That the Red Army was the strongest from the taiga to the British seas is known to every middle-aged person. Every “progressive” blogger knows that everything possible has collapsed in the Russian army. But neither one nor the other point of view corresponds to reality. For example, let’s compare the air power of the USSR and Russia.
Let me make a reservation right away that when comparing the quantitative composition of the air force, it would be nice to apply a coefficient. It would be most reasonable to start from the state of the economy. But the Soviet economy is very difficult to compare with the Russian one. Firstly, because it is quite difficult to compare the Soviet ruble with the dollar, since there was no free conversion of it. And secondly, because the economic structure of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation is very different. According to the collection “National Economy in the USSR,” published in 1990, that is, almost immediately before the collapse of the country, the GDP (gross domestic product) of the USSR was equal to the round figure of one trillion rubles. Economists did not directly compare the GDP of the USSR and the USA, but through comparisons (based on purchasing power parity and in relation to the GDP of Germany and Austria, the GDP of the Soviet Union was about 36.5% of the level of US GDP.
Now (according to the methods of the International Monetary Fund) Russia's GDP at PPP is approximately 15% of the US one. Accordingly, the population of Russia compared to the population of the Soviet Union is about 48%. When you look at the numbers, please make this adjustment.
It is worth noting that in terms of the number of aircraft, the Russian Air Force is second only to the US Air Force, but in Soviet times the number of aircraft and helicopters in service with the USSR was greater than that of the United States. In post-Soviet times, the country's air force experienced a number of serious cuts. All old types of vehicles were removed from service. Currently, almost the entire fleet is represented by devices of at least the fourth generation. The number of aviation regiments during the post-Soviet period decreased from 281 to 102. Already in 1995, serial production of aircraft supplied to the Air Force and Air Defense Aviation was stopped. If in 1992 67 aircraft entered service, then in 1994 - 17, and in 1995 - not a single one. However, in recent years, 153 fighters have been delivered to the country's Air Force, of which 42 are new, and the rest are modernization of combat aircraft. Also, 24 new fighters and attack aircraft were put into service. In 2010, 21 aircraft went into service with the troops, in 2011 – 35. In 2014-2015. A 5th generation fighter aircraft is to enter service with the Russian Air Force.
Information about weapons is collected from open sources and is not official.
So, if we compare the organizational structures and armament of the air forces of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation, the following picture emerges: associations: Long-Range Aviation One of the elements of the country’s strategic triad is ADD (Long-Range Aviation), which in the USSR included 3 air army with headquarters in Irkutsk, Moscow and Smolensk). By 1990, it was armed with 435 strategic and long-range bombers, of which 15 Tu-160 missile carriers, 160 Tu-95, 30 M-4, 150 Tu-22 and Tu22M bombers and 80 Tu-16. There are currently no armies or divisions in the structure of the Russian Air Force. According to available information, Russian strategic and long-range aviation has 294 aircraft in service, of which 90 Tu-22M3 are in reserve. There are 16 Tu-160 missile carriers, 64 Tu-95MS6\MS16 bombers and 124 Tu-22M3 bombers in regular service.
Fighters Fighters and medium bombers in the Soviet Union were part of the front-line aviation, which consisted of a total of 14 air armies, three of which (plus one joint air division) were deployed in the European theater of operations in groups of Soviet forces. In addition, the Air Force of the Moscow Military District was a separate association. In total, the USSR had 1,755 fighters in service (some of which were part of the air defense forces). The basis of the fighter fleet at the time of the collapse of the USSR was the MiG-23 aircraft in the amount of 700 units. The second most common were MiG-29 fighters, of which there were 540 copies. In addition, 200 MiG-31 interceptors and 40 MiG-25 units, 90 Su-27 fighters and 185 venerable MiG-21s were in service. In total, the fighter fleet of modern Russia includes 1,382 aircraft. The Russian Air Force operates 570 MiG-29 fighters, of which 34 are modernized MiG-29SMT. Three hundred cars of this brand are in reserve. There are 328 MiG-31 and MiG-31BN interceptors, of which 150 are in reserve and 188 are in active units. There are 406 Su-27 fighters of various modifications (100 in storage and 353 in service). There are only 11 more modern Su-30, Su-30M2, Su-35S. Strike aircraft Strike aircraft were called upon to raze the enemy on the battlefield and in the near rear. There were 2,135 aircraft falling under this category in the USSR. They were distributed by brand as follows: the largest number were Su-24s, of which there were 630, followed by Su-17s, of which there were 535, then 500 MiG-27s and 130 Su-7s and 340 Su-25 attack aircraft. There are 956 aircraft in Russian military aviation. The basis of the fleet is still Su-24 of various modifications, of which 566 are in service, of which 201 are in reserve. There are only 15 modern Su-34 front-line bombers, and there are 241 and 40 Su-25 attack aircraft and modernized Su-25SM, respectively, and 100 units in reserve, that is, a total of 381 units, which is even more than in the USSR.
Refuelers The Soviet Air Force had 84 tanker aircraft, of which there were 34 Il-78s, 30 M-4s and 20 Tu-16 tankers. In the Russian Federation, there are 20 Il-78 tankers in service. AWACS aircraft. Airborne early warning and indication aircraft in the USSR were represented by 40 copies of the A-50. In Russia there are only 20 of them, of which 8 are in reserve. Reconnaissance aircraft There were 1015 reconnaissance and electronic warfare aircraft in the Soviet Union. The most common was the Su-24 in reconnaissance version, of which there were 235 units. Also in service were 200 Yak-28s, 190 Su-7s, 170 Mig-25s, 50 Mig-21s, 130 Tu-16s, 30 Tu-22MRs, and 10 Il-38s. The Russian Air Force has 100 Su-24 reconnaissance aircraft and 30 MiG-25 RB remaining. Transport aviation Transport aviation was intended for the transfer of equipment and troops. Among the “air cabs” of the Soviet Union there were 615 transport aircraft. The main workhorse was the 310 Il-76. The transport aircraft also included 210 An-12, 55 An-22 Antey and 45 An-124 Ruslan heavy transport aircraft. The Russian Air Force has 210 Il-76, 20 An-72, 12 Anteev An-22 and 22 heavy An-124 in service. Delivery plans Currently, such modern equipment as the MiG-29K, Su-27SM3, Su-30M2 and Su-35S are planned for delivery to the Russian Air Force; by 2013, it is planned to reach the production level of 10-12 Su-34 in year. As you can see, Russian combat aviation is still far from final death, but it is also not so close to the level of the Soviet Union.
At the end of the 30s, a powerful research and production base was created in the USSR, capable of designing and producing a large number of machines of different types. In 1940, 40% of the Soviet military budget was spent on aviation, and the total number of aircraft factories increased by 75%. As a result, in June 1941 the production base was one and a half times larger than the German one.
There is still no consensus on the quantitative composition of the Soviet Air Force at the start of the war.
The figures given for the total number of combat aircraft are 17,500-20,000, of which 9,261 aircraft were located on the western border (V.S. Shumikhin “Soviet Military Aviation 1917-1941”).
in Leningrad Military District (24 air regiment): 1270
in the Baltic Military District (19 air regiments): 1140
in the Western Special Military District (29 air regiments): more than 1500
in the Kiev Special Military District (32 air regiment): 1672
in Odessa Military District (15 air regiments): 950
in Long-Range Bomber Aviation: 1346
in the air forces of the Baltic, Black Sea and northern fleets: 1338
Of the total number of combat aircraft, 53.4% were fighters, 41.2% were bombers, 3.2% were reconnaissance aircraft, and 0.2% were attack aircraft. About 80% of all aircraft were older types (I-15, I-16, SB, TB-3, DB-3 and R-5). With the advent of new aircraft at the beginning of 1941, the total number of machine types was 27, of which 7 were modernized versions (there were 86 bomb types). All this variety of types complicated the supply and complicated the organization and use of air units.
