Russian air defense. Weapon of the century

The Igla-super portable air defense system is a further development of the line of portable air defense systems launched by the Igla complex, which was put into service in 1983.

The most common and combat air defense system: S-75 air defense system

Country: USSR
Adopted: 1957
Rocket type: 13D
Maximum target engagement range: 29–34 km
Target speed: 1500 km/h

John McCain, loser of the past presidential elections in the United States to Barack Obama, is known as an active critic of Russian foreign and domestic policy. It is likely that one of the explanations for such an implacable position of the senator lies in the achievements Soviet designers half a century ago. On October 23, 1967, during the bombing of Hanoi, the plane of a young pilot, a descendant of the family of hereditary admirals John McCain, was shot down. His "Phantom" got an anti-aircraft guided missile of the S-75 complex.

By that time, the Soviet anti-aircraft sword had already caused a lot of trouble for the Americans and their allies. The first "test of the pen" took place in China in 1959, when local air defense, with the help of "Soviet comrades", interrupted the flight of a Taiwanese high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft created on the basis of the British Canberra bomber. The hopes that the more advanced air reconnaissance aircraft, the Lockheed U-2, would be too tough for the red air defense system were also not destined to come true. One of them was shot down by S-75 over the Urals in 1961, and the other a year later over Cuba.

On account of the legendary anti-aircraft missile, created in the Fakel ICD, many other targets hit in various conflicts from the Far and Middle East to the Caribbean Sea, and the S-75 complex itself was destined for a long life in various modifications. We can safely say that this air defense system has gained fame as the most widespread of all air defense systems of this type in the world.

The most high-tech missile defense system: the Aegis system ("Aegis")

SM-3 missile
Country: USA
first launch: 2001
Length: 6.55 m
Steps: 3
Range: 500 km
Height of the affected area: 250 km

The main element of this shipborne multifunctional combat information and control system is the AN / SPY radar with four flat headlamps with a power of 4 MW. The Aegis is armed with SM-2 and SM-3 missiles (the latter with the ability to intercept ballistic missiles) with a kinetic or fragmentation warhead.

The SM-3 is constantly being modified, and the Block IIA model has already been announced, which will be capable of intercepting ICBMs. On February 21, 2008, an SM-3 missile was fired from the cruiser Lake Erie at pacific ocean and hit the emergency reconnaissance satellite USA-193, located at an altitude of 247 kilometers, moving at a speed of 27,300 km / h.

The newest Russian ZRPK: ZRPK "Shell S-1"

Country Russia
adopted: 2008
Radar: 1RS1-1E and 1RS2 based on HEADLIGHTS
Range: 18 km
Ammunition: 12 missiles 57E6-E
Artillery armament: 30-mm twin anti-aircraft gun

The complex "" is intended for close cover of civilian and military facilities (including long-range air defense systems) from all modern and promising funds air attack. It can also protect the defended object from ground and surface threats.

Air targets include all targets with a minimum reflective surface with speeds up to 1000 m/s, a maximum range of 20000 m and an altitude of up to 15000 m, including helicopters, unmanned aircrafts, cruise missiles and precision bombs.

The most nuclear anti-missile: 51T6 Azov transatmospheric interceptor

Country: USSR-Russia
First launch: 1979
Length: 19.8 m
Steps: 2
Starting weight: 45 t
Firing range: 350–500 km
Warhead power: 0.55 Mt

The second-generation (A-135) anti-missile 51T6 (“Azov”), which was part of the missile defense system around Moscow, was developed at the Fakel Design Bureau in 1971-1990. Its tasks included the transatmospheric interception of enemy warheads with the help of an oncoming nuclear explosion. Serial production and deployment of "Azov" was carried out already in the 1990s, after the collapse of the USSR. The missile has now been decommissioned.

The most effective portable air defense system: Igla-S MANPADS

Country Russia
designed: 2002
Destruction range: 6000 m
Defeat altitude: 3500 m
Target speed: 400 m/s
Weight in combat position: 19 kg

According to many experts, the Russian anti-aircraft system, designed to destroy low-flying air targets various types in conditions of natural (background) and artificial thermal interference, surpasses all analogues existing in the world.

Closest to our borders: SAM Patriot PAC-3

Country: USA
first launch: 1994
Rocket length: 4.826 m
Rocket weight: 316 kg
Warhead weight: 24 kg
Target engagement height: up to 20 km

Created in the 1990s, a modification of the Patriot PAC-3 air defense system is designed to deal with missiles with a range of up to 1000 km. During the test on March 15, 1999, a target missile was destroyed by a direct hit, which was the 2nd and 3rd stages of the Minuteman-2 ICBM. After the rejection of the idea of ​​the Third position area of ​​the American strategic missile defense system in Europe, Patriot PAC-3 batteries are deployed in Eastern Europe.

