Message on the topic of airborne troops. Airborne troops of Russia: history, structure, armament of the Airborne Forces
The one who has never left the plane in his life,
where cities and villages seem like toys,
who has never experienced joy and fear
free fall, whistling in the ears, a jet of wind
beating in the chest, he will never understand
honor and pride of a paratrooper ...
V.F. Margelov
Airborne Troops (VDV), a highly mobile branch of the armed forces, designed to cover the enemy by air and conduct combat operations in his rear. The Airborne Forces of the Russian Federation are a means of the Supreme High Command and can form the basis of mobile forces. They report directly to the commander of the Airborne Forces and consist of airborne divisions, brigades, dep. parts and institutions.
CreationAirborne Troops .
The history of the Airborne Forces dates back to August 2, 1930 - at the exercises of the Air Force of the Moscow Military District near Voronezh, a paratrooper unit consisting of 12 people was parachuted. This experiment allowed military theorists to see the prospect of the advantage of parachute units, their enormous capabilities associated with the rapid coverage of the enemy through the air.
The Revolutionary Military Council of the Red Army determined one of the tasks for 1931: "... airborne operations should be comprehensively studied from the technical and tactical side by the Headquarters of the Red Army in order to develop and distribute appropriate instructions to the places." Attention was drawn to the need for a deep development of organizational structure and theory combat use airborne troops.
The first unit of the Airborne Forces was formed in 1931 in the Leningrad Military District, an airborne assault detachment, numbering 164 people. E.D. Lukin was appointed commander of the detachment. The creation of mass airborne troops was initiated by a resolution of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR, adopted on December 11, 1932. In particular, it was noted in it that the development of aviation technology, as well as the results achieved in the design and dropping of fighters, cargo and combat vehicles from aircraft, require the organization of new combat units and formations of the Red Army. In order to develop the airborne business in the Red Army, to train the relevant personnel and units, the Revolutionary Military Council decided to deploy a brigade on the basis of the airborne detachment of the Leningrad Military District, entrusting it with the training of instructors in airborne training and the development of operational-tactical standards. At the same time, it was planned to form by March 1933 one airborne detachment each in the Belorussian, Ukrainian, Moscow and Volga military districts. A new stage in the development of the airborne troops began. And already at the beginning of 1933, special-purpose aviation battalions were formed in these districts. By the summer of 1941, the staffing of five airborne corps of 10 thousand people each had ended. The combat path of the Airborne Forces is marked by many memorable dates. Thus, the 212th Airborne Brigade (commander - Lieutenant Colonel N.I. Zatevakhin) took part in the armed conflict at Khalkhin Gol. During the Soviet-Finnish war (1939-1940), the 201st, 204th and 214th airborne brigades fought together with rifle units. The paratroopers carried out raids deep behind enemy lines, attacked garrisons, headquarters, communication centers, disrupted command and control, and attacked strongholds.
ATDVinyears of the Great Patriotic War.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, all five airborne corps participated in fierce battles with the invaders in the territory of Latvia, Belarus, and Ukraine. During the counteroffensive near Moscow, in order to assist the troops of the Western and Kaliningrad fronts in the encirclement and defeat of the Vyazma-Rzhev-Yukhnovskaya group of Germans, at the beginning of 1942, the Vyazemsky airborne operation was carried out with the landing of the 4th Airborne Forces (commander - Major General A.F. Levashov, then - Colonel A.F. Kazankin). This is the largest operation of the Airborne Forces during the war years. In total, about 10 thousand paratroopers were thrown into the rear of the Germans. Parts of the Airborne Corps in cooperation with the cavalrymen of General P.A. Belov, breaking through behind enemy lines, led fighting until June 1942. The paratroopers acted boldly, boldly and exceptionally persistently. In almost six months, paratroopers marched along the rear of the Nazi troops for about 600 km, destroyed up to 15 thousand enemy soldiers and officers. The military merits of paratroopers during the Great Patriotic War were highly appreciated. All airborne formations were given the rank of Guards. Thousands of soldiers, sergeants and officers of the Airborne Forces were awarded orders and medals, and 296 people were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union .
Airborne Forces in the post-war years.
In this period Air- landing troops began to be built on other organizational and technical principles, but always taking into account the experience of those who during the war years created the landing school of victory, glory and professionalism. In the 1950s, in the exercises of airborne units, special attention was paid to new methods of defense behind enemy lines, landing survivability, interaction with advancing troops when forcing water barriers, landing operations in conditions of use nuclear weapons. Military transport aviation is equipped with An-12 and An-22 aircraft, which are capable of delivering armored vehicles, vehicles, artillery, and large stocks of materiel behind enemy lines. Every year the number of exercises with the use of airborne assaults increased. In March 1970, a large combined-arms exercise "Dvina" was held in Belarus, in which the 76th Guards Airborne Chernigov Red Banner Division took part. In just 22 minutes, more than 7 thousand paratroopers and over 150 units of military equipment were airborne. And from the mid-70s, the Airborne Forces began to intensively "cover themselves with armor."
The training, combat capability of the paratroopers was required by Russia for more high level- in the UN peacekeeping mission. Now in the former Yugoslavia there is no battalion of Russian paratroopers. "Rusbat 1" was located in Serbian Krajina, on the border of Serbia and Croatia. "Rusbat 2" - in Bosnia, in the Sarajevo region. According to the UN, Russia's "blue berets" are an example of training, discipline and reliability.
For the glorious and difficult history of the Airborne Forces, the people and the army love and respect this courageous branch of the military. The Airborne Forces are troops of a harsh moral and ../fotos/foto-after_gpw-2.html physical climate, which taught the paratrooper the principle - "serve to the limit", "to the point", "to victory". History confirms that everything comes to its own time. The paratroopers of the 30s, 40s, and 80s contributed to the defense of the Fatherland, to the cause of increasing the country's defense capability. So it will continue
Paratrooper training.
One of the main tasks in organizing the combat training of the Airborne Forces is to teach the paratrooper to shoot accurately. And from any position, on the move, from a short stop, day and night. Shoot sniper, use ammo sparingly. In a real battle, a paratrooper more often fires from a machine gun with single shots. Each cartridge is worth its weight in gold.
The military work of a paratrooper is not easy: with full combat gear, a forced march to a shooting range or to a training ground, and there on the move - live firing as part of a platoon or company. And a tactical battalion exercise with landing and live fire is three days of tension, when you can’t relax even for a minute. In the Airborne Forces, everything is as close as possible to a combat situation: a parachute jump from an airplane; collection at the landing site - as in battle, especially at night; searching for your airborne combat vehicle (BMD) and bringing it into combat position - everything is like in war.
Particular attention in the Airborne Forces is paid to the moral, psychological and physical training of personnel. Every morning, the paratroopers begin with intense physical exercises, intensive physical training classes are regularly held, and after two or three months the young soldier feels an unprecedented surge of strength, acquires resistance to motion sickness, to great physical exertion. Hand-to-hand combat is an indispensable part of every physical training lesson. Training bouts are held in pairs, as well as with a superior number of "enemy". Running and forced marches develop excellent endurance in a person. It is not in vain that they say in the Airborne Forces: "A paratrooper runs as long as he can, and after that - as much as necessary."
a conscious fear of a jump, with insufficient psychological preparation to overcome fear. The command of the Airborne Forces considers the principle true: each paratrooper is obliged to personally pack his own parachute. This greatly increases the responsibility, and after two or three training packs, the warrior is able, under the supervision of an instructor, to prepare a parachute for a jump. The training program for ground training of a skydiver includes training the body, the vestibular apparatus for resistance to motion sickness, willpower, courage, determination, and courage. Preparation for the jump lasts long hours, days, and sometimes weeks, but the jump itself is just a brief moment in the life of a paratrooper.
Combat capabilities
airborne troops.
To fulfill the set tasks of the Airborne Forces equipped with combat vehicles, self-propelled artillery, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, as well as means of control and communication. The available parachute landing equipment makes it possible to drop troops and cargo in any weather and terrain conditions, day and night from various heights. Before the collapse of the USSR, there were 7 airborne divisions in the combat composition of the Airborne Forces.
Today, the airborne troops constitute the reserve of the Supreme Commander of the Russian Armed Forces. In their composition four airborne divisions, one airborne brigade, airborne training center, parts of combat support and Ryazan Institute of Airborne Troops.
On the basis of advanced formations, meetings of the leadership staff are organized. In the course of them, demonstrative regimental exercises are held with landing, crossing a water barrier, marching 150 kilometers on new BMD-3 vehicles and live firing.
In addition to combat training tasks, paratroopers perform responsible peacekeeping tasks. Today, one and a half thousand paratroopers are in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the same number of personnel are in Abkhazia. A maneuverable military group of 500 people has been formed in Dagestan. By the way, this group during the hostilities in Chechnya performed tasks near Bamut. Today, the units are used to protect airfields, air defense radar stations and other important facilities.
Battle path 76th airborne division.
The day of the creation of the 76th Guards Chernigov Red Banner Airborne Division is September 1, 1939.
The first commander of the division was Colonel Glagolev Vasily Vasilyevich. The base for the deployment of the 157th Rifle Division (its original name) was the 221st Black Sea Rifle Regiment of the 74th Taman Rifle Division, created in 1925 on the basis of the 22nd Krasnodar Iron Rifle Division.
By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the division was part of the troops of the North Caucasian Military District and, with the outbreak of hostilities, received the task of preparing a defensive line along the Black Sea coast.
September 15, 1941 the division is sent to help the heroic defenders of Odessa. On September 22, the units of the formation replaced the defenders and by dawn took their starting positions for the offensive. During this offensive, the division completed its task and captured the Ilyichevka state farm and the village of Gildendorf. The military council of the Odessa defensive region highly appreciated the combat activity of the division in its first battle for the city. For courage and courage, the commander of the defensive area announced gratitude to the personnel of the formation. So the baptism of fire of the division took place.
By November 20, 1941, the division returned to Novorossiysk and took part in the Feodosia landing operation, which the Transcaucasian Front carried out jointly with Black Sea Fleet. As a result of this operation, the Kerch Peninsula was cleared of the enemy and great support was provided to the besieged Sevastopol.
From July 25 to July 30, 1942, the division conducted active combat operations to destroy the Nazis who had crossed to the left bank of the Don. For successful military operations and the liberation of the village of Krasnoyarskaya, the commander of the North Caucasian Front Marshal Soviet Union CM. Budyonny announced gratitude to the personnel.
By August 4, 1942, the formation retreated to the northern bank of the Aksai River. From August 6 to August 10, his units fought incessant battles, trying to knock the enemy off the bridgeheads he had captured and preventing the offensive from developing. In these battles, the machine gunner Private Ermakov distinguished himself. On his combat account over 300 exterminated Nazis. In the name of Afanasy Ivanovich Ermakov, a modest and fearless machine gunner, a glorious list of Heroes of the Soviet Union was opened in the division. This title was awarded to Ermakov by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on November 5, 1942.
From September 1942, the division as part of the 64th Army took up defensive positions at the Gornaya Polyana - Elkhi line.
On January 10, 1943, the unit as part of the troops of the Stalingrad Front launched a decisive offensive to destroy the encircled enemy.
Until July 3, 1943, divisions of the division were part of the Bryansk Front near the city of Belev, Tula Region.
On July 12, units of the formation on improvised means began crossing the Oka. By the end of the day, the guards captured the bridgeheads and destroyed more than 1,500 enemy soldiers and officers, 45 firing points, 2 tanks, captured 35 Nazis. Among others, the personnel of the 76th division was noted by the gratitude of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
On September 8, the division moves out of the Orel region near Chernigov. For three days of continuous offensive, she advanced 70 kilometers and at dawn on September 20 approached the village of Tovstoles, three kilometers northeast of Chernigov, and then, having captured the city, continued the offensive to the west. By order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief dated September 21, 1943, No. 20, the division was thanked and given the honorary name Chernihiv.
On July 17, 1944, as part of the 1st Belorussian Front, the division launched an offensive northwest of Kovel. On July 21, the vanguards of the formation with fierce battles began to move north, towards Brest. On July 26, troops advancing from the north and south united 20-25 kilometers west of Brest. The enemy group was surrounded. The next day, the division proceeded to active operations to destroy the encircled enemy. For reaching the State border of the USSR and the liberation of the city of Brest, the division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
On January 25, 1945, as part of the 2nd Belorussian Front, the division's division blocked the exit from the city of Torun, surrounded by a 32,000-strong enemy group, with a swift march. The enemy grouping that defended Torun - a powerful stronghold on the Vistula - ceased to exist.
