics (1922).

Commander 2nd rank SEDYAKIN Alexander Ignatievich

Head of the Red Army Air Defense Directorate (1937).

Soviet military leader, military theorist.

In military service since 1914. He graduated from the accelerated course of the Irkutsk Military School (1915), Military Academic Courses for Higher Command Staff of the Red Army (1923).

During the First World War: commander of an infantry platoon, company, battalion, head of a regiment's machine gun team, staff captain. Chairman of the regimental soldiers' committee (from 03.1917), the military revolutionary committee (MRC) of the 5th Army of the Northern Front (from 11.1917).

At the beginning of 1918, he took part in the formation of the first regiments and divisions of the Red Army. During the Civil War in Russia: military commissar of the Pskov rifle division (05 - 08.1918), commander of an infantry regiment and brigade Eastern Front(08 - 12.1918). From January 1919 - assistant to the commander of the Group of Forces of the Kursk (from February - Don) direction and the 13th Army, in August - military commissar of the headquarters of the Southern Front. From September 1919 - head of the 31st Infantry Division, from February 1920 . - 15th Infantry Division. Since October 1920 . headed the 1st, then 10th reserve brigades. In March 1921, he led the Southern Group of Forces of the 7th Army in suppressing the Kronstadt Uprising. Military commandant of the Kronstadt fortress (1921), commander of the troops of the Karelian region of the Petrograd military district (1921 - 1922). From November 1923 - commander of the 5th Red Banner Army in the Far East, from March 1924 - troops of the Volga Military District. Since 1926, deputy head of the Main Directorate of the Red Army, then inspector of infantry and armor of the Red Army, member of the permanent military conference at the Main Military Council of the Red Army. Since March 1931, he was the head and commissar of the Military-Technical Academy of the Red Army in Leningrad, and in 1932 - the head of the combat training department of the ground forces of the Red Army.

During this period, he paid special attention to the development of the theory and practice of military affairs, and took part in the development of the theory of deep combat and operations. Deputy Chief of Staff of the Red Army and inspector of higher military educational institutions of the Red Army (1934 - 1936). Head of the Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army (25.01 - 01.12.1937). With his direct participation, proposals were developed for the formation of air defense corps for the defense of Moscow, Leningrad, Baku, and air defense divisions for Kyiv. Appointed commander of the air defense of the Baku region, whose leadership he did not manage to join.

December 2, 1937 arrested, unreasonably repressed (1938). Rehabilitated (1956, posthumously).

Awards: 2 Orders of the Red Banner (1921,1922).

Major General KOBLENTS Grigory Mikhailovich

Acting chief of air defense of the Red Army (1938).

Soviet military leader. He graduated from the Military Academy of the Red Army (1924), advanced training courses for senior command personnel (1929).

Member of the First World War, second lieutenant. During the Civil War in Russia - commander of the 1st machine gun regiment named after V.I. Lenin.

After the war: Chief of Staff of the 26th Infantry Division (1922). Head of the department of the Administration of Military Educational Institutions of the Red Army (1930 - 1932), head and military commissar of the united Belarusian Military School named after the Central Executive Committee of the BSSR (1932-1933). From April 1933, he headed the 1st Department (Air Defense Services) in the Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army. Acting Head of the Air Defense of the Red Army (04-11.1938). Later - full-time deputy head of the Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army. Since February 1939 - teaching at the Military Academy named after. M.V. Frunze, head of the 2nd faculty (air defense).

During the Great Patriotic War: head of the Higher School of Air Defense and at the same time deputy commander of the Gorky Corps Air Defense District (1942 - 1943). From May 1944 - Deputy Commander of the Southern Air Defense Front, from March 1945 - Deputy Commander of the 3rd Air Defense Corps.

During the Soviet-Japanese War (1945): chief of staff of the Amur Air Defense Army, then chief of staff of the Far Eastern Air Defense Army (07.1947), deputy chief of staff of the Far Eastern Air Defense District. Discharged from active military service to the reserve (1947).

Awards: Order of Lenin, 2 Orders of the Red Banner, Order of the Patriotic War 1st class, Order of the Red Star, medals.

Major General of Artillery POLYAKOV Yakov Korneevich

Head of the Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army (1938-1940).

Soviet military leader.

In military service since May 1915. Graduated from the Artillery School of Commanders of the South-Western Front (1920), Artillery Advanced Courses for Commanders (1926), Advanced Courses for Anti-Aircraft Artillery Commanders (1932), Advanced Courses for Air Defense Anti-Aircraft Artillery Commanders (1936).

During the First World War - fireworks in artillery units. Demobilized (after 11/1917). In the Red Army for mobilization (from 11/1918). During the Civil War in Russia: platoon commander, battery.

After the war: commander of an artillery division, assistant commander of an artillery regiment. Since December 1932 - commander of an air defense regiment in the Belarusian Military District, since August 1937 - commander of a separate air defense brigade. Head of the Red Army Air Defense Directorate (10/31/1938 - 06/1940). Under his leadership, measures were taken to deploy an air defense system in the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus, the Baltic republics and Moldova, which became part of the USSR in 1939 - 1940.

From June 1940 - assistant to the commander of the Far Eastern Front Group for Air Defense, from August - assistant to the commander of the Far Eastern Front for Air Defense, from May 1941 - also commander of the Far Eastern Air Defense Zone.

During the Soviet-Japanese War (1945) - commander of the Amur Air Defense Army of the 2nd Far Eastern Front. Since October 1945 - Commander of the Far Eastern Air Defense Army, since June 1946 - Deputy Commander of the Far Eastern Air Defense District. In July 1947, he was transferred from active military service to the reserve (due to illness).

Awards: Order of Lenin, 2 Orders of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Star; medals of the Russian Empire and the USSR.

Lieutenant General KOROLEV Mikhail Filippovich

Head of the Red Army Air Defense Directorate (1940).

Soviet military leader. In military service since 1915. Graduated from the Artillery Advanced Courses for Command Staff of the Red Army (1926), Artillery Command and Technical Advanced Courses (1934).

During the First World War - a junior non-commissioned officer in artillery units of the Southwestern Front. In June 1919 he was mobilized into the Red Army.

During the Civil War in Russia: platoon commander, battery. After the war: commander of a horse artillery division (from 1924), then chief of artillery of the horse corps. Since June 1938, head of the air defense department of the headquarters of the Kyiv Military District, since December - head of the Leningrad artillery advanced training courses for command personnel.

Lieutenant General Alexander Golovko- appointed Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces - Commander of the Air and Missile Defense Forces in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin No. 394 from 01.08.2015

The Chief of the General Staff had two “pure” deputies - the first and simply the deputy. The history of the appearance of the latter was due to the need to deal with issues related to internal garrison affairs. Typically, the second deputy was very rarely involved in carrying out tasks of an operational nature. Before me, General I. G. Karpov held this position. The predecessor limited his responsibilities more to the internal affairs of the life of the garrison. This could not suit me, which I told General S.F. Romanov even during our first conversation before his appointment to a new position. I absolutely did not want to turn into just a business executive. The general agreed with me. Apparently, taking this into account, immediately upon arrival at the General Headquarters, I was involved in an uninterrupted chain of exercises and tasks of an operational nature.

A year earlier, Aviation Lieutenant General Igor Mikhailovich Maltsev was appointed S. F. Romanov’s first deputy. During the period of my appointment, illness put him out of action for several months, so that with my appearance, the Chief of the General Staff did not have to clearly delineate the field of my activity.

The head of the Operations Directorate was Lieutenant General B.I. Smirnov.

On June 11, as part of a group of officers led by Deputy. The Commander-in-Chief for Combat Training, Colonel General of Artillery Alexei Grigoryevich Smirnov, we went to air defense exercises of the Warsaw Pact countries. I had to visit Kyiv and Minsk.

In Kyiv, I had the opportunity to meet with V.D. Lavrinenkov, N.N. Usenko and other colleagues. There were many meetings with acquaintances and friends in Minsk, where comrades from the Air Force and armies of the Warsaw Pact countries gathered to debrief the exercise.

The analysis of the Zenit-80 exercise was conducted by the Commander-in-Chief, Air Marshal A.I. Koldunov.

On June 26, I was called for a conversation at the CPSU Central Committee, where former colleagues, political workers of the 8th Air Defense Army P. I. Grigoriev and V. V. Zhukov asked how I felt about my appointment. I replied that it suits me. They promised not to delay the order. This ended the meeting.

The family really liked the town of Zarya. Well landscaped. Beautiful nature near Moscow. Fresh air. In addition, it is close to Moscow, near Monino, not far from Noginsk - one might say, our native places. He got married in Moscow, in the village. Glukhovo, near Noginsk, both daughters were born. A lot was connected with Monino, where I began my officer service.

At the first opportunity I visited Monino. I met there with my first regiment commander, Colonel I.F. Karkan, fellow soldier, Lieutenant Colonel I.F. Orlov, and instructor, Colonel I.I. Bykov. All of them were long retired and worked at the Air Force Museum. Soon I restored relations with Air Marshal Stepan Akimovich Krasovsky, which continued until his death. I thanked fate that the family was in such a good place. The eventful service in Ukraine and Azerbaijan was left behind. Here a new page began, figuratively speaking, a new takeoff with a sudden “rough landing,” i.e. with an unusual end to military service.

On July 29, the XXII Olympic Games opened in Moscow. It was a breathtaking sight. We watched all the days of the Olympics on television.

The order for my appointment was delayed, but I got involved in work, carrying out simple, unsystematic instructions from my boss. There was a lot of new things here for me, so I took a closer look, tried to understand my multifaceted responsibilities and find the most effective moves in my work. I had already worked out the methodology for mastering a new position. The Main Headquarters of the Air Defense Forces is a high, serious authority. You need to be completely dedicated to your work; there are no trifles here, since every seemingly small mistake can develop into a major problem. The closeness of the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense was felt throughout. At any moment they could be called to report on a wide variety of issues, i.e. one should always be ready for important meetings with high authorities, and most importantly, be competent, not let the troops and their superiors down.

On July 18, the Minister of Defense, Marshal of the Soviet Union D.F. Ustinov signed an order on my appointment. The date of signing coincided with the signing of the order in 1978 upon appointment to the Air Defense Forces. Now my service at the General Staff has acquired legality. I was not afraid of the functions of the head of the garrison. I looked at them as an additional payload. The main work was concentrated at the General Staff on operational issues, where there was a feeling of scale and required relevant experience and knowledge. Here the team, in terms of experience and training, was an order of magnitude higher than in the district, much more complex and structural organization The General Staff and the Main Command with the Central Command Post (CCP).

From August 1 to August 8, he carried out the order of the Commander-in-Chief to check the state of military discipline at the Balkhash training ground. We worked together with Major General I.A. We are hearing from the political department and a group of officers. This business trip contributed to the study of the test site as a whole, gaining an idea of ​​the scale and importance of the tasks being solved there in testing new systems and types of weapons for the Air Defense Forces. At that time, the training ground was commanded by General V.I. Kuzikov. There were many emergency incidents at the test site due to indiscipline. General Kuzikov hid the true state of affairs, abusing the trust of the Commander-in-Chief. Based on the results of the inspection, the Commander-in-Chief issued an order.

On August 9, Sasha and Marina Lentsov visited us. We first met Sasha, my niece's husband. After graduating from the Ryazan Airborne School, Sasha was one of the first paratroopers to fight in Afghanistan. He was already the deputy commander of a reconnaissance company and came on vacation. We talked with him for a long time about this war, our assessments coincided, they were not in favor of those who started it.

On August 11, I attended a meeting for the first time at the General Staff with Army General V.I. Varennikov. The talk was about a significant adjustment to the system of commander training in the Armed Forces. It was necessary to raise the importance of officer training, which required the development of a number of measures that would increase the quality of training and the interest of officers themselves in it. In the Main Command, this work was entrusted to a commission headed by General A.G. Smirnov. I was also included in the commission.

Even after my return from Balkhash, the Chief of the General Staff gave me the task of preparing for strategic exercises in the south of the country. Soon, a group of General Staff officers and I flew out to the Yug-80 exercise, whose headquarters were located in Baku. The teaching covered the entire southern region of the country. It was led by the Chief of the General Staff, Marshal N.V. Ogarkov. During the exercises, I visited Baku, Tashkent, and Tbilisi. In terms of design and scale, the exercise was interesting and useful for its participants. For me it was especially valuable, since for the first time I had the opportunity to observe the work of the Chief of the General Staff, commanders of military districts with their headquarters, and directly participate in the work of exercises as part of the operational group of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces. That was a real higher academy for me.

Most of all, I tried to remember the hearing process. Marshal N.V. Ogarkov amazed with his tirelessness. Laconic and calm, he meticulously listened to the reports of all the heads of the military branches and services, while showing exceptional tact. I had the opportunity to verify his deep knowledge, the special thinking of a major military leader, his ability to assess the situation during the training, and draw unexpected logical conclusions that rarely anyone could reach on their own. We must pay tribute, the marshal did not interrupt the speakers in vain, did not rush them, gave them time to find the correct assessment or draw an acceptable conclusion. I liked his logic and clarity of formulation. While in Baku, the marshal wanted to visit the command post of the former Baku Air Defense District. General Romanov instructed me to prepare the command post for his visit and accompany the marshal, giving explanations if necessary. The marshal visited the command post on August 28. I asked him to pay attention to the powerful equipment of the command post with all types of communications. This alone, not to mention the security, indicated the advisability of further using the command post of the High Command Headquarters in the Southern Direction being deployed in Baku. The marshal, in order to verify the correctness of my report, demanded to connect via radio relay with one of the anti-aircraft missile divisions of the Yerevan air defense brigade. Beforehand, he asked me a question: “How long before you can contact the missile defense commander?” I answered: “In 2.5 - 3 minutes.” After 3 minutes, the marshal himself spoke with the air defense commander, and I took the moment to once again express my bewilderment at the weakening of the air defense system in the southern direction due to the disbandment of the Baku Air Defense District. The Marshal clearly did not like my judgment, but I could not restrain myself in this matter.

During the exercises, I had the opportunity to be close to S. F. Romanov for several days and saw his noticeable excitement before each hearing. He behaved quite nervously towards me.

After returning from exercises in the south, I received the task of leading a meeting of the heads of army service departments at the base of the Yaroslavl Air Defense Corps. The training camps were held from September 3 to 6. At that time, the corps was commanded by General R. S. Akchurin, and the chief of staff was Colonel G. A. Kabanov, both of my old acquaintances and colleagues. They did everything necessary to make the classes successful.

On September 11-12, I had to work in Kyiv on issues of checking the combat readiness of the IAP in Vasilkov and the progress of commander training. In Kyiv I saw my grandson Sasha for the first time; he was 3.5 months old.

After returning from Kyiv, I was assigned to create a joint air force and air defense command post. The initiative to create such command posts came from the Air Force, in particular from the Chief of the Air Force Main Staff, Colonel General of Aviation G.P. Skorikov. This was one of the manifestations of the oppression of the Air Defense Forces, the interception of the initiative in the combat control of air defense forces and means by the Air Force. This question is quite complicated; it entailed a number of problems, major disputes, and required a lot of time and money to create experienced joint command posts, conduct exercises and other research.

At that time, generals V.V. Druzhinin and V.I. Chursin were dealing with these issues at our headquarters, now I had to deal with them too. Numerous meetings began at the General Staff with representatives of the Air Force and under the leadership of comrades from the General Staff. At that time, the Air Force and Air Defense Directorate of the General Staff was headed by Aviation Lieutenant General V. S. Abramov; subsequently, the Air Defense Directorate separated, and Artillery Lieutenant General E. V. Kalashnikov became its head. I was very familiar with both. The deputy stood above them. Head of the State Educational Institution, Colonel General V.P. Shutov. Meetings on projects for unifying command posts were heated, often developing into violent disputes. Our side, the country's air defense, stubbornly defended its point of view, clearly arguing all the disadvantages of such a union. The VVES members stood their ground. They enjoyed the patronage of the Chief of the General Staff. We understood that the unification of command posts would be followed by the unification of the air force and air defense services, which is generally unacceptable for successfully solving the problems of repelling the air strikes of a potential enemy.