The most common anti-aircraft gun: 20-mm anti-aircraft gun Oerlicon ("Oerlikon")

Country: Germany - Switzerland
Designed: 1914
Caliber: 20mm
Rate of fire: 300-450 rds / min
Range: 3–4 km

The history of the Oerlikon automatic 20 mm anti-aircraft gun, also known as the Becker gun, is the story of one extremely successful design that has spread throughout the world and is still used to this day, despite the fact that the first sample of this weapon was created by a German designer Reinhold Becker during the First World War.

The high rate of fire was achieved due to the original mechanism, in which the impact ignition of the primer was carried out even before the end of the chambering of the cartridge. Due to the fact that the rights to the German invention were transferred to the company SEMAG from neutral Switzerland, both the Axis countries and the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition produced their versions of the Oerlikons during World War II.

The best anti-aircraft gun of World War II: 88-mm anti-aircraft gun Flugabwehrkanone

Country: Germany
Year: 1918/1936/1937
Caliber: 88 mm
Rate of fire: 15-20 rds / min
Barrel length: 4.98 m
Maximum effective ceiling: 8000 m
Projectile weight: 9.24 kg

One of the best in history anti-aircraft guns, better known as "eight-eight", was in service from 1933 to 1945. It turned out to be so successful that it became the basis for a whole family of artillery systems, including anti-tank and field ones. In addition, the anti-aircraft gun served as a prototype for the guns of the Tiger tank.

The most promising air defense-missile defense system: the S-400 Triumph air defense system

Country Russia
Designed: 1999
Target detection range: 600 km
Damage range:
- aerodynamic targets - 5–60 km
- ballistic targets - 3-240 km
Height of defeat: 10 m - 27 km

The air defense system is designed to destroy jamming aircraft, radar detection and control aircraft, reconnaissance aircraft, strategic and tactical aircraft, tactical, operational-tactical ballistic missiles, medium-range ballistic missiles, hypersonic targets and other modern and advanced air attack weapons. Each air defense system provides simultaneous shelling of up to 36 targets with up to 72 missiles aimed at them.

The most versatile anti-missile defense system: S-300VM "Antey-2500"

Country: USSR
Designed: 1988
Damage range:
Aerodynamic targets - 200 km
Ballistic targets - up to 40 km
Height of defeat: 25m - 30 km

Mobile universal anti-missile and anti-aircraft "Antey-2500" belongs to a new generation of anti-missile and anti-aircraft defense systems (PRO-PSO). Antey-2500 is the world's only universal missile defense and air defense system capable of effectively fighting both ballistic missiles with a launch range of up to 2,500 km and all types of aerodynamic and aeroballistic targets.

The Antey-2500 system is capable of simultaneously firing at 24 aerodynamic targets, including subtle objects, or 16 ballistic missiles flying at speeds up to 4500 m/s.

/Based on materials popmech.ru and topwar.ru /

The S-500 air defense system will solve the entire range of air defense and missile defense tasks

In early February, the Almaz-Antey Air Defense Concern was transformed into the Aerospace Defense Concern by decree of the President of the Russian Federation. He spoke about what new prospects are opening up for the Concern in connection with this event, how the subject of the developed air defense and missile defense systems will change, what capabilities the fifth-generation S-500 anti-aircraft missile system will have. general designer concern Pavel Sozinov.

- Pavel Alekseevich, now your Concern has another important direction - space. Do you already know which companies will deal with this topic?

- As for the space component, we had it before, since the concern's enterprises performed and continue to play the leading role in integrating ballistic missile launch detection tools, including the space echelon. Traditionally, MAK Vympel was responsible for this direction in our concern. Radars of the ground-based early warning missile system, as you know, are mainly dealt with by RTI OJSC, space facilities and systems by the Kometa Central Research Institute, and now the Kometa Corporation, which, in accordance with the President's decree, is transferred to the VKO concern. Our enterprises act as integrators of space and ground echelons at command posts for the corresponding purpose. This concerns the early warning system, the space control system and some other specific tasks that arise in this area of ​​activity.

In general, the space direction is very interesting, it is represented in the concern not only by Kometa. Let our enterprises participate in the manufacture of certain samples or constituent elements equipment, in particular, on the GLONASS system. There are components that are developed and produced by our enterprises, primarily Russian Institute radio navigation and time, which is located in St. Petersburg.

GLONASS, as you know, has both a ground part and an onboard part. This is a very important component, since modern systems rely heavily on the navigation signal for highly accurate positioning and time synchronization.