On March 23, the division stormed the city of Tsoppot, went to the Baltic Sea and turned its front to the south. By the morning of March 25, as part of the corps, the division captures the city of Oliva and rushes to Danzig. On March 30, the liquidation of the Danzig group was completed.
Having made a march from Danzig to Germany, on April 24, the division concentrated in the Kortenhaten area, 20 kilometers south of Stettin. At dawn on April 26, the formation crossed the Rondov Canal on a wide front and, breaking through the enemy’s defensive line, cleared the city of Preclav from the Nazis by the end of the day.
On May 2, the division captured the city of Güstrow, and on May 3, having traveled about 40 kilometers, cleared the cities of Karow and Buttsov from the enemy. The forward detachments reached the Baltic Sea and, on the outskirts of the city of Wismar, met with units of the airborne division of the Allied Expeditionary Army. On this, the 76th division ended the fighting against the Nazi troops and began to carry out patrol service on the coast.
During the war years, 50 fighters received the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union in the division, and over 12 thousand were awarded orders and medals.
Immediately after the war, the 76th division was redeployed from Germany to the territory of the Soviet Union, during the same period it was transformed into an airborne division.
In the spring of 1947, the division was redeployed to the city of Pskov. Thus began a new stage in the history of the connection.
From year to year the skill of paratroopers rose. If earlier the main task was training in parachute jumps, and actions on the battlefield were practiced without landing, then in 1948 company tactical exercises with practical landing began. In the summer of the same year, the first demonstration battalion tactical exercise with landing was held. He was led by the division commander, later the legendary commander of the Airborne Forces, General V.F. Margelov.
The personnel of the division took part in the exercises "Dnepr". The guards demonstrated high military training, earning the gratitude of the command.
With each subsequent year, the division increased its combat skills. In March 1970, the personnel of the division took part in the major combined-arms exercise "Dvina". The actions of the paratroopers were highly appreciated by the command.
High skill was shown by the guards-paratroopers of the formation at the exercises "Autumn-88".
In the period from 1988 to 1992, the division's paratroopers had to "extinguish" interethnic conflicts in Armenia and Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, the Baltic States, Transnistria, North and South Ossetia.
In 1991, the 104th and 234th Guards Airborne Regiments were awarded the Pennant of the USSR Ministry of Defense "For Courage and military prowess". Earlier, the division as a whole and its artillery regiment were awarded the Vympel of the USSR Ministry of Defense.
The events in Chechnya in 1994-1995 are written like a black page in the history of the division. 120 soldiers, sergeants, ensigns and officers died, having fulfilled their military duty to the end. For courage and heroism shown in carrying out a special task to restore constitutional order on the territory of Chechnya, many guards paratroopers were awarded orders and medals, and ten officers were awarded the high title of Hero Russian Federation. Two of them - the commander of the reconnaissance company of the Guards, Captain Yuri Nikitich and the commander of the Guards Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Pyatnitsky, were awarded this high rank posthumously.
On November 17, 1998, one of the oldest regiments of the division and in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - the 1140th twice Red Banner Artillery Regiment celebrated its 80th anniversary. Formed on the basis of the 22nd Artillery Battalion of the 22nd Iron Krasnodar Rifle Division, dating back to 1918, the Artillery Regiment has passed a glorious military path, 7 Heroes of the Soviet Union have been brought up in its ranks. The soldiers-artillerymen met their anniversary with high performance in combat training, the regiment was recognized as the best in the Airborne Forces.
From August 18, 1999, the personnel of the unit took part in the liquidation of illegal armed gangs on the territory of the Republic of Dagestan and Chechen Republic as part of a regimental tactical group. During this period of time, the paratroopers of the unit had to take part in many military operations, including the liberation of the settlements of Karamakhi, Gudermes, Argun, and the blockade of the Vedeno Gorge. In most operations, the personnel were highly appreciated by the Joint Command of the Group of Forces in the North Caucasus, while showing courage and heroism.
Their memory will forever remain in our hearts.
The story of the illustrious compound continues. It is led by young guardsmen, successors of the military glory of the front-line soldiers. It is supplemented by their military deeds by soldiers, sergeants and officers, who today carry out their honorable service under the military order-bearing Banner of the division.
At present, contract servicemen (contract servicemen) are serving in the division.
Modern Airborne Forces
Fundamental changes in the military-political situation in the world that have taken place in last years, entailed a fundamental revision and refinement of views on ensuring military security states, forms, ways and means of achieving it. Realistically assessing the position of Russia, the size of its territory, the length of borders, the current
According to the state of the Armed Forces, one should proceed from the need to have deployed groupings of troops that would be guaranteed to ensure the security of Russia in all strategic directions.
In this regard, the importance of mobile forces is sharply increasing, capable of moving by air in the shortest possible time to any strategic direction within the borders of the Russian Federation, providing cover for sections of the state border and facilitating the timely deployment
and grouping ground forces, carry out tasks to suppress armed conflicts and stabilize the situation in remote regions of Russia. The Airborne Forces have a high degree of strategic and operational-tactical mobility. Their formations and units are fully airborne, autonomous in combat, they can be used on any terrain, parachuted into areas inaccessible to ground forces. Supreme High Command and General base, using the Airborne Forces, can respond in a timely and flexible manner to any operational or strategic direction.
At present, the main tasks of the Air
landing troops are:
In peacetime- conducting independently peace-
creative operations or participation in multilateral
actions to maintain (establish) peace in re-
decision of the UN, the CIS in accordance with international
obligations of the Russian Federation.
During the threatened period- reinforcement of cover troops
state border, participation in securing
operational deployment of groupings of troops on
threatened directions, dropping parachutes
landings in hard-to-reach areas; increased security
and defense of important state facilities; struggle
with special enemy troops; assistance
other troops and security agencies in the fight against
terrorism and in other actions in order to ensure
national security Russian Federation.
During the course of hostilities- landing of various
composition and purpose of airborne assault forces and
conduct of hostilities behind enemy lines for
grip and hold, disable or destroy
niyu important objects, participation in the defeat or blocking
tracking enemy groupings that broke through
the operational depth of our troops, as well as in blocks
rovaniya and destruction of the landed air
landings.
The airborne troops are the basis on which the universal mobile forces can be deployed in the future. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief, in a number of documents and instructions, demanded that the Government and the Ministry of Defense, when developing military reform plans, provide for the development of the Airborne Forces. In particular, to ensure their staffing with personnel, weapons and equipment, readiness for immediate action, to prevent the loss of Russia's leading positions in the development of weapons and military equipment for the Airborne Forces. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief confirmed that the Airborne Forces are his reserve, the basis of forces for conducting peacekeeping operations.
The command and headquarters of the Airborne Forces have developed a plan for their further construction, which provides for the development of the Airborne Forces as an independent branch of the RF Armed Forces, capable of quickly bringing its units and subunits to combat readiness to perform tasks for their intended purpose. the main task reforming the Airborne Forces consists in optimizing the organizational and staffing structure in accordance with the established strength. The main efforts are directed: firstly, to the modern training of future commanders of paratrooper units, the forge of which is the only Ryazan Institute of the Airborne Forces in the world. Secondly, to increase the combat capabilities of formations, units and subunits, their air mobility, the ability to conduct independent combat operations, both as airborne assault forces and as part of ground forces and peacekeeping force contingents. Priority attention will be given to parachute regiments and battalions, control systems, communications and intelligence, as well as equipping troops with new generation combat vehicles. In the future, it is envisaged to reform the Airborne Forces in two directions: to reduce the number of formations intended for parachute landing; to create, on the basis of some airborne formations and units, airborne assault formations and units for operations on helicopters, as well as special operations forces.
Now the "Blue Berets" form the combat basis of the present and future Russian army. The Airborne Forces are part of the mobile troops and are always ready for battle. The history of the Airborne Forces continues.
Plan:
- Introduction
- 1. History
- 2 Commanders of the Airborne Forces
- 3 Number
- 4 Composition
- 4.1 Divisions
- 4.2 Brigades
- 4.3 Battalions
- 4.4 Shelves
- 4.5 Educational institutions
- 5 Armament
- 5.1 Armored vehicles
- 5.2 Automotive
- 5.3 Artillery
- 5.4 Weapon
- 6 Gallery Notes
Literature
Introduction
Parachute landing from a TB-3 bomber
Unofficial sleeve insignia of the Airborne Forces of the Russian Armed Forces.
Flag of the Airborne Forces of the Russian Armed Forces
Patch of the Command of the Airborne Forces of the Russian Armed Forces, 2005.
Sleeve insignia of the Airborne Forces of the Russian Armed Forces.
Airborne troops (Airborne) - a highly mobile branch of the rapid reaction troops, designed to cover the enemy by air and conduct combat and sabotage operations in his rear.
The Airborne Forces of the Russian Armed Forces are the reserve of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and can form the basis of the mobile rapid reaction forces. They report directly to the Commander of the Airborne Forces of the Russian Armed Forces and consist of airborne divisions, brigades, separate parts and institutions.
Commander of the Airborne Forces of the Russian Armed Forces - Lieutenant General Vladimir Anatolyevich Shamanov (appointed by decree of the President of Russia - May 24, 2009).
1. History
On July 26, 1930, during the training of the Air Force of the Moscow Military District at the Voronezh airfield, Minov performed a demonstrative parachute jump, after which several more pilots performed their first jumps. After listening to a report on the progress of the training, the commander of the Red Army Air Force, Pyotr Baranov, proposed "demonstrating the dropping of a group of armed paratroopers for sabotage operations on the territory of the" enemy "." On August 2, the landing was thrown out in two groups of 6 people; one was led by Minov, the other by his assistant Yakov Moshkovsky.
On August 2, 1930, during the exercises of the Air Force of the Moscow Military District near Voronezh, for the first time, an airborne unit in the amount of 12 people was parachuted to perform a tactical task. This experiment allowed military theorists to see the prospect of the advantage of parachute units, their enormous capabilities associated with the rapid coverage of the enemy through the air.
August 2, 1930 was the birthday of the airborne troops. The first division of the Airborne Forces was formed in 1931, in the Leningrad Military District, the airborne assault detachment consisted of 164 people. E.D. Lukin was appointed commander of the detachment.
Order of the NPO of the USSR No. 0202 "On the formation of the Directorate of the Airborne Forces of the Red Army", June 12, 1941.
In order to improve the management of the combat training and service of the airborne troops, form the Directorate of the Airborne Forces of the Red Army in accordance with the staff No. 1/104 approved by me.
People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR Marshal of the Soviet Union S. Timoshenko
Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army General of the Army G. Zhukov.
RGVA. F. 4. Op. 11. D. 65. L. 2. Original. Published web.: Russian archive ... T. 13 (2-1). S. 279 (Doc. No. 117).
Until 1946, the Airborne Forces were part of the Air Force of the Red Army of the Armed Forces of the USSR.
Since 1946 - as part of the ground forces (SV) of the USSR Armed Forces, but directly subordinate to the Minister of Defense.
In 1991, the Airborne Forces of the CIS Armed Forces in Russia were separated into an independent branch of the armed forces.
The decisive role in the formation of the theory of combat use and the development of weapons of the airborne troops belongs to Soviet commander Vasily Filippovich Margelov, Commander of the Airborne Forces from 1954 to 1979. The name of Margelov is associated with the positioning of airborne formations as highly maneuverable, covered with armor and having sufficient fire efficiency units to participate in modern strategic operations in various theaters of military operations. On his initiative, the technical re-equipment of the Airborne Forces was launched: serial production of landing equipment was launched at defense production enterprises, modifications of small arms for paratroopers were created, new military equipment was modernized and developed (including the first tracked combat vehicle BMD-1), were put into service and new military transport aircraft entered the troops, and finally their own symbols of the Airborne Forces- vests and blue berets. His personal contribution to the formation of the Airborne Forces in their modern form was formulated by General Pavel Fedoseevich Pavlenko:
In the history of the Airborne Forces, and in the Armed Forces of Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union, his name will remain forever. He personified a whole era in the development and formation of the Airborne Forces, their authority and popularity are associated with his name, not only in our country, but also abroad ...