Following the idea of ​​​​creating joint command posts, the idea of ​​​​creating a single radar field was put forward. New disputes began between the General Staff, which took three years. I gradually became involved in the work of solving problems that would develop into a struggle for the return of air defense divisions and corps transferred in 1980 from border military districts to air defense formations. This struggle will become the main content of my service at the General Staff until 1985 inclusive.

On a personal level, the issue of an apartment for the family has not yet been resolved. The commander in chief delayed the decision. It was October. I was nominated for the next rank, there was hope that I would be awarded. Along with purely operational issues, I also found time for internal garrison affairs. When I got acquainted with the life of the personnel of the support units, I noticed the poor equipment of the barracks, a wretched bathhouse, a lack of warehouses, insulated garages, and the lack of an equipped point in the vehicle fleet Maintenance motor transport. There was no gym, etc. in the service town. To attract the attention of the leadership to this, I reported everything to the First Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Colonel General E. S. Yurasov. He was sympathetic to the problems of the service town and decided to personally inspect all the objects in question. We walked around the town together, and Evgeniy Sergeevich supported me on the issue of the need for construction. I also reported to General S. F. Romanov about the state of the garrison’s facilities. The construction of urgently needed facilities began in the garrison, mainly on an economic basis. A lot of problems have accumulated in the residential town of Zarya.

Together with the unit commanders, Colonels N.A. Nidelko and L.A. Murzintsev, they set about upgrading Zarya. They equipped playgrounds and a beach, tidied up sidewalks and lighting, built and placed benches, and cleared the area of ​​thickets and debris. We carried out this work constantly. In all my endeavors, Major General V.A. Belousov, the head of the Organizational and Mobilization Directorate, helped me. When I went on a business trip, he automatically took over garrison affairs. The energetic, highly trained Colonel Evgeniy Mikhailovich Yatskov, head of the administrative and economic department of the General Staff, provided me with good assistance in resolving internal garrison issues.

On October 15, while I was on vacation, General P.K. Malgov called me and conveyed the request of the Chief of the General Staff to come to him on October 16. At the meeting, General S. F. Romanov said that I was invited to a conversation by the First Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Army General V. I. Varennikov. The call came not through General E.V. Kalashnikov, but through the head of the personnel department of the General Staff, Lieutenant General N.K. Bobkov, so it was not difficult to guess that the conversation would be about a new position. On the second day, a meeting took place with General V.I. Varennikov. It lasted no more than 10 minutes in the presence of Colonel General V.Ya. Abolinsa. The general asked me several questions about my service, he was interested in my service in the Air Force. I understood that they were testing for an appointment to the General Staff, but I did not show excessive curiosity. When asked if there were any questions, he replied that there were no questions. Although the General Staff is an authoritative institution, I did not want to leave the troops. It was still unknown how the Commander-in-Chief would look at this. I don’t know what influenced it, maybe I didn’t like it, but they left me alone.

MEETING WITH AIR MARSHAL S. A. KRASOVSKY

On October 19, 1980, I visited Air Marshal S.A. Krasovsky at his dacha in the village of Monino. We spent almost two hours together. Stepan Akimovich always surprised me with the sharpness of his memory. I don’t remember everything from his stories, but I’ll try to reproduce some of them. The marshal shared his memories of his service in Krasnodar before the war, how he mastered the unfamiliar position of head of an aviation school, how he studied the work of teachers (he divided them into three groups: strong, middle and weak). When appointed People's Commissar, Marshal Timoshenko asked him: "Why do you consider yourself prepared for the position of head of the school?" Krasovsky replied: “Because I can see my own shortcomings without the Moscow commission.” Tymoshenko: “Then why do you have them?” Krasovsky: “Because there is not enough time to eliminate them.”

One more episode. In one of the air garrisons, 100 recently planted poplars were broken. When the general was informed about this, he ordered 250 trees to be planted in three days. They didn't break it anymore.

The marshal said sadly, as if talking to himself: “When I was removed and given a pension of 300 rubles (the usual general’s), I turned to Grechko and told him that it was good to move from 300 to 800, but from 800 to 300 it was hard.” Grechko: “You have money!” Krasovsky: “Yes, there is. It will be enough for me to add to my pension for five years. Well, if in five years I don’t die, what should I do then? I don’t even have a car to sometimes drive to the doctor.” Grechko: “Buy it.” Krasovsky: “I can buy it, but who will drive it? Because of my age, I can’t do it anymore. And if I kill someone and they put me in prison, then I’ll say that Minister Grechko recommended that I drive a car.” After this conversation, Grechko gave an order to the chief of staff to allow Krasovsky to provide a car upon call.

This conversation between the Minister of Defense and the retired marshal took place when Stepan Akimovich was in disgrace for his protest against the sharp reduction of the Air Force during the Khrushchev era. It took several years to restore his rights to preferential security.

I dedicate these lines to Marshal S.A. Krasovsky, because he belonged to the special guard of people in Russia in the twentieth century, who experienced too much in their lives: tsarist oppression, the civil war, the period of formation of the Soviet state, its defense during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 years. Each person who belonged to this guard has a rich personal biography. Not all of them managed to pass on to the new generation what they wanted during their lifetime. This was due to various reasons, but the main one was the prohibition and strict limitation by the party of a person’s desires. In every memoir, the forbidden was sought out. The notes were either emasculated before publication, or after publication the author came under fire from party criticism. In one of the conversations, the marshal told me that he had prepared a second book for publication, which he wanted to call “From bast shoes to the marshal’s star,” but the manuscript was not accepted for publication. The new book never appeared. In it, Stepan Akimovich, with his characteristic directness and courage, touched upon areas of life that “posterity should not know about.” Let these few lines dedicated to Marshal S.A. Krasovsky replenish the unknown pages from his rich biography.

At the beginning of November I visited my homeland in the village. Kholmsky Krasnodar region. I visited the graves of Vladik’s parents and brother. There I received the news that I had been awarded the rank of lieutenant general. I received several congratulatory telegrams from the Commander-in-Chief, the Chief of the General Staff, generals E.S. Yurasov, A.U. Konstantinov and other comrades. Corps commander V.I. Dikushin was at the Crimean air garrison at that time and was able to visit us in Kholmsky. A little earlier in October, my sister Liliya Makarovna was awarded the title of Honored Teacher of the RSFSR. We both had something to be happy about.

During my vacation in the village of Kholmsky, I managed to spend time in the mountains hunting with my old fellow countrymen. My constant friend Alexey Grigorievich Veter took care of this. This time I tried to take a closer look at the people in Kuban and their lives. I noticed that the people were getting rich. The main source of increased well-being for the vast majority of the population was labor on their plots. People have learned to grow vegetables, in particular tomatoes, and make decent profits from selling them in the outbacks of Russia, the North or Western Siberia. At the same time, their employment in social production became something secondary, relegated to the background, the ideas of socialism gave way to the ideas of private property. Prosperity separated people. High fences began to appear on personal plots, which separated neighbors from each other. Drunkenness flourished in the villages and villages. People could not manage their wealth wisely. Culture was hopelessly lagging behind. Clubs and palaces of culture became empty; people stopped going there. There was no talk about sports or anything else related to collective forms of moral and cultural education. I wondered what would happen next? Why do tendencies in the opposite direction develop in a country moving towards communism? At these moments I remembered my father, an old Bolshevik, when he sat for a long time at the table, clutching his big head with his hands, and said: “We’re going the wrong way, Lenin taught us the wrong way.” I returned from Kuban having rested in my native land and with better impressions from meetings with my sister Lilya, niece Victoria and friends. However, in the depths of my soul, doubt arose about the impeccability of managing the development of our society. Since then, I began to take a more critical approach to the analysis of social processes in the life of the state.

1981 SMALL, LOW SPEED, LOW ALTITUDE BALLOONS (LSB)

In the last days of December 1980 and at the beginning of the new year 1981, in the airspace of Poland and the USSR over the territory of the Baltic republics, duty radio air defense equipment began to detect small-sized, low-speed air targets - balloons flying at low altitudes in air mass flows. According to eyewitness reports, the balls had a diameter of 0.5 - 0.8 m, a length of up to 1 m, with a halyard up to 10 m long at the bottom. Judging by the marks from them on the radar screens, the reflective surface of the targets was determined from 0.1 to 0.3 square meters . m. The bulk of the balloons began to enter the airspace of Poland and the USSR from the Baltic Sea. There were suggestions that their launch was connected with the New Year holidays of the peoples of Scandinavia, but there were other versions. It was necessary to make a reasonable assessment of this phenomenon. The fact is that small-sized, low-speed targets, falling from the Baltic into the airspace of Poland and the USSR, followed in the direction of the air flow from the coast through the grouping of air defense systems of the Belarusian, Baltic, Moscow districts and further to the East, bringing a lot of concern, exhausting combat crews RTV, duty aviation forces. After all, the air defense forces on duty in these cases acted as they were prescribed when an unidentified air target appeared in the airspace. A special commission was tasked with answering the questions of who launches the balloons and for what purpose, giving them a more accurate assessment, studying their structure and developing recommendations for the Air Defense Forces on how to combat them.

By decision of the Commander-in-Chief, a small group of officers was selected from the Main Command, the Military Engineering Radio Engineering Academy (VIRTA) and the Scientific Research Institute (NII-2), which formed a commission to study mysterious targets. I was appointed chairman of the commission, my deputy was Major General I. L. Dobrovolsky, an experienced specialist in the field of radio television.

After some short preparation we left for Riga. Previously, I spoke with the commander of the air defense of the Baltic Military District, General M. D. Chernenko. Upon arrival at the headquarters of the PribVO, he clarified the research plan and, together with officers from the air defense department of the district, began work. We were able to carry out a complex of studies, including the use of various types of fighter-interceptors with radar sights to intercept targets, and the use of helicopters to shoot balls from the side of a helicopter with small arms, including automatic ones. The features of detecting small-sized, low-speed, low-altitude targets and their placement on the screens of all types of radars were carefully studied.

Research has generally confirmed the geometric dimensions and characteristics of balloons. The use of airplanes and helicopters turned out to be ineffective. Due to the large difference in speed with the targets and the difficulty of working with the sight at low altitudes, the fighters did not have time to detect them on the screens of their on-board radars. Targets were also found with great difficulty from helicopters, and shooting at them from a “swinging” platform, which was a helicopter, did not lead to success.

Based on the research, the commission came to the following conclusions:

1. It is most likely that the launch of the balloons towards the USSR was carried out deliberately with the aim of provoking the additional activation of air defense systems and their reconnaissance.

2. In certain conditions of aggravation of the military-political situation or in the event of a sudden attack by aerospace attack weapons from the North-Western direction, the mass launch of such air targets could lead to a significant complication of the combat use of the air defense system, its information oversaturation.

3. For the effective impact of air defense forces on small-sized balls, further research into the use of weapons in range conditions is necessary in order to create special means of combat and equip cross-border air defense formations with them.

The work of our commission was the first serious research in the field of combating air defense systems against small-sized, low-altitude targets. It’s just a pity that the commission’s conclusions did not receive a complete real implementation beyond our report. Who knows, if the Ministry of Defense had approached them with more attention, perhaps the adventure with Rust’s unpunished flight in 1987 from the Baltic to Red Square would not have succeeded. Here I cannot help but reproach the Air Defense Directorate of the General Staff, headed at that time by Lieutenant General E.V. Kalashnikov. The main flaw in the work of this Directorate, as far as I knew it, was that they looked “upward” rather than at the troops, and focused on the top leadership, how to please them and not disturb them in any way.

At the end of our work, I reported the conclusions we had reached to the commander of the PribVO troops, Colonel-General Stanislav Ivanovich Postnikov, whom I knew well from his service in the Kiev Military District, and other leaders of the district. They all agreed with the conclusions without making any amendments to the text.

Upon returning from a business trip, I reported the results of our work to the Chief Marshal of Aviation A.I. Koldunov. He also met them with satisfaction. Immediately, the Commander-in-Chief signed a telegram to the commanders of the district troops in the Western and Northwestern directions about the allocation of special helicopter crews with teams of shooters armed with AKM to combat small-sized balls. To conduct further research into ways to combat MRVS, the Commander-in-Chief gave appropriate orders to research institutions and the air defense training ground. Two days later a report was prepared to the Minister of Defense.

It is appropriate to recall here that the fight against reconnaissance balloons launched by the US intelligence services and other NATO countries into the airspace of the USSR dates back to the mid-fifties. And all this time the troops were searching for new effective means of combating them.

Initially these were automatic drifting balloons (ADA). They were launched from the territory of Western countries and drifted along the air flow from west to east, passing through the entire territory of the USSR. ADA had special equipment for conducting photo and radiotelemetric reconnaissance. When drifting over strategically important objects, reconnaissance equipment was automatically turned on and intelligence data was collected. Having penetrated the territory of the USSR, the ADA in the area of ​​Japan or over the territory of the United States received, through auto devices, a command to descend and land, and the intelligence information of interest was delivered.

For the Air Defense Forces of the country, ADAs were difficult air targets, since they drifted at high altitudes from 8 to 16 thousand meters and at low speeds equal to air flow speeds from 60 to 150 km/h. The ADA shell itself was low-vulnerable to projectiles. To disrupt the system of its filling and the ability for further drift of the ADA, it was necessary to hit and explode more than one cannon shell.

In the fifties and early sixties, the main means of destroying ADA were 85-mm anti-aircraft guns with a specially modified control system and special projectiles. Later, with the advent of high-altitude fighter-interceptors equipped with guided and unguided air-to-air missiles, such combat was carried out mainly by fighters.

The use of anti-aircraft guided missiles and ground-based anti-aircraft missile systems, for reasons of public safety and cost, was envisaged in special cases.

The combat impact of air defense forces on balloons, as a rule, began after they were detected by radar reconnaissance and entered the airspace of the allied countries of the united Warsaw Pact or the USSR and continued until they were destroyed or left the borders of our country.

It is not difficult to imagine what a large number of air defense forces and assets were involved in solving the task of reconnaissance and destruction of the AD in those cases when they managed to fly thousands of kilometers deep into the country’s territory. After all, the impact on them was constant until complete destruction, involving dozens of air defense units, units and formations in solving the problem and sometimes lasting up to several days.

The fact of the destruction of the ADA, as well as the names of those who distinguished themselves, became known to all air defense forces of the country.

Among the pilots were aces in shooting down balloons. One of these was Major Vladimir Borodin, commander of the air squadron of the 90th IAP (Chervonoglinskoe airfield) of the 8th Separate Air Defense Army, who shot down three ADAs in the skies of Ukraine in the early sixties. Subsequently, Colonel Borodin successfully commanded an air defense fighter aviation regiment.

The mass launch of low-speed balloons into air flows towards the USSR by our potential enemy, which began at the end of 1980 at low altitudes, should have been regarded as his improvement of the forms and methods of reconnaissance and overcoming the powerful air defense system of the Soviet Union.

GENERAL V.V. DRUZHININ

During my short stay at the General Staff, I saw how noticeably different the work there was compared to the army and district headquarters. This requires not only practitioners, but also people of high mental abilities. It is impossible to hide behind the backs of others. A person reveals himself quickly and accurately, because there are plenty of opportunities for this. Therefore, those who are appointed to a headquarters of this rank have no choice but to quickly assess their capabilities and immediately begin to eliminate the gaps through persistent work on themselves. Here, as in none of the lower-level headquarters, such qualities as high efficiency, patience, the ability to deeply study an issue, broad competence, the ability to interact with numerous services, etc. are needed.