As for the formation of the VKO concern, there are two points that need to be implemented. On the one hand, technically and organizationally, by and large, nothing changes for us, since we have been connected with the Roscosmos enterprises involved in aerospace defense issues for decades of joint work. "Kometa", for example, came out of KB-1, later transformed into the Almaz Central Design Bureau (now Almaz-Antey State Design Bureau named after Academician Raspletin). Academician Anatoly Ivanovich Savin, which the long years headed the Comet, now works in our concern as a scientific supervisor.

Another question: how, when joining the concern, to implement new plans, including the development of aerospace defense systems? This applies not only to those systems that Kometa is engaged in under existing contracts, but also to some promising projects, ideas for which we are hatching as part of the work of the Joint Council of Chief Designers for Aerospace Defense Systems. This council has been operating for two years already, it includes the leading enterprises of almost all concerns that today are related to the aerospace defense system. This applies not only to the space echelon, but also to electronic warfare, which is one of the concerns of the state corporation Rostec.

- In addition to the main topic, your concern, as you know, is also engaged in the aviation and naval component of air and missile defense. Tell us about this line of work.

– This direction is also quite serious. If we talk about fighter aviation, I would like to note that within the framework of the council we have closely organized work with the structures of the United Aircraft Corporation. First of all, with the design bureaus of the Sukhoi Design Bureau and the RAC "MIG", since we directly make control systems for fighter aircraft. In addition, our systems are used to solve the problems of joint operation of fighter aircraft in the areas of action of anti-aircraft missile forces. Airborne radar equipment for combat aircraft of the Sukhoi Design Bureau, including for the fifth-generation fighter, is also being developed by our enterprises, in particular, the Tikhomirov Research and Development Institute, which is also part of the Almaz-Antey Air Defense Concern.

In this case, integration takes place at the technical and organizational levels, we have no legal relations with aircraft manufacturing companies, except for contractual ones.

The same goes for the shipbuilding industry. The ship-based missile and air defense component is also being developed. There are serious plans to develop completely new products to solve the problems of air defense and missile defense of ships of a heavier class, in particular, the destroyer class and above. Such work is carried out jointly with the main designer - the Northern Design Bureau, which is part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation.

The ship theme itself is extremely interesting, since it involves great amount of our enterprises engaged in the development of air defense and missile defense equipment with adaptation to ship deployment conditions. They differ significantly from the options that were in previous generation, where in the 80s and 90s the unification of missiles was actually one hundred percent. Now, for sea-based complexes, special products are being created, among other things.

The air defense radars on the ships were largely borrowed from the S-300 systems, the Buk, Tor systems, etc. with some specifics of their placement on the ship. Fundamentally new technical solutions are now being applied that make it possible to reduce the visibility of the ship, increase the noise immunity of the radar system, ensure electromagnetic compatibility, and solve a number of other issues.

This is a rather complex project. The Americans in this part have a large number of technical solutions and projects in which a multifunctional weapon control system is optimally located, where all location, radio and electronic means, electronic warfare equipment and, of course, missile systems, both air defense-missile defense and attack, are integrated. We are following approximately the same path, especially since, along with air defense and missile defense systems for ships, we are also developing strike systems based on cruise missiles. This, in particular, is done by OKB Novator.

I would like to point out that the current ship systems are in demand abroad. Russian enterprises have carried out and are carrying out relevant contracts for the supply of ships with our weapons to the People's Republic of China, India, and a number of other countries. AT recent history There are precedents when foreign weapons were installed on our ships and vice versa, when our weapons are installed on foreign projects.

- How are things going with the creation of the new S-500 anti-aircraft missile system. When can her trials begin? What is the fundamental difference between this air defense system and the existing ones?

- Information on this system is largely confidential and we prefer not to talk about this topic. But some points can be mentioned without disclosing the performance characteristics.

Air defense system S-500 "Prometheus"

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It has more than a century of history, which began in the suburbs of St. Petersburg in 1890. The first attempts to adapt the existing artillery for firing at flying targets were made at the training grounds near Ust-Izhora and in Krasnoye Selo. However, these attempts revealed the complete inability of conventional artillery to hit air targets, and the untrained military to control guns.

Start of air defense

The decoding of the well-known abbreviation means, that is, a system of measures to protect the territory and objects from air attack. The first shooting near Petersburg was made from four-inch guns using ordinary bullet shrapnel.

It is this combination specifications revealed the inability of the available means to defeat air targets, the role of which was then performed by balloons and hot air balloons. However, according to the test results, Russian engineers received a technical assignment for the development of a special gun, which was completed in 1914. At that time, not only artillery pieces were technically perfect, but also the airplanes themselves, which were not capable of climbing to a height exceeding three kilometers.