…AT. F. Margelov realized that in modern operations, only highly mobile, capable of wide maneuver landing forces would be able to successfully operate deep behind enemy lines. He categorically rejected the installation of holding the area captured by the landing until the approach of the troops advancing from the front by the method of tough defense as disastrous, because in this case the landing would be quickly destroyed.
2. Commanders of the Airborne Forces
(Until 1991 - Airborne Forces of the Soviet Armed Forces, in 1991-1993 - Airborne Forces of the CIS Armed Forces)
- Glazunov Vasily Afanasyevich, Major General (August 29, 1941 - June 1943)
- Kapitokhin Alexander Grigorievich, Major General (07 June 1943 - 09 August 1944)
- Zatevakhin Ivan Ivanovich, major general (August 1944 - January 1946)
- Glagolev Vasily Vasilyevich, Colonel General (April 1946 - September 1947)
- Kazankin Alexander Fedorovich, lieutenant general (October 1947 - December 1948)
- Rudenko Sergey Ignatievich, Colonel General (December 1948 - September 1949)
- Kazankin Alexander Fedorovich, lieutenant general (October 1949 - March 1950)
- Gorbatov Alexander Vasilievich, Colonel General (March 1950-1954)
- Margelov Vasily Filippovich, Colonel General (June 1, 1954 - March 1959)
- Tutarinov Ivan Vasilyevich, lieutenant general (March 14, 1959 - July 1961)
- Margelov Vasily Filippovich, Colonel General (until 1967), General of the Army (July 1961 - January 1979)
- Sukhorukov Dmitry Semyonovich, Colonel General (until 1982), General of the Army (January 1979 - July 1987)
- Kalinin Nikolai Vasilyevich, Colonel General (August 1987 - January 1989)
- Achalov Vladislav Alekseevich, Colonel General (January 1989 - December 1990)
- Grachev Pavel Sergeevich, Colonel General (December 30, 1990 - August 31, 1991)
- Podkolzin Evgeny Nikolaevich, Colonel General (August 31, 1991 - December 1996)
- Shpak Georgy Ivanovich, Colonel General (December 4, 1996 - September 2003)
- Kolmakov Alexander Petrovich, Colonel General (September 8, 2003 - November 2007)
- Evtukhovich Valery Evgenievich, lieutenant general (November 19, 2007 - May 6, 2009)
- Ignatov Nikolai Ivanovich, lieutenant general (acting May 6, 2009 - May 24, 2009)
- Shamanov Vladimir Anatolyevich Lieutenant General (since May 24, 2009)
3. Number
According to official data for 2010, the number of Russian Airborne Forces is 35,000 military personnel, consisting of:
- Officers - 4,000 people, of which 400 people hold sergeant positions.
- Military personnel (sergeants and soldiers under the contract) - 7,000 people.
- Military personnel (sergeants and soldiers on conscription) - 24,000 people.
- Civilian personnel (GOSLs, employees and workers) - 28,000 people.
4. Composition
Composition of the Airborne Forces of the Russian Armed Forces, Anglo-Saxon [ source not specified 122 days] designation.
4.1. divisions
- 7th Guards Air Assault (Mountain) Division (until January 2006 - airborne), Novorossiysk
- 76th Guards Airborne Assault Division (until January 2006 - airborne), Pskov
- 98th Guards Airborne Division, Ivanovo
- 106th Guards Airborne Division, Tula
4.2. Brigades
- 31st Guards Separate Airborne Assault Brigade, Ulyanovsk (until May 1, 1998 - 337th and 328th Guards Airborne Regiments of the 104th Airborne Division)
- 11th Separate Air Assault Brigade, Ulan-Ude
- 56th Guards Separate Air Assault Brigade, Kamyshin
4.3. Battalions
- 8th separate tank repair battalion Leninsk
4.4. Shelves
- 38th separate regiment connections (Bear lakes)
- 45th separate guards regiment special purpose(VDV) (Kubinka)
4.5. Educational institutions
- Ryazan Institute of Airborne Troops
- 332 School of ensigns of the Airborne Forces (disbanded in December 2009)
- 242nd training center (44th training airborne division), until 1992 - Lithuania (Gaizhunai and Prienai), currently - Omsk and Ishim
5. Armament
In January 2007, the commander of the airborne troops, Colonel-General Alexander Kolmakov, announced that within the next three years of the Airborne Forces will receive new serial weapons - a BMD-4 airborne combat vehicle, a 125-mm self-propelled gun 2S25 "Octopus", a multi-purpose armored personnel carrier BTR-D3 "Rakushka", a KamAZ-43501 landing vehicle, D-10 and Arbalet parachutes, as well as a new small arms and special weapons. In 2010, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation decided to arm parts of the Airborne Forces Iveco LMV armored vehicles manufactured by Kamaz OJSC. First of all, the rearmament will be carried out by the 45th separate regiment.
5.1. armored vehicles
- Airborne combat vehicles: BMD-1, BMD-2 "Budka", BMD-3 "Bakhcha", BMD-4 "Bakhcha-U", BTR-RD "Robot", BTR-ZD "Screeze".
5.2. Automotive
Unloading truck Ural-4320 from Il-76 at Tuzla airfield in Bosnia, January 1996
Many options based on trucks Ural, GAZ, KAMAZ; cars UAZ
5.3. Artillery
- Airborne self-propelled guns ASU-57, SU-85
- Self-propelled artillery guns 2S9 NONA-S, 2S25 Sprut-SD
- Howitzer 2A18 D-30/2A18M D-30A
- Anti-aircraft gun ZU-23-2
INTRODUCTION
Winged infantry
Didn't come out of the fire...
I'm sorry, 6th company,
Russia and me.
Deceased immortal,
You became real
In the battle near Ulus-Kert,
As in the battle for Moscow.
Farewell, 6th company,
Gone for centuries
Immortal Infantry
Heavenly Regiment.
Viktor Verstakov
... In the early morning of February 28, 2000, the battalion of the 104th Airborne Regiment, with the forces of the 6th company, the 3rd platoon of the 4th company and the reconnaissance platoon under the command of the guard Lieutenant Colonel Mark Evtyukhin, advanced on foot to the snowy heights several kilometers south of east of Ulus-Kert. The combat mission is to prevent the bandits leaving the Argun Gorge from breaking through to the east.
The battle broke out around noon on 29 February. A reconnaissance platoon of paratroopers collided with an advanced group of militants. Guard Lieutenant Colonel Yevtyukhin decided to retreat to Hill 776 and, having established himself at an advantageous line, organize defense. Started leaving. Carrying out a wounded sergeant from under fire, the commander of the 6th company, Major Sergei Molodov, was mortally wounded. Captain Roman Sokolov took command of the company.
Having entrenched themselves at height 776, the Pskov paratroopers repulsed the attacks of the militants for several hours in a row. Even then it became clear that they did not encounter some small gang, but ended up in the path of the entire stream of militants moving from Shatoi to the east - in the direction of Dagestan.
By 5 p.m., the militants, who had received reinforcements, regardless of losses, stormed the heights from the western and north-western directions. Until late at night, the bandits continued to conduct heavy fire, encircling the paratroopers. The battle was personally led by Khattab. Again and again he collected the retreating militants and threw them into the battle formations of the paratroopers. Having littered the approaches to the height with the bodies of their dead, at two o'clock in the morning the bandits finally retreated.
At this time, the 3rd platoon of the 4th company, led by the deputy battalion commander, Major Alexander Dostavalov, managed to break through to the aid of the 6th company. The paratroopers, apparently, well understood that they would have to engage in a mortal battle and for some of them this battle would be the last. But according to the unwritten laws of the landing brotherhood, they could not retreat. As the 6th company, which had been greatly thinned by that time, did not retreat.
Once, choosing to serve in the Airborne Forces, they dreamed of a feat. The time to accomplish the feat has come - the landing was preparing for last fight.
At 5 o'clock in the morning on March 1, the militants went on the assault with all their might. The fog did not allow the use of aviation, the proximity to the enemy excluded artillery from the battle, and there were so many militants that some fought with the company, while others fought with reinforcements coming to its aid. The landing party stood to the death ...
At 6.10 the connection with the battalion commander Mark Evtyukhin was cut off. The last words of the guard lieutenant colonel were: "I call fire on myself." When the paratroopers ran out of ammunition, the battle turned into a hand-to-hand fight, in which two dozen Pskov paratroopers who were still able to hold weapons heroically died ... "
This is how the history of the Airborne Forces is being created today, it is written by the exploits of young paratroopers performing complex combat operations.
When did the airborne troops appear, what role did they play during the Great Patriotic War. What was technical equipment, the uniform of the soldiers of the Airborne Forces?
This work is devoted to the disclosure of these issues.
CHAPTER I : AIRBOARDING FORCES.
1.1 HISTORY OF THE AIRBOARDING FORCES.
The Airborne Troops trace their history back to August 2, 1930. During the demonstration exercises of the Moscow Military District, for the first time, a landing of ten people and weapons for them was dropped. After landing, the paratroopers, having collected containers with machine guns, rifles and ammunition, completed the assigned combat mission. The experiment was successful. The results of a series of exercises and landing maneuvers in the early 1930s made it possible to begin the formation of airborne units. The first experimental detachment of 164 people was created in the Leningrad Military District, and by 1934, 8,000 fighters were already serving in the landing force.
The theory of the purpose and role of the Airborne Forces was based on the works M. Tukhachevsky. The development of landing equipment was carried out at the Research Institute of the Air Force under the leadership P. Grokhovsky, a team headed by the director of the plant worked on parachute equipment M. Savitsky. He designed the domestic parachute PT-1 for training jumps, replacing the foreign ones. Then a special landing parachute PD-1 was created. N. Lobanova. The TB-3 aircraft was widely used for landing. He took on board 35 paratroopers, and on the external suspension a light tank or an armored car, or two guns of 76 mm1 caliber.
During maneuvers in the Kiev Military District in September 1935, in the presence of foreign delegations, a large parachute assault force, unprecedented in world practice, consisting of 1,200 people, was thrown out, which completed the task of capturing the airfield and ensuring the landing of two regiments of the 59th Infantry Division with light tanks, artillery and other technique. 1,800 paratroopers have already jumped at the exercises in Belarus, and at maneuvers in the Moscow Military District, 500 paratroopers ensured the landing method of 5,272 people of the 84th Infantry Division. Soviet paratroopers gained their first combat experience in the battles to defeat the Japanese militarists on the Kholkin-Gol River, in the Finnish war, in the liberation campaign of the Red Army in Bessarabia.
By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the formation of five airborne corps was completed. From the very first days they fought defensive battles in the Baltic states, Ukraine and Belarus. A rather large landing force (about 6,000 people) landed in the Orel area in cooperation with units of the 1st rifle corps held back pressure for several days. fascist tanks rushing to the cities of Mtsensk and Tula. In the autumn of 1941, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command decided to withdraw the airborne corps from the fronts and take measures to further strengthen the airborne forces. Several new corps were formed.
At the final stage of the Great Patriotic War, divisions from the Airborne Forces did their part of the heavy combat work on the Karelian front, in the Iasi-Kishinev operation, in the battles for Hungary and Vienna. The war for paratroopers ended in August 1945, when more than 4,000 winged fighters were landed at the airfields of Harbin, Girin, Mukden, Port Arthur, Pyongyang, and South Sakhalin. These landings paralyzed the actions of the Japanese military command2.
Based on the experience of the war, it was decided to withdraw the Airborne Forces from the Air Force and transfer them to the Ground Forces, and in 1964 they came under the direct subordination of the USSR Minister of Defense. In the 1960s, significant success was achieved in the field of landing heavy military equipment on special platforms and with the help of parachute-rocket systems.
The basis of modern weapons of the Airborne Forces are combat vehicles BMD-1, BMD-2, BMD-3, 120mm self-propelled artillery guns, 122mm howitzers, armored personnel carriers, anti-aircraft artillery installations. For landing which are used by military transport aircraft Il-76, An-22. The reliability of the equipment, repeatedly confirmed in combat operations, makes it possible to parachute combat vehicles along with their crews, which drastically reduces the time to find their weapons and engage in battle after landing3.