I was lucky that at almost every headquarters, no matter where I served, in a regiment, division, corps or army, I met people along the way who had something to learn from, to adopt a lot of useful things to replenish my baggage as a staff officer. I also met such people at the General Staff. Among them is the Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Colonel General Valentin Vasilyevich Druzhinin. He was appointed to the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces of the country after the reduction of the post of Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Control Automation and Electronic Warfare. This happened after the change of chiefs of the General Staff with the appointment of N.V. Ogarkov to this position instead of Marshal of the Soviet Union V.G. Kulikov.

Valentin Vasilievich - Doctor of Technical Sciences, a prominent military scientist in the field of radio electronics. I was fortunate to serve with him on the General Staff until his dismissal at the end of 1983. At that time, he was a prominent and authoritative figure in the High Command. He provided great assistance to the Chief of the General Staff, General S. F. Romanov, and the Commander-in-Chief trusted him in many ways. Most of the important documents for the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff were processed with his participation. He often remained behind the Chief of the General Staff and the Commander-in-Chief himself. It was not difficult for me to understand what invaluable benefits this person, wise in knowledge and experience, could bring me. And here I remained true to my principle - to get as close as possible to him and learn the maximum that was useful for my service at the main headquarters. Valentin Vasilyevich, apparently, figured it out and went to meet me halfway. The closest contacts were established between us in our work. I tried not to miss the opportunity to be with Druzhinin and certainly participated with him in working through the most important documents and reports. We spent many hours with Valentin Vasilyevich, resolving issues of organizing the management of air defense forces and means, which turned out to be divided into air defense forces of border military districts and, accordingly, air defense forces. There were many useful discussions between us. When Valentin Vasilyevich resigned, he recommended that I be included in his place on the editorial board of the Military Thought magazine.

At this time, my fellow colleagues in the corps, army and district were working at the Main Command: generals V.N. Abramov, A.G. Smirnov, N.I. Kulbakov, N.I. Moskvitelev, V.G. Tsarkov, V. S. Yaroshenko, V. I. Andreev, M. V. Shulga, V. Nesterenko, M. F. Bobkov, V. I. Suvorov and many others, which had a beneficial effect on the performance of the duties assigned to me in the High Command of the Air Defense Forces.

In almost all branches of the military and services I had comrades on whom I could rely in my work. And since my position required me to have close contacts with all structures of the Main Command, knowledge of people turned out to be more useful than ever. We quickly found a common language, achieved maximum consistency, which is one of the necessary conditions headquarters work. Thus, the situation for me at the General Staff was favorable. Now the success of my work depended on myself and on how I could use this environment.

A. Ermolin- Good afternoon to everyone who is listening to us, the next episode of the “Military Council” program is on air, hosted by Anatoly Ermolin in the studio. Our guest today is Alexander Petrovich Leonov, head of the military air defense of the Russian armed forces, lieutenant general, hello Alexander Petrovich.

A. Leonov- Good afternoon, Anatoly.

A. Ermolin― Alexander Petrovich, this is not the first time we are talking about air defense, the armed forces of the Russian Federation today, about rearmament ground forces and air defense systems. But I know that you are literally about to have a very round anniversary of 101 years, tell us in more detail, where did this date come from?

A. Leonov- Yes, indeed, in 2 days, on December 26, our branch of the military will turn 101 years old. The date was set by order of the Minister of Defense number 50, 2007. And it originates from the order of the Chief of Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Emperor Nicholas II dated December 26, 15, ordering the Commander-in-Chief of the Western Front to form the first 4 anti-aircraft batteries to fire at the air fleet. This date is considered the beginning of the founding of the military branch, and accordingly is celebrated by the entire branch of the military annually.

A. Ermolin- Here we probably need to explain to our listeners that there are different types of air defense. And you are very different from the system that, for example, protects and ensures security.

A. Leonov- We say that the sky is the same, so we all protect together, both aviation and air defense. Well, as for various air defenses, in accordance with the purpose of each branch of the military, strictly speaking, the branch of the military carries out its tasks... Well, military air defense, based on the name on the battlefield, that is, covers the troops, and there is air defense of the Aerospace Forces, which covers objects of national importance throughout the territory of our country and along its borders. In fact, these are the differences that, first of all, affect the tactics of conducting anti-aircraft battles and covering objects.

A. Ermolin- That is, you must be more mobile, you must also move troops.

A. Leonov- But the battlefield naturally requires increased mobility, constant change of starting firing positions, and combat stability. That is, the ability to survive on the battlefield and complete your task.

A. Ermolin- Alexander Petrovich, the reform of your management has recently been completed. What tasks are your subordinates currently facing? And in general, have their specifics changed in any way, compared to what was there 101 years ago when we started... Or even 8 years ago, when they started talking about a new look for the armed forces?

A. Leonov- Yes, from April 1 of this year, the department was reorganized into the department of the chief of military air defense of the armed forces of the Russian Federation. As a matter of fact, this reorganization de jure consolidated the implementation of the tasks that we were engaged in de facto in previous years. That is, this is the implementation of a unified technical policy in equipping the air defense forces of the ground forces, coastal naval forces, and airborne troops. Unified by similar anti-aircraft missile and anti-aircraft artillery systems. These are unified approaches to the combat training system of the entire military air defense, and unified approaches to the training of command personnel, that is, officers, sergeants, and junior specialists.

A. Ermolin- But when you talk about common approaches, what do you mean? Now I’ll explain my question, because, well, in general, the nature of war is changing now, the principles of combat behavior have changed in many ways, while the old regulations have been preserved. Assessment of the situation, decision-making there, alignment of forces and means. Now something is changing, do you mean that you have now somehow adapted to new tactics, or something else?

A. Leonov- I mean that it is impossible to create some specialized anti-aircraft missile systems for each type of armed forces, and develop some specialized approaches to training. Although I understand the background of the question, it is naturally taken into account that for everyone, for example, for the Airborne Forces, it is clear that the complexes... They are also in service with the ground forces, and they are also available there. But not everyone can join the Airborne Forces. We also take into account the specifics of this type of troops in officer training. But nevertheless, even the evaluation system at the training ground, it should be uniform for those units, and for the fleet, and for the airborne forces, and for the ground forces. That is, there must be uniform documents, such as instructional courses on shooting rules. Otherwise, there will be a large scatter of all kinds of documents in which we will definitely get confused, and there will be a completely different assessment of these units when assessing and the results of combat work, combat activities, and planned combat training.

A. Ermolin- Alexander Petrovich, but recently the troops underwent a final inspection, what results did they show?

A. Leonov- Yes, the year has ended, military councils were held in the branches and branches of the military, an expanded board of the Ministry of Defense was held, at which, in fact, the results of this year were summed up. As for the military air defense of all our formations, units, subunits, training centers of our academy, everyone completed this year successfully, all of our training centers were rated as solidly good, most of the units, formations... Formations, units of units (inaudible) were rated good and Great. A large number were carried out... Well, the highest form of training for our branch of the military is tactical live-fire exercises at various training grounds. In total, 129 such exercises were conducted this year; during these exercises, 1043 target missiles were used, at which 1098 anti-aircraft guided missiles were fired, and more than 40 thousand anti-aircraft rounds. That is, in essence, all our programs were completed, the troops successfully completed... They passed control checks, and are ready to carry out the tasks as intended.

A. Ermolin- But what is this target rocket? This is... How fast is it moving?

A. Leonov- As a rule, a target missile is... Well, firstly, it is one of the missiles of some anti-aircraft missile system. As a rule, they are either removed from service or are already at the last stage.

A. Ermolin- Well, that is, this is a combat missile?

A. Leonov- This is a combat missile, a converted target. The warhead is removed from it, everything else is... Well, in fact, there is such a target “Strela 10” ITC, an simulator of an air target. It completely replicates the dimensions of a combat missile, the target is very high-speed, small-sized, with a very small effective reflective surface. Believe me, this is a difficult target. There are others...

A. Ermolin- This is not a cruise missile, is it?

A. Leonov- No, this is not a cruise missile, this is an ordinary anti-aircraft missile. And there are targets, simulators of cruise missiles. There are targets that simulate ballistic missiles. Well, flying at ballistic missiles, including...

A. Ermolin- And (inaudible) do you work on exercises on everything, or is ballistics still not your diocese?

A. Leonov- No, so you understand, a ballistic missile is a missile that flies along a ballistic trajectory.

A. Ermolin- Well, yes.

A. Leonov- They come in tactical missiles with a launch range of up to 300 kilometers. Operational-tactical missiles have a range of up to 1000 kilometers. Medium-range missiles, up to 5,000 kilometers, and then there are strategic missiles, which, strictly speaking... Which are dealt with by a completely different type of armed forces. Therefore, a ballistic missile, any ballistic one. Well, our goal is a tactical missile, and an operational-tactical missile. And for the S-300, V-4, and medium-range missiles. This is also our segment, that is, these are elements of strategic missile defense, which are handled by the military software, and handled by the Aerospace Forces software. Everything else, this already applies to the air defense troops.

A. Ermolin- And what is the speed, at what speed are they working, these are your targets, and a potential threat?

A. Leonov- Well, let’s say that this is... Firstly, these are all missiles, this is at least supersonic speed. And for individual target missiles, this is hypersonic speed.

A. Ermolin- In the army they often use this word: building troops, building armed forces. Can you tell us in more detail, over the past few years, what the construction of the military forces has been like?

A. Leonov- It's clear. This means that the construction of a military branch includes the preparation of several systems, strictly speaking. This starts with the training system for controls, the first thing is that, of all types. The second is combat and training units. Third, the personnel training system and the system for developing and equipping weapons for the armed forces. That is, this is a multifaceted concept in terms of building management. We have already said this, the management has been reorganized. In terms of personnel training, we remain the same educational establishments, the training centers that existed previously are the Smolensk Military Air Defense Academy, these are three training centers that train for various complexes. And in these training centers there are training grounds where troops are trained and evaluated for these troops, our troops. In terms of increasing combat strength, what would I like to say here? The planned formation of our new formations continues; to date, three anti-aircraft missile brigades have been formed, one long-range anti-aircraft missile brigade in the southern district, and two medium-range anti-aircraft missile brigades in the southern and eastern military districts. In addition, the existing anti-aircraft systems are being re-equipped... One anti-aircraft missile brigade, regiment, 7 anti-aircraft missile divisions have been re-equipped with a new short-range complex (inaudible), a planned re-equipment of short-range systems is underway, these are the Strela 10 MN anti-aircraft missile systems, MANPADS “Verba”, which you have heard about. Moreover, with regard to these last two systems, attention was first paid to the re-equipment of the Airborne Forces airborne forces. Almost all airborne units were re-equipped with these new types of weapons, and in addition there was also an automated control system that was delivered as a matter of priority. The re-equipment of the ground forces with these same systems is currently underway. Well, actually, this is the main one (inaudible).

A. Ermolin- But from the point of view of combat capabilities, that’s what’s changing, right? Well, you have listed the types of weapons and the quantity, but in practical terms, how does this contribute to increasing combat readiness in modern units? (Inaudible).

A. Leonov- Well, for comparison, I can say, well, for example, we are moving from one complex to a second medium-range one. Now this year we have completed the last delivery and retraining of the anti-aircraft missile brigade for the Buk-M2 anti-aircraft missile system. That's it, there will be no more deliveries of Buk M-2. We are moving to... And the first brigade, anti-aircraft missile brigade southern district will already be re-equipped for this complex. The equipment has arrived and will be retrained early next year on the Buk M-3. For comparison, the fire capabilities, that is, the number of simultaneously fired targets of the Buk M-3 complex, compared to the Buk M-2, although they also had very impressive combat capabilities, increased by 1.5 times. The covered area has increased several times, as the range of destruction, the height of the targets hit, and the type of targets hit have increased sharply, almost doubling. If we talk about such complexes as “Tor M-2”, which are now also supplied to us. The Thor complex, as well as its capabilities both in range and in other characteristics, have increased, but the revolutionary characteristic that this complex has acquired is the ability to fire while moving. For a short-range anti-aircraft missile system, this is actually a unique characteristic that allows... Well, for example, on the march, without leaving the convoy, to examine an air target and repel attacks. Then you don’t have to catch up, you just ride in a convoy and complete the tasks. This presupposes that when troops move, they are constantly in battle formations, fire, and also prevent... Ensure continuity of cover. This is very important characteristics. That is, in terms of increasing combat capabilities, first of all, this is... Well, there are several of them. This fire performance increases, that is, the number of targets simultaneously hit, and by several times.

A. Ermolin- How many goals can one installation usually achieve (inaudible)?

A. Leonov- Well, in different complexes it’s different. Almost all of our complexes are now multifunctional. Here is the characteristic for the TOR: it is one vehicle, simultaneously firing at 4 air targets in a division of 12. That is, 48 ​​air targets, this is essentially such a good, concentrated strike on the troops. For the Buk M-3 complex, this (inaudible) is even higher. Each self-propelled fire system can simultaneously fire at 6 air targets. And the brigade... The anti-aircraft missile brigade already has this capability of 108 air targets. This is practically a massive reflection of one massive brigade. In fact, repelling a massive air strike. By this I mean, just for one launch. Because they continue (inaudible).

A. Ermolin- Do you mean the target - these are airplanes, missiles, and cruise missiles?

A. Leonov- It's anything, anything that flies. Including such, well, targets that naturally attract our increased attention, such as unmanned aerial vehicles of all classes, and cruise missiles. What is most common in our country, if it is to be used, will most likely be such means. That is, it is unlikely that planes will fly here.

A. Ermolin- Well, right away... You just talked about the fact that fundamentally new opportunities have now appeared, this is firing from wheels, as they say. Without deployment, as I understand it.

A. Leonov- Yes.

A. Ermolin- Does this mean that the human factor (inaudible) begins to tend to zero? In essence, this means... Well, at the speeds at which you work, right? That, in fact, programmers should work hard in advance, and then...

A. Leonov- I think that it is…

A. Ermolin- Little depends on the person.

A. Leonov- It is a deep misconception if someone believes that iron heals itself, maintains itself, maintains itself in proper form. The first thing it starts with, after any anti-aircraft missile system is produced, and comes somewhere. For example, the formation of a brigade. The industry produced its products and installed the complex. We have selected people; neither one nor the other is of any value. Because they cannot interact together, that is, people need to be taught how to operate this technology. Second. Even after we have taught them, this complex must work as a complex. Not one fire unit, but all together. But this is exactly the same, this is called the docking of the complex, and it also takes place at the training ground, so that each unit is interfaced with another unit. Because I say again, this is not... All control points, reconnaissance means, control posts, fire weapons, communications means, all of this worked in a single... Performed a single task, in a single complex Second. Technology, any technology is complex, it requires increased attention to actually its service and content. This is a whole process that includes this constant work. Well, there is a maintenance system in the military, everyone knows it, from daily maintenance, seasonal maintenance, maintenance number one, maintenance number two, and so on. People do this. That is, (inaudible) battle, we must bring out serviceable, combat-ready equipment. Well, and secondly, the robot complex that we are making now, we also, strictly speaking, created military air defense. And there were such complexes that it was enough to turn on, and then he would do everything himself, but as experience shows, a person does it better.

A. Ermolin- Our regular listener Captain Kolesnikov asks, what are the prospects for the adoption of the Pantsir complexes into service with the air defense forces?

A. Leonov- So the Pantsir-S complex is in service with the air defense forces of the Aerospace Forces. It is already in service; in terms of a number of characteristics for military air defense, it did not fully satisfy. These requirements were worked out by us, developed by TTZ, and assigned to the enterprise that is developing this complex, for the adaptation of “Pantsir-S” into an interspecific complex for the ground forces, for the airborne forces, and for coastal troops. This work is now being carried out by the enterprise, as in the form of experimental (inaudible) work. Moreover, with significantly higher characteristics than the current “Pantsir”. This will be the so-called “Shell SM-SV” work. I hope it will be completed on time, and then we will, as they say, have a new perfect complex. Well, when we have it, then we’ll talk about it in more detail.