World War I

Until 1914, the use of air defense systems in combat conditions was not very relevant, since aviation was practically not used. However, in Germany and Russia, the history of air defense begins as early as 1910. The countries obviously foresaw the imminent conflict and tried to prepare for it, given the sad experience of previous wars.

Thus, the history of air defense in Russia has one hundred and seven years, during which they have significantly developed and evolved from cannons that fired at balloons to high-tech early warning systems capable of hitting targets even in space.

The birthday of the air defense system is considered December 8, 1914, when a system of defensive structures and means directed against air targets began to function on the outskirts of Petrograd. In order to secure the imperial capital, an extensive network of observation posts was created on the remote approaches to it, consisting of towers and telephone points, from which information about the approaching enemy was reported to the headquarters.

Fighter aircraft in World War I

An integral part of the air defense system of any country and at any time is fighter aircraft capable of neutralizing attacking aircraft at distant approaches.

In turn, for effective functioning, a significant number of highly qualified pilots are required. It was for these purposes that the first in Russia Officer Aeronautical School was formed on the Volkovo Field near St. Petersburg in 1910, which set as its task the training of first-class aeronauts, as pilots were called at that time.

In parallel with the network of observation posts, a system was created that received official name"Radiotelegraph Defense of Petrograd". This system was intended to intercept the communications of hostile pilots attacking the Russian army.

After the revolution

Decoding air defense as air defense creates the illusion that the system is extremely simple and designed only to shoot down enemy aircraft. However, already on the fields of the First World War, it became clear that the troops were facing numerous and complex tasks not only in controlling the sky, but also in reconnaissance, camouflage and the formation of the front line of front-line aviation.

After the victory of the October Revolution, all the air defense forces available on the territory of Petrograd came under the control of the Red Army, which took up their reform and reorganization.

Actually, the abbreviation of air defense and decoding appeared in 1925, when in official documents For the first time, the terms "air defense of the country" and "air defense of the front line" were used. It was at this time that priority areas for the development of air defense were identified. However, more than ten years have passed before their comprehensive implementation.

Air defense of the largest cities

Since the defense against air attacks required significant resources, both human and technical means, the Soviet leadership decided to organize air defense defense of several key cities of the USSR. These included Moscow, Leningrad, Baku and Kyiv.

In 1938, air defense corps were formed to protect Leningrad from air attacks. An air defense brigade was organized for the defense of Kyiv. A transcript with a mention of the means used to repel enemy air attacks is as follows:

• flak;
• aerial reconnaissance;
• communication and notification;
• antiaircraft projectors.

Of course, to current situation such a list is of little relevance, since over the past eighty years the structure has become much more complicated, and the technique has become more universal. Besides, great importance air defense is now played by radio intelligence and information warfare.

By the beginning of World War II, the early detection of enemy air forces and their destruction becomes especially important. To solve this problem, special means of electronic intelligence are being developed. The first country to deploy a wide network radar stations became the UK.

The first devices designed to control anti-aircraft fire were also developed there, which significantly increased its accuracy and increased density.

The current state of air defense

The decoding of the well-known abbreviation does not fully correspond to modern realities, since non-contact methods of warfare based on missile weapons and special aircraft with low visibility are becoming increasingly important in the world today.

In addition, the abbreviation PRO, which refers to anti-missile defense, is increasingly being used next to the abbreviation for air defense. Imagine an effective air defense without the use of missile weapons today is impossible, which means that systems that are of fundamental importance for the integration of various systems from anti-aircraft guns to radar weapons are becoming increasingly important.

In the age of the Internet, competent search and the ability to distinguish reliable information from incorrect information are of great importance. Increasingly, users are looking for a decoding of the air defense department of internal affairs, which means the passport and visa department of the Department of Internal Affairs - the police department involved in the passportization of the population.

From the transcript of a conversation with Lieutenant General Sergei RAZYGRAEV, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force for Air Defense (Air Defense), which took place on September 26, 2009 as part of the Military Council program of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Ekho Moskvy radio station and the Zvezda TV channel.

About the Russian air defense system

The air defense system of Russia today includes four powerful subsystems: command and control, fighter air cover, anti-aircraft missile cover, reconnaissance, as well as a system of combat, technical, rear and moral and psychological support.

As for the command and control system, this is a whole network of command posts, ranging from a subunit, company, division to higher authorities, up to the central command post of the Air Force. These are control points, a system of tropospheric, space, wire, radio relay communications, and so on. This is trained personnel, the latest automated control systems.

Fighter aviation cover is a network of airfields on which fighter aircraft and the support system for this aircraft are based.

The anti-aircraft missile cover system is a whole network of anti-aircraft missiles deployed in positions around important objects designated by the state for cover. missile systems, which are based on S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems of various modifications and the latest S-400 system that has entered service.