In peacetime, constant maneuvers are used to work out the issues of ensuring the passage of large military transport aviation formations, reducing the time for landing and its immediate entry into battle. The duration of the active phase of airborne operations during such maneuvers is 3-4 days, after which the paratroopers are withdrawn from combat.
In December 1979, formations and units of the Airborne Forces, conducting an essentially independent airborne operation, landed in Afghanistan at the airfields of Kabul, Bagram, and before the approach of motorized riflemen, they completed their tasks.
After the Afghan events, many parts of the Airborne Forces were involved in peacekeeping functions with the task of preventing the flare-up of interethnic hostility. Paratroopers more than once stood as a human shield between the opposing sides in Baku, Karabakh, South and North Ossetia, in Osh, Transnistria and in the zone Georgian-Abkhazian conflict. Two airborne battalions honorably perform tasks as part of the UN Peacekeeping Forces in Yugoslavia. The paratroopers also take part in the events in Chechnya.
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At the same time, despite the difficult conditions, the Airborne Forces remain one of the most combat-ready. This allows the Airborne Forces to become the basis of the Mobile Forces, since in terms of their equipment, the specifics of the tasks being solved and the experience gained, they are most suitable for this role.
1.2 Airborne Troops DURING THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, all five airborne corps participated in fierce battles with the invaders in the territory of Latvia, Belarus, and Ukraine.
During the counteroffensive near Moscow, in order to assist the troops of the Western and Kalinin fronts in the encirclement and defeat of the Vyazma-Rzhev-Yukhnovskaya group of Germans, at the beginning of 1942, the Vyazemskaya airborne operation was carried out with the landing of the 4th airborne corps (commanders - Major General A .F. Levashov, then Colonel A.F. Kazankin). This is the largest operation of the Airborne Forces during the war years. In total, 10,000 paratroopers4 were thrown behind enemy lines.
Parts of the 4th Airborne Corps in cooperation with parts of the cavalry corps of General P.A. Belova, who broke through behind enemy lines, fought until June 1942.
The paratroopers acted boldly, boldly and exceptionally persistently. In almost six months, paratroopers marched along the rear of the Nazi troops for about 600 km, destroyed about 15 thousand enemy soldiers and officers.
In the summer of 1942, an extremely difficult situation developed near Stalingrad. Large, well-prepared strategic reserves were required. Therefore, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command decided to reorganize ten airborne corps into rifle divisions and send them to the defense of the city. The paratroopers honorably fulfilled their duty. And further parts and airborne units For their front-line exploits, they were repeatedly noted by the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command.
The Great Patriotic War for the Airborne Forces ended only in August 1945, when more than 4 thousand paratroopers, after landing at the airfields of Harbin, Girin, Port Arthur and South Sakhalin, completely paralyzed the actions of the Japanese army.
The military merits of paratroopers during the Great Patriotic War were highly appreciated. All airborne formations were given the rank of Guards. Thousands of soldiers, sergeants and officers of the Airborne Forces were awarded orders and medals, and 296 people were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Armament and military equipment5
There were no specialized small arms for the airborne troops during the war years in the USSR. The rifle units of the Airborne Forces were armed with the usual Mosin dragoon rifles of the 1891/1930 model - “dragoons”. In the 40s, after the appearance in large quantities of submachine guns PPD and PPSh in the arsenal of the Red Army, it was decided to almost completely re-equip the existing airborne units automatic weapons. These plans were quite successfully implemented - even photographs of the first years of the war show a very high degree of saturation. landing units submachine guns. True, the main small arms of the "dismounted" airborne divisions that replaced the corps in 1942, until the end of the war, remained three-rulers.
By the way, in the USSR from the very beginning they abandoned the idea of dropping individual small arms in cargo containers - rifles and machine guns (the latter always with open magazines) were with the fighter during the parachute jump, being fixed on the left side.
A fully equipped parachutist carried two parachutes (the main one on the back, a spare, a smaller one on the chest), a duffel bag and personal weapons (machine guns - always with the magazine removed). The weapon was not packed into cases, as was done almost everywhere in the world, but simply fixed behind the left shoulder in a vertical position with the barrel down.
The field equipment of fighters and commanders is of an all-army type; we have not developed specialized landing items of equipment. The exception was the "Finnish" knife, which was worn by all military personnel of the airborne troops. In case of need, the knives were used to trim parachute lines, although they did not have protrusions of the line cutter on the blade.
After the reorganization of the corps into divisions, the personnel of the Airborne Forces continued to wear Finks; their simple wooden handles were reworked with colored Plexiglas. Other equipment was common to all infantry: a sapper shovel, a gas mask, a duffel bag. According to many veterans, helmets (ordinary army models of 1940), which first began to enter the airborne units in the winter of 1943 on the North-Western Front, were not popular with soldiers. Sometimes they were worn at the forefront, but mostly they preferred to go into battle in caps. The reason for this was the unsuccessful design of the shock absorber and chinstrap - the helmet slipped all the time. It was generally impossible to use these helmets in airborne operations for the same reason (it was not for nothing that all the airborne forces of other countries adopted special samples of steel helmets, during the development of which the main attention was paid precisely to their strong fixation on the paratrooper's head - a dangling helmet from a strong concussion upon landing, she could even break her skull). Paratrooper officers, “even lieutenants in the first trench, especially company or battalion commanders,” almost never wore them. It is hardly worth saying what unnecessary losses were caused by this neglect of personal protective equipment.
For lack of a better one, the paratroopers also used Maxim easel machine guns, which were very unsuitable for this kind of troops. Part of personal weapons and other small-sized cargoes were dropped into PDMM - airborne soft bags: bulky, but reliable hard landing containers, widely used in foreign armies, did not take root in the USSR.
The basis of the tank fleet of the Airborne Forces in the 30s and 40s was made up of light tanks with weak armor and unsatisfactory combat qualities. It should be noted that in the armies of foreign states, the paratrooper units at that time did not have armored vehicles at all, which was explained by the lack of aircraft capable of lifting such relatively heavy and bulky loads into the air. Nevertheless, the entry of the USSR into the second world war showed the obsolescence of the concept of using tanks with purely machine-gun armament in modern conditions. The Red Army already had more solid combat reconnaissance vehicles equipped with small-caliber automatic guns, but their combat weight increased dramatically and the transportation of such tanks by air, even using the giant TB-3, became impossible. I had to look for other ways. The most acceptable idea was the delivery of armored vehicles on gliders.
There was no experience in creating heavy transport gliders like the English Hamilcar, and even more so the German Me 321, in the USSR. Therefore, relying on the experiments of Christie (which we considered to be an indisputable authority in the field of tank building) in the USA and a number of theoretical calculations, Soviet designers tried to create a tank glider by mounting the bearing planes and tail elements directly on the vehicle body. It was believed that a light tank, comparable in weight to an amphibious glider, with a sufficiently large wing area, would be able to take to the air and be towed by a four-engine TB-3. O. K. Antonov, who had some experience in creating sports and landing gliders, was involved in these works, and at the end of 1941 he proposed his own version of such a “hybrid”. In accordance with the developed concept, it was assumed that the tank equipped with wings would unhook from the towing vehicle 20-25 km from the target, quietly plan and land, after which the wings would be dropped, and the vehicle would be put on alert. The project was named KT (“Tank Wings”).
The object of research conducted by the Antonov Design Bureau was the T-60 tank, which was put into service in the fall of 1941. Developed by N.A. Astrov, it had a combat weight of 6.4 tons, did not swim (fordable up to 0.9 meters) and was armed with a 20-mm belt-fed TNSh cannon and a machine gun. The maximum thickness of the armor reached 35 mm, the speed on the highway was 42 km/h6.
The wing of the glider was a biplane box, which made it possible to significantly reduce its span. Tail - also biplane type with spaced keels; mounted on two beams connected to the lower plane of the wing. The length of the glider is 12 meters, the span is 18, the area of the biplane box is 86 sq. meters. The total mass of the CT reached 7.8 tons, two of which were for glider equipment, the rest - for the lightweight T-60 tank. The specific load on the wing was 90 kg/sq. meter.
The tank hull accommodated a driver (also known as a pilot) and a tank commander (also known as a gunner). Control in the air was carried out with the help of rudders and ailerons: to provide aerodynamic compensation, small-scale stabilizers were installed on them. The pilot dropped the wing using a special mechanism without leaving the tank.
CT tests began at the Flight Research Institute (LII) near Moscow on August 7, 1942. At the initial stage, runs of a lightweight vehicle were carried out along unpaved and concrete runways (it was necessary to find out whether the undercarriage of the tank could withstand a speed of about 110 - 115 km / h). After that, the CT made three flights at a height of 4 meters, in which they tested the control system.
The first flight of the CT took place on 2 September. Towing vehicle TB-3 with boosted up to 970 hp With. the engines were piloted by P. A. Eremeev, in the past - a designer of sports aerobatic gliders. The tank was operated by S. N. Anokhin, test pilot of the experimental test site of the Airborne Forces of the Red Army. Due to the large mass and low streamlining of the CT, towing was carried out at close to the maximum power of the aircraft engine group at a speed of 130 km/h. Despite all the efforts of the pilot, the speed of lifting the bundle was insufficient. The plane was barely able to gain a height of 40 meters. An attempt to increase the speed to 140 km / h only led to the fact that the TB with the tank in tow began to decline with a vertical speed of 0.5 m / s. In addition, the temperature of the water in the engine cooling system immediately began to rise, which threatened to overheat them. Under these conditions, Yeremeev decided to withdraw the bundle to the area of the nearby Bykovo airfield and unhook the glider. Anokhin with with great difficulty landed the car and, without unhooking the wings, moved at low speed to the KNP of the airfield. The flight director, who did not know anything about the ongoing tests, raised the anti-aircraft battery crew on combat alert, and when Anokhin got out of the car, he was immediately “captured”, from where the pilot was rescued only by the emergency rescue team of the LII who arrived in time. After that, the tank was driven under its own power to the village of Stakhanovsk (now the city of Zhukovsky) to the institute's airfield.
The first flight of the CT turned out to be the last one: the certificate of testing a prototype indicated that the task of creating a flying tank was generally solved, but certain mistakes were made in its design. The airframe and tank models presented for blowing in the wind tunnel were made in a simplified version - without cables connecting the wing box and empennage, and also without modeling the vehicle's caterpillars. All this led to an error in the calculations of the aerodynamics of the CT and the required power of the tug engines. In addition, the influence of aerodynamic air resistance was also not taken into account, which did not allow the TB-3 to raise the airframe to the estimated height and made it difficult to control the latter.
Continuation
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If the design of the CT itself made it possible to bring it up to the required standards (the act indicated the need to increase the trimmer of the elevator, install a helm control with a worm gear and make changes to the aerodynamic compensation of the ailerons and flap control), then the situation with the towing vehicle was more complicated. Of the aircraft more powerful than the TB-3, capable of delivering CT to the target, the Air Force, the Red Army had only a long-range bomber Pe-8 (TB-7). However, only 80 of these machines were built during the war, which were actively used in long-range bomber aviation and could not be used for the needs of the Airborne Forces. In this regard, further tests of the "tank wings" ceased.
Uniforms and insignia7
The pre-war uniform of the Soviet Airborne Forces was completely similar to that adopted for the Red Army Air Force (it was inherited from the first "special purpose aviation battalions").
Jumping equipment consisted of a gray-blue canvas (less often leather) helmet with a soft lining and the same moleskin or avisent overalls, on the collar of which in peacetime buttonholes with insignia were sewn (the sleeve chevrons of the command staff and commissar stars were not worn with it). The overalls were gray-gray, gray or camouflage and practically did not differ in design from the flight suits. By the beginning of the war, the overalls had been replaced by an advisory jacket and trousers with large patch pockets. In winter, they wore uniforms insulated with sheepskin with large brown or dark blue fur collars with zippers, sometimes covered with a counter flap. Collars in a raised form were pulled together by internal straps. There were quite a few variants of this uniform, the style of which depended on the manufacturer, so it did not become standard.
During the Soviet-Finnish war, the airborne units that took part in the battles at its final stage were, in accordance with the acquired combat experience, dressed in hats with earflaps, wadded trousers, quilted jackets, short fur coats and felt boots, over which they pulled white camouflage coats with hoods (unlike from rifle units that fought from November 1939 and endured 40-degree frost in Budyonovka, which could not be worn with a helmet” and boots).