A. Ermolin- That is, in principle, your weapons will also be synchronized, right there?

A. Leonov- Certainly. The complex is being adapted, as we have already said. Air defense complex of the VKS, tailored to our specific requirements imposed by the battlefield.

A. Ermolin- Here we have Captain Kolesnikov, a meticulous radio listener. The next question asks: is it planned to adopt the S-400 Triumph complex as a more modern and effective means of hitting armed targets.

A. Leonov- The S-400 Triumph complex has firstly been put into service, and the planned equipment of the air defense forces of the Aerospace Forces is underway. Its analogue to military air defense is the S-300 B4 complex. Well, we will say different numbering, but again fully adapted to air defense on the battlefield.

A. Ermolin- Alexander Petrovich, we’ll pause here for a minute, I want to remind our listeners that the expert and guest of the “Military Council” today is the head of the military air defense of the Russian armed forces, Lieutenant General Alexander Petrovich Leonov, we are talking about the rearmament of the military air defense of the ground forces, with new samples of weapons.

A. Ermolin- We continue the meeting of the “Military Council”, hosted by Anatoly Ermolin in the studio. Our guest, our expert today, Alexander Petrovich Leonov, head of the military air defense of the Russian armed forces, lieutenant general. We are talking about the rearmament of the military air defense of the ground forces, in the transition to new types of weapons. They talked about this a lot, maybe it’s a very extreme question, but Captain Kolesnikov apparently decided to finish us off. What is the percentage of new weapons in your branch of the military? Actually, the president announced that... I honestly forgot what the numbers were, but it was a very serious thing that needed to be changed and updated...

A. Leonov- The target figures were 30% by 2005, and 70% by 2000. This means that currently military air defense has exceeded 36% of new equipment supplies. By the year 20, we... What we have planned, we will reach a percentage, 74% of the state of new equipment. I hope I answered the question.

A. Ermolin- Yes all. I think Captain Kolesnikov should be pleased. Alexander Petrovich, please tell me, well, one of the largest exercises... Strategic, command and staff exercises “Caucasus 2016”, what tasks were assigned to you, how did it all go?

A. Leonov- Traditionally...

A. Ermolin- Command staff, this is without shooting, as I understand it, right? Once command staff. Or…

A. Leonov- No, in any case, this involves the deployment of troops to the training grounds and live firing. Let’s just say that the scale of the exercise is changing, these September exercises are traditional highest form training troops and testing troops again. In fact, this work began back in February 2016. It began with a sudden inspection of the troops of the southern military district, then in August, as part of a sudden inspection of the armed forces, this work was continued. The air defense units of the southern district were withdrawn into formations on their own, by rail, and transported to the training ground. At the Kapustin Yar training ground, a complex interference and target situation was created, a raid was simulated... Reflecting a massive air strike, thus this situation was created. It can be noted that once again the southern district showed high skill, it is one of our best districts, and they coped with the tasks quite successfully.

A. Ermolin- But does ECM (electronic warfare) make things much more difficult? What is more difficult, hitting or dealing with interference that the enemy can install?

A. Leonov- I’ll tell you one thing, not a single manned aircraft at the present time will fly without means of (inaudible) cover, unless of course it is suicidal. Therefore, electronic warfare has long ago become on the same level of countermeasures as fire weapons, and it, this is constant... Naturally, our complexes are protected from means of (inaudible) warfare. But I will say this, of course they will cause interference. And this significantly complicates combat work, but it is simply not possible at present to completely suppress a group of troops of different types, especially anti-aircraft missile systems. It is necessary to have, I don’t know, just huge amounts of money, and even then this presupposes a whole system of technical, tactical measures; anyway, there is a complex that simply cannot be interfered with.

A. Ermolin- I remember about 8 years ago, when our program began, I kept torturing your colleagues about why they dealt with our complexes so easily, there in Kuwait at one time, and just one of the explanations was, that they forgot to turn on the toggle switch to suppress electronic interference. But please tell us, what other command and staff exercises... Not just command and staff exercises, but what kind of complex of exercises in general? That’s how effective it is... This is actually a combat test, a test of the combat readiness of any exercise, right? And a demonstration. Not just a demonstration of capabilities, right? Are you checking yourself?

A. Leonov- Certainly.

A. Ermolin- So, what is this complex? You already mentioned that there were over 200 of them there, right? This year.

A. Leonov― 129.

A. Ermolin- 129, right?

A. Leonov- Any tactical exercise presupposes the fulfillment of some goals. It includes several stages, definitely. Well, of course, the preliminary stage at which the training is being prepared. The first stage is usually associated with the redeployment of troops over a long distance, either on their own, or by rail (inaudible), or most often in a combined way. Moreover, performing tasks for our branch of troops is not just transportation; we perform tasks in any type of movement, the task of covering troops. When are the troops most vulnerable? Either in the area of ​​concentration, or during movement. In order for the troops to be loaded, transferred somewhere, to a station... Or rather, in the loading area, there are entire areas there. It is necessary to create a cover system for these troops, as they are the most vulnerable. During unloading, too, the (inaudible) defense troops, as a rule, are the first to move off the platform and immediately organize cover for the troops in the unloading areas. This is the first place to begin evaluating tactical exercises for air defense forces. That is, our teachers, our inspectors are already on these platforms, and they are checking this matter. Then the main stage usually includes planning, organizing combat planning, exit, and decision-making. At the training ground... Our training ground is usually large, air defense units go to real distances provided for by the combat regulations, and conduct combat operations at these established... At large distances, as a rule, they act in accordance with the decisions made, the work of control is checked, this is very complex question, management work. The shooting itself with anti-aircraft systems... Well, performing fire missions is not the most difficult thing. The most difficult thing is to organize fire correctly, all this is distribution, that is, fire control, control of units. It is assessed in our exercises. Before conducting live firing, test firing is carried out. This is ordered by aviation, which flies in a certain area, and as a rule, it also does it competently, it does not introduce itself there... (Inaudible) does not fly, it also comes out with application to the area, suddenly appears, that is, we have pilots too...

A. Ermolin- Well, they’re probably practicing their tactics, right? When they affect...

A. Leonov- That's right, yes. They are working air defense, air defense is working... Well, (inaudible) a situation that has long been used since Soviet times. Then this is live firing, it doesn’t end there because after live firing... After this stage, as a rule, there is a stage of restoring combat capability, which is a whole series water ones, which involve... A collision battle is not a one-sided game, it usually involves combat losses, sanitary losses, weapons losses, and restoration of lost control... Many, a whole range of tasks.

A. Ermolin- And by the way, psychotrauma

A. Leonov- Yes.

A. Ermolin- This is also a psychological state.

A. Leonov- And the psychological component, yes, which suggests. And, strictly speaking, these exercises are completed by returning to the point of (inaudible) readiness, placing weapons and equipment on their fleets, and, in fact, after... And conducting debriefings of these exercises. This is a long process.

A. Ermolin- Well, actually, well, the world has entered the era of small wars, although what is happening now in Syria can no longer be called a small war, although terrorists there are confronting different countries of the world. Here is the use of man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems by terrorists and militants. Well, in general, the experience of Afghanistan and Syria shows that it is possible that attack army aviation is significantly reduced. So you consider this as a kind of tool, perhaps it is necessary to more massively equip not only your units with these types of weapons, but just guys on the ground?

A. Leonov- Well, here the question is probably not for me, but for the side that... On which terrorists use their complexes. That is, they do not work in military air defense, they work in aviation. Concerning…

A. Ermolin- Well, maybe (inaudible) some kind of alternative to help you, let’s put it this way. If you increase the number of MANPADS, it’s simple in combat...

A. Leonov- I will answer the question, and I think I will dwell on this in sufficient detail. So, as for MANPADS. Well, firstly (inaudible) MANPADS are prohibited by international treaties. This is a weapon that can really fall into the hands of terrorists and cause a lot of trouble. Therefore, supplies by any country, and even more so to organizations like ISIS, are fundamentally contrary to international agreements. Now, as for equipping troops with MANPADS, well, military (inaudible). This is our standard tool, which we use very widely. That is, the troops... We have always been saturated with these weapons, well, historically it’s not bad. If we touch on the history of creation, the first one was created by the (inaudible) US missile system, it was the (inaudible) “Red Eye” complex. Our answer was (inaudible) “2M”, it was... And the first and second complexes only fired in pursuit, in the absence of any interference. That is, they did not fire in conditions of interference, and in a simple background environment, by the way. Then we got the “S3” complex, which can destroy targets flying towards them. When these infrared traps began to be used and jammed aircraft, a complex appeared that was protected from them, this is “Igla”. Currently, we are equipped with the Igla-S man-portable anti-aircraft missile system, with increased range capabilities compared to the Igla.

A. Ermolin- That is, heat traps have lost all meaning.

A. Leonov- No, they have not lost their meaning, depending on the intensity with which you put them. An airplane cannot have an infinite number of traps on board. This is what it is used for quite a bit... Well, there in (inaudible) areas. This means that, strictly speaking, the adoption of the new “Verba” MANPADS complex, which we are now equipping, is an order of magnitude compared to the “Igla”... That is, it is 10 times more (inaudible) protected from these traps than the previous complex . And yet we have not stopped; the development of a new promising MANPADS is underway. Russia is one of the few countries, you can count them on one hand, that were capable of producing this type of weapon. And well, fortunately we are at the forefront here. Even this “Verba” complex with a three-band homing head, there are 2 infrared channels and one ultraviolet. It is already superior to all existing MANPADS that are in the arsenals of developed countries that can be developed. Therefore, here I think there will be no lag even in the near future. Our complexes will (inaudible) completely meet the needs of the troops.

A. Ermolin- Are any innovative solutions used during the exercise? I don’t know, from an organizational point of view, there may be some such unusual ways to increase a person’s physiological capabilities. I said here, now I’m re-reading Karayani, “Military Psychology”. An interesting thing is that during the war both we and the Americans worked to instantly go out of the light into the darkness, and in this situation it was the anti-aircraft gunners that it was extremely important that the Americans worked in special illuminated glasses, we There were also special medicinal supplements. Is there any work being done in this direction?

A. Leonov- I understood the question. So what can I say about this year? In principle, the work began last year. The fact that we have not used this before has not been applied. Well, first of all, unmanned aerial vehicles appeared. They appeared both on the enemy and on us. What have we done at our training grounds? So, the first thing that drones are used for is to create a complex target environment, like (inaudible) these ones that I talked about. They are inconspicuous, as a rule they can be used... They are controllable, that is, they can go out at any altitude conditions and carry out maneuvers. The second is to evaluate the actions themselves (inaudible). That is, drones fly themselves and give us a real picture of the actions of our units. The next thing that we managed to do was developed... We had a system, which was also recently put into service, a system for objective monitoring of firing, ensuring shooting safety. Which allowed us to objectively exclude a completely subjective factor and determine the accuracy of our missiles and shells with an accuracy of several centimeters. Anti-aircraft (inaudible) shells. Naturally, this system allowed us to avoid subjective mistakes, and this same system allowed us to avoid disputes during international games. When a MANPADS flies at a target, both our MANPADS and the Chinese ones, they have this property, they do not provide a direct hit, but are introduced... Well, there is a so-called nozzle circuit that diverts... Well, so that the nozzle does not fly the MANPADS. Nozzles are titanium alloys that are very powerful and damage cannot always be ensured. Therefore, it bypasses the nozzles and hits the fuselage or wing. And when there is shooting at a target, well, proper shooting. Sometimes there are direct hits, but the correct one should pass nearby and provide explosions... Well, that is, again, not to simulate from this nozzle itself. And here it is...

A. Ermolin- Not a direct hit.

A. Leonov- Not a direct hit, yes. But we measure this with the help of this system of ours (inaudible), which provides us with this necessary accuracy, and determines... And removes all the disputes, that’s what. It takes pictures from several angles and allows you to accurately determine the results of combat work. The next thing is that we have experienced saturation automated system management "Barnaul-T". Which, too, has already come out of some kind of exclusive, which allows us to fully automate our groups, together with our operating level control system “Polyana D4 M1”, to create a fully automated control system on the battlefield, thereby dramatically reducing the time required to control fire, and improve its quality. That is, well, in a nutshell, to make it clear, 4 targets are flying, 4 complexes must work on four targets simultaneously. And not just one, not all 4, not one at a time. That is, even in this regard, at least in this regard, the purpose of distribution, this also helps significantly... And this system helps to identify the most dangerous target, the one that must be destroyed first of all, and assign required consumption missiles to destroy it. Correctly determine the direction (inaudible) of the main efforts, and solve many other issues.

A. Ermolin- In this regard, it’s just right to ask the question of another of our regular listeners, Dmitry Mezentsev: what about the military personnel? What is their level of training? And so I would clarify it, precisely from the point of view of interaction. Well, it often happens that it’s not stupid people who come up with a stupid system, and then the swan, crayfish and pike begin. That is, that’s just it...

A. Leonov- Well, here we need to talk right away about the training system as a whole.

A. Ermolin- Yes Yes.

A. Leonov- Then slowly lowering himself to the rebound. Even in one combat vehicle, the correct distribution. Well, the selection of operators will be incredibly important. For example, for the complex... Well, at least “Wasp”. There are three calculation numbers that are involved in the work. ZNR (deputy crew chief), senior operator, and range operator The senior operator, this must be a person with excellent vision, and great perseverance, I would even say phlegmatic. He must constantly look at the screen, and do this for many hours. And see any change on the screen, even the slightest. He is such a number three range operator, he no longer needs such qualities. But there must be a huge reaction, fast, instantaneous. That is, it must be a reactive person who... (Inaudible) it must simply be with a huge good memory, because the number of operations that he performs is several times greater than those of these two numbers.

A. Ermolin- These are three different professions.

A. Leonov- This absolutely correct selection of these three operators allows you to create a unique calculation that will be performed with the greatest efficiency. And these psychological characteristics of each of these numbers must be taken into account. And now what concerns, strictly speaking, training. Training is carried out in us, our personnel of the Smolensk Military Air Defense Academy. The preparation is multi-level. It begins... Well, that’s exactly what we were taught when I was studying. It starts with one subsystem. Then (inaudible) included in the subsystem, from simple to complex. Then the entire system, for example, a target detection station, or a missile target tracking station, a vehicle reference station, and so on. Then everything is studied as a whole. As a rule, these are specialized classrooms, where training takes place, and at the same time, motor skills begin to be trained on simulators. The training academy is very well equipped, including new equipment. And as a rule, it is already in the senior years, starting somewhere in the third year, that work is carried out on the military equipment itself, consolidating it. Plus, the second, third, fifth years are military internships. In the troops, every time, with the conduct of certain commanders (inaudible), the squad commander, then the crew chief, the platoon commander, with the performance of... Well, let's talk about their professional duties, and in various positions, and like an officer, an engineer. That is, it assumes correct operation weapons. Recently, we have received something new, I will say, that is of great help, these are electronic textbooks. In which it’s not just electronic text, it contains unique things: panoramas, 3D models that allow you to get inside these blocks, see these processes that are happening. There are also tasks and all kinds of exercises to develop various qualities. And our academy was at the origins of the creation of this electronic textbook. Smolensk Academy, she was given the task, and she, in general, was the initiator of the creation. Now this work has been completed, it was personally supervised by the Minister of Defense, the task, and I think now it has been extended to all universities, and... Well, even when I looked at it myself, I used it...

A. Ermolin- I like it, I like it.

A. Leonov- Of course, this is a great thing that makes it much easier to understand everything that is happening. And I think this will have a very good effect, specifically in the education system.

A. Ermolin- Do you know what I was thinking about now? About the fact that you have such a very complex, unusual combination of competencies. That is, on the one hand there must be an engineer, and on the other hand a combat engineer who will use this in battle. That is, he must also be a commander. This does not always coincide, by the way.