A radar reconnaissance system is a network of radar stations located on the ground in a certain sequence in order to create a radar field and an information field for controlling the above fire weapons.

All of these systems are equipped with weapons, automation, those means that highly trained personnel are able to use at the right time.

Of course, there are also problems. Technology made in Soviet times, underwent modernization, switched to a new element base and is now capable of fulfilling the tasks that are set for it. Share latest technology small, and we do not hide it. But all equipment is combat ready. More than 1000 people are constantly on combat duty in order to immediately respond to any situation that arises, including repulsing a sudden attack by an air enemy.

Lessons from the US operation in Iraq

The logic of the development of means of aerospace attack by a potential adversary is such that in the 21st century, more and more emphasis is shifting to the sphere of armed struggle in space, through space. Let's remember operations in Iraq, Yugoslavia. This is especially true for Iraq. Before the ground forces began moving forward, an air offensive operation was conducted for more than a month, during which the Iraqi command and control system was disorganized and its armed forces were demoralized. After that, it was easier for the ground grouping to solve the tasks assigned to it.

Based on this example, we can say that the essence of the air defense system and, in general, the most important principle of air defense is not only protection, but also the delivery of a preventive strike. After all, air defense tasks can be solved not only in the air by destroying manned, unmanned vehicles, cruise missiles, and so on, but also by delivering a preemptive strike on airfields based on these weapons (destroying aviation, cruise missiles on carriers, airfields, ships, submarines).

About the capabilities of the air defense system

In the 1950s, the country's leadership set the task of creating an anti-aircraft missile defense of Moscow, capable of simultaneously destroying a thousand enemy aircraft. Our engineers, in particular, the current Almaz-Antey head system design bureau, developed the S-25 Berkut system, which was put into service with the air defense forces around Moscow. Two rings, 56 regiments, each of which had the ability to simultaneously destroy 20 targets and direct 60 missiles at them. That is, in total - a thousand downed objects or even a few more.

This system was at that time the most modern. It was a qualitative leap from anti-aircraft artillery to the next level. The new kind weapons qualitatively changed the entire air defense system. They switched from artillery to anti-aircraft missile weapons. In the future, these systems developed and improved. A number of systems were created: S-25, S-75, S-125, S-200, S-300 and, finally, S-400. Now the basis of the anti-aircraft missile defense systems of the air defense of Russia is the S-300 system of various modifications. She has the ability to destroy almost anything. existing species cruise missiles, manned and unmanned aircraft. And after modernization, these systems gained the ability to destroy and ballistic missiles small range.

S-400 is a further development of this complex. This is not a modernization, but a completely new complex that has completely new capabilities that are different from the S-300. It became possible to create a non-strategic missile defense near the interception radius, or interception line. It has certain capabilities in terms of heights, ranges and, accordingly, is capable of destroying and covering area objects from operational-tactical missiles that could reach this object. In other words, the S-400 will perform the tasks of non-strategic air defense of the near radius of interception or the near line of interception. It is limited to certain heights, ranges, target speeds.

And the S-500 anti-aircraft missile system, which is under development, will already have the ability to destroy certain types of intercontinental ballistic missiles, medium-range ballistic missiles, not to mention operational-tactical ballistic missiles. And, in general, the interception height will be such that these missiles can shoot down the corresponding means of enemy aerospace attack already in near space. I think that this complex will already have elements of strategic air defense.

Now we are developing in theory and in practice the following gradation. There are four groups of anti-aircraft missile systems:

long range, medium range, short range (short range) and close cover.

The long-range niche, as we have already said, is occupied by the S-400 complex, which has been on combat duty for the second year. A bright representative of medium range is the S-300.

But these complexes are made in such a way that they can control each other, they can use each other's missiles. This, roughly speaking, is like a unitary cartridge that fits both an assault rifle and a rifle, and so on. This is a great idea that has been put into practice: the S-400 can fire S-300 missiles, and those missiles that are used in the S-400 can be used by the S-300.

Accordingly, short-range (short-range) complexes ("Tor-M2", "Pantsir-S") have the ability to destroy air targets, and cannon weapons - to work on ground targets, which was effectively demonstrated recently at the Ashuluk training ground during the exercise "Combat Commonwealth-2009".

Close cover systems are man-portable air defense systems and new systems currently under development.

About the difference between a missile defense system and an air defense system

- It is necessary to distinguish between strategic missile defense and non-strategic, or tactical, based on the fact that the means of aerospace attack are of a different class. Operational-tactical missiles have a firing range of 300-500 km, medium-range ballistic missiles - 5 and 6 thousand km, intercontinental - 10 thousand km or more.