New fighters were built, not so few (1309 MiG-1 and MiG-3, 399 Yak-1 and 322 Yak-3, 2030 in total), but they have not yet been sufficiently mastered by personnel.
A comparison between the Air Force and the Luftwaffe on June 22 cannot be made based simply on the number of vehicles, which would imply a more than two-fold superiority of the Air Force. It is necessary to take into account the lack of crews and the non-combat capability of some aircraft. Most important was German superiority in aircraft quality and crew training. German aircraft were superior to ours in terms of flight performance and firepower. The extensive, almost two-year combat experience of German pilots predetermined most aerial duels. The qualitative superiority of the Germans was complemented by organizational advantages. While Soviet aviation units were dispersed across military districts, armies and military units, and could not be used in a concentrated manner as a single unit, German aircraft were consolidated into air fleets, each of which consisted of up to 1000 aircraft. As a result, the Air Force acted fragmented, and the Luftwaffe concentrated to strike key sectors and at the most important moment.
Recognizing the courage and valor of the Soviet pilots of that time, admiring their feat and self-sacrifice, one cannot help but recognize the fact that the USSR managed to revive its Air Force after the disaster of 1941 solely due to its enormous human resources, the relocation of almost the entire aviation industry to areas inaccessible to German aviation and the fact that in the first months of the war the Air Force lost mainly equipment, and not flight and technical personnel. It was they who became the basis of the revived Air Force.
In 1941, the Soviet aviation industry transferred 7081 fighters to the front, and the Allies supplied 730 fighters.
In the first half of 1942, fighter aviation included the following types of domestically produced aircraft: I-153 (18% of the total), I-16 (28%), MiG-3 (23.9%), LaGG-3 (11.5%), Yak-1 (9.2%).
Beginning in January 1942, aircraft production increased steadily. If in the first quarter the average monthly production of combat aircraft was 1,100 aircraft, then in the second quarter it was 1,700. In total, 9,744 aircraft were produced in the first half of the year, of which 8,268 were combat aircraft. The production of aircraft in the second half of the year was as follows: July - 2224 (total)/1835 (combat), August - 2492/2098, September - 2672/2286, October - 2839/2462, November - 2634/2268, December - 2831/2464 .
During 1942, the Soviet aviation industry produced 9,918 fighters, and the German - 5,515. In 1942, as part of Lend-Lease, the Allies supplied 1,815 fighters to the Soviet Air Force.
In 1943, as part of Lend-Lease, the Allies delivered 4,569 fighters, and the Soviet aviation industry transferred 14,627 fighters to the front.
On January 1, 1942, the Soviet Air Force had 12,000 aircraft, including 5,400 in the active army, on January 1, 1943 - 21,900/12,300, on January 1, 1944 - 32,500/13,400.
At the end of 1944, the Air Force had 16 air armies, which included 37 air corps and 170 air divisions (63 fighter, 50 attack, 55 bomber and 2 mixed). In total, during the war years, 18 air armies were created in the USSR. In 1945, there were 15 air armies within the Red Army Air Force, of which three (9, 10 and 12th) were located in the Far East, and the 7th Air Army was in the Reserve Headquarters of the Supreme High Command.
According to Soviet data, as of January 1, 1944, there were 10,200 (of which 8,500 were so-called new types) combat aircraft in the active army, on July 1, 1944 - 12,900 (11,800), on January 1, 1945 - 14,700 (14,500) . At the beginning of 1945, the Soviet Union had 22,600 combat aircraft.
On May 9, 1945, the USSR had 47,300 combat aircraft, including 9,700 bombers, 10,100 attack aircraft, and 27,500 fighters.
According to Soviet data, in 1945, combat losses of Soviet aviation (over four months of the war) amounted to 4,100 combat aircraft, so the average monthly losses were 1,025 aircraft.
Organizational structure of the Red Army Air Force
Organizationally, the Soviet Air Force was initially an integral part of the Army and Navy, but then gained some independence. They were divided into long-range bomber aviation of the High Command, front-line, army and military aviation. In addition, the Navy had naval aviation. In pre-war times, the bulk of Soviet combat aircraft were part of the air forces of military districts intended to defend the borders of the state. Thus, the district commanders had close-range bomber air divisions, fighter air divisions (IAD) and mixed air divisions (MAD). The latter were often part of combined arms armies. All this did not contribute to the effectiveness of Soviet aviation, since its forces were dispersed on all fronts, which allowed the Luftwaffe to easily maintain dominance in the skies in the areas of main operations of its troops.
The main tactical unit of Soviet fighter aviation was the fighter regiment, which included 48-60 aircraft. It consisted of four squadrons of 12 fighters each. The larger fighter formation was the fighter division, which consisted of three to six regiments based at several airfields. To defend strategically important cities (for example, Moscow, Leningrad and Baku) and subsequently to gain air superiority, the largest fighter formations were created - air corps, consisting of two or three divisions.
During the Great Patriotic War, the highest formations of the Red Army Air Force appeared - the Air Armies (AA), intended for operations on the scale of entire fronts.
After the invention of the first aircraft and structures, they began to be used for military purposes. This is how combat aviation appeared, becoming the main part of the armed forces of all countries of the world. This article describes the most popular and effective Soviet aircraft, which made a special contribution to the victory over the fascist invaders.
The tragedy of the first days of the war
Il-2 became the first example of a new aircraft design scheme. Ilyushin’s design bureau realized that this approach noticeably worsened the design and made it heavier. The new design approach provided new opportunities for more rational use of the aircraft's weight. This is how the Ilyushin-2 appeared - an aircraft that, due to its particularly strong armor, earned the nickname “flying tank”.
IL-2 created an incredible number of problems for the Germans. The aircraft was initially used as a fighter, but did not prove particularly effective in this role. Poor maneuverability and speed did not give the Il-2 the opportunity to fight fast and destructive German fighters. Moreover, the weak rear protection allowed the Il-2 to be attacked by German fighters from behind.
The developers also experienced problems with the aircraft. During the entire period of the Great Patriotic War, the armament of the Il-2 was constantly changing, and a seat for a co-pilot was also equipped. This threatened that the plane could become completely uncontrollable.
But all these efforts yielded the desired result. The original 20mm cannons were replaced with large-caliber 37mm ones. With such powerful weapons, the attack aircraft became feared by almost all types of ground troops, from infantry to tanks and armored vehicles.
According to some recollections of pilots who fought on the Il-2, firing from the guns of the attack aircraft led to the fact that the plane literally hung in the air from strong recoil. In the event of an attack by enemy fighters, the tail gunner covered the unprotected part of the Il-2. Thus, the attack aircraft actually became a flying fortress. This thesis is confirmed by the fact that the attack aircraft took several bombs on board.
All these qualities were a great success, and the Ilyushin-2 became simply an indispensable aircraft in any battle. It became not only a legendary attack aircraft of the Great Patriotic War, but also broke production records: in total, about 40 thousand copies were produced during the war. Thus, Soviet-era aircraft could compete with the Luftwaffe in all respects.
Bombers
The bomber, from a tactical point of view, is an indispensable part of combat aircraft in any battle. Perhaps the most recognizable Soviet bomber of the Great Patriotic War is the Pe-2. It was developed as a tactical super-heavy fighter, but over time it was transformed into a dangerous dive bomber.