A. Leonov- Well, all technical branches of the military, they actually presuppose both this and that, these qualities. Well, I think it will probably be interesting to know that now this system of Unified State Examination, our university requires a Unified State Examination in physics. Unfortunately, our young people don’t really want to take physics at the Unified State Exam. By the way, this is a big problem for universities, for example, for the training of artillerymen and aviation air defense specialists. But nevertheless, those people who still choose physics, as a rule, master other subjects better. That is, just...

A. Ermolin- Not only mathematics, but also physics.

A. Leonov- Yes, the very quality of these applicants is higher than those recruited for social studies.

A. Ermolin- And how, in your, well, generally independent point of view, does AGE work as a system for selecting the right guys, from the point of view of intelligence?

A. Leonov- Personal opinion... I still graduated when this system did not exist, and I am familiar with this system, moreover, I even tried to answer these questions myself, which... This system clearly lacks a creative element. Here comes... Well, it’s clear that this is a huge amount of information needed, but the creative element is simply missing. This, in my opinion, should not happen, otherwise we will lose what our country, strictly speaking, was proud of. These are our exclusive guys who need to be trained and creatively identified. It suppresses their creativity.

A. Ermolin- No, well, you hit the top ten right away. Alexander Petrovich, well, I propose to end our broadcast, we have less than a minute left with where we started. The number 101, and your wishes in this regard.

A. Leonov- Yes thank you. Taking this opportunity, I want to congratulate all our officers, generals... No, we must start with the soldiers, sergeants, officers, generals, veterans, on our professional holiday, the 101st anniversary of military air defense. I would like to wish everyone good health, good luck, happiness, and the fulfillment of personal plans. Veterans don’t have to grow old in spirit, stay in service longer, and there’s no escape ahead, it’s still New Year’s holidays, New Year. May it be even more successful for all of us, bring even more success, more luck, more happiness.

A. Ermolin- Thank you, come see us again.

History of the creation and development of air defense in the North

The emergence of air defense systems (1915-1917)

The emergence of air defense systems is inextricably linked with the adoption of controlled aircraft by the armies of the most developed countries. Anti-aircraft artillery arose as one of the means of combating aviation back in the First World War.

In Russia, they began to master shooting at aerial targets, which used tethered balloons and aerostats, 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 following year near Krasnoye Selo.

In 1908 in Sestroretsk and in 1909 near Luga, the first experimental shootings were carried out at a moving target - a balloon towed by horses. The shooting was carried out from three-inch field guns (model 1900, 1902) and showed the possibility of destroying moving air targets. At the same time, due to the design features, the field artillery guns could not successfully fight enemy aircraft. A special anti-aircraft gun was needed.

Back in 1901, the young military engineer M.F. Rosenberg developed a design for the first 57-mm anti-aircraft gun. However, many high-ranking military leaders of the time considered this idea not worthy of attention and the project was rejected. In 1908, the idea of ​​​​creating an anti-aircraft gun was supported by a team of teachers from the Officer Artillery School and the Mikhailovsky Artillery Academy. School officers M.V. Dobrovolsky, E.K. Smyslovsky, P.N. Nikitin developed tactical and technical requirements for an anti-aircraft gun, and captain V.V. Tarnovsky proposed installing it on a car platform. The final design of the anti-aircraft gun was approved by the Main Artillery Directorate in 1913.

In June 1914, the Putilov Plants society entrusted the direct development and production of a prototype anti-aircraft gun to its designer F.F. Lander. The following took an active part in the work: Lieutenant of the Officer Artillery School V.V. Tarnovsky, famous Russian artilleryman P.A. Glazkov, Putilovsky workers

plant F.M. Garkovsky, A.Ya. Navyadovsky, V.I. Biryukov. By the end of 1914, the first four samples of the 76-mm anti-aircraft gun, mounted on special 5-ton vehicles, were manufactured at the Putilov plant. In February 1915, they were tested at the Petrograd test site and received a positive rating.

By the beginning of the First World War, the Russian army did not have special forces and means to fight the air enemy. In the fall of 1914, the General Staff had to quickly begin forming artillery units designed to fire at air targets. To form them, naval 75-mm cannons and 76.2-mm field artillery guns (model 1900, 1902), adapted for firing at air targets, were used.

Already during the war, “pit” and pedestal devices were being developed in artillery units to increase the elevation angle and provide all-round fire at aircraft with 76.2 mm field guns. The authors of these devices were Russian army officers V.K. Matveev, V.S. Myagi, V.I. Rekalov, P.M. Radzivilovich. The best of all the machines available at that time was the pedestal machine B.N. Ivanov, approved by the Artillery Committee of the Main Artillery Directorate.

To improve the results of shooting from field guns adapted for firing at aircraft, special devices were used. The first device for determining the lead angle for firing at air targets was proposed by the Russian inventor Ya.N. Perepelkin. Subsequently, based on this device, Lieutenant A.M. Ignatiev developed a more advanced sight for anti-aircraft guns. In 1916, engineer I.A. Launitz designed a device that made it possible to determine the speed and direction of movement of a target.

The formation of the first anti-aircraft battery began at the beginning of 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, Captain Tarnovsky's battery, repelling a raid by nine German aircraft, shot down two of them, opening the count of enemy aircraft destroyed by domestic anti-aircraft artillery.

On December 13, 1915, an order was issued to form four separate light batteries for firing at the air fleet. Military historians consider this date to be the day of the formation of military air defense troops.

In total, during the First World War, 251 anti-aircraft batteries were formed. However, only 30 of them were armed with anti-aircraft guns. Due to the shortage of automobiles, anti-aircraft guns were mounted on movable wooden platforms with horse-drawn teams. For the defense of stationary objects, fixed positional installations were used. One of the first anti-aircraft batteries on the Western Front in 1916 was commanded by the pioneer of Soviet rocketry B.S. Petropavlovsky.

Russia's unpreparedness to resolve issues of organizing and conducting air defense at the beginning of the First World War resulted in the absence of a system for training personnel of anti-aircraft batteries. Only towards the end of 1917 was an anti-aircraft officer school organized for the first time in Yevpatoria. V.V. was appointed head of the school. Tarnovsky. In addition, during the same period, on the basis of the courses of the Northern Front, located in the city of Dvinsk, another officer shooting school for the air fleet was formed. Soon this institution began to train, in addition to officers, instructors from the rank and file.

The imperfection of the guns and instruments available to anti-aircraft gunners in the First World War led to a huge waste of shells. Average ammunition consumption per aircraft shot down in 1914-1917. ranged from 8,000 to 11,000 shells. Despite this, anti-aircraft batteries have become one of the main means of combating enemy air. During the four years of war in the Western European Theater of Operations, every fifth aircraft destroyed in the air was shot down by anti-aircraft artillery fire.

Thus, by the end of the First World War, anti-aircraft defense had already adopted certain forms organization, means and methods of combating aviation were developed, characteristic of the level of technology development of that time.

Formation and development of air defense troops during the civil war and the pre-war period (1917 - 1941)

After the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution, the Red Army inherited from the tsarist army the few weapons of individual anti-aircraft batteries scattered along the fronts. Anti-aircraft artillery essentially had to be created anew.

On October 29, 1917, V.I. visited the Putilov plant. Lenin. He was interested in the progress of work on the creation of a special armored train “Steel Anti-aircraft”. Soon the armored train set off for firing positions. This was the first anti-aircraft unit of the young Soviet state. His first battle with German aircraft took place in March 1918 near Narva. In this battle, anti-aircraft gunners destroyed two enemy aircraft.

On April 8, 1918, the Steel Artillery Division was formed at the Putilov plant, which received the name Putilov. It included: two railway anti-aircraft artillery batteries (anti-aircraft armored trains), two automobile anti-aircraft batteries and one light field artillery battery. B.I. was appointed division commander. Lisovsky.

Management of the creation of anti-aircraft defense units in the Red Army was entrusted to a single body - the Office of the Head of the Formation of Anti-Aircraft Batteries, created in July 1918. It carried out: accounting of anti-aircraft weapons preserved in the troops, arsenals and factories; formation of anti-aircraft artillery units and units; their distribution among the fronts and rear facilities; personnel training; development of shooting methods and tactics of anti-aircraft artillery.

In 1918, the first anti-aircraft artillery units were included in the regular composition of combined arms formations. The infantry division included two positional anti-aircraft batteries armed with 76-mm field guns (model 1902); the rifle division includes a separate mobile anti-aircraft division consisting of four batteries armed with 76-mm anti-aircraft guns (model 1914).

From the first days of the fight against foreign intervention and internal counter-revolution, Soviet anti-aircraft gunners fulfilled their military duty with honor, bravely fought for the Soviet Motherland against the air enemy on all fronts, showing courage, perseverance and heroism. The anti-aircraft gunners of the 3rd separate anti-aircraft vehicle battery under the command of S.I. Oshanin distinguished themselves with glorious military deeds during the defense of the city of Petrograd in 1919.

The first anti-aircraft artillery units, despite their small numbers and imperfection of military equipment, made a worthy contribution and, together with the entire Red Army, helped the young Soviet Republic defend your freedom and independence.

Anti-aircraft artillery batteries and divisions, which gained rich combat experience during the Civil War, formed the basis for the creation of anti-aircraft artillery units and formations of the Red Army in subsequent years. Their combat experience was widely used to develop regulations and manuals for anti-aircraft artillery, the theory of its combat use, and the organization of air defense right up to the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.

During the difficult times 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 instruction team was created in Petrograd, which trained artillery service specialists, including anti-aircraft artillery.

On December 8, 1919, the formation of an airborne shooting school was completed in Nizhny Novgorod. B.A. was appointed head of the school. Kolomensky, later a senior teacher at the Artillery Academy named after. Dzerzhinsky and the Higher Military School of Air Defense of the Red Army. School teachers N.S. Vinogradov, A.N. Vukotich, N.A. Borodachev, F.P. Kuzyichev, A.N. Mamontov took an active part in conducting research to improve the tactics and firing of anti-aircraft artillery.

In connection with the changes introduced in 1924 in the structure of the ZA RKKA and the beginning of the formation of anti-aircraft artillery regiments, the need for personnel of anti-aircraft commanders grew rapidly. A repeated school for middle and senior command staff of the Red Army anti-aircraft artillery is being formed in Petrograd. Later it was transferred to Sevastopol and received the name – Improvement Courses for Anti-Aircraft Artillery Commanders. N.S. was appointed head of the course. Vinogradov. In August 1927, the Anti-Aircraft Artillery School was created on this base. One of the prominent anti-aircraft artillery specialists, corps commander A.N., was appointed the first head of the school. Vukotich.

In 1925-1928, a military reform was carried out in the Red Army, which included improving the organizational structure of the Red Army and technical re-equipment of troops, including anti-aircraft artillery.

On the basis of anti-aircraft batteries and divisions, the formation of anti-aircraft artillery regiments began. Civil War participants V.G. were appointed the first commanders of anti-aircraft regiments. Krish, A.A. Osipov. In 1927, on the basis of an anti-aircraft artillery regiment in Moscow, the first anti-aircraft air defense artillery brigade was formed. Subsequently, new anti-aircraft artillery units and units were deployed on the basis of these regiments and brigades.

The successful implementation of the plans of the first five-year plans and the creation of an industrial base made it possible to launch mass production of complex equipment for air defense units. Thanks to creative efforts Soviet designers anti-aircraft artillery equipment L.A. Lokteva, G.P. Tyagunova, B.G. Shpitalny, N.P. Shukanova, M.N. Kondakova, F.V. Tokareva, K.V. Kruse, P.G. Davydov's formations, air defense units and subunits received new, more advanced models of anti-aircraft guns and machine guns, anti-aircraft artillery fire control devices (PUAZO), means for detecting enemy air, and anti-aircraft vehicles.

On May 1, 1929, air defense units - searchlight companies and machine gun installations - took part in the military parade in Moscow for the first time. The following year, mechanically powered anti-aircraft artillery was deployed on Red Square: 76-mm anti-aircraft guns, searchlights, sound-detecting and machine-gun installations placed in the backs of cars.

The control bodies of anti-aircraft artillery formations are being improved. In 1927, anti-aircraft artillery as a branch of the Red Army was removed from the subordination of the chief of artillery of the Red Army and subordinated directly to the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR. The 6th department was created at the Red Army Headquarters, 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. A great contribution to the creation of the Directorate in charge of air defense issues in the central apparatus of the Red Army was made by the hero of the Civil War, Divisional Commander I.F. Blazhevich. He also became the first head of this department. Later it was headed by D.A. Kuchinsky and M.E. Medvedev. Simultaneously with the creation of the 6th Directorate, air defense departments were created at the headquarters of military districts.

The Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army launched work in the interests of long-range detection of enemy aircraft by posts of the Air Surveillance, Warning and Communications Service (VNOS). The beginning of this work is associated with the name of engineer P.K. Oshchepkov, who proposed the idea of ​​​​using radio waves to detect air targets. A significant practical contribution to the creation of early warning stations was made by B.K. Shembel, A.N. Merzhievsky, R.R. Gavruk, D.A. Rozhansky, Yu.B. Kobzarev, M.I. Kulikov, D.S. Stogov, A.I. Shestakov, P.S. Motorin, Yu.K. Korovin.

In 1932, the head of the Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army Headquarters M.E. Medvedev developed a regulation on air defense management, according to which the Air Defense Directorate was removed from the Red Army Headquarters and was subordinate to the People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs. It was soon put into action. A great contribution to the development of air defense forces was made by the heads of the Red Army Air Defense Directorate S.S. Kamenev, A.I. Sedyakin, G.M. Koblenz, J.K. Polyakov, M.F. Korolev.

Air Defense Directorates were created in the military districts, headed by the district air defense chiefs. They led all formations and air defense units stationed in the districts.

At the end of the 30s, thanks to the efforts of Soviet designers G.P. Tagunov, G.D. Dorokhina, M.N Loginova, V.A. Degtyareva, L.A Lokteva, L.V. Lyuleva, G.S. Shpagin, new types of weapons entered service with anti-aircraft artillery:

76.2 mm anti-aircraft gun (model 1938);

85 mm semi-automatic anti-aircraft gun;

37-mm automatic anti-aircraft gun (AZG);

25 mm automatic anti-aircraft gun;

12.7 mm anti-aircraft heavy machine gun DShK.

With the arrival of new weapons, the personnel of combined arms formations and formations also change. In 1937, a four-battery anti-aircraft division was added to the rifle corps. Three batteries were armed with twelve 76.2 mm anti-aircraft guns, the fourth - six small-caliber 37 mm anti-aircraft guns. Rifle and cavalry divisions were to have an anti-aircraft division consisting of three batteries armed with twelve small-caliber anti-aircraft guns.

Before the start of the Great Patriotic War, work was actively carried out to create long-range detection radar stations. Through the efforts of outstanding designers D.S. Stogova, Yu.B. Kobzareva, with the active participation of A.I. Shestakov and A.B. Slepushkin, the first radar stations RUS-1 “Rhubarb” and RUS-2 “Redut” were created and put into service.

In the pre-war years, the training of personnel, the combat capabilities of anti-aircraft artillery, shooting methods and tactical techniques were repeatedly tested in combat conditions: in battles with Japanese samurai in 1938 on Lake Khasan, in 1939 on the Khalkhin Gol River, in battles with the White Finns. During the conduct of hostilities, the anti-aircraft gunners fulfilled their assigned tasks with honor. Thus, during the offensive operation on the Khalkhin Gol River, 45 Japanese aircraft were shot down by their fire. For courage and bravery in battles with the Japanese invaders, more than 100 anti-aircraft gunners were awarded government awards.

On May 20, 1939, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR, an independent command department of anti-aircraft artillery was created at the Military Artillery Academy named after F. E. Dzerzhinsky. Colonel P.A. was appointed head of the faculty. Abrosimov. The creation of this faculty marked the beginning of a system of higher military education for anti-aircraft artillery officers.