Appropriate systems are created to destroy each class of these missiles. A system capable of destroying ballistic missiles is called missile defense (ABM). Strategic missile defense, as you know, is now part of the Space Forces. And the S-400 anti-aircraft missile system has the ability to destroy a certain group of these ballistic missiles, which do not have a very long range.

About the Joint Air Defense System

- Within the Commonwealth Independent States there is a Coordinating Committee of the Joint Air Defense System, which includes ten CIS member states. Unfortunately, Georgia, having withdrawn from the CIS, also withdrew from the Joint Air Defense System, and Moldova does not participate in it either.

We are conducting appropriate exercises. A prime example was the recently conducted exercise "Combat Commonwealth-2009", the apotheosis of which was live firing at the Sary-Shagan training grounds in Kazakhstan and Ashuluk (Astrakhan region). Air defense duty forces are trained, general classes, training in different types combat activities and so on.

Further development of this cooperation is the creation of unified regional systems at the two-, three- and multilateral levels. For example, we are now very actively working on the creation of the Unified Regional Air Defense System of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation.

We are also working on the creation of a unified regional air defense system with Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. But the most advanced and almost reached the finish line with Belarus. In February current year an agreement was signed, the annex to which was the Regulations on the Unified Regional System and the Protection of the External Border of the Union State of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation.

We have already decided on a grouping (it has been agreed upon), which is part of the Unified Regional Air Defense System, a central command post, a candidacy for a commander who will be approved by the heads of state on the proposal of the Council of Defense Ministers of the two states. A plan of action for duty forces and instructions for organizing and carrying out joint combat duty with the Republic of Belarus as part of the Unified Regional Air Defense System have already been worked out. We submitted draft documents to the Government of the Russian Federation for the ratification of this treaty. That is, we are at the finish line. The creation of the Unified Regional Air Defense System will be a further step in uniting common efforts.

Methods mathematical modeling we calculated that this integration into a single system would increase the efficiency of the management system by 15-20%. Single management, single control center, single plans combat use in war time and the actions of duty forces in peacetime, the general combat training as a result, it increases the effectiveness of the use of fighter aircraft by both the Belarusian and Russian armed forces by 1.3 times.

As for Ukraine, it takes part in the Joint Air Defense System of the CIS. So, at the last (in the Air Force it is not customary to use the word “last”) meeting of the Coalition Committee of the Joint Air Defense System of the CIS, chaired by the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force, Ukraine was represented by the Chief of the Main Staff of the Air Force and Air Defense of Ukraine. We will continue to develop cooperation with this brotherly state. There are such possibilities.

About sore

- I would like to touch on one more topic, which, as a military man, and a person in charge of Russian air defense, and the first assistant to the commander-in-chief of the Air Force, is very concerned about these issues. AT recent times more and more often in the means mass media the theme of low-altitude, small-sized aviation sounds, which can cause very big troubles in terms of air terrorism. This topic has already been raised more than once, I would like to point it out again.

Currently only in Moscow and the Moscow region. - we calculated - about 3.5 thousand aircraft, not registered anywhere.

They are imported from abroad in disassembled form, then they are assembled here and make unauthorized flights, and at extremely low altitudes, without observing the rules. air traffic, air routes, interfering not only with the use of civil aviation, state aviation, but also, at times, being a security threat that can lead to unpredictable consequences.

This is an absolutely unorganized aviation, although there is both relevant legislation and an appropriate organization. But the slovenliness on the part of individual citizens, of which there are quite a lot, does not allow now to fully control this process. And I would like to appeal to the media: to cover this problem more sharply and objectively. The fight against air terrorism should be entrusted not only to Russia's air defense, but also to other bodies and departments of power, special services.

If we buy a car, we must have rights, we must register this car, obtain license plates and follow the rules of the road. In the air, these rules are even more pressing. If the engine breaks down, then the car will eventually stop on the side of the road without disturbing anyone. And if the engine breaks down, roughly speaking, or fails in the air - imagine what the consequences can be even from a small helicopter or airplane ...

In conclusion, I would like to quote Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov as a quintessence, as an afterword to our conversation:
“Reliable air defense capable of repelling enemy attacks, especially at the beginning of a war, creates not only favorable conditions for the entry of the armed forces into the war, but also gives the country the opportunity to more organizedly reorganize on a military footing. Severe grief awaits the country that will be unable to repel an air strike. I have nothing to add to this.

Interviewed by Anatoly YERMOLIN
and Sergey BUNTMAN.
Prepared for printing by Alexander
PRONIN,
photo from the archive of the Agency
"Voeninform" of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

Air defense is a set of steps and b / actions of troops to combat enemy air attack means in order to avert (reduce) losses among the population, damage to objects and military groups from air strikes. To repel (disrupt) attacks (strike) of an air enemy, air defense systems are formed.