It should be noted that Soviet bomber-class aircraft made their debut precisely during the Great Patriotic War. The appearance of bombers was determined by many factors, but the main one was the development of the air defense system. Special tactics for using bombers were immediately developed, which involved approaching the target at a high altitude, sharply descending to the bomb-dropping altitude, and an equally abrupt departure into the sky. This tactic yielded results.
Pe-2 and Tu-2
A dive bomber drops its bombs without following a horizontal line. He literally falls on his target and drops the bomb only when there are only 200 meters left to the target. The consequence of this tactical move is impeccable accuracy. But, as you know, an aircraft at low altitude can be hit by anti-aircraft guns, and this could not but affect the design system of bombers.
Thus, it turned out that the bomber had to combine the incompatible. It should be as compact and maneuverable as possible, and at the same time carry heavy ammunition. In addition, the design of the bomber was assumed to be durable, capable of withstanding the impact of an anti-aircraft gun. Therefore, the Pe-2 aircraft suited this role very well.
The Pe-2 bomber complemented the Tu-2, which was very similar in parameters. It was a twin-engine dive bomber, which was used according to the tactics described above. The problem with this aircraft was that there were insignificant orders for the model at aircraft factories. But by the end of the war the problem was corrected, the Tu-2 was even modernized and successfully used in battle.
Tu-2 performed a wide variety of combat missions. It served as an attack aircraft, bomber, reconnaissance aircraft, torpedo bomber and interceptor.
IL-4
The Il-4 tactical bomber rightly earned the title of the Great Patriotic War, making it difficult to confuse it with any other aircraft. The Ilyushin-4, despite its complicated controls, was popular in the Air Force; the aircraft was even used as a torpedo bomber.
The IL-4 is entrenched in history as the aircraft that carried out the first bombing of the capital of the Third Reich - Berlin. And this happened not in May 1945, but in the fall of 1941. But the bombing did not last long. In winter, the front shifted far to the East, and Berlin became out of reach of Soviet dive bombers.
Pe-8
During the war years, the Pe-8 bomber was so rare and unrecognizable that it was sometimes even attacked by its own air defenses. However, it was he who performed the most difficult combat missions.
Although the long-range bomber was produced back in the late 1930s, it was the only aircraft of its class in the USSR. The Pe-8 had the highest speed (400 km/h), and the fuel supply in the tank made it possible to carry bombs not only to Berlin, but also to return back. The aircraft was equipped with the largest caliber bombs, up to the five-ton FAB-5000. It was the Pe-8 that bombed Helsinki, Koenigsberg, and Berlin at a time when the front line was in the Moscow area. Because of its operating range, the Pe-8 was called a strategic bomber, and in those years this class of aircraft was just being developed. All Soviet aircraft of World War II belonged to the class of fighters, bombers, reconnaissance aircraft or transport aircraft, but not to strategic aviation, only the Pe-8 was a kind of exception to the rule.
One of the most important operations performed by the Pe-8 was the transportation of V. Molotov to the USA and Great Britain. The flight took place in the spring of 1942 along a route that passed through Nazi-occupied territories. Molotov traveled on the passenger version of the Pe-8. Only a few such aircraft were developed.
Today, thanks to technological progress, tens of thousands of passengers are transported every day. But in those distant war days, every flight was a feat, both for pilots and passengers. There was always a high probability of being shot down, and a downed Soviet plane meant the loss of not only valuable lives, but also great damage to the state, which was very difficult to compensate.
Concluding this short review, which describes the most popular Soviet aircraft of the Great Patriotic War, it is worth mentioning the fact that all development, construction and air battles took place in conditions of cold, hunger and lack of personnel. However, each new machine was an important step in the development of world aviation. The names of Ilyushin, Yakovlev, Lavochkin, Tupolev will forever remain in military history. And not only the heads of design bureaus, but also ordinary engineers and ordinary workers made a huge contribution to the development of Soviet aviation.
Aviation of the USSR and Russia
Aviation of the USSR after the war.
After the end of World War II, in which the USSR and the USA were allies, Europe was redivided into spheres of influence. In the 1950s, two main military-political blocs were formed - NATO and the Warsaw Pact, which were in a state of constant confrontation for decades. The Cold War, which began in the late 1940s, could at any moment develop into a “hot” third world war. The arms race, spurred on by politicians and the military, gave a strong impetus to the development of new technologies, especially in military aviation.
For decades, there has been a military confrontation not only on land, at sea and under water, but primarily in the airspace. The USSR was the only country whose air force was comparable to the US Air Force. The main suppliers of fighters to the Soviet Air Force during the Cold War were the design bureaus of Mikoyan and Gurevich, as well as Sukhoi. The Tupolev Design Bureau had a monopoly on heavy bombers. It specialized in the design of heavy bombers and transport aircraft.
The Birth of Jet Aviation
In the post-war years, the main direction of development of the Soviet Air Force was the transition from piston aircraft to jet aircraft. Work on one of the first Soviet jet aircraft began back in 1943-1944. The prototype of the new aircraft made its first flight in March 1945.. On April 24, 1946, the first Soviet production jet aircraft, the Yak-15 and MiG-9, took off. During testing, these aircraft showed speeds of about 800 km/h and over 900 km/h, respectively. At the end of 1946, these machines went into mass production. The new aircraft that entered service with the USSR Air Force belonged to the first generation of subsonic jet fighters. Based on the generalized experience accumulated during the Great Patriotic War, new combat regulations, manuals and guidelines for the combat use of types and branches of aviation were developed. To ensure reliable aircraft navigation, accurate bombing and shooting, aircraft are equipped with various radio-electronic systems. The equipment of airfields with a system of “blind” landing of aircraft using instruments began.
The beginning of the rearmament of Soviet aviation with jet aircraft required the modernization of the organizational structure of the Air Force. In February 1946, the Red Army was renamed the Soviet Army, and the Red Army Air Force was renamed the USSR Air Force. Also in 1946, the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force - Deputy Minister of the Armed Forces was introduced. The Air Force Headquarters was transformed into the Air Force General Headquarters. The air force was divided into front-line and long-range aviation. Airborne transport aviation was formed (later transport airborne, and then military transport aviation). The organizational structure of front-line aviation was improved. Aviation was re-equipped from piston aircraft to jet and turboprop aircraft. Many aviation regiments and divisions were returning at this time from the occupied countries of Eastern Europe to the territory of the USSR. At the same time, new air armies were being formed, which included existing air regiments and divisions. Large groups of Soviet aviation were stationed outside the USSR at Polish, German, and Hungarian airfields.
Massive use of jet aircraft.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Soviet aviation began to explore the Far North and Chukotka. The construction of advanced airfields also began on Sakhalin and Kamchatka, and aviation regiments and divisions were relocated here. However, after the appearance of Tu-95 strategic bombers with an intercontinental flight range in long-range aviation regiments, there was no longer a need to bring airfields closer to the territory of a potential enemy - the United States. Subsequently, only air defense fighter regiments remained in the Far East.
The entry into service of the Air Force with nuclear weapons led to fundamental changes in the forms and methods of combat use of the Air Force and sharply increased their role in waging war. The main purpose of aviation from the late 40s to the mid-50s was to carry out bombing attacks on targets in Europe, and with the advent of an aircraft carrier of atomic weapons with an intercontinental range - to launch nuclear strikes against the United States.
Korean War.
The Korean War (1950-1953) was the first armed conflict between two recent allies in the anti-Hitler coalition - the USA and the USSR. The main combat aircraft that were in service with the Soviet fighter air corps were the MiG-15 and MiG-15bis jet aircraft, which underwent a kind of “break-in” in combat conditions» against the latest models of American fighters, among which the F-86 Saber, which appeared at the front in 1951, stood out.