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 subordinated directly to the People's Commissar of Defense. Over the 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.

Military air defense troops entered the Great Patriotic War while being in the stage of rearmament and deployment, insufficiently equipped with small-caliber anti-aircraft guns, and with a large percentage of outdated weapons in the troops. Despite the insufficient number of anti-aircraft guns of the latest developments in the troops, by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War a fairly coherent weapons system and organizational structure of formations and air defense units had developed.

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 fronts, from the Barents to the Black Sea, entered into battle with the Nazi invaders, staunchly repelling the attacks of superior enemy forces, showing examples of courage, heroism and professional skill. Thus, on June 27, 1941, while repelling attacks on troops in the area of ​​​​the village of Stodolishche (near Smolensk), 304 destroyed 7 enemy aircraft over the course of two days. Anti-aircraft gunners fought to the death, covering troops and their concentration areas, communications centers, and crossings in bloody battles.

Anti-aircraft artillery formations and units were additional powerful firepower in the hands of the Soviet army and front-line command, especially in the fight against enemy tanks, and played an important role in the defensive operations of our troops in the battles for the cities of Smolensk, Dnepropetrovsk, Kyiv, Tula, Moscow, Leningrad, Odessa, Voronezh, Rostov, Stalingrad, Sevastopol and others. In these battles, air defense became an integral part of the defensive operations of our Ground Forces, and anti-aircraft artillery became a powerful means of air and anti-tank defense.

The first months of the war showed the important role of aviation in achieving operational and tactical successes and the weakness of the air defense of our troops. One of the main reasons for the defeats of our troops during this period was the lack of a sufficient number of ground forces and air defense systems capable of reliably covering units and formations, being in constant readiness to repel air strikes. At the same time, the dual subordination of anti-aircraft artillery formations, when the Reserve divisions of the Supreme High Command (RVGK) were subordinate to the head of the Air Defense Directorate, and units and units of combined arms formations were subordinate to the artillery chiefs, did not contribute to their effective use. Already the first months of the war showed major shortcomings in the organization of air defense, which allowed the enemy to launch sudden, unpunished air strikes.

In November 1941, the bulk of the forces and means of anti-aircraft artillery, as well as the Main Directorate of Air Defense, which exercised the leadership of ZA, were transferred to the Air Defense Forces of the country. During this difficult period of the Great Patriotic War, military air defense was left without a central governing and supporting body. The supply of anti-aircraft weapons directly to the fronts has sharply decreased. Thus, in the second half of 1941, they were allocated about 13% of the guns produced by the military industry.

It was necessary to take steps as soon as possible to strengthen military air defense. The authority and actions of the chief of artillery of the Red Army N.N. played a certain role in this. Voronova. On February 28, 1942, in his report to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, he raised the question of the leadership of military air defense. By order of the NKO of June 2, 1942, all ground units and air defense units operating as part of the fronts were subordinated to the chief of artillery of the Red Army and the chiefs of artillery of the fronts and armies. Front air defense departments and army air defense departments were transformed into air defense departments and divisions. The position of deputy chief of front (army) artillery for air defense was introduced into the departments of artillery chiefs of fronts and armies. An air defense department was created at the headquarters of the chief of artillery of the Red Army. The same order introduced the Regulations on Deputy Chiefs of Artillery of Fronts and Armies for Air Defense. During the war, generals V.G. fought in these positions. Pozdnyakov, L.N. Polosukhin, S.E. Prokhorov, M.M. Karlin, M.I. Rybakov, A.A. Matyukhin and many others.

Thus, the dual subordination of military air defense units was eliminated, and their management from top to bottom became unified. The same order created an anti-aircraft artillery training center, where a few days later the formation of army and front-line air defense regiments began. The distribution of anti-aircraft weapons coming from factories was also revised in favor of the fronts. With the increase in the amount of weapons supplied by industrial enterprises moved to the eastern regions of the country, it became possible to form new air defense units and formations.

In October 1942, the formation of anti-aircraft artillery divisions of the RVGK began. Already in November 1942, the first two divisions were sent to Stalingrad and made a significant contribution to the defeat of the Nazi group. In the Battle of Stalingrad, for the first time, an encircled group of fascist troops was blocked from the air, which significantly contributed to its defeat. This was the first example of the massive use of military air defense groups and their skillful maneuvering during the battle.

With the beginning of the formation and dispatch of anti-aircraft artillery divisions of the RVGK to the front, military anti-aircraft artillery grew into a force capable of successfully fighting enemy aircraft and reliably covering troops in defensive and offensive operations. By the beginning of 1944, each of the fronts had from 9 to 12 anti-aircraft artillery divisions and 10-15 anti-aircraft artillery regiments.

In November 1942, an Air Defense Directorate was created as part of the Main Directorate of the Red Army Artillery Commander to provide management of ground-based air defense systems of the fronts. It included the air defense department of the artillery headquarters with operational functions and the anti-aircraft artillery combat training department from the Artillery Combat Training Directorate.

The successes achieved by 1944 in the combat use of anti-aircraft artillery in massing forces and assets in the main directions of troop operations predetermined the paths for its further organizational development. Enlargement of its formations was considered as one of the ways to improve the organization of anti-aircraft artillery.

During the war, military air defense constantly grew in quantity and at its final stage, 61 anti-aircraft artillery divisions of the RVGK, 192 anti-aircraft artillery regiments of small caliber, 97 separate divisions of the RVGK, which consisted of about 11 thousand anti-aircraft guns, operated on the fronts.

The main burden of the fight against the air enemy fell on the military air defense. 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. During the war, 21,645 aircraft were shot down by ground-based military air defense systems, of which: medium-caliber aircraft - 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.

182 units, units and formations of the air defense fronts were awarded the title of guards, 250 were awarded orders (including 18 three times and 54 twice), 211 were awarded the honorary title of liberated cities. Many anti-aircraft divisions had several hundred aircraft shot down. Thus, the 18th Artillery, three times decorated Simferopol Division, under the command of Colonel S.A. Kalinichenko shot down 598 fascist aircraft, the 3rd Guards Anti-Aircraft Artillery, three times awarded Rechitsa-Brandenburg Division, commanded by Major General I.M. Seredin, shot down 504 enemy aircraft.

The anti-aircraft gunners covered themselves with unfading glory. In the fight against the Nazi invaders, they showed examples of courage and heroism. 54 anti-aircraft gunners were awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Let's remember them by name: M.R. Abrosimov, K.V. Aksenov, N.V. Andryushok, P.Ya. Anuchkin, A.V. Asmanov, E.M. Ayanyan, I.P. Bedin, M.I. Bondarenko, I.N. Brusov, A.A. Brykin, A.G. Vavilov, F.V. Vaskin, P.T. Volkov, V.V. Volsky, I.P. Gorchakov, I.A. Grafov, D.Kh. Guba, V.T. Gurin, G.E. Guseinov, A.F. Grebnev, G.B. Dernovsky, Ya.T. Didok, I.K. Egorov, V.I. Eremenev, P.A. Zhulyabin, A.A. Zabronsky, A.F. Zubarev, A.I. Kazakov, P.S. Kandaurov, V.M. Kozlov, M.I. Kozomazov, V.F. Kolbnev, M.I. Komarov, P.G. Lavrentiev, L.S. Mereshko, A.S. Milyutin, A.Ya. Mikhailov, P.P. Morozov, V.F. Mytsyk, N.M. Nikolaev, V.K. Oleynik, A.S. Peshakov, F.M. Puzyrev, I.S. Pienzin, N.I. Rogov, N.V. Romashko, A.E. Rumyantsev, P.A. Slabinyuk, I.I. Sorokin, I.P. Sorokin, I.F. Stepanov, V.I. Temchuk, I.S. Fursenko, V.A. Chernoshein.

I would like to dwell on some of the exploits of the heroic anti-aircraft gunners. For example, the commander of the anti-aircraft machine gun squad of the 1995th anti-aircraft artillery regiment, junior sergeant I.N. Brusov. At the front since May 1944. On January 25, 1945, during heavy battles for the liberation of Poland, his crew covered the crossing of the river from the air. Oder. While repelling an enemy attack from the air, his crew was shot down by an enemy fighter. I.N. himself Brusov was wounded. Overcoming the pain, he took the gunner's place and shot down another enemy fighter. He died in the same battle. The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded posthumously.

Gunner of the 1334th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment, Junior Sergeant A.G. Vavilov fought on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War from September 1942. He distinguished himself in the battles for the city of Kyiv. Taking part in repelling numerous enemy air attacks, on September 10, 1943 he shot down one enemy bomber, and on September 27 and 29, three more enemy bombers. On November 3 and 4, replacing the wounded gun commander, he shot down three aircraft. The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded in February 1944.

Gun commander of the 1346th anti-aircraft artillery regiment, Sergeant V.T. Gurin fought since 1941. He distinguished himself in the battles for the liberation of the Sumy and Poltava regions in August 1943, where he shot down 4 enemy aircraft with his crew. In October 1943, the crew of V.T. Gurina, as part of the battery, covered the crossing on the Dnieper River from enemy air raids. When repelling another raid by enemy aircraft, the crew was destroyed. V.T. Gurin was left alone, but continued to fire and shot down an enemy bomber. The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded posthumously.

This year marks a significant date - the 60th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War. I would like to bow low to all the veterans who fought on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, who gave their lives for the freedom and independence of our Motherland. Its participants, military air defense veterans Major General V.M., are still alive and well among us. Galev, N.N. Osintsev, M.A. Letun, Colonels V.V. Vorobyov, E.Ya. Shereshevsky, N.N. Rusakov, N.P. Surikov, M.A. Morgunov, N.S. Rudakov, A.F. Stalnov and many others. Even today, in difficult conditions for all of us, they are actively passing on their knowledge, experience, and traditions to a new generation of anti-aircraft gunners. I would like to express my gratitude from the bottom of my heart, to wish you to remain in our ranks longer and not grow old in soul.

The current generation of Russian soldiers, brought up on the exploits of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War, honors and enhances their glorious military traditions. This happened in Afghanistan, and this happened again in the Chechen Republic. For the courage and heroism shown in battles with terrorists, the commander of the anti-aircraft platoon of the 76th Airborne Division, Senior Lieutenant A.N. Sherstyannikov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Russia. Junior Sergeant M.A. was awarded the Order of Courage. Kasterin, crew number of the anti-aircraft battery of the anti-aircraft division.

At the end of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet government moved to reduce the Armed Forces. The transfer of military air defense to peacetime states provided for the reorganization of anti-aircraft divisions into brigades and regiments, and anti-aircraft regiments into divisions.

The experience of the Great Patriotic War and the rapid development of air attack weapons in the post-war period, as well as a qualitative change in the Ground Forces themselves, required the improvement of ground-based air defense systems. In the first post-war years, designers I.S. Leshchinsky, S.V. Vladimirov, G.P. Markov, E.D. Vodopyanov, E.K. Rachinsky, V.G. Grabin, L.V. Lyuliev, A.T. Ginzburg developed new automated anti-aircraft artillery systems (ZAK) of small, medium and large calibers, as well as multi-barreled anti-aircraft artillery and machine gun mounts.

Another success of the team of the Research Institute of Radio Industry, headed by N.L. Popov and A.A. The final step was the development of enemy air reconnaissance radar stations MOST-2, P-3, P-8, P-10. The leading role in the development of these radars belongs to I.N. Antonov, E.Ya. Boguslavsky, R.S. Budanov, L.V. Leono-vu, P.V. Podgornov, A.I. Shestakov, M.M. Lobanov, A.I. Oblezin.

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 military anti-aircraft artillery department directly supervised the combat training of formations and units. The first head of this department was Lieutenant General of Artillery S.I. Makeev.

The material base for combat training of military air defense, where military skills were forged, were district anti-aircraft artillery training centers or anti-aircraft artillery firing sectors, which were created in each district. They practiced tactical training tasks, conducted tactical live-fire exercises, and exercises on fire control of anti-aircraft artillery units and subunits.

At the end of 1947, by decree of the country's top leadership, a special commission was appointed to deal with air defense problems. The commission was headed by Marshal of the Soviet Union L.A. Govorov. As a result of the work done, the country's Air Defense Forces became a branch of the Armed Forces and were removed from the subordination of the artillery commander 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.

The need for further reform of the air defense system in general, and military air defense in particular, was justified by the conclusions based on the results of military exercises at the Totsky training ground of the Volga Military District in June-September 1954 under the leadership of the USSR Minister of Defense, Marshal of the Soviet Union N.A. Bulganina. During the exercise, an extremely unfavorable situation with the state of control and interaction of air defense forces and means was clearly revealed, in particular, due to the lack of reliable radar reconnaissance equipment and automated control systems at command posts (CP).

In 1956, on the initiative of the First Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR - Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, Marshal of the Soviet Union I.S. Konev, the Military Air Defense Directorate is created as part of the General Staff of the Ground Forces. Major General A.G. was appointed head of the Department. Burykin. The positions of air defense chiefs are being introduced in military districts, armies (corps) and divisions. However, as practice has shown, the measures taken to improve the command and control system of military forces and air defense systems did not produce positive results. The leadership of the military defense and radio engineering units continued to remain scattered. This had a negative impact on their combat training, the organization of interaction between them, as well as with fighter aircraft.

Thanks to the initiative and perseverance of the first deputy commander of artillery of the Soviet Army, Marshal of Artillery V.I. Kazakov when summing up the results of a command and staff exercise with the troops of the Belarusian Military District, held in July 1957, in the report of the USSR Minister of Defense, Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov for the first time recognized the need to create a new type of troops in the Ground Forces - air defense troops. The General Staff and the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces were assigned specific tasks to substantiate these proposals. It was also decided to conduct a research exercise on air defense in the Baltic Military District, which took place in September 1957.

The conclusion was clear - in the interests of unity of leadership of all forces and means of air defense of the troops, increasing efficiency in the fight against the air enemy, improving interaction with the Air Force (Air Force), the country's Air Defense Forces and covered troops, it is necessary to create a new branch of troops in the Ground Forces - air defense troops.

Creation and development of air defense troops of the Ground Forces (1958 - 1998)

On August 16, 1958, by order of the USSR Minister of Defense No. 0069, a new branch of the military was created - the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces. Hero of the Soviet Union, Marshal of Artillery V.I., was appointed the first head of the air defense forces. Kazakov, who actively participated in the formation of the military branch and exercised direct leadership over it in the period from 1958 to 1965.

The air defense forces of the Air Force included individual S-75 anti-aircraft missile regiments, anti-aircraft artillery divisions of the RVGK, radio technical regiments of military districts and groups of forces, 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 military air defense training centers.

The Office of the Chief of Air Defense Troops of the Ground Forces is being created in the Main Command of the Ground Forces. In military districts, armies and army corps, combined arms formations and units, the position of chief of troops (chief) of air defense with the corresponding administrative apparatus is being introduced. The first chiefs of air defense troops of military districts and groups of forces were: Lieutenant General A.N. Burykin, A.M. Ambartsumyan, Major General 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.

First of all, the leadership of the military branch and the Ministry of Defense was faced with the task of equipping the air defense forces of the ground forces with modern anti-aircraft weapons. With the creation of aviation equipped with jet engines, aircraft flight speeds, their service ceiling and maneuverability have increased significantly. All this placed higher demands on the armament of the air defense troops of the North. Anti-aircraft artillery could no longer effectively solve the problem of combating enemy air. Anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM) were to become the main means of air defense.

In 1958-1959, the formation of the first anti-aircraft missile regiments began, armed with the S-75 anti-aircraft missile system, developed for the country's Air Defense Forces. Among the first regiment commanders were future generals S.M. Mukhanov, A.Ya. Ganja.