The full air defense complex covers systems:

• Reconnaissance of an air enemy, notification actions about him by troops;
• Fighter Air Force Screening;
• Anti-aircraft missile and artillery barrier;
• EW organizations;
• masking;
• Managerial, etc.

Air defense happens:

• Zonal - to protect individual areas within which cover objects are located;
• Zonal-objective - for combining zonal air defense with a direct barrier of especially important objects;
• Object - for the defense of individual especially important objects.

The world experience of wars has turned air defense into one of the most important components in combined arms combat. In August 1958, the air defense troops of the ground forces were formed, and later the military air defense of the RF Armed Forces was organized from them.

Until the end of the fifties, the air defense of the SV were equipped with anti-aircraft artillery systems of that time, as well as specially designed transportable anti-aircraft guns. missile systems. Along with this, in order to reliably cover the troops in combat operations of a mobile form, it was necessary to have highly mobile and highly effective air defense systems, due to the increase in the b / capabilities of air attack weapons.

Together with the fight against tactical aviation by air defense forces ground forces were also amazed combat helicopters, unmanned and remotely piloted aircraft, cruise missiles, and strategic aviation enemy.

In the mid-seventies, the organization of the first generation of anti-aircraft missile weapons of the air defense forces was completed. Troops received latest missiles Air defense and famous: "Circles", "Kuba", "Osy-AK", "Arrows-1 and 2", "Shilka", new radars and many other latest technology at that time. formed anti-aircraft missile systems almost all aerodynamic targets were easily hit, so they took part in local wars and armed conflicts.

By that time, the latest means of air attacks were already rapidly developing and improving. These were tactical, operational-tactical, strategic ballistic missiles and high-precision weapons. Unfortunately, the weapons systems of the first generation of the air defense forces did not provide solutions to the tasks of covering military groups from attacks with these weapons.

There is a need to develop and apply systems approaches to the argumentation of the classification and properties of weapons of the second generation. It was necessary to create weapons systems balanced in terms of classifications and types of objects to be struck and a list of air defense systems, combined into a single control system, equipped with radar reconnaissance, communications and technical equipment. And such weapons systems were created. In the eighties, the air defense forces were fully provided with S-300V, Tors, Bukami-M1, Strelami-10M2, Tunguska, Needles and the latest radars.

Changes have taken place in anti-aircraft missile and anti-aircraft missile and artillery units, units and formations. They have become integral parts in combined arms formations from battalions to front-line formations and have become unified system Air defense in military districts. This increased the effectiveness of combat applications in the groupings of air defense forces of military districts and ensured the power of fire action against the enemy with a high density of fire from anti-aircraft guns, layered at altitudes and at ranges.

At the end of the nineties, in order to improve command, in the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces, formations, military units and air defense units of the Coast Guard of the Navy, military units and air defense units of the Airborne Forces, in the formations and military units of the air defense reserve of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, changes have taken place. They were united in the military air defense of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

Military air defense missions

Formations and units of military air defense carry out the tasks entrusted to them for interaction with the forces and means of the Armed Forces and the Navy.

The following tasks are assigned to military air defense:

In peacetime:

• Measures to maintain the air defense forces of military districts, formations, units and subunits of the Air Defense of the Coast Guard of the Navy, units and subunits of the air defense of the Airborne Forces in combat readiness for advanced deployments and reflections, together with the forces and means of air defense of the types of the RF Armed Forces attacks by means of air attacks;
• Carrying out second-hand duty within the zone of operation of military districts and in common systems air defense of the state;
• The sequence of building up combat strengths in air defense formations and units that perform tasks on combat duty, when introduced higher degrees b / readiness.

In wartime:

• Measures for complex, echeloned in depth cover from attacks by means of air attacks by the enemy on groupings of troops, military districts (fronts) and military facilities throughout the depth of their operational formations, while interacting with air defense forces and means and other types and branches of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces;
• Direct cover measures, which include combined arms formations and formations, as well as formations, units and subunits of the Coast Guard of the Navy, formations and units of the Airborne Forces, rocket troops and artillery in the form of groupings, aviation airfields, command posts, the most important rear facilities in areas of concentration, during advances, occupation of these zones and during operations (b / actions).

Directions for the improvement and development of military air defense

Today, the air defense troops of the SV are the main and most numerous component of the military air defense of the RF Armed Forces. They are united by a harmonious hierarchical structure with the inclusion of front-line, army (corps) complexes of air defense forces, as well as air defense units, motorized rifle (tank) divisions, motorized rifle brigades, air defense units, motorized rifle and tank regiments, battalions.