The Soviet government initially provided assistance to the DPRK with weapons, military equipment, and material resources, and at the end of November 1950, it transferred several air divisions to the northeastern regions of China with some of the best pilots participating in repelling US air raids on the territory of North Korea and China (in October Chinese volunteers were sent to Korea in 1950). Until November 1951, the 64th IAK was organizationally part of the operational group of the Soviet Air Force in China, then interacted with the United Sino-Korean Air Army. The Soviet pilots wore Chinese uniforms, and the planes bore the insignia of the PLA Air Force.
For the successful completion of government assignments, 3,504 pilots of the air corps were awarded orders and medals, 22 pilots received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The beginning of the supersonic era.
By the early 1950s, transonic flight speeds were firmly mastered. In February 1950, test pilot Ivan Ivashchenko exceeded the speed of sound in a dive on the production MiG-17 fighter. The era of supersonic aviation has begun. The first Soviet serial supersonic fighter capable of reaching speeds above M=1 in horizontal flight was the MiG-19. This aircraft was comparable to the American F-100 Supersaber fighter and represented the first generation of supersonic fighters. The MiG-15bis fighter-bombers replaced the outdated attack aircraft. New heavy jet and turboprop aircraft Tu-16, Tu-95, M-4, 3M, corresponding in class to the American B-52, B-36 and B-47 bombers, have entered service with long-range aviation.
Since the mid-1950s, changes have occurred in the structure of the Air Force and its organization. For example, by directive of the USSR Minister of Defense Marshal Zhukov in 1956, attack aircraft were eliminated. In 1957, fighter-bomber aviation was formed as part of front-line aviation. The main task of fighter-bomber aviation was to support ground forces and naval forces by destroying important objects in tactical and immediate operational depth.
Second generation of supersonic aircraft.
In connection with the entry into service of the Air Force of supersonic aircraft armed with air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, long-range and front-line aviation by 1960 had turned into supersonic and missile-carrying aircraft. This significantly increased the Air Force's combat capabilities to overcome enemy air defenses and more reliably engage air, ground and surface targets.
In 1955, the Sukhoi Design Bureau created the Su-7 front-line fighter. Since 1958, the lightweight, maneuverable supersonic front-line fighter MiG-21, with a maximum speed of 2,200 km/h, has been mass-produced. For many years, it was the MiG-21 that became the main combat vehicle of Soviet front-line aviation and air defense. Thanks to radar, second-generation aircraft became all-weather.
Bomber aircraft also moved to high speeds. The Tu-22 twin-jet supersonic bomber was designed for operations against NATO naval forces.
The tactics of long-range and front-line aviation continued to change. Missile-carrying aircraft have the ability to strike targets from long distances without entering the air defense zone of enemy targets. The capabilities of Military Transport Aviation have increased significantly. It became capable of transporting formations of airborne troops with their standard military equipment and weapons deep behind enemy lines.
Along with the technical development of the Air Force, the forms and methods of their use were improved. The main forms of combat operations of the Air Force during this period were air operations and joint actions with other types of armed forces, and the main methods of their combat operations were massive strikes and actions in small groups. The tactics of fighter aviation at the turn of the 50s and 60s were based on target interception by command from the ground.
Soviet Air Force in the 1970s.
At the turn of the 60s and 70s, the Soviet Air Force began to develop third-generation combat aircraft. Fighters such as the MiG-25, capable of flying at speeds three times the speed of sound and reaching 24,000 meters, began entering service in the mid-1960s. The most characteristic features of third-generation tactical aircraft are multi-mode capability and improved takeoff and landing characteristics due to the variable geometry wing. Thus, in the mid-1960s, a new direction arose in aircraft construction - the use of rotating wings, which made it possible to change their sweep in flight. Serial production of these aircraft began in 1972-1973.
In the early 1960s, work began in many countries around the world to create vertical take-off and landing jet aircraft. In the USSR, in 1974, serial production of the carrier-based vertical take-off and landing fighter Yak-38 began, which had a number of both general and specific advantages and disadvantages. However, the limited range, lack of on-board radar and insufficient range of ammunition used were the main reasons for the removal of this aircraft from service in the late 1980s.
In the late 1960s - early 1970s, based on studying the experience of using aviation in local conflicts, the range of tactical use of non-nuclear weapons expanded significantly. Also, the improvement of air defense systems forced aviation to move to low altitudes. The appearance of more advanced Su-17M4 and MiG-27 aircraft in fighter-bomber aviation led to the gradual appearance of guided weapons. In the mid-70s, guided air-to-ground missiles appeared in the arsenal of Su-17 fighter-bombers, which meant a refusal to rely solely on nuclear weapons. Europe was considered the main theater of military operations, so the most powerful group of Soviet aviation was based on the territory of the Warsaw Pact countries. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Soviet Air Force did not participate in armed conflicts.
Soviet Air Force in the 1980s.
In the early 1980s, the Air Force began to receive fourth-generation aircraft, which featured dramatic improvements in maneuverability. The combat regiments mastered the latest MiG-29, MiG-31, Su-27 fighters and Su-25 attack aircraft, the world's largest strategic bombers Tu-160. These aircraft gradually replaced outdated aircraft. The fourth generation MiG-29 and Su-27 aircraft, created on the basis of advanced achievements of science and technology in the USSR, are still in service with the Russian Air Force.
By the mid-80s, the Air Force had an extensive airfield network, which included: stationary airfields with concrete runways, dispersal airfields with prepared unpaved runways and specialized sections of highways.
At the end of the 1980s, as part of the transition to a new defense sufficiency strategy, reductions in aviation groups began. The Air Force leadership decided to abandon the operation of MiG-23, MiG-27 and Su-17 aircraft with one engine. During the same period, a decision was made to reduce the front-line aviation of the USSR Air Force by 800 aircraft. The policy of reducing the Air Force deprived front-line aviation of an entire type - fighter-bomber aviation. The main attack vehicles of front-line aviation were to be Su-25 attack aircraft and Su-24 bombers, and in the future - modifications of the fourth generation MiG-29 and Su-27 fighters. Reconnaissance aircraft were also reduced. Many aircraft taken out of service by the Air Force were sent to storage bases.
At the end of the 1980s, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Eastern Europe and Mongolia began. By 1990, the USSR Air Force operated 6,079 aircraft of various types.
In the 1980s, the USSR Air Force actively participated in only one armed conflict - on the territory of Afghanistan, where the main tasks facing Soviet military aviation in Afghanistan were reconnaissance, destruction of ground enemies and transportation of troops and cargo. Fighters, fighter-bombers, front-line bombers, reconnaissance aircraft, attack aircraft, long-range bombers fought in Afghanistan, and helicopters became one of the main participants in the war. A major campaign to transport cargo and troops was carried out by Military Transport Aviation. The daily work of the BTA largely supported the activities of the entire Limited Contingent. Between 150 and 200 flights were operated monthly both within Afghanistan and to and from the Soviet Union. In preparation for and during large-scale operations, the number of BTA flights reached 400-500 per month. The crews continuously carried out tasks to supply the contingent of Soviet troops with everything necessary not only for combat operations, but also for life. Military aviation units provided maneuvers for front-line and army aviation. A significant share of the total volume of traffic was made up of humanitarian cargo intended for Afghans. In total, the crews of military transport aviation alone carried out 27 thousand aircraft flights in Afghanistan (of which 14,700 were against enemy air defense), transported more than 880 thousand personnel and about 430 thousand tons of various cargo. More than 1,700 BTA military personnel were awarded orders and medals.
Soviet aviation suffered the main losses from fire from the ground. The greatest danger in this case was posed by man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems supplied to the Mujahideen by the Americans and the Chinese. In total, almost one million combat missions were flown during the war, during which 107 aircraft and 324 helicopters were lost.