With canvas helmets, paratroopers wore large pilot goggles. By the way, Soviet paratroopers also wore parachute overalls, helmets and goggles at parades, as evidenced by numerous newsreels. Many sources note that during the war, cloth helmets, as a rule, were not worn. Before the jump, the commanders put on caps “in a cavalry style” (chin strap), and the Red Army soldiers simply put their caps in their bosoms. “Ears” fell down in winter hats (just like when wearing Budenovka).
Special jump boots were not used in the Red Army at that time; Numerous photographs show airborne fighters before parachuting, shod in ordinary "kirzachi" (commanders before the war - in chrome boots), and in winter - even in felt boots, which often flew off their feet when the parachute opened. The command staff relied on fur boots. By the way, aviation overalls, high boots with rubber galoshes and other items of equipment inherited from the Air Force were not particularly suitable for paratroopers - according to many veterans of the Russian Airborne Forces, such uniforms were more suitable for aviation technicians than paratroopers.
Under the overalls, the paratroopers wore everyday combined arms uniforms with a blue (aviation) instrument color. Buttonholes were blue for all categories of military personnel (golden edging for commanders and black for political workers, foremen, sergeants and privates). The commander's uniform was distinguished by blue piping: the latter went along the collar and the upper edge of the cuffs, as well as along the side seams of the dark blue command breeches. In addition, the commanders wore with this uniform a dark blue (1938 model) or khaki (1941 model) cap with blue piping on the crown and band. At first, a red star was pinned to it, and since 1939 a special aviation cockade was introduced - a red star superimposed on a double gilded bay in the center of a laurel wreath embroidered with gold thread. Embroidered golden wings with an asterisk in the center appeared on the crown. The cap of the 1941 model did not differ from the previous one, but its band became blue. Another common headdress was a dark blue garrison cap with blue piping and the same cloth star, over which an enamel red star was attached.
The main difference between paratrooper commanders and pilots was the absence of an emblem on the left sleeve (winged propeller and crossed swords), which was the hallmark of the pilot. Unlike the current Airborne Forces, the usual aviation emblem was attached to the buttonholes: a propeller and wings. Political workers received an emblem on their buttonholes only in 1940.
Various paratrooper qualification marks were initially worn on the left side of the chest (sometimes on overalls). Subsequently, with an increase in the number of awards, the badge moved to the right, where it was placed together with the Guards badge below the orders. Double-breasted commander's overcoats - dark blue with piping at the collar (the buttonholes on the winter uniform had a rhombic shape). With them they wore Budyonovka of the same color with a blue cloth star, on which an enamel star was attached. These uniforms were worn with any form of clothing (field winter clothing provided for wearing warm overalls instead of overcoats). Later, the blue overcoats were replaced by ordinary gray combined-arms ones with aviation insignia, and the budenovka was replaced by a commander's ushanka of the 1940 model with a star.
The uniform of the Red Army soldiers did not differ from the uniform, except for blue buttonholes and the same cloth star on a khaki winter budenovka.
During the war, various camouflage overalls became widespread - white winter and spotted summer ones, initially adopted for military intelligence, as well as riflemen and sappers of assault groups. For the first time, paratroopers received camouflage uniforms, and for the first time they demonstrated it during the landing of an airborne assault at the combined arms exercises of 1936 in the Belarusian Military District.
With the reorientation of the Airborne Forces to perform the functions of selected infantry, the guards-paratroopers received the usual combined arms uniform. Special airborne uniforms from the units were withdrawn and sent to warehouses - until better times, however, many commanders tried not to hand it over, continuing to wear jackets with fur collars instead of overcoats and high boots instead of boots. Many also retained aviation caps with a “crab” cockade and wings.
Airborne uniforms: overalls, helmets, high fur boots, etc. - were henceforth issued only in preparation for the landing of paratroopers (for example, near Demyansk in the winter of 1943 or on the Dnieper). After completing the immediate tasks of the landing and connecting with the ground forces, special equipment and uniforms were withdrawn and replaced with combined arms.
When performing tasks of throwing various sabotage groups behind enemy lines, the personnel of these formations wore a wide variety of uniforms, especially after a long stay behind the front line: the lack of regular supplies from the "mainland" and actions in the partisan detachments made it impossible to comply with the requirements of the statutes.
With the introduction of shoulder straps and the ensuing change in uniform, paratroopers again received aviation insignia. Gold officer epaulettes had blue gaps and piping, and above the stars was a silver emblem of the Air Force. On field shoulder straps of a protective color, the gaps were burgundy, the edging remained blue. All metal fittings were painted in khaki color. In general, the uniform of the Airborne Forces has become absolutely identical to the combined arms, except for the color of the instrument cloth.
Privates and sergeants in the rear wore blue epaulettes with black piping and yellow braid stripes - below them was placed the image of the aviation emblem, brass or stenciled. The field epaulettes, like those of the officers, were protective with blue edging, and the stripes were brick red. Overcoat field buttonholes of a protective color for all categories of military personnel were edged in blue, the same was the field of everyday overcoat buttonholes (golden metal edging for officers, black for sergeants and Red Army soldiers).
On weekends, officer tunics had a blue edging along the edge of the collar-stand and cuffs. A cap that has been preserved from the “labeled” times: protective with a blue band, a piping on the crown, an Air Force cockade and golden “wings”. Blue riding breeches - also with blue piping.
The personnel of the guards rifle divisions reorganized in 1942 from the airborne corps continued to wear the uniform of the Airborne Forces for a long time (due to interruptions in supply), but gradually changed into combined arms uniforms.
From the beginning of the 1930s, operations were actively developed in the USSR on enemy communications, in his deep rear. The main tasks of the sabotage groups intended for such raids, of course, were to disrupt the management and supply of enemy troops. Preparation for the actions of sabotage groups in the event of the outbreak of hostilities was carried out by two main departments - Intelligence Directorate the General Staff of the Red Army, on the one hand, and the organs of the NKVD - the NKGB - on the other.
By order of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR of June 27, 1941, the Training Center training of special reconnaissance and sabotage detachments for operations behind enemy lines. In the organizational sense, all the work to coordinate these activities was entrusted to the 4th Directorate of the NKVD - the NKGB of the USSR under the leadership of the Commissar of State Security P. A. Sudoplatov.
By the autumn of 1941, the center included two brigades and several individual companies: sapper-subversive, communications and automobile. In October it was reorganized into a Separate motorized rifle brigade special purpose of the NKVD of the USSR (OMSBON).
Sudoplatov himself describes these events as follows: “On the very first day of the war, I was instructed to lead all reconnaissance and sabotage work in the rear German army through the Soviet security agencies. For this, a special unit was formed in the NKVD - a Special Group under the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs. By order of the People's Commissariat, my appointment as head of the group was formalized on July 5, 1941. My deputies were Eitingon, Melnikov, Kakuchaya. Serebryansky, Maklyarsky, Drozdov, Gudimovich, Orlov, Kiselev, Massya, Lebedev, Timashkov, Mordvinov became the heads of the leading directions in the fight against the German armed forces that invaded the Baltic states, Belarus and Ukraine. The heads of all services and divisions of the NKVD, by order of the people's commissariat, were obliged to assist the Special Group with people, equipment, weapons for the deployment of reconnaissance and sabotage work in the near and far rear of the German troops.
The main tasks of the Special Group were: conducting intelligence operations against Germany and its satellites, organizing guerrilla war, the creation of an agent network in the territories under German occupation, directing special radio games with German intelligence for the purpose of misinforming the enemy.
We immediately created a military unit of the Special Group - a separate motorized rifle brigade for special purposes (OMSBON NKVD of the USSR), which was commanded at different times by Gridnev and Orlov. By decision of the Central Committee of the Party and the Comintern, all political emigrants who were in the Soviet Union were invited to join this unit of the Special Group of the NKVD. The brigade was formed in the early days at the Dynamo stadium. Under our command, we had more than twenty-five thousand soldiers and commanders, of which two thousand were foreigners - Germans, Austrians, Spaniards, Americans, Chinese, Vietnamese, Poles, Czechs, Bulgarians and Romanians. We had at our disposal the best Soviet athletes, including champions in boxing and athletics - they became the basis of sabotage formations sent to the front and thrown behind enemy lines.
Continuation
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In October 1941, the Special Group, due to the expanded scope of work, was reorganized into an independent 2nd department of the NKVD, still directly subordinate to Beria ”(then - the 4th Directorate - Yu. N.).
OMSBON included9:
Control;
1st and 2nd motorized rifle regiments three-company staff (each company has three motorized rifle and machine-gun platoons);
Mortar and anti-tank batteries;
Engineering and sapper company;
Parachute service company;
Communication company;
Automobile company and logistics units.
The personnel of the brigade was staffed by employees of the NKVD - NKGB apparatus, including from the Main Directorate of Border Troops, cadets high school NKVD, personnel of the police and fire departments, volunteer athletes of the Central State Institute physical education, CDKA and the Dynamo society, as well as Komsomol members mobilized at the call of the Central Committee of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League. A small but very important part of the brigade was staffed by foreign communists who were members of the Comintern. Colonel M.F. became the first commander of OMSBON. Orlov, who previously held the post of head of the Sebezh military school of the NKVD troops.
For the personnel of the brigade developed special program combat training. The tasks of the OMSBON included the installation of mine-engineering obstacles, mining and demining of especially important military facilities, paratrooper operations, and conducting sabotage and reconnaissance raids. In addition to the general program, the brigade trained specialists to perform special tasks on the front line and behind the front line.
According to its regular organization, the brigade was actually an ordinary motorized rifle formation, of which there were many in the ranks of the NKVD troops at the beginning of the war. During the battle for Moscow, OMSBON, as part of the 2nd motorized rifle division of the NKVD special forces, was used on the front line, but even during this period, battle groups were formed in it, intended to be thrown into the enemy rear. The typical composition of the group included a commander, a radio operator, a demoman, a demolition assistant, a sniper and two submachine gunners. Depending on the tasks performed, battle groups could be combined or split up.
During the critical period of the battles for Moscow, in the winter of 1941/1942, the OMSBON mobile detachments carried out many daring raids and raids behind German lines. Some groups were used for reconnaissance and sabotage in the interests of headquarters combined arms armies. Most of the raids ended successfully, but the saboteurs suffered heavy losses.
Since 1942, the main task of the brigade was the preparation of detachments for operations behind enemy lines. By the beginning of autumn, 58 such detachments were thrown behind enemy lines. As a rule, a reconnaissance group withdrawn to the German rear became the core for the formation of a partisan ridge. The growth in the number of the latter was due to the influx of soldiers of the Red Army who strayed from their units in 1941 - 1942, who escaped prisoners of war, simply local residents dissatisfied with the German occupation regime. In the end, many detachments turned into large partisan formations that confidently controlled vast areas deep in the German rear. During the war, 212 detachments and groups with a total number of 7316 people were formed. In total, over 11,000 commanders and Red Army soldiers trained OMSBON personnel in various specialties. The bulk of this number were demolition workers (5255 people) and paratroopers (more than 3000 people). Other military specialties included radio operators, demolition instructors, snipers, mortarmen, drivers, medical instructors, and chemists. In addition, the instructors of special task forces operating behind enemy lines for two or three years from civilians and the partisans trained another 3,500 demolition men. At the bases of OMSBON, 580 trainees from the personnel underwent sabotage and reconnaissance training guards units RGK (mainly paratroopers).
The parachute service of the brigade was engaged in logistical, educational and methodological support for operations behind enemy lines, as well as supplying groups located behind the front line. Throughout the war, Li-2 and S-47 aircraft carried out 400 sorties, 1,372 people were delivered to the occupied territories (with landing at partisan airfields or by parachute), about 400 tons of special cargo were transported.
The result of the combat activities of OMSBON during the four years of the war was the destruction of 145 tanks and other armored vehicles, 51 aircraft, 335 bridges, 1232 locomotives and 13,181 wagons. The fighters of the brigade carried out 1415 crashes of enemy military echelons, disabled 148 kilometers of railway lines, and carried out about 400 other sabotage. In addition, 135 OMSBON operational groups transmitted 4,418 intelligence reports, including 1,358 to the General Staff, 619 to the commander of long-range aviation, and 420 to front commanders and Military Councils.