Air defense forces in military districts have air defense formations, units and subunits, which have at their disposal anti-aircraft missile systems / complexes of various purposes and potentials.

They are connected by reconnaissance and information complexes and control complexes. This makes it possible, under certain circumstances, to form effective multifunctional air defense systems. Until now, the weapons of the Russian military air defense are among the best on the planet.

The most important areas in the improvement and development of military air defense in total include:

• Optimization of organizational and staff structures in the governing bodies, formations and air defense units, in accordance with the assigned tasks;
• Modernization in anti-aircraft missile systems and complexes, intelligence equipment in order to extend the terms of operation and their integration into a single air defense system in the state and in the Armed Forces, endowing them with the functions of non-strategic anti-missile weapons in theaters of military operations;
• Development and maintenance of a unified technical policy to reduce the types of weapons, military equipment, their unification and avoidance of duplication in development;
• Provision of advanced air defense weapons systems the latest means automation of control, communications, active, passive and other non-traditional types of intelligence activities, multifunctional anti-aircraft missile systems and new generation air defense systems using the criteria of "efficiency - cost - feasibility";
• Conducting a complex of collective b / training of military air defense with other troops, taking into account the upcoming combat missions and features of the areas of deployment, with the concentration of the main efforts in the preparation of formations, units and subunits of air defense of high readiness;
• Formation, provision and training of reserves for a flexible response to changing circumstances, strengthening the groupings of air defense forces, replenishing the losses of personnel, weapons and military equipment;
• Improving training officers in the structure of the military education system, increasing the level of their fundamental (basic) knowledge and practical training and consistency in the transition to continuous military education.

It is planned that in the near future the aerospace defense system will occupy one of the main directions in the strategic defense of the state and in the Armed Forces, will become one of constituent parts, and in the future - it will become almost the main deterrent in unleashing wars.

Air defense systems are one of the fundamental in the aerospace defense system. To date, military air defense units are able to effectively resolve the tasks of anti-aircraft and, to some extent, non-strategic anti-missile defensive measures in groupings of troops along operational-strategic directions. As practice shows, in tactical exercises using live fire, all available means of Russian military air defense are able to hit cruise missiles.

Air defense in the air defense system of the state and in its Armed Forces tend to grow in proportion to the increase in the threat of air attacks. When resolving the tasks of the aerospace defense, an agreed general use of various types of air defense and missile and space defense troops in operational and strategic areas as the most effective than a separate one. This will happen as a result of the possibility of combining force with the advantages of various types of weapons and mutual compensation of their shortcomings and weaknesses with a single plan and under one command.

Improving air defense systems is impossible without further modernization of existing weapons, re-equipment of air defense forces in military districts with the most modern air defense systems and air defense systems, with the supply of the latest automated control and communication systems.

The main direction in the development of Russian air defense systems today is:

• Continue development work to create highly effective weapons that will have quality indicators that could not be surpassed by foreign counterparts for 10-15 years;
• To create a promising multifunctional system of armaments of military air defense. This will give impetus to create a flexible organizational and staffing structure for the performance of specific b/tasks. Such a system must be integrated with the main weapons of the ground forces, and act in an integrated manner with other types of troops in the course of solving air defense tasks;
• Implement automated control complexes with robotization and artificial intelligence, to reflect further build-up of enemy capabilities and increase the effectiveness of second-hand applications by air defense forces;
• Provide models of air defense weapons with electron-optical devices, television systems, thermal imagers in order to ensure the combat capability of air defense systems and air defense systems in conditions of intense interference, which will make it possible to minimize the dependence of air defense systems on the weather;
• Widely apply passive location and electronic warfare equipment;
• Reorient the concept of the prospects for the development of weapons and military equipment for air defense, carry out a radical modernization of existing weapons and military equipment in order to significantly increase the effectiveness of combat use at low costs.

Air Defense Day

Air Defense Day is a memorable day in the RF Armed Forces. It is celebrated every year, every second Sunday in April, in accordance with the Decree Russian President dated May 31, 2006.

For the first time this holiday was determined by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in the Decree of February 20, 1975. It was established for the outstanding merits that the air defense forces of the Soviet state showed during the Second World War, as well as for the fact that they carried out especially important tasks in peacetime. It was originally celebrated on April 11, but in October 1980 Air Defense Day was moved to be celebrated every second Sunday in April.

The history of establishing the date of the holiday is connected with the fact that, in fact, in the days of April, the most important resolutions of the Government on the organization of air defense of the state were adopted, which became the basis for the construction of air defense systems, determined organizational structure troops included in it, their formation and further development.

In conclusion, it is worth noting that as the threat of air attacks increases, the role and importance of military air defense will only increase, which has already been confirmed by time.

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