In 1986, development of a promising fifth-generation fighter was launched in the Soviet Union, as a response to the American ATF program. Conceptual developments began back in 1981. The work on its creation was undertaken by the OKB im. Mikoyan, who adopted the “canard” aerodynamic configuration for his brainchild.
OKB im. Sukhoi investigated the possibility of creating a promising combat aircraft with a forward-swept wing. The development of such an aircraft (S-37 Berkut) began in 1983. But in May 1989, the S-37 program was closed, and subsequent work was carried out exclusively at the expense of the Design Bureau itself.
Many technical solutions in the development of the fifth generation aircraft were subsequently applied to the PAK FA.
By the beginning of the 1980s, the Soviet Air Force consisted of long-range, front-line, army and military transport aviation:
Long-range aviation. Equipped with supersonic missile carriers and long-range bombers capable of striking the most important enemy land and sea targets in continental and oceanic (sea) theaters of war, long-range aviation formed the basis of the striking power of the Soviet Air Force. In service: strategic bombers.
Frontline aviation, which was in service attack aircraft, fighters, bombers, fighter-bombers, reconnaissance aircraft are capable of combating enemy nuclear missiles and aircraft, its reserves, providing air support for ground forces, conducting aerial reconnaissance and electronic warfare in the operational and tactical depths of the enemy’s defense.
Military transport aviation, armed with modern heavy-duty aircraft, is capable of discharging and landing troops with standard weapons (including tanks, guns, missiles), transporting troops, weapons, ammunition and materiel by air over long distances, ensuring the maneuver of aviation formations and units, evacuating the wounded and patients, as well as conduct electronic warfare and perform special tasks.
Air defense troops The USSR was a separate branch of the Armed Forces, not part of the Air Force, but having its own aviation units (mainly fighter units). During the reorganization of 1981, the air defense forces came under greater dependence on the Air Force command.
Aviation of the Navy was subordinate to the command of the USSR Navy. In 1980, the Navy Aviation (AVMF) was renamed the Navy Air Force (VVS VMF). Consisted of missile-carrying, attack, fighter, anti-submarine, search and rescue, transport and special aviation (until 2011). In 1990, Naval Aviation had 52 regiments, 10 separate squadrons and air groups with 1,701 aircraft and 363 helicopters, of which 372 were missile carriers, 966 fighters, attack aircraft and reconnaissance aircraft. There was a large network of base, operational and dispersal airfields.
Collapse of the USSR.
The collapse of the powerful defense system in depth of the Soviet Union began with its forward military bases - the withdrawal of groups of troops stationed in the countries of Eastern Europe and Mongolia. In accordance with numerous international obligations, the USSR has been carrying out a massive withdrawal of its most powerful forward Group of Soviet Forces in Germany since 1991. The bulk of them were withdrawn to Russia, some units and formations were withdrawn to Belarus and Ukraine. Under US pressure, the Soviet Union almost completely withdrew the training brigade from Cuba, which in 1989 numbered 7,700 people and consisted of motorized rifle, artillery and tank battalions, as well as support units. Also, during that period, the Soviet military presence in Vietnam was almost completely curtailed - the Cam Ranh naval base, where a battalion of Marines was usually stationed, as well as a mixed group of Navy and Air Force.
Russian Air Force.
In December 1991, the Soviet Air Force was divided between Russia and the independent republics. As a result of this division, Russia received approximately 40% of the equipment and 65% of the personnel of the Soviet Air Force, becoming the only state in the post-Soviet space with long-range strategic aviation. Many aircraft were transferred from the former Soviet republics to Russia. Some were destroyed. In particular, 11 new Tu-160 bombers located in Ukraine were disposed of in cooperation with the United States. 8 such aircraft were transferred by Ukraine to Russia as repayment of debt for gas.
In 1994-1996 and 1999-2002, the Air Force took an active part in the Chechen campaigns. Their activities were complicated by the specifics of the local climate and topography.
The process of degradation of the Russian Air Force (a rapid decline in the number and training of personnel, aircraft and airfields, a small number of flights due to insufficient funding) was active in the 1990s and stopped in the early 2000s. Since 2009, a major overhaul and major modernization of the entire fleet of the Russian Air Force has begun.
In January 2008, Air Force Commander-in-Chief A.N. Zelin called the state of Russian aerospace defense critical. In 2009, purchases of new aircraft for the Russian Air Force approached the levels of purchases of Soviet-era aircraft. The fifth generation fighter PAK FA is being tested; its first flight took place on January 29, 2010. The delivery of 5th generation fighters to the troops began in 2016.
Since December 1, 2014, the management, coordination and control of flights and flights of aviation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation has been carried out by the National Defense Control Center of the Russian Federation.
The Russian Air Force, during the process of reforming the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, which has been ongoing since 2008, has undergone deep and large-scale transformations. The most significant stage of the transition of the Russian Air Force to a new look, which began in the fall of 2008, was a radical reform of its structure.
In 2009, the transition of the Russian Air Force to a new organizational structure began: now the Air Force will consist of operational commands, air bases and aerospace defense brigades (anti-aircraft missile and anti-missile). Four commands (former air force and air defense armies) will be stationed in St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Khabarovsk and Rostov-on-Don. In addition, the long-range aviation command (former 37th Air Army) and the military transport aviation command (former 61st Air Army), as well as the operational-strategic aerospace defense command (former Air Force special forces command, including missile defense) will remain. . The 8 largest airfields of the Russian Air Force will be modernized, and the Air Force command will return to the basing system: 1 airfield - 1 air regiment.
The size of the Russian Air Force's air fleet is second only to the US Air Force. According to expert estimates, as of 2010, the number of personnel of the Russian Air Force is about 148,000 people. The Air Force operates more than 3,600 pieces of military equipment, as well as 833 in storage.
Educational establishments.
During the reform, the Air Force personnel training system also underwent significant changes. On September 1, 2008, two leading higher military educational institutions of the Air Force - the Air Force Academy named after Yu. A. Gagarin (Monino, Moscow region) and the Air Force Engineering Academy named after Professor N. E. Zhukovsky (Moscow) were merged into a single structure – Air Force Academy named after Professor N. E. Zhukovsky and Yu. A. Gagarin, which is located in Voronezh. The training of Air Force flight personnel is finally centralized within the Krasnodar Aviation Institute.
Aviation of the Russian Navy.
The combat experience gained during the war formed the basis for developing plans and directions for the further development of naval aviation, improving the principles and methods of its use in war at sea.
In the second half of 1945, new Tu-2T torpedo bomber aircraft began to enter service with the mine and torpedo aviation units of the Navy Air Force.
As of July 1, 1946, there were 5,252 aircraft in Naval Aviation, including: imported all types - 1059, domestic fighters - 1159, bombers and torpedo bombers - 727, attack aircraft - 482, domestic boat aircraft - 330. Another 1 455 aircraft were in educational institutions and units of the Naval Aviation.
In the first post-war five-year period, the process of reduction of Naval Aviation proceeded steadily: out of 19 air divisions, 16 remained, and the aviation of all military flotillas, naval defensive areas and bases was eliminated. By the beginning of the 1950s, despite its impressive numerical strength, Naval Aviation had a morally and physically outdated aircraft fleet.
The next stage of reforms began on April 21, 1951, when the USSR Minister of Defense, by order No. 0188, set the deadline for the re-equipment of mine-torpedo aviation units with Tu-14t and Il-28t jet torpedo bombers.
In the mid-50s, the gradual re-equipment of MTAP with Tu-16 type aircraft began. This aircraft became epoch-making not only for Naval Aviation, but also for the entire military aviation of the USSR.