With the beginning of the formation of anti-aircraft missile regiments, the question arose about the procedure for mastering new military equipment. In order to retrain personnel for new military equipment, the 6th military anti-aircraft artillery training center was formed in May 1958 in the city of Bogodukhov, Kharkov region. The formation of the training center, the establishment of the educational process, the creation of educational and material base was entrusted to the first heads of the training center, participants in the Great Patriotic War, generals M.P. Botina, I.I. Vasilenko, Colonel Yu.A. Andersen. Subsequently, the heads of the Bogodukhovsky training center were also: Major General S.M. Mukhanov, N.M. Bannikov, B.V. Karelin, M.F. Pichugin, Colonel K.I. Adamov.

The theoretical training course for anti-aircraft missile units at the training center lasted 4-6 months. Upon its completion, the anti-aircraft regiments were sent to the State Training Ground of the Air Defense Forces (Ashuluk, Astrakhan region), where they passed exams on the material part, received weapons and military equipment (WME) from industry, mastered it, carried out docking combat missile launches, and after completing this practical course were sent to the place of permanent deployment.

The officers and all personnel of the anti-aircraft missile regiments with great enthusiasm mastered new military equipment, techniques and methods of its combat use. In the very first years of operation of the S-75 air defense system in the air defense forces of the North, due to the rationalization proposals of the personnel, the standards for the deployment of air defense systems and the preparation of equipment for combat work were significantly reduced. Instead of 4-6 hours provided for by the standards of combat work in the country's Air Defense Forces, the time was reduced to 1 hour, which sharply increased the maneuverability of units and units armed with this air defense system.

However, the maneuverability of the S-75 air defense system remained very low. There is an urgent need to develop anti-aircraft missile systems for military air defense. The main requirements for them were mobility and maneuverability 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 "Krug" and "Cube".

Anti-aircraft artillery systems were also improved. In 1957, under the leadership of chief designers N.A. Astrov and V.E. Pikkel, the development of the all-weather self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery system ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" began. The installation was supposed to replace towed small-caliber anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine gun mounts used for air defense of units of motorized rifle (tank) regiments. In 1962, the Shilka anti-aircraft self-propelled gun (ZSU) was adopted by the Air Defense Forces. This 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 North were determined, based on the experience of the Great Patriotic War and verified during combat training. Air defense units, units and formations are included in all combined arms formations and formations:

IN motorized rifle company– a squad of anti-aircraft gunners armed with the Strela-2 man-portable anti-aircraft missile system (MANPADS);

In a motorized rifle (tank) battalion (as part of the battalion headquarters) there is a squad of anti-aircraft gunners armed with Strela-2 MANPADS;

In a motorized rifle (tank) regiment there is an anti-aircraft artillery battery consisting of a ZU-2Z-2 platoon and a ZPU-4 platoon;

In the motorized rifle (tank) division - an anti-aircraft artillery regiment armed with ZAK S-60 (4 batteries of six 57-mm AZP); radar reconnaissance and communications platoon (two P-15 radars and R-104 radio station);

In the combined arms (tank) army - a separate anti-aircraft missile regiment S-75 (3 divisions of 6 launchers each); a separate radio technical 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-technical regiment consisting of three radio-technical battalions of four radar companies each.

To retrain the personnel of air defense units of small and medium-sized infantry (tp) on the new military equipment ZSU-23-4 "Shilka", air defense systems "Strela-1", MANPADS "Strela-2" (3)" in 1958 in the city of Berdyansk, Zaporozhye region, training center for the combat use of military air defense. The heads of the Berdyansk training center 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. Shcherbakov, N. N. Gavrichishin, D. V. Pasko, V. N. Tymchenko.

During the 60-70s, the first generation anti-aircraft systems of the air defense forces “Krug”, “Cube”, “Strela-1”, “Osa”, portable anti-aircraft missile complex (MANPADS) "Strela-2".

A huge contribution to the creation and adoption of these complexes, which laid the foundation for the anti-aircraft missile technology of the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces, was made by the general designers: Laureate of the Lenin and State Prize, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences V.P. Efremov, Laureate of the Lenin and State Prizes, Doctor of Technical Sciences A.A. Rastov, Laureate of the Lenin and State Prizes, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences S.P. Invincible.

Creative teams of designers and workers worked actively under their leadership. A major contribution to the development of anti-aircraft weapons for the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces was made by designers B.I. Shavyrin, L.V. Lyulev, I.M. Drize, V.V. Razenberg, A.P. Goldberg, A.F. Usolev, G.S. Efimov, A.P. Khorikov, A.I. Yaskin, V.V. Tikhomirov, Yu.N. Figurnovsky, V.K. Grishin, A.L. Lyapin, I.G. Akopyan, A.E. Nudelman, I.M. Drize, P.D. Grushin, V.G. Svetlov and many others.

During the same period, new mobile radar stations for detecting 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 chief designers B.P. Lebedeva, L.I. Shulman, V.V. Reisberg, V.A. Kravchuk. A.P. took the most active part in the development and modernization of the radar. Vetoshko, A.A. Mamaev, L.F. Alterman, V.N. Stolyarov, Yu.A. Weiner, A.G. Gorinshtein, N.A. Volsky.

In the period 1965-1969, the leadership of the air defense troops of the Ground Forces was carried out by Colonel General V.G. Privalov. He went through a glorious military path from a platoon commander of an artillery regiment to the head of the air defense troops of the Army. 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 the 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 production samples of anti-aircraft missile weapons for military air defense: air defense systems "Krug", "Cube", "Osa", "Strela-1", MANPADS "Strela-2", ZSU-23-4 "Shilka";

Organize joint testing (industry and troops) of created anti-aircraft weapons at state testing grounds;

Create a training center for the combat use of air defense forces at the Emba training ground and a training center in Kungur;

Organize the retraining of anti-aircraft artillery units for anti-aircraft missile systems, followed by live firing;

Improve the educational and material base of universities and training centers of the Air Defense Forces;

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 with the ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" and the air defense missile system "Strela- 1".

The Motherland 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, 1st degree, two Orders of the Red Star and numerous medals.

Anti-aircraft weapons of the Air Defense Forces of the North were actively used in local wars and armed conflicts of the post-war period. Thus, in the Vietnam War (1965-1973), the S-75 Dvina anti-aircraft missile systems were used for the first time in combat conditions. During the period of hostilities, American troops lost more than 1,300 combat aircraft from the fire of this air defense system alone.

Between April 28 and July 14, 1972, South Vietnamese patriots fired 161 shots from Strela-2 MANPADS, shooting down 14 enemy aircraft and 10 helicopters.

In the Arab-Israeli conflict (1967-1973), the Kvadrat air defense system (a modification of the Kub air defense system), Strela-2 MANPADS, ZSU-23-4, and anti-aircraft artillery were actively used. The Kvadrat air defense system showed the highest firing efficiency. For example, on October 7, 1973, 3 zrdn 79 zrbr shot down 7 aircraft, and 2 zrdn 82 zrbr shot down 13 enemy aircraft. Most of the firing was carried out under conditions of intense fire and interference from the enemy.

Units armed with Strela-2M MANPADS and ZSU-23-4 Shilka also performed well. During the war, anti-aircraft gunners conducted about 300 fires at air targets, shooting down 23 enemy aircraft. Between October 6 and October 24, 1973, 11 aircraft were shot down by anti-aircraft batteries armed with ZSU-23-4.
Local wars using Soviet-made anti-aircraft weapons confirmed the high effectiveness of anti-aircraft weapons created for the air defense forces of the North. The experience of combat use of anti-aircraft formations, units and subunits was actively used to improve the combat use of air defense troops and personnel training.

In the 70s, there was further improvement in the organizational structure of the air defense forces. According to the state it was proposed to have:

In a motorized rifle (tank) battalion there is an anti-aircraft missile platoon armed with MANPADS;

In the motorized rifle (tank) regiment there is an anti-aircraft missile and artillery battery consisting of two platoons armed with the ZSU-23-4 “Shilka” and the “Strela-1” air defense system;

In a motorized rifle (tank) division there is an anti-aircraft missile regiment armed with a five-battery Kub or Osa air defense system; platoon of radar reconnaissance and control of the division's air defense chief;

In the combined arms (tank) army - the Krug anti-aircraft missile brigade of three divisions; a separate radio technical battalion consisting of four radar companies; Army air defense command post;

In the military district - an anti-aircraft missile and artillery division as part of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile regiment; zenap, armed with ZAK KS-19; two zenapas armed with ZAK S-60; anti-aircraft missile brigade "Krug"; separate radio engineering regiment; District air defense command post.

The rearmament of the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces and a change in views on their combat use urgently required further improvement in the training of officers with higher military education. In August 1962, the anti-aircraft artillery department was relocated from the Military Artillery Command Academy to the Kiev Higher Artillery Engineering School named after Kirov. A huge amount of work on the development of KVAIU was done by the head of the school, Major General of Artillery E.M. Kraskevich.

In April 1965, with the adoption of the Krug air defense system, the Orenburg Training Center was formed and began retraining personnel. Since 1985, he switched to retraining anti-aircraft missile brigades armed with S-300V air defense systems, and since 1992, anti-aircraft missile regiments armed with Tor air defense systems. The heads of the training center made a great contribution to the training of specialists for the Air Defense Forces: Major General A.I. Dunaev, V.I. Chebotarev, V.G. Gusev, V.R. Volyanik, Colonels B.V. Shlyapkin, V.I. Shcherbakov, N.N. Gavrichishin, I.M. Gizatulin.

In October 1967, in the Ural Military District (Perm Region), the Kungur Anti-Aircraft Missile Training Center of the Air Defense Forces of the North was formed, which began retraining military units re-equipped with the Kub air defense system, and since 1982 - with the Buk air defense system. A huge contribution to the development of the center and the training of specialists for the Air Defense 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. Kanevsky, V.I. Petrov, L.M. Chukin, V.M. Syskov.

During its existence, the Kungur training center retrained 43 anti-aircraft missile regiments (1968-1981), 21 anti-aircraft missile brigades "Buk" (1981-1997) on the Kub air defense system, trained several thousand sergeants and specialist soldiers for the troops Air defense SV.

With the re-equipment of the Air Defense Forces with anti-aircraft missile systems, the district anti-aircraft artillery training centers no longer meet the needs of anti-aircraft units and formations in organizing and conducting tactical exercises with live fire. Therefore, 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 air defense forces of the Ground Forces was created. The training center was intended to conduct 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 live-fire exercises have been conducted on its territory, and about 6,000 combat launches of missile defense systems have been carried out. 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 Air Defense Forces, universities and research institutes, to carry out practical tests of the provisions of the Battle Manuals, the Rules for Firing Anti-Aircraft Missile Systems, Fire Control Manuals and experimental work on improving equipment and weapons during tactical exercises with live shooting.

In the late 80s he began to practice new method the air defense troops entering the training ground - as part of an army (corps) group. This ensured the development of issues of command and control of troops during combat operations, their interaction, the involvement of command posts of all levels, as well as officers of command and control bodies of both full and reduced strength, in command and control of troops.

In general, the activities of the training centers ensured a high degree of training of personnel for formations and units of the armed forces during the continuous process of rearmament of formations and air defense units of the Army with new military equipment, as well as communication between industry and troops.

In 1970, in order to improve the quality of training of ZAK and short-range air defense systems specialist officers, the Smolensk Higher Anti-Aircraft Artillery Command School was created. The heads of the school, Major General A.Ya., made a great contribution to the development of the school’s educational and material base and the training of officers for the Air Defense Forces. Ganzha, V.M. Ruban, V.L. Kanevsky.

From 1969 to 1981, Colonel General P.G. served as chief of the air defense forces of the Northern Forces. Levchenko. During this period of leadership of the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces, he managed to solve the following main problems:

Introduce into the troops the anti-aircraft missile systems "Krug", "Cube", "Osa", "Strela-1", MANPADS "Strela-2", ZSU-23-4;

Lay the foundations for the further development of second-generation anti-aircraft weapons for the air defense forces of the North: S-300 air defense systems, Buk, Tor air defense systems, Tunguska air defense systems;

Organize tactical exercises with live firing of air defense formations and units at the Emba State training ground at least once every two years;

Create a branch of the Military Artillery Academy in Kiev, and then the Military Air Defense Academy of the Ground Forces named after Vasilevsky;

Create a training center for training foreign air defense specialists in the city of Mary and organize the supply of air defense weapons to foreign countries;

Create a research institute for air defense forces 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 Battle, two Orders of the Red Star and many medals.

To conduct scientific research in the interests of the development of air defense forces, in 1971 it was decided to create 39 research institutes. The institute was headed by the head of the State training ground, Major General V.D. Kirichenko. In a short time, the staff was staffed, the placement of employees was organized, and the institute staff began to carry out the tasks assigned to it. In 1983, Major General I.F. was appointed head of the 39 Scientific Research Institute. Losev. In general, the purposeful work of the team of the 39th Research Institute made it possible to correctly determine the paths for the development of the military branch, create new models and weapons systems, create balanced sets of air defense forces and means, and provide the troops with the necessary combat documents.

The intensive development of aviation, radio electronics, and the widespread introduction of new technologies into military affairs have raised the question of the need for a systematic approach to substantiating the composition and characteristics of second-generation air defense weapons of the Air Defense Forces. Generals and officers of the Directorate of Anti-Aircraft Troops took an active part in the development of tactical and technical requirements for the weapon system for the second generation air defense forces of the Air Force, the fundamentals of its combat use, Manuals on combat work, shooting rules, as well as in the direct conduct of joint and state tests of new types of weapons. defense of the Ground Forces, universities and air defense training centers of the Army: Colonel General P.G. Levchenko, Yu.T. Chesnokov, B.I. Dukhov, V.K. Chertkov, V.V. Litvinov; Lieutenant General Yu.A. Andersen, I.F. Olenovich, V.S. Kuzmichev, Yu.P. Belkov, V.K. Zhdanovich, I.Yu. Malkov, V.Yu. Malkov, V.P. Baranovsky, P.P. Polyakh, V.K. Avdeev, M.A. Sultygov, A.V. Andrushchak, G.P. Kupriyanov, V.D. Kirichenko; Major General V.M. Galev, A.G. Luzan, Yu.V. Bogdanov, A.V. Tamgin, I.F. Losev, V.I. Shcherbakov, V.R. Volyanik, V.M. Ruban, G.D. Verbitsky, Yu.D. Chevokin, V.S. Suzdaltsev; Colonels N.N. Falev, S.G. Shcherbakov, A.A. Zorkov, S.P. Sevastyanov, G.B. Balashov, S.P. Zhitnikov, R.B. Tagirov.

In the 80s, the second generation of anti-aircraft systems was formed for the air defense forces of the North: the S-ZOOV anti-aircraft missile system (ZRS), the Buk, Tor, Strela-10 air defense systems, the Tunguska anti-aircraft gun-missile system (ZPRK) ", MANPADS "Igla" with reconnaissance and automated control systems integrated into them.

A huge contribution to the creation and adoption of these complexes, which laid the foundation for the anti-aircraft missile technology of the air defense forces of the Northern Forces, was made by chief designers V.P. Efremov, A.A. Rastov, A.G. Shipunov, A.E. Nudelman, S.P. Invincible. Creative teams of designers and workers worked actively under their leadership. Designers I.M. made a great contribution to the development of these air defense systems. Drize, V.P. Gryazev, V.M. Kuznetsov, E.A. Pigin.

For the effective use of air defense troops, modern automated control systems (ACS) are being created. The main directions of development of automated control systems for the air defense forces of the ground forces were:

Creation of automation systems (CAS) for front (army) air defense command posts (KShM MP-06, MP-02) and a command post for the division air defense chief (MP-22, MP-25, MP-23);

Creation of automated control points for radar companies of air defense units and formations (PORI-P2, PORI-P1);

Creation of automation means for combat operations control of air defense units, units and formations of the Air Force: "Polyana-D1", "Polyana-D4", mobile reconnaissance and control point PPRU-1 "Ovod-M-SV", unified battery command post (UBKP) " Rank."