At the beginning of 1943, OMSBON was reorganized into the Special Purpose Detachment under the NKVD - the NKGB of the USSR (OSNAZ). This military unit was more clearly focused on solving reconnaissance and sabotage tasks. At the end of 1945 OSNAZ was disbanded. Some of its functions were transferred to the special detachments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs-MGB, which waged a difficult "forest war" with detachments of the Baltic and Ukrainian nationalists. These forces concentrated in their ranks the most selective personnel: even at the height of the war, when analyzing the heavy losses suffered by SD reconnaissance groups, Walter Schellenberg noted “the difficulty of countering special forces NKVD, whose units are almost 100% manned by snipers.”
In the 1930s, service dogs were also enlisted as saboteurs. In the winter of 1934 - 1935, in the area of the town of Monino near Moscow, specialists from the Red Army conducted a series of tests of dogs trained to carry out acts of sabotage. The principle of their use was almost the same as the use in the 40s at the front of dogs - tank destroyers. On the back, in a saddle-type device, each four-legged saboteur carried an explosive charge (the total weight of the saddle with the charge reached 6 kg). Dot placing the load on the object of sabotage, a specially trained animal with the help of its jaws actuated a device that released the fastening studs and dropped the saddle. After the dog left, the clockwork actuated a spring-loaded striker that hit the primer and detonated the charge. Thus, an expensive service dog did not die along with the enemy, but was ready for new tasks. Rapidly moving and small dogs, moreover, not afraid to die from guard fire, according to the leadership of the Red Army, were supposed to replace people during sabotage. In the event of a mass transfer to locations, for example, large air bases, dogs could cause serious damage to the enemy Air Force. Dogs were supposed to be dropped behind enemy lines by parachute - in this case, the animals were inside special containers (after landing, the latter were automatically opened).
During the tests mentioned above (end of December - beginning of January), the dogs were parachuted at the Monino airfield in order to carry out a training attack against target aircraft. Their actions were described in detail in the report: “Two dogs of the German Shepherd breed, dropped from 300 meters, after opening the boxes, confidently went to the target. Alma immediately dropped her saddle close to the target, Argo was unable to drop it due to a malfunction of the mechanism. The next day, the tests were continued: two shepherd dogs were again dropped from a 300-meter height, which dropped explosive charges onto the railroad tracks. At the same time, the dogs covered 400 meters on loose snow in 35 seconds; one of them was dragging in her teeth a saddle that had fallen off her back when the parachute container opened.
The test results were considered successful. On January 4, 1935, Lavrov, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Air Force of the Red Army, sent a report to the Commander-in-Chief of Aviation J. Alksnis and the Marshals of the Soviet Union M. Tukhachevsky and A. Egorov, in which he stated the following theses: “The tests carried out showed the suitability of the dog training program ... for the following acts sabotage order behind enemy lines:
Undermining certain sections of railway bridges and railway tracks, various structures, armored vehicles, etc.;
Arson of buildings, warehouses, storages of liquid combustible substances, oil fields, railway stations, headquarters and government offices;
Poisoning by dropping devices with poisonous substances in reservoirs; livestock and terrain, when the dog itself is a source of infection, the possible spread of epidemics.
I would consider it expedient ... to organize in 1935. School of Special Purpose, bringing the number of trained people to 500, and dogs to 1000-1200 ...
For the purpose of preliminary protection of our objects of defense significance from sabotage dogs, now issue directive instructions to the border districts to destroy dogs in any place they appear, especially in the area of airfields, warehouses, railway lines and gas depots ... ”
After the actual elimination at the end of the 30s of all Soviet developments in the field of sabotage and guerrilla warfare, experiments with the use of service dogs faded away. This idea, which is certainly curious, received its second birth during the Great Patriotic War, when massive training of dogs began in the Red Army - sappers, orderlies and tank destroyers.
Equipment
In the troops of the NKVD, the supply of weapons, ammunition and uniforms was much better than in the Red Army. Captured weapons were widely used in off-front conditions, especially MP 38/40 assault rifles and MG 34/42 machine guns. The OMSBON units were saturated with PPSh submachine guns (then PPS-43) by almost 100%, with the exception of machine gunners, armor-piercers and some other specialists. All servicemen carried, in addition to machine guns, holster weapons: TT pistols or revolvers, as well as all kinds of captured samples. The saboteurs from the brigade, like the fighters of other deep intelligence units, were without fail armed with the so-called reconnaissance knives (HP).
A uniform
The fighters and commanders of the OMSBON wore the uniform of the NKVD troops: border or internal (with colored caps, piping and instrument cloth, laid down by these branches of the military). Employees of the Main Directorate of State Security of the NKVD, who served in the operational groups of the brigade, also wore their own uniform with special insignia. It should be noted that for the purposes of conspiracy, the uniform of the Red Army was often worn instead of departmental uniforms.
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The personnel of the police, included in the OMSBON, received a protective uniform with police insignia. Enamel insignia, similar to those of the army, but filled with blue enamel with a red metal border, were pinned to the blue buttonholes with red piping. On the elbow of the left sleeve, the commanders wore a color image of the coat of arms of the USSR, and political workers wore a blue cloth star with a golden edging and an image of a hammer and sickle in the center. A blue piping was sewn onto the side seams of the blue command breeches. As a headgear, militia officers mobilized for service wore protective caps with a blue band and the same piping on the crown. Cockade - a scarlet enamel star with a colored coat of arms in the middle (the metal parts of the star and coat of arms were brass for commanders and nickel-plated for privates). This uniform was canceled after the introduction of shoulder straps in February 1943, in addition, most of the personnel recruited from the police by that time had already been transferred to the NKVD troops or state security.
Soviet paratroopers and special forces had a significant range of summer and winter camouflage uniforms: coats and suits. Since the end of the 1930s, the so-called bast camouflage suits made from bundles of bast and dry grass have been widely used in the army and the NKVD troops both in factories and in artisanal conditions. During the battles in the steppes, this device camouflaged the owner well in the thickets of grass, which was widely used during the battles on Lake Khasan and the Khalkhin Gol River. All other samples of costumes, both white and spotted, as a rule, were made of coarse calico - a very fragile, but cheap material.
In the 30s - early 40s, there were two variants of the fabric pattern. They were officially called autumn and summer, although in practice in warm weather they wore uniforms with both color options. The summer camouflage had a grass-green base with large black amoeba-like spots applied to it. The autumn version was distinguished by a sandy-olive color with spots of the same shape, but brown.
Before the start of the war, camouflage suits were widely used in the Airborne Forces and border troops. Since June 1941, the wearing of camouflage uniforms has been extended to military intelligence units (including OMSBON), groups of snipers, demolition workers and other special forces. In addition, the operational units of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, which after the war were engaged in the liquidation of nationalist formations in the Baltic states and western Ukraine, were supplied with camouflage suits without fail. The coloring of the 1943 uniform was heavily influenced by the small-spotted SS camouflage: the contours of branches and leaves were applied to the base grassy base with yellow or light olive paint. In some cases, amoeba-like black or brown spots were depicted on top of this composition, as on old mask suits.
The summer camouflage suit consisted of a loose blouse and trousers. The fastener of the blouse reached the middle of the chest; On the sides there were two capacious welt pockets. The floors and sleeves were supplied with lingering ribbon backstage. The low legs were tucked into tarpaulin boots.
Summer camouflage suits were often equipped with baggy hoods: the dimensions of the latter made it possible to pull them over a steel helmet. Hoods were sewn around the circumference to the shoulders of the blouse. The neckline of the hood, which at the same time was the strap of the blouse, was fastened with three or four plastic buttons, and a small front part was closed with a frequent gauze mesh in camouflage. In the stowed position, the hood was unbuttoned to the very bottom and thrown back. In the airborne units, especially before the war, they often wore blouses without a hood: the neckline was pulled into a drawstring.
Often, in special forces units, instead of suits, dressing gowns were worn: a cape with sleeves and a hood, which was buttoned up to the bottom in front.
1.3 AIRBOARDING AND MODERNITY
In this regard, the importance of mobile forces is sharply increasing, capable of moving by air in the shortest possible time to any strategic direction within the borders of the Russian Federation, providing cover for sections of the state border and facilitating the timely deployment and creation of a group of Ground Forces, and performing tasks to suppress armed conflicts. and stabilization of the situation in remote regions of Russia.
The Airborne Forces have a high degree of strategic and operational tactical mobility. Their formations and units are fully airborne, autonomous in combat, they can be used on any terrain, parachuted into areas inaccessible to ground forces. Supreme High Command and General Staff, using Airborne, can respond in a timely and flexible manner to any operational or
strategic direction.
At present, the main tasks of the Airborne Forces are: In peacetime - conducting independently peacekeeping operations or participating in multilateral
actions to maintain (establish) peace by decision of the UN, the CIS in accordance with the international obligations of the Russian Federation.
In a threatened period - strengthening the troops covering the state border, participating in ensuring the operational deployment of groupings of troops in threatened directions, dropping paratroopers into hard-to-reach areas; strengthening the protection and defense of important state facilities; fight against special enemy troops; assistance to other troops and security agencies in the fight against terrorism and in other actions in order to ensure the national security of the Russian Federation.
In the course of hostilities - the landing of airborne assault forces of various composition and purpose and the conduct of hostilities behind enemy lines to capture and hold, disable or destroy important objects, participate in the defeat or blocking of enemy groupings that have broken into the operational depth of our troops, as well as in blocking and destroying airborne assault forces.
The airborne troops are the basis on which the universal mobile forces can be deployed in the future. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief, in a number of documents and instructions, demanded that the Government and the Ministry of Defense, when developing military reform plans, provide for the development Airborne. In particular, to ensure their staffing with personnel, weapons and equipment, readiness for immediate action, to prevent the loss of Russia's leading positions in the development of weapons and military equipment for the Airborne Forces. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief confirmed that the Airborne Forces are his reserve, the basis of forces for
The command and headquarters of the Airborne Forces have developed a plan for their further construction, which provides for the development of the Airborne Forces as an independent branch of the RF Armed Forces, capable of quickly bringing its units and subunits to combat readiness to perform tasks for their intended purpose. The main task of the reform Airborne consists in optimizing the organizational and staffing structure in accordance with the established headcount. The main efforts are directed: firstly, to the modern training of future commanders of paratrooper units, the forge of which is the only Ryazan Institute in the world Airborne.
Secondly, to increase the combat capabilities of formations, units and subunits, their air mobility, the ability to conduct independent combat operations, both as airborne assault forces and as part of ground forces and peacekeeping force contingents.
Improving the organizational and staffing structure Airborne, equipping them with new models of weapons and equipment would significantly increase the combat capabilities of the troops. On the basis of the BMD-3, more than 20 types of weapons and military equipment for the Airborne Forces are being developed and tested, which makes it possible to create new families of weapons and military equipment with a combat weight of 12.9 to 18 tons and
with tactical and technical characteristics that are not inferior in combat power to similar types of weapons of the Ground Forces
CHAPTERIIHEROES OF THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR FROM THE AIR-DESSING TROOPS
2.1 PARATROOPER NUMBER ONE: VASILY FILIPPOVICH MARGELOV
It was in 1939, in Western Belarus, shortly before the parade in Brest of the troops of the allies - the Soviet Union and Germany. The Intelligence Directorate of the Belorussian Front was instructed by Moscow to obtain a secret gas mask from the Germans. The task was very responsible - the scouts were required to work cleanly, leaving no traces, and there was practically no time to prepare the operation.
After discussing the candidacy, the choice fell on the head of intelligence of the division, Captain Margelov. “The captain is a combat commander, savvy, daring, let him try, and suddenly his guys succeed on the move. In the meantime, we will carefully prepare several more groups of scouts, for safety reasons, ”the higher headquarters reasoned.
Since there was no time to prepare for the assignment, and knowing that the chief of staff and the head of the special department of the division were sent to the Germans, the father, after carefully considering everything, reported the decision to the division commander. “The task is delicate, it takes one person to complete it, but with good cover,” he said. - I have daring, well-trained scouts, but nevertheless I ask you to allow me to carry out the task personally. I will go along with the chiefs to the location of the German troops to divide the territory, and there I will act according to the situation. At the same time, in my battalion I set the task for subordinates to work out the operation.