At the same time, naval aviation began research work on searching and tracking submarines. The newly created radio hydroacoustic system "Baku" (1953) is installed on helicopters, Be-6 aircraft and then on Tu-16PL (PLO). The latter showed low efficiency in performing the anti-submarine mission, and two experimental squadrons at the Northern Fleet and Pacific Fleet were soon repurposed.
By the end of the 50s, missile-carrying aircraft and cruise missiles began to arrive in the air regiment's mine and torpedo regiments. With the adoption of the Tu-16K-10 aircraft, Order No. 0028 of the USSR Ministry of Defense of March 20, 1961 was issued, followed by Order of the Navy Civil Code No. 048 of April 13, 1961, on the basis of which the naval missile-carrying MRA aviation was born, and all mine- torpedo regiments and divisions were now called “missile-carrying”. However, a year earlier, a significant reduction in military units of the Navy took place on the initiative of N.S. Khrushchev, in particular, fighter aircraft were completely eliminated in the Navy, and mine-torpedo aircraft were significantly reduced.
In the 1970s USSR naval aviation mastered a large number of foreign airfields - Egypt and Syria in the Mediterranean, Ethiopia, Somalia and Yemen in the Indian Ocean, Cuba, Guinea and Angola in the Atlantic, Vietnam in the Pacific Ocean. At the airfields: Cairo, Aswan, Mersa Matrouh, Asmara, Hargeisa, Aden, El Anad, Dahlak, Havana, Conakry, Luanda, Cam Ranh, Da Nang, aviation units and support units from the air force of the fleets were based.
In 1974, the supersonic Tu-22M2 missile-carrying aircraft with variable wing geometry, capable of carrying Kh-22M cruise missiles, entered service with the MRA. The first regiments to retrain for the new type of aircraft were the 943rd MRAP of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force and the 240th Guards. MRAP Air Force BF. The Pacific received a new aircraft much later: in 1980 - the 568th MRAP, in 1982 - the 570th MRAP, and only in 1991 - the 183rd MRAP. It is interesting that this aircraft was adopted by sailors even somewhat earlier than in Long-Range Aviation. Subsequently, the Tu-22M2 was gradually replaced by its more advanced modification, the Tu-22M3.
In the mid-1970s. Heavy aircraft-carrying cruisers (TAKR) Project 1143 were introduced into the combat structure of the USSR Navy, capable, unlike the Project 1123 Moscow and Leningrad anti-ship missiles, to carry not only helicopters, but also vertical take-off and landing aircraft of the Yak-38 type. At the same time, attack aircraft were revived as part of Naval Aviation. The Kyiv aircraft carrier was built for the Northern Fleet. The Pacific Fleet received two other ships: the Minsk and Novorossiysk aircraft carriers. To base them, in addition to shipborne helicopter regiments, separate naval assault aviation regiments were formed as part of the aviation of the Northern Fleet and Pacific Fleet.
On November 3, 1979, the world's first small amphibious ekranoplan ship (MDE) of Project 904, code "Eaglet", was accepted into the Navy. After lengthy debates about what an ekranoplan is - an airplane or a ship, ekranoplanes were nevertheless classified as aviation, and for their operation at the Kaspiysk airfield, the 11th separate air group of the Navy (central subordinate) was formed, then the 236th division of ekranoplan ships.
In 1980, the Navy Aviation (AVMF) was renamed the Navy Air Force (VVS VMF). By this time, Naval Aviation included: five naval missile-carrying divisions (13 missile-carrying regiments on aircraft such as Tu-16, Tu-22M2 and Tu-22M3); two reconnaissance regiments on the Tu-95RTs, two regiments on the Tu-22R, a regiment and two separate squadrons on the Tu-16R. In 1983, the first and only 35th anti-submarine aviation division of the Northern Fleet Air Force (two regiments on Tu-142 aircraft) was formed in the USSR. Two regiments and one squadron flew Il-38 aircraft, and another three regiments and two squadrons were armed with Be-12 amphibians. Six regiments and three squadrons were armed with helicopters. The special aviation included a separate electronic warfare regiment and four transport regiments. The assault aviation was represented by two naval assault and two naval assault regiments. In addition, a separate transport regiment was directly subordinate to the commander of the Navy Air Force, and the 33rd TsBP and PLS had instructor and research units: a missile-carrying regiment, a naval assault regiment, a helicopter regiment and an anti-submarine squadron.
Airfields of the Navy Aviation for the period 70-80s. (permanently based):
Central subordination: Ostafyevo, Nikolaev (Kulbakino), Saki (Novofedorovka), Kaspiysk, Kirovskoye.
Black Sea Fleet: Donuzlav, Veseloye (Karankut), Oktyabrskoye, Gvardeiskoye (Simferopol), Kacha, Meria, Tiraspol, Limanskoye, Markulesti.
Pacific Fleet: Western Knevichi (Vladivostok), Nikolaevka Primorskaya, Pristan (Romanovka), Khorol, Novonezhino, Kamenny Ruchey (Mongohto), Elizovo (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky), Korsakov, Cam Ranh.
Northern Fleet: Lakhta (Katunino), Olenya (Olenegorsk), Veretye (Ostrov), Kipelovo (Fedotovo), Luostari (Pechenega), Severomorsk-1, Severomorsk-2, Severomorsk-3.
Baltic Fleet: Bykhov, Donskoye, Khrabrovo, Chernyakhovsk, Chkalovsk, Kosa, Skulte, Veshchevo, Suurkul, Tukums.
After the collapse of the USSR, Naval Aviation had to leave airfields that overnight became foreign - in Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states, and Georgia. And since 1993, large-scale reductions in military units and decommissioning of equipment began. “Airplanes with a single propulsion system” were withdrawn from service - these are the Su-17, MiG-27, MiG-23, and, accordingly, the flying units armed with them were disbanded. Then they “put on the fence” the Tu-16 and Tu-95RTs aircraft, which formed the basis of naval missile-carrying and reconnaissance aircraft. After another Tu-22M2 disaster, a ban was given on the operation of the entire fleet, with subsequent disposal. Operation of the Yak-38 VTOL aircraft has been discontinued.
With all this, the financing and material support of MA units and subunits was steadily and sharply declining, and soon there was simply not enough money for monthly allowances, which began to be issued to personnel with chronic delays.
By the beginning of 1995, Naval Aviation remained with 2 air divisions of two regiments, 23 separate regiments, 8 separate squadrons, a group of ekranoplanes and 2 training centers. All reconnaissance squadrons have been eliminated. Mi-14 helicopters were withdrawn from the Navy, the newest Mi-14PS were transferred to the aviation of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. After much testing and fine-tuning, the TAVKR "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov" entered its first combat service, having on board an air group of 13 Su-33, 2 Su-25UTG and 11 helicopters.
By mid-1996, the strength of the Navy Aviation was 695 aircraft, of which 66 missile carriers, 116 anti-submarine aircraft, 118 fighters and attack aircraft and 365 helicopters and special aircraft. In 1997, 13 Ka-29TB helicopters were transferred to the Aviation of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In 1998, the Navy MA included one missile-carrying division of two regiments, 12 separate regiments and 7 separate squadrons. In Kamchatka, the 6th Air Defense Division and the 317th OSAP of the Pacific Fleet Air Force were transformed into the Aviation and Air Defense Group of the Joint Command of Troops and Forces in the northeast of the Russian Federation (Aviation and Air Defense OKVS).
By the end of the 20th century, due to chronic fuel shortages, flights, both according to combat training plans and for combat service, were practically not carried out. During rare flights, they tried to maintain the training of the most experienced crews, and young pilots could never take to the air during their entire service. During this period, all the negative phenomena that affected the Air Force also manifested themselves in Naval Aviation.