The following people were directly involved in the creation of a complex of automated control systems and weapons for air defense troops: Colonel General Yu.T. Chesnokov, E.V. Kalashnikov, Lieutenant General V.V. Litvinov, F.M. Antropov, I.Yu. Malkov, Major General A.G. Luzan, Yu.D. Chevokin, A.I. Soldatenko, Colonels N.N. Falev, S.G. Shcherbakov, O.V. Chubarov, A.M. Chubukov.

In the 70-80s, it was possible to create new, more advanced mobile radar stations for combat and standby modes for the air defense forces: "Obzor-3" (9S15M), "Ginger" (9S19M2), "Sky-SV" (1L13), “Dome” (9С18), “Casta-2-2” (39Н6). The development and adoption of these radars was carried out under the leadership of chief designers Yu.A. Kuznetsova, G.N. Golubeva,. V.P. Nechaeva, I.G. Krylova, A.P. Vetoshko, Yu.P. Shchekotova A significant contribution to the creation of the station was made by I.A. Bisyarin, V.P. Guryev, Yu.A. Kozhukhov, V.I. Zgoda, L.F. Alterman, A.A. Mamaev, Yu.G. Sizov, S.F. Snopko, A.L. Skokov, A.P. Borodulin, Yu.V. Nechaev, P.V. Starodymov; I.D. Volkov, M.B. Duel, I.L. Davidovsky, Yu.V. Leonov, G.V. Vladimirovsky, E.P. Koryakin, M.A. Medov, M.A. Ostrovsky, L.A. Rozhansky, V.A. Lazarev, Yu.A. Kuznetsov, A.P. Vetoshko, Yu.P. Shchekotov, V.A. Greshnov, N.S. Smal, A.V. Esin, Yu.D. Khamuev, V.P. Kozhaev, V.A. Zhibinov, A.G. Larin and many others.

In the 80s, due to the arrival of new military equipment and automated means of controlling weapons and troops, the sets of air defense troops of the Air Force underwent further changes:

In the motorized rifle (tank) regiment there is an anti-aircraft division consisting of the Strela-10 anti-aircraft missile battery, an anti-aircraft missile battery armed with Igla MANPADS, and a Tunguska anti-aircraft missile and artillery battery;

In a motorized rifle (tank) division - an anti-aircraft missile regiment "Thor" of four batteries or an anti-aircraft missile regiment "Osa" of five batteries; platoon of the division's air defense chief;

In the combined arms (tank) army - the Buk-M1 anti-aircraft missile brigade of four divisions with three batteries in each division, a separate radio engineering battalion; automated army air defense command post;

In the military district - an anti-aircraft missile and artillery division consisting of one or two Krug anti-aircraft missile brigades, two or three Zenabras armed with the KS-19 ZAK, one Zenabra armed with the S-60 ZAK; S-300V anti-aircraft missile brigade consisting of three divisions of three batteries; a separate radio-technical brigade consisting of four radio-technical battalions (4 radar companies in each); automated air defense command post of the district.

The adoption of increasingly complex military equipment and weapons required improved training of officers for the troops. On June 20, 1977, the Military Academy of Air Defense of the Ground Forces was created in Kiev on the basis of a branch of the artillery academy. The basis of the Military Academy of Air Defense of the Ground Forces was made up of the faculties and departments of the branch, which had a rich history, traditions and had already accumulated extensive experience in training and educating several generations of leading officers for the branch of the armed forces. The heads of the academy in various years were Colonel General A.I. Kozhevnikov, L.M. Goncharov, B.I. Spirits. In February 1978, the academy was named after the outstanding commander, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Marshal A.M. Vasilevsky.

In 1980, by decision of the military and political leadership of the USSR, another reorganization of the air defense system was carried out. The Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces merged with the Air Defense Forces of the country. For this purpose, the country's air defense formations and formations deployed on the territory of border military districts were reorganized into air defense corps and, together with air defense fighter aircraft, were transferred to the subordination of the commanders of the military districts. The Office of the Chief of Air Defense Troops of the Ground Forces was also reorganized and headed by the Commander of Military Air Defense - the First Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Defense Forces - included in the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Air Defense.

The commanders of the military districts were entrusted with responsibility for the air defense of the country's facilities and troops within established boundaries, operational planning and use of the Air Defense Forces, their mobilization and combat readiness, organization of combat duty, control over the flight regime 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 rejected practice of organizing air defense during the period 1948-1953. Therefore, such a structure could not exist for a long time. All this predetermined the relatively short period of existence of the new version of the organization and subordination structure of military air defense. In April 1985, it was considered expedient to withdraw military air defense troops from the country's Air Defense Forces and return them to the Ground Forces. During the same period, the Directorate of the Air Defense Chief of the Army was formed.

In the period 1980-1989. The personnel of the Air Defense Forces of the Army carried out combat missions as part of a limited contingent of Soviet troops on the territory of the Republic of Afghanistan. The direct leadership of the army's air defense troops was carried out by the air defense commanders, Major General V.S. Kuzmichev, Colonel V.I. Chebotarev. The air defense units of the Army 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 carry out combat missions. Anti-aircraft artillery units, mainly armed with ZAK "Shilka" and S-60, were involved in escorting columns and engaging enemy personnel and firing points. A large number of air defense troops officers served in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan during this period. Among them are Colonels A.S. Kovalev, M.M. Fakhrutdinov, Lieutenant Colonels I.V. Svirin, A.Ya. Osherov, S.I. Chernobrivets, B.P. Goltsov and many others.

In the period from 1981 to 1991, the head of the air defense forces of the North was Colonel General Yu.T. Chesnokov. During this period of leadership of the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces, he managed to solve the following main problems:

Return the Office of the Commander of the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces to the Civil Command of the Ground Forces;

Create a clear structure of the air defense troops of the ground forces from the small and medium-sized regiment (tp) to the district inclusive, taking into account the new air defense systems adopted for service;

Unite disparate air defense systems of MSR, MSB into anti-aircraft divisions of MSP (TP);

Create automated control systems for air defense troops from the small and medium-sized infantry (tp) to the front inclusive, based on the "Maneuver" automated control system kits;

Equip the air defense troops of the North with new anti-aircraft systems "Tunguska", "Tor", "Buk", S-300V, "Igla";

To develop a draft order of the USSR Minister of Defense on the maximum service life of air defense systems and air defense systems and achieve its implementation, which made it possible to have real plans for the re-equipment of the air defense forces of the ground forces.

The Motherland highly appreciated the services of Colonel General Yu.T. Chesnokov, awarding him the Order of the Red Banner, two Orders of the Red Star, the Order "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" II and III degrees, as well as many medals and foreign orders.

In the period from 1991 to 2000, the head of the air defense forces of the North was Colonel General B.I. Spirits. During this period of leadership of the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces, he managed to solve the following main problems:

To create a Military Academy of Air Defense of the Ground Forces of the Russian Federation and a research center on the basis of the Smolensk Higher Engineering School of Radio Electronics;

During the period of large-scale reduction of the Armed Forces as a whole, maintain sets of air defense troops in the military districts, armies (AC), divisions (brigades), regiments;

Carry out work on the practical unification of military forces and air defense systems of various types of armed forces and military branches into the military air defense of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

The Motherland highly appreciated the merits of Colonel General B.I. Dukhov, awarding him the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of the Red Star, the Order "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" III degree, the Order "For Military Merit" and nine medals.

In 1991, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics collapsed. The government of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Defense were faced with a difficult task - in a short time, in conditions of limited material and financial capabilities, to carry out radical reforms, create new educational institutions for the training and education of personnel, conduct scientific research, including for the air defense forces of the Ground Forces Russian Federation.

On March 31, 1992, by order of the President of the Russian Federation, the Military Academy of Air Defense of the Ground Forces of the Russian Federation was formed in Smolensk on the basis of SVIURE. Lieutenant General V.K. was appointed head of the academy. Chertkov, who arrived from the post of first deputy commander of the air defense forces of the Ground Forces.

The Military Air Defense Academy of the Army included a research center created on February 29, 1992, also on the basis of the Smolensk VIURE. The main task of the research center was to conduct scientific research on current problems in the development of air defense troops of the ground forces, arising from the tasks of reforming the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The heads of the Research Center in various years were Colonels G.G. Garbuz, O.V. Zaitsev, Yu.I. Krut, O.A. Danilov.

In October 1992, experimental research exercises were conducted at the Emba state training ground to repel a massive attack by enemy high-precision weapons under the leadership of the First Deputy of the Russian Defense Ministry, General A.A. Kokoshin, Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, Colonel General V.M. Semenov, commander of the Air Defense Forces, Colonel General B.I. Dukhova. The exercises demonstrated the high efficiency of military air defense systems and their compliance with modern requirements.

The successor to the Berdyansk training center, which also came under the jurisdiction of Ukraine, was the Yeisk anti-aircraft missile training center of the air defense forces, formed in November 1992. The center was retraining air defense units of motorized rifle (tank) regiments (brigades) for the Tunguska, Shilka and Strela-10M3 anti-aircraft systems. The first head of the Yeisk training center was Colonel L.V. Baklitsky, later this training center was headed by Colonels V.I. Kozyr, A.A. Korolev.

In October 1998, the Military Air Defense Academy of the Russian Armed Forces was transformed into the Military University of Military Air Defense of the Russian Armed Forces, joining it as a branch of the Orenburg Military Air Defense Command. In March 2003, the Military University of Military Air Defense of the RF Armed Forces was headed by Major General N.A. Frolov.

Thus, within a relatively short time after the collapse of the USSR and the loss for the RF Armed Forces of the Military Air Defense Academy named after A. M. Vasilevsky, 39 Research Institute, a number of military schools and military air defense training centers through the efforts of the commanders of the military air defense, the Military Air Defense Directorate, and the staff of the Military Academy , other universities have done a lot of work to restore the scientific potential of the military branch.

Military air defense troops: today and tomorrow

On December 31, 1997, further changes occurred in the history of the development of the military branch. In accordance with the order and directive of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation “On improving the leadership of the military air defense troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,” the air defense troops of the ground forces, formations, military units and air defense units of the ground and coastal forces of the Navy and Airborne Forces, as well as formations, military air defense units of the Supreme High Command reserve are united in a single branch of the military - the military air defense forces of the RF Armed Forces.

The basis of military air defense is the air defense troops of the Ground Forces. Together with other branches of the Armed Forces and branches of the military, they conduct reconnaissance of enemy air; fire destroys its manned and unmanned assets, tactical and operational-tactical ballistic and cruise missiles, air reconnaissance and electronic warfare (EW) assets, and aviation elements of reconnaissance-strike complexes (RUK); fight against airborne assault forces and airborne troops in flight.

The formation of military air defense troops as part of combined arms formations, formations and units has not currently undergone significant changes compared to the period of the late 90s. Improving the organizational structures of military air defense is aimed mainly at reducing the number of units and formations and bringing their organizational structure into line with the volume of tasks they solve to combat the air enemy. The main directions for improving the organizational structures of anti-aircraft formations are:

Creation of mixed anti-aircraft missile formations and units armed with modern anti-aircraft systems of various ranges. This will improve the efficiency of using existing anti-aircraft weapons, their autonomy and survivability;

Creation of flexible organizational structures of anti-aircraft formations and military air defense units, suggesting their different composition and equipment of weapons and military equipment depending on their operational purpose.

The development of enemy air attack weapons and the continuous improvement of techniques and methods of their combat use necessitate further improvement of anti-aircraft weapons.

The main directions of development of fire weapons are:

Increasing the effectiveness of defeating various types of aerodynamic and ballistic targets;

Increased noise immunity radio-electronic means SAM;

Reduced reaction time;

Increasing the degree of automation of combat work;

Improving the information support of complexes;

Increasing the degree of unification and introducing the modular principle of constructing anti-aircraft systems.

Promising means of detecting enemy air, based on the integration of various types of reconnaissance, will receive increasing development. Promising radars will be characterized by increased energy potential, improved methods and devices for generating and processing radar signals, the introduction of selection and recognition modes for various classes of targets, and the use of multi-position radar principles. This will improve the capabilities of promising air defense systems to combat high-speed stealth targets, increase their combat performance, noise immunity and secrecy of operation, and increase the reliability of the equipment.

Promising directions for the development of the military air defense control system may be:

Optimization of existing organizational structures of command and control bodies, formations, units and units of military air defense in accordance with changes in combined arms structures and the construction of the Russian Aerospace Defense system;

Development and introduction into troops of automation systems for formations, units and units of military air defense;

Creation of a unified automated control system for troops, reconnaissance and air defense systems, which will be part of the automated control system for the armed forces.

Together with other branches of the Armed Forces and branches of the military, the Air Defense Forces conduct reconnaissance of enemy air; fire destroys its manned and unmanned assets, tactical and operational-tactical ballistic and cruise missiles, air reconnaissance and electronic warfare (EW) assets, and aviation elements of reconnaissance-strike complexes (RUK); fight against airborne assault forces and airborne troops in flight.

During the period of the late 70s and early 80s, a proven methodology for withdrawing units and formations to the state training ground for tactical exercises with live fire became firmly established in the practice of the military branch. Formations and units were brought to the training ground in full force, with standard weapons and military equipment. The exercises were carried out in a comprehensive manner, against a complex tactical and operational background, with the actual performance of long marches in a combined manner. The exercises were led by combined arms commanders (commanders).

In recent decades, the air defense troops of the Ground Forces, in the course of reforms carried out in the Armed Forces, have undergone significant changes, primarily related to the reduction in their combat and numerical strength.

Today, the basis of military air defense is made up of air defense troops of military districts, formations, military units and air defense units of the Ground, Airborne and Coastal Forces of the Navy. They are intended for:

Conducting reconnaissance and repelling attacks from enemy air attacks;

Protection of troop groups and facilities from air strikes in all types of combat operations, during regroupings of troops and their location on the spot.

The creation of anti-aircraft missile weapons for military air defense in the 60s involved work in three areas: the creation of weapon models, the determination of the basis for their combat use and the optimal organizational and staffing structures of the corresponding military formations.

As a result, the material basis of the military branch is created - first-class military equipment and weapons. Anti-aircraft artillery was replaced in 1965 by the first-generation Krug anti-aircraft missile system, which was used to arm formations and units of front-line and army units, and in 1967 by the Kub air defense system to arm anti-aircraft missile regiments of tank divisions. In 1962, the Shilka ZAK (ZSU-23-4) was put into service. This ZSU became the first self-propelled gun in the history of the development of domestic anti-aircraft weapons that could effectively fire at air targets in motion. In 1972, the autonomous Osa air defense system, capable of detecting air targets in motion and destroying them from a short stop, as well as overcoming water obstacles while afloat, entered service with anti-aircraft missile regiments of motorized rifle divisions. In 1976, the Strela-10 air defense system was put into service. Most of these complexes are still in service with formations, military units and military air defense units and the armed forces of foreign states.

The results of the Arab-Israeli wars of the second half of the 20th century confirmed not only the high efficiency of military air defense weapons, but also the correct focus of our theoretical principles on the use of formations, units and subunits, the basis of which was mobility, surprise and survivability.

Today, the basis of military air defense is weapons represented by such systems and complexes as S-300V, Buk-M1, Tor-M1, Osa-AKM, Tunguska-M1, the main developers of which are such famous designers as V. P. Efremov, I.N. Drize, E.A. Pigin. New complexes and systems have incorporated best qualities their predecessors and are capable of hitting both aerodynamic and ballistic targets, cruise missiles, air reconnaissance and electronic warfare systems, ensuring the fulfillment of the tasks of reliable cover of troops in various types military operations. At international exhibitions in Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Paris and presentations recent years this military equipment confidently competes, and in many cases shows better combat qualities than its similar systems and complexes in the armies of foreign countries.