The division commander shook hands with the captain and ordered to get ready to go. “The car is in half an hour, the bosses will know about our assignment, but they will not be able to help. All responsibility is on you. Good luck captain. I will wait for your return, but if you get caught by the Germans, count only on yourself.
Negotiations continued for more than a day. Things were going according to plan. Finally, snacks and drinks appeared on the tables. Toasts began, which the father later recalled with a bitter smile. All this time, he imperceptibly observed what was happening around him. Suddenly, he saw two people walk past the door into the courtyard, which was open due to the heat. German soldiers with the masks he needs.
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Pretending to be slightly drunk and showing an embarrassed smile, my father asked permission from the chief of staff to go out "before the wind." Those present smiled, making jokes about the weakling, and let him go.
With an unsteady gait, the captain headed towards the toilet, where he noticed "his" Germans. One of them just went inside, the other remained on the street. Father, swaying and smiling, approached him and, as if not keeping his balance, fell in his direction ... with a knife forward. Then, cutting off his gas mask and hiding behind the dead, he burst into his friend. He threw the corpses into a latrine and, making sure that they sank, went outside. Taking both gas masks, he quietly made his way to his car, where he hid them.
Returning to the "negotiating table", he drank a glass of vodka. The Germans buzzed approvingly and began to offer him a drink of schnapps. However, our commanders, realizing that the scout had completed the job, began to say goodbye. Soon they were rolling back.
“Well, captain, did you get it?” “As many as two,” the father boasted. "But don't forget that we helped you... as best we could," the special officer said and burped. The chief of staff remained silent. Outside the windows, trees quickly swept past, ahead - a stream. The car drives onto the bridge and ... suddenly an explosion.
When the father came to, he felt a sharp pain in the region of the bridge of his nose and left cheek. He held his hand - blood. I looked around: everyone was killed, the car was in the water, the bridge was destroyed. Clearly - they hit a mine. And then he saw horsemen galloping out of the forest towards the car.
Noticing the movement, they immediately began to shoot. Overcoming the pain, the father shot back. He shot down the leading rider, then the next one ... Blood flooded his eyes, prevented him from aiming fire.
And then the Germans, having heard the shooting, came to the rescue. Having beaten off the attack, as it turned out later, of the Polish partisans, they took the Russian captain to the hospital, where a German surgeon operated on his bridge of the nose.
When he was brought, bloodied, in bandages, to the location of our division, he immediately fell into the hands of the NKVD. The questions were just for the occasion: “Why did one stay alive? Why did the Germans bring? Why did they operate on you, captain?" After that, three days of tedious waiting in the basement, until the NKVD, according to the testimony of his father, removed the corpses of German soldiers from the latrine with cut-off gas mask mounts and made sure that the bullets in the bodies of the killed attacking horsemen were fired from his Mauser.
Freeing him, the senior opera officer in the rank of senior lieutenant, clenching his teeth, hissed: “Go, captain. This time, consider yourself lucky. My father did not receive any gratitude for completing the task, but my friends and I properly celebrated “freedom” in a local restaurant. The scar on the left cheek remained the memory of those days for life...
Sweden remained neutral
During the years of the Soviet-Finnish war (1939-1940), my father commanded a separate reconnaissance ski battalion of the 122nd division. The battalion made daring raids behind enemy lines, set up ambushes, causing great damage to the Finns. During one of them, he captured the officers of the Swedish General Staff.
“It was extremely difficult to penetrate behind enemy lines - the White Finns were excellent soldiers,” my father recalled. He always respected a worthy opponent, and he valued the single training of Finnish fighters especially highly.
The battalion included graduates of the Lesgaft and Stalin sports institutes, excellent skiers. Once, deepening into Finnish territory for ten kilometers, they found a fresh enemy ski track. "Let's set up an ambush. The first company - to the right, the second - to the left, the third company goes two hundred meters ahead and cuts off the enemy's retreat. Capture several people, preferably officers, ”the father gave a combat order.
Enemy skiers returning along their ski tracks did not notice our disguised fighters and fell under their fire. In the course of a short and fierce battle, my father managed to see that some of the soldiers and officers had a strange uniform, unlike the Finnish one. None of our fighters could even think that a meeting with the soldiers of a neutral country is possible here. “If not in our uniform and together with the Finns, then the enemy,” the commander decided, and ordered to capture first of all the enemies dressed in this strange uniform.
During the battle, six people were taken prisoner. But it turned out to be the Swedes. It was very difficult to deliver them across the front line to the location of our troops. Not only did the prisoners have to be dragged literally on their own, it was impossible at the same time to allow them to freeze. In the then severe frosts in conditions of immobility or even inactivity, for example, in the case of a severe injury, death occurred very quickly. It was not possible to endure in these conditions the bodies of their fallen comrades.
The front line was overcome without loss. When they got to their own, the battalion commander again got "to the fullest." Again the NKVD, again interrogations.
It was then that he found out who he had captured - Swedish officers who were studying the possibility of participating in the war on the side of Finland of the Swedish Expeditionary Volunteer Corps, which had already arrived in late January - early February in the Kandalaksha direction. Then they attributed to the battalion commander something like political myopia, they say, he didn’t recognize the “neutrals”, he took the wrong prisoners, they remembered leaving their dead on the battlefield, in general, he would not have avoided a court-martial, and most likely - execution, Yes, the commander of the army took the commander under protection. Most of the soldiers and officers of the detachment were awarded orders and medals, only the commander was left without an award. “Nothing,” he joked, “but Sweden remained neutral ...”
The defeat and capture of the first military contingent sent to fight against the USSR caused such a depressing response in Sweden that until the very end of the military conflict, the Swedish government did not dare to send a single soldier to Finland. If only the Swedes knew to whom they owe the preservation of neutrality, and also the fact that Swedish mothers, wives and brides did not have to mourn their sons and loved ones ...
On the border of Austria and Czechoslovakia
On May 10, 1945, when our victorious soldiers were already talking about an imminent departure to their homeland, General Margelov received a combat order: on the border of Austria with Czechoslovakia, three SS divisions and the remnants of other units, including Vlasov, want to surrender to the Americans. It is necessary to capture them, in case of resistance - to destroy them. For the successful conduct of the operation, the second Star of the Hero was promised ...
Having given a combat order, the divisional commander with several officers on the "jeep" went straight to the enemy's location. He was accompanied by a battery of 57 mm guns. Soon the chief of staff joined him in another car. They had a machine gun and a box of grenades, not counting personal weapons.
Arriving at the place, the father ordered: “Install guns with direct fire on the enemy’s headquarters and after 10 minutes, if I don’t come out, open fire”13. And he loudly ordered the nearby SS men: "Immediately take me to your commanders, I have authority from the higher command to negotiate."
At the enemy headquarters, he demanded immediate unconditional surrender, promising life in return, and keep rewards. "Otherwise - complete destruction using all fire weapons of the division," he finished his speech. Seeing the complete hopelessness of the situation, the SS generals were forced to surrender, emphasizing that they surrender only to such a brave combat general.
My father did not receive any promised awards, but the consciousness that a major victory had been won without a single shot and without a single loss, military trophies had been captured, and at the same time, the lives of several thousand people, who had been enemies only yesterday, gave him satisfaction. higher order than any, even the highest, award.
Vasily Filippovich Margelov was born on December 27, 1908 (old style) in the city of Yekaterinoslav (now Dnepropetrovsk) in Ukraine. From the age of 13, did you go to work at the mine as a horse-drawn horse driver? pushing carts loaded with coal. He dreamed of becoming a mining engineer, but on a Komsomol ticket he was sent to the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army.
In 1928 he entered the United Belarusian military school named after the CEC of the BSSR in Minsk. After its successful completion, he was appointed commander of a machine-gun platoon of the 99th Infantry Regiment of the 33rd Infantry Division.
From the very first days of service, the chiefs appreciated the abilities of the young commander, his ability to work with people, to transfer his knowledge to them. In 1931, he was appointed to the post of platoon commander of the regimental school, and in January 1932? platoon leader in his native school. Taught tactics, fire and physical training. He rose from platoon commander to company commander. He was a Maximist (shooter from a machine gun of the Maxim system), he was an excellent shooter from other types of weapons, he was a Voroshilov shooter.
In 1938, Margelov was already a captain (at that time the first rank of a senior officer), commander of a battalion of the 25th rifle regiment of the 8th rifle division of the Belarusian military district, then head of intelligence of the division. It is to this period that the first episode from his rich front-line biography belongs.
During the Soviet-Finnish campaign, as the commander of a ski reconnaissance and sabotage battalion, in the harsh conditions of the Arctic, he made dozens of raids on the rear of the White Finnish troops.
He began the Great Patriotic War in July 1941 and went through it to the end, from major to major general: he commanded disciplinary officers who covered him with their bodies during shelling, a separate regiment of Baltic sailors on the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts, a rifle regiment near Stalingrad, at the turn of the river Myshkov broke the back of Manstein's tank army. As a division commander, he crossed the Dnieper, with a handful of fighters for three days without rest and food, he held his position, ensuring the crossing of his division. An unexpected maneuver from the flank forced the Nazis to flee from Kherson, for which he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and his unit received the honorary name Khersonskaya. Participated in the liberation of Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Austria. He ended the war with the brilliant bloodless capture of three selected German SS divisions: Totenkopf, Great Germany and police division SS.
The brave division commander, who has 12 Stalinist thanks, was given a high honor? command a combined battalion of the 2nd Ukrainian Front at the Victory Parade on Red Square. His battalion went first, and in the first rank ten of the best soldiers and officers of his 49th Guards Kherson Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Rifle Division firmly minted the step. Eight wounds on the fronts, two of them 2 severe. His wife Anna Alexandrovna, a military surgeon, captain of the medical service of the guard, also went through the whole war, operated on him on the battlefield. Many times, Margelov's life hung in the balance, not only during fights with enemies, but also during investigations in the NKVD. After the war? Academy of the General Staff, after which, at the age of almost 40, he did not hesitate to accept the offer to become the commander of the guards Chernihiv airborne division. Shows an example of youth in skydiving. Since 1954, the commander of the airborne troops. Was your father not allowed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the troops as commander of the Airborne Forces? the Afghan epic began, and he had his own views on the use of airborne units, both tactically and strategically. Since January 1979, Army General V.F. Margelov continued to serve in the Group of General Inspectors of the USSR Ministry of Defense, supervising the airborne troops. On March 4, 1990, Vasily Filippovich passed away. But his memory lives on in the airborne troops, in the hearts of veterans of the Great Patriotic War, all those who knew and loved him. He is an honorary soldier of one of the units of the Chernihiv Guards Airborne Division. Streets in Omsk, Tula, the Union of Teenage Clubs of the Landing Profile are named after him. Ryazan airborne school also bears his name.
Continuation
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The fundamental changes in the military-political situation in the world that have taken place in recent years have led to a fundamental revision and refinement of views on ensuring the military security of the state, forms, methods and means of achieving it. Realistically assessing the position of Russia,
measures of its territory, the length of its borders, the current state of the Armed Forces, should proceed from the need to have deployed groupings of troops that would guarantee Russia's security in all strategic directions.
In this regard, the importance of mobile forces is sharply increasing, capable of moving by air in the shortest possible time to any strategic direction within the borders of the Russian Federation, providing cover for sections of the state border and facilitating the timely deployment and creation of a group of Ground Forces, and performing tasks to suppress armed conflicts. and stabilization of the situation in remote regions of Russia14.
The Airborne Forces have a high degree of strategic and operational-tactical mobility. Their formations and units are fully airborne, autonomous in combat, they can be used on any terrain, parachuted into areas inaccessible to ground forces. The Supreme High Command and the General Staff, using the Airborne Forces, can respond in a timely and flexible manner to any operational or
strategic direction.
At present, the main tasks of the Airborne Forces are: In peacetime - conducting independently peacekeeping operations or participating in multilateral peacekeeping (establishment) actions by decision of the UN, the CIS in accordance with the international obligations of the Russian Federation.
In a threatened period - strengthening the troops covering the state border, participating in ensuring the operational deployment of groupings of troops in threatened directions, dropping paratroopers into hard-to-reach areas; strengthening the protection and defense of important state facilities; fight against special enemy troops; assistance to other troops and security agencies in the fight against terrorism and in other actions in order to ensure the national security of the Russian Federation.