At the beginning of the 21st century, all missile-carrying aircraft were transferred from Naval Aviation to the Air Force. Aviation garrisons were converted into air bases. In 2012, all Tu-22M3 missile carriers were withdrawn from the MA, and naval missile-carrying aviation (MCA) was eliminated as a class.
In 2015, the Air Force was merged with the Aerospace Defense Forces, resulting in the formation of a new branch of the Russian Armed Forces - the Aerospace Forces (VKS). The implementation of the assigned tasks began on August 1, 2015 in accordance with the decree of the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin. The general leadership of the aerospace defense of Russia is carried out by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, and the direct leadership is carried out by the Main Command of the Aerospace Forces. Since September 30, 2015, the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation have taken an active part in the Russian Military Operation in Syria. The work of the Aerospace Forces was highly appreciated by Vladimir Putin, many military personnel were awarded high government awards from Russia and Syria. At the end of 2016, 84% of the Russian Aerospace Forces flight personnel had gained combat experience in Syria.
The Aerospace Forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (VKS AF) solve a wide range of tasks:
Reflecting aggression in the aerospace sphere and protecting command posts of the highest levels of state and military command, groupings of troops (forces), administrative and political centers, industrial and economic regions, the most important economic facilities and infrastructure of the country from attacks by enemy aerospace attacks;
Defeat enemy targets and troops using both conventional and nuclear weapons;
Aviation support for combat operations of troops (forces) of other types and branches of troops;
Defeat the warheads of a potential enemy's ballistic missiles attacking important government facilities;
Providing senior levels of management with reliable information about the detection of ballistic missile launches and warning of missile attacks;
Monitoring space objects and identifying threats to Russia in space and from space, and, if necessary, countering such threats;
Launching spacecraft into orbit, controlling military and dual-use satellite systems in flight and using individual of them in the interests of providing troops with the necessary information;
Maintaining the established composition and readiness for use of military and dual-use satellite systems, means of launching and controlling them, and a number of other tasks.
The history of Soviet military aviation began in 1918. The USSR Air Force was formed simultaneously with the new ground army. In 1918-1924. they were called the Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet, in 1924-1946. - Air Force of the Red Army. And only after that the familiar name of the USSR Air Force appeared, which remained until the collapse of the Soviet state.
Origins
The first concern of the Bolsheviks after they came to power was the armed struggle against the “whites”. The civil war and unprecedented bloodshed could not have happened without the accelerated construction of a strong army, navy and air force. At that time, airplanes were still curiosities; their mass operation began somewhat later. The Russian Empire left as a legacy to Soviet power a single division, consisting of models called “Ilya Muromets”. These S-22s became the basis of the future USSR Air Force.
In 1918, the air force had 38 air squadrons, and in 1920 there were already 83. About 350 aircraft were deployed on the fronts of the Civil War. The leadership of the then RSFSR did everything to preserve and exaggerate the tsarist aeronautical heritage. The first Soviet commander-in-chief of aviation was Konstantin Akashev, who held this position in 1919-1921.
Symbolism
In 1924, the future flag of the USSR Air Force was adopted (at first it was considered the airfield flag of all aviation formations and detachments). The sun became the background of the canvas. A red star was depicted in the middle, with a hammer and sickle inside it. At the same time, other recognizable symbols appeared: silver floating wings and propeller blades.
The flag of the USSR Air Force was approved in 1967. The image became extremely popular. They did not forget about him even after the collapse of the USSR. In this regard, already in 2004, the Russian Air Force received a similar flag. The differences are minor: the red star, hammer and sickle disappeared, and an anti-aircraft gun appeared.
Development in the 1920-1930s
Military leaders during the Civil War had to organize the future armed forces of the USSR in conditions of chaos and confusion. Only after the defeat of the “white” movement and the creation of an integral statehood did it become possible to begin a normal reorganization of aviation. In 1924, the Workers' and Peasants' Red Air Fleet was renamed the Red Army Air Forces. A new Air Force Directorate has emerged.
Bomber aviation was reorganized into a separate unit, within which the most advanced heavy and light bomber squadrons at that time were formed. In the 1930s, the number of fighters increased significantly, while the share of reconnaissance aircraft, on the contrary, decreased. The first multi-role aircraft appeared (such as the R-6, designed by Andrei Tupolev). These vehicles could equally effectively perform the functions of bombers, torpedo bombers and long-range escort fighters.
In 1932, the armed forces of the USSR were replenished with a new type of airborne troops. The Airborne Forces now have their own transport and reconnaissance equipment. Three years later, contrary to the tradition that had developed during the Civil War, new military ranks were introduced. Now pilots in the Air Force automatically became officers. Everyone left their native colleges and flight schools with the rank of junior lieutenant.
By 1933, new models of the “I” series (from I-2 to I-5) entered service with the USSR Air Force. These were biplane fighters designed by Dmitry Grigorovich. Over the first fifteen years of its existence, the Soviet military aviation fleet was replenished 2.5 times. The share of imported cars has decreased to a few percent.
Air Force holiday
In the same 1933 (according to the resolution of the Council of People's Commissars), the USSR Air Force Day was established. The Council of People's Commissars chose August 18 as the holiday date. Officially, the day marked the end of the annual summer combat training. By tradition, the holiday began to be combined with various competitions and competitions in aerobatics, tactical and fire training, etc.
USSR Air Force Day was used to popularize civil and military aviation among the Soviet proletarian masses. Representatives of industry, Osoaviakhim and the Civil Air Fleet took part in the celebrations on the occasion of this significant date. The center of the annual celebration was the Mikhail Frunze Central Airfield in Moscow.
Already the first events attracted the attention of not only professionals and residents of the capital, but also numerous guests of the city, as well as official representatives of foreign countries. The holiday could not have happened without the participation of Joseph Stalin, members of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) and the government.
Changes again
In 1939, the USSR Air Force experienced another reformatting. Their previous brigade organization was replaced by the more modern divisional and regimental one. By carrying out the reform, the Soviet military leadership wanted to improve the efficiency of aviation. After the transformations in the Air Force, a new main tactical unit appeared - the regiment (it included 5 squadrons, which in total amounted to from 40 to 60 aircraft).
On the eve of the Great Patriotic War, the share of attack and bomber aircraft was 51% of the entire aircraft fleet. Also, the composition of the USSR Air Force included fighter and reconnaissance formations. There were 18 schools operating throughout the country, within whose walls new personnel were trained for Soviet military aviation. Teaching methods were gradually modernized. Although at first the wealth of Soviet personnel (pilots, navigators, technicians, etc.) lagged behind the corresponding indicator in capitalist countries, year after year this gap became less significant.
Spanish experience
For the first time after a long break, USSR Air Force aircraft were tested in combat during the Spanish Civil War, which began in 1936. The Soviet Union supported a friendly "leftist" government that fought the nationalists. Not only military equipment, but also volunteer pilots went from the USSR to Spain. The best performers were the I-16s, which managed to show themselves much more efficiently than the Luftwaffe aircraft did.
The experience that Soviet pilots gained in Spain turned out to be invaluable. Many lessons were learned not only by the shooters, but also by aerial reconnaissance. The specialists who returned from Spain quickly advanced in their careers; by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, many of them became colonels and generals. The timing of the foreign campaign coincided with the outbreak of large Stalinist purges in the army. The repression also affected aviation. The NKVD got rid of many people who had fought with the “whites”.
The Great Patriotic War
The conflicts of the 1930s showed that the USSR Air Force was in no way inferior to the European ones. However, world war was approaching, and an unprecedented arms race unfolded in the Old World. The I-153 and I-15, which had proven themselves well in Spain, had already become outdated by the time Germany attacked the USSR. The beginning of the Great Patriotic War generally turned into a disaster for Soviet aviation. The enemy forces invaded the country unexpectedly and, due to this surprise, gained a serious advantage. Soviet airfields near the western border were subjected to devastating bombing. In the first hours of the war, a huge number of new aircraft were destroyed, never having time to leave their hangars (according to various estimates, there were about 2 thousand of them).
The evacuated Soviet industry had to solve several problems at once. Firstly, the USSR Air Force needed to quickly replace losses, without which it was impossible to imagine an equal fight. Secondly, throughout the war, designers continued to make detailed changes to new vehicles, thus responding to the technical challenges of the enemy.
Most of all the Il-2 attack aircraft and Yak-1 fighters were produced in those terrible four years. These two models together made up about half of the domestic aviation fleet. The success of the Yak was due to the fact that this aircraft turned out to be a convenient platform for numerous modifications and improvements. The original model, which appeared in 1940, has been modified many times. Soviet designers did everything to ensure that the Yaks did not lag behind the German Messerschmitts in their development (this is how the Yak-3 and Yak-9 appeared).
By the middle of the war, parity had been established in the air, and a little later, USSR aircraft began to completely outperform enemy aircraft. Other famous bombers were also created, including the Tu-2 and Pe-2. The red star (the sign of the USSR/Air Force drawn on the fuselage) became for German pilots a symbol of danger and the approaching heavy battle.
Fight against the Luftwaffe
During the Great Patriotic War, not only the park, but also the organizational structure of the Air Force was transformed. In the spring of 1942, long-range aviation appeared. This formation, subordinate to the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, played a vital role throughout the remaining war years. Along with him, air armies began to form. These formations included all front-line aviation.
A significant amount of resources was invested in the development of repair infrastructure. The new workshops had to quickly repair and return damaged aircraft to battle. The Soviet field repair network became one of the most effective of all such systems that emerged during the Second World War.
The key air battles for the USSR were air collisions during the battle for Moscow, Stalingrad and the Kursk Bulge. Indicative figures: in 1941, about 400 aircraft took part in battles; in 1943, this figure grew to several thousand; by the end of the war, about 7,500 aircraft were concentrated in the Berlin skies. The aircraft fleet grew at an ever-increasing pace. In total, during the war, the USSR industry produced about 17 thousand aircraft, and 44 thousand pilots were trained in flight schools (27 thousand died). The legends of the Great Patriotic War are Ivan Kozhedub (he won 62 victories) and Alexander Pokryshkin (he has 59 victories).
New challenges
In 1946, shortly after the end of the war with the Third Reich, the Red Army Air Force was renamed the USSR Air Force. Structural and organizational changes affected not only aviation, but the entire defense sector. Although World War II ended, the world continued to be in a tense state. A new confrontation began - this time between the Soviet Union and the United States.
In 1953, the USSR Ministry of Defense was created. The country's military-industrial complex continued to expand. New types of military equipment appeared, and aviation also changed. An arms race began between the USSR and the USA. All further development of the Air Force was subject to a single logic - to catch up and overtake America. The design bureaus of Sukhoi (Su), Mikoyan and Gurevich (MiG) entered their most productive period of activity.
The emergence of jet aviation
The first epoch-making post-war innovation was jet aviation, tested in 1946. It replaced the previous outdated piston technology. The first Soviet ones were the MiG-9 and Yak-15. They managed to overcome the speed mark of 900 kilometers per hour, that is, their performance was one and a half times higher than that of the previous generation models.
Over the course of several years, the experience accumulated by Soviet aviation during the Great Patriotic War was summarized. Key problems and pain points of domestic aircraft were identified. The process of modernizing equipment has begun to improve its comfort, ergonomics and safety. Every little thing (the pilot's flight jacket, the most insignificant device on the control panel) gradually took on modern forms. For better shooting accuracy, advanced radar systems began to be installed on aircraft.
Airspace security has become the responsibility of the new air defense forces. The emergence of air defense led to the division of the territory of the USSR into several sectors depending on proximity to the state border. Aviation (long-range and front-line) continued to be classified according to the same scheme. In the same 1946, the airborne troops, formerly part of the Air Force, were separated into an independent entity.
Faster than sound
At the turn of the 1940-1950s, improved Soviet jet aviation began to develop the most inaccessible regions of the country: the Far North and Chukotka. Long-distance flights were made for another consideration. The military leadership of the USSR was preparing the military-industrial complex for a possible conflict with the United States, located on the other side of the world. The Tu-95, a long-range strategic bomber, was designed for the same purpose. Another turning point in the development of the Soviet Air Force was the introduction of nuclear weapons into their arsenal. The introduction of new technologies today is best judged by the exhibitions located, including in the “aircraft capital of Russia” Zhukovsky. Even such things as the USSR Air Force suit and other equipment of Soviet pilots clearly demonstrate the evolution of this defense industry.
Another milestone in the history of Soviet military aviation was left behind when, in 1950, the MiG-17 was able to exceed the speed of sound. The record was set by the famous test pilot Ivan Ivashchenko. The obsolete attack aircraft was soon disbanded. Meanwhile, the Air Force acquired new air-to-ground and air-to-air missiles.
In the late 1960s, third generation models were designed (for example, MiG-25 fighters). These machines could already fly at speeds three times the speed of sound. MiG modifications in the form of high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-interceptors were put into serial production. These aircraft have significantly improved takeoff and landing characteristics. In addition, the new products were distinguished by their multi-mode operation.
In 1974, the first vertical take-off and landing (Yak-38) were designed. The pilots' inventory and equipment changed. The flight jacket became more comfortable and helped me feel comfortable even under conditions of extreme overload at ultra-high speeds.
Fourth generation
The newest Soviet aircraft were stationed on the territory of the Warsaw Pact countries. Aviation did not take part in any conflicts for a long time, but demonstrated its capabilities in large-scale exercises such as Dnepr, Berezina, Dvina, etc.
In the 1980s, fourth generation Soviet aircraft appeared. These models (Su-27, MiG-29, MiG-31, Tu-160) were distinguished by an order of magnitude improved maneuverability. Some of them are still in service with the Russian Air Force.
The latest technology at that time revealed its potential in the Afghan war, which raged in 1979-1989. Soviet bombers had to operate in conditions of strict secrecy and constant anti-aircraft fire from the ground. During the Afghan campaign, about a million combat sorties were flown (with the loss of about 300 helicopters and 100 aircraft). In 1986, the development of military projects began. The most important contribution to these endeavors was made by the Sukhoi design bureau. However, due to the worsening economic and political situation, work was suspended and projects were frozen.
The last chord
Perestroika was marked by several important processes. Firstly, relations between the USSR and the USA have finally improved. The Cold War ended, and now the Kremlin did not have a strategic enemy, in a race with which it had to constantly build up its own military-industrial complex. Secondly, the leaders of the two superpowers signed several landmark documents, according to which joint disarmament began.
At the end of the 1980s, the withdrawal of Soviet troops began not only from Afghanistan, but also from countries that were already in the socialist camp. Exceptional in scale was the withdrawal of the Soviet Army from the GDR, where its powerful forward group was located. Hundreds of planes departed for their homeland. Most remained in the RSFSR, some were transported to Belarus or Ukraine.
In 1991, it became clear that the USSR could no longer exist in its former monolithic form. The division of the country into a dozen independent states led to the division of the previously common army. This fate did not pass over aviation either. Russia received about 2/3 of the personnel and 40% of the equipment of the Soviet Air Force. The rest of the inheritance went to 11 more union republics (the Baltic states did not take part in the division).
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