In the course of hostilities - the landing of airborne assault forces of various composition and purpose and the conduct of hostilities behind enemy lines to capture and hold, disable or destroy important objects, participate in the defeat or blocking of enemy groups that have broken through into
the operational depth of our troops, as well as in blocking and destroying airborne assault forces.
The airborne troops are the basis on which the universal mobile forces can be deployed in the future. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief, in a number of documents and instructions, demanded that the Government and the Ministry of Defense, when developing military reform plans, provide for the development of the Airborne Forces. In particular, to ensure their staffing with personnel, weapons and equipment, readiness for immediate action, not
allow the loss of Russia's leading positions in the development of weapons and military equipment for the Airborne Forces. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief confirmed that the Airborne Forces are his reserve, the basis of forces for
conducting peacekeeping operations.
Command and Staff of the Airborne Troops
a plan for their further construction was developed
providing for the development of the Airborne Forces as an independent branch of the RF Armed Forces, capable of quickly bringing its units and subunits to combat readiness to perform tasks for their intended purpose. The main task of reforming the Airborne Forces is to optimize the organizational and staffing structure in accordance with the established strength. The main efforts are directed: firstly, to the modern training of future commanders of parachute units, the forge of which is the only Ryazan Institute of the Airborne Forces in the world. Secondly, to increase the combat capabilities of formations, units and subunits, their air mobility, the ability to conduct independent combat operations, both as airborne assault forces and as part of ground forces and peacekeeping force contingents.
Priority will be given to parachute regiments and battalions, control systems, communications and intelligence, as well as equipping troops with new generation combat vehicles. In the future, it is envisaged to reform the Airborne Forces in two directions: to reduce the number of formations intended for parachute landing; to create, on the basis of some airborne formations and units, airborne assault formations and units for operations on helicopters, as well as special operations forces.
Improving the organizational and staffing airborne structures, equipping them with new models of weapons and equipment would significantly increase the combat capabilities of the troops. On the basis of the BMD-3, more than 20 types of weapons and military equipment for the Airborne Forces are being developed and tested, which makes it possible to create new families of weapons and military equipment with a combat weight of 12.9 to 18 tons and with tactical and technical characteristics that are not inferior in combat power to similar samples of weapons of the Ground Forces
As a result of the military reform, the Armed Forces will have in their reserve flexible, mobile, highly trained troops that meet the requirements of the times.
CONCLUSION.
The airborne troops, whose motto is: “No one but us!”, Have always been considered the army elite, and service in them is the most difficult, but also prestigious.
On the shoulders of employees in the ranks of the Airborne Forces, as a rule, the tasks of transporting weapons, food and combat landings to hard-to-reach points fell out.
Only today the exploits of the Airborne Forces employees are awarded, and during the Great Patriotic War, the employees, as a rule, were captured and, if they returned, they fell under the supervision of the NKVD.
"Each of fallen heroes honorably fulfilled his duty to the Motherland. The personal heroism of the paratroopers, their will and dedication once again confirmed the glory of the airborne troops. It really is a guard. This is the pride of the army."
V.V. Putin
REFERENCES AND SOURCES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gavin D.M . Airborne warfare. - M., 1957.
Margelov V.F., Lisov I.I., Samoilenko Ya.P. Soviet airborne. 1980
Big Soviet Encyclopedia. Volume 15.
Heroes of the Soviet Union: A Brief Biographical Dictionary. T.1. M., 1987.
Liberation of cities: A guide to the liberation of cities during the Second World War 1941-1945.
INTERNET AND ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
1. parashut-club.ru.
2. desantura.ru
Airborne troops
(VDV)
From the history of creation
The history of the Russian Airborne Forces is inextricably linked with the history of the creation and development of the Red Army. A great contribution to the theory of combat use of airborne assaults was made by Marshal of the Soviet Union M.N. Tukhachevsky. Back in the second half of the 1920s, he was the first among Soviet military leaders to deeply study the role of airborne assault forces in a future war, and substantiated the prospects of the Airborne Forces.
In the work "New Questions of War" M.N. Tukhachevsky wrote: “If a country is prepared for the widespread production of airborne assault forces capable of capturing and stopping activities railways the enemy in decisive directions, paralyze the deployment and mobilization of his troops, etc., then such a country will be able to reverse the previous methods of operational operations and give the outcome of the war a much more decisive character.
A significant place in this work is given to the role of airborne assault forces in border battles. The author believed that during this period of the battle it would be more profitable to use airborne assault forces to disrupt mobilization, isolate and tie down border garrisons, defeat local enemy troops, capture airfields, landing sites and solve other important tasks.
Much attention was paid to the development of the theory of the use of the Airborne Forces by Ya.I. Alksnis, A.I. Egorov, A.I. Cork, I.P. Uborevich, I.E. Yakir and many other military leaders. They believed that the most trained soldiers should serve in the Airborne Forces, ready to complete any task, while showing determination and stamina. Airborne assault forces must deliver sudden attacks on the enemy where no one is waiting for them.
Theoretical studies led to the fact that the combat activity of the Airborne Forces should be of an offensive nature, bold to the point of insolence and extremely maneuverable in carrying out quick, concentrated strikes. Airborne assault forces, making maximum use of the suddenness of their appearance, must swiftly strike at the most sensitive points, achieve hourly success, thereby increasing panic in the ranks of the enemy.
Simultaneously with the development of the theory of the combat use of the Airborne Forces in the Red Army, bold experiments were carried out on the landing of airborne assault forces, an extensive program was conducted to create experimental airborne units, questions of their organization were studied, and a system of combat training was developed.
For the first time, an airborne assault was used to perform a combat mission in 1929. On April 13, 1929, the Fuzaili gang made another raid from Afghanistan to the territory of Tajikistan. The plans of the Basmachi included capturing the Garm district and in the future to ensure the invasion of Alai and Ferghana Valley larger bands of Basmachi. Cavalry detachments were sent to the Basmachi invasion area with the task of destroying the gang before it captured the Garm district. However, the information received from the city testified that they would not have time to block the path of the gang, which had already defeated a detachment of Garm volunteers in the oncoming battle and threatened the city. In this critical situation, the commander of the Central Asian military district P.E. Dybenko made a bold decision: to transfer a detachment of fighters through the air and with a sudden blow to destroy the enemy on the outskirts of the city. The detachment consisted of 45 people armed with rifles and four machine guns. On the morning of April 23, two platoon commanders flew to the combat area on the first plane, followed by the commander of the cavalry brigade T.T. Shapkin, brigade commissar A.T. Fedin. The platoon commanders were supposed to capture the landing site and ensure the landing of the main forces of the detachment. The task of the brigade commander was to study the situation on the spot and then, returning back to Dushanbe, report the results to the commander. Commissar Fedin was supposed to take command of the landing force and lead the actions to destroy the gang. An hour and a half after the first plane took off, the main landing force took off. However, the detachment's plan of action planned earlier was canceled immediately after the plane landed with the commander and commissar. Half of the city was already occupied by the Basmachi, so it was impossible to delay. Having sent a plane with a report, the brigade commander decided to immediately attack the enemy with available forces, without waiting for the landing force to arrive. Having obtained horses in the nearest villages and splitting into two groups, the detachment moved to Garm. Having burst into the city, the detachment unleashed powerful machine-gun and rifle fire on the Basmachi. The bandits were confused. They knew about the size of the city's garrison, but they were armed with rifles, and where did the machine guns come from? The bandits decided that a division of the Red Army had broken into the city, and, unable to withstand the onslaught, retreated from the city, losing about 80 people in the process. The approaching cavalry units completed the defeat of the Fuzaili gang. District Commander P.E. Dybenko, during the analysis, highly appreciated the actions of the detachment.
The second experiment took place on July 26, 1930. On this day, under the leadership of military pilot L. Minov, the first training jumps were made in Voronezh. Leonid Grigorievich Minov himself later told how the events unfolded: “I didn’t think that one jump could change a lot in life. I loved flying with all my heart. Like all my comrades, at that time I was distrustful of parachutes. and did not think. In 1928, I happened to be at a meeting of the leadership of the Air Force, where I made my report on the results of work on "blind" flights at the Borisoglebsk school of military pilots. After the meeting, Pyotr Ionovich Baranov, head of the Air Force, called me and asked: "In your report, you said that you must fly blind with a parachute. Leonid Grigorievich, what do you think, are parachutes needed in military aviation?" What could I say then! Of course, parachutes are needed. The best proof of this was the forced parachute jump of test pilot M. Gromov. Recalling this incident, I answered Pyotr Ionovich in the affirmative. Then he suggested that I go to the USA and get to know how they are doing with the rescue service in aviation. Frankly, I reluctantly agreed. I returned from the United States of America "small": with a "diploma" in my pocket and three jumps. Pyotr Ionovich Baranov put my memorandum in a skinny folder. When he closed it, on the cover I saw the inscription: "Parachuting business." I left Baranov's office two hours later. A lot of work had to be done on the introduction of parachutes in aviation, on the organization various studies and experiments aimed at improving flight safety. It was decided to hold classes in Voronezh in order to familiarize the flight crew with parachutes and the organization of jumps. Baranov suggested thinking about the possibility of training 10-15 paratroopers at the Voronezh training camp to perform a group jump. On July 26, 1930, participants in the training camp of the Air Force of the Moscow Military District gathered at the airfield near Voronezh. I had to perform a demonstration jump. Of course, everyone who was on the airfield considered me an ace in this matter. 'Cause I've been here the only person who has already received an air parachute baptism and jumped more than once, not two, but had as many as three jumps! And the prize-winning place I took at the competitions of the strongest skydivers in the USA, apparently, seemed to be something inaccessible to those present. Together with me, the pilot Moshkovsky, who was appointed my assistant at the training camp, was preparing to jump. There were no more applicants. My jump was really successful. I landed lightly, not far from the audience, I even stood on my feet. Met with applause. A girl who came from somewhere handed me a bouquet of field daisies. - "And how is Moshkovsky?"... The plane enters the course. His figure is clearly visible in the doorway. It's time to jump. It's time! But he is still standing in the doorway, apparently not daring to rush down. Another second, second. Finally! A white plume shot up over the falling man and immediately turned into a tight canopy of a parachute. - "Hurrah-ah-ah! .." - there was a sound around. Many pilots, seeing Moshkovsky and me alive and unharmed, expressed a desire to jump too. On that day, the squadron commander A. Stoilov, his assistant K. Zatonsky, pilots I. Povalyaev and I. Mukhin made jumps. And three days later there were 30 people in the ranks of paratroopers. After listening to my report on the course of the classes over the phone, Baranov asked: "Tell me, is it possible to prepare, say, ten or fifteen people for a group jump in two or three days?" Having received a positive answer, Pyotr Ionovich explained his idea: "It would be very good if, during the Voronezh exercise, it would be possible to demonstrate the dropping of a group of armed paratroopers for sabotage operations on the territory of the "enemy."
Needless to say, we accepted this original and interesting task with great enthusiasm. It was decided to launch the landing from the Farman-Goliath aircraft. In those days it was the only aircraft we had mastered for jumping. Its advantage over the TB-1 bombers available in the air brigade was that a person did not need to get out onto the wing - the paratroopers jumped directly into the open door. Moreover, all trainees were in the cockpit. The feeling of a comrade's elbow reassured everyone. In addition, the releaser could watch him, cheer him up before the jump. Ten volunteers who had already completed training jumps were selected to participate in the landing. In addition to the landing of fighters in the plan landing operation included dropping weapons and ammunition (light machine guns, grenades, cartridges) from aircraft on special cargo parachutes. For this purpose, two soft mail bags and four light-heavy boxes designed by K. Blagin were used. The landing group was divided into two detachments, since no more than seven paratroopers fit in the cockpit. After the landing of the first paratroopers, the plane returned to the airfield for the second group. During the break between jumps, it was planned to drop six cargo parachutes with weapons and ammunition from three P-1 aircraft. As a result of this experiment, I wanted to get an answer to a number of questions: to establish the degree of dispersion of a group of six people and the time of separation from the aircraft of all fighters; fix the time it will take to descend the paratroopers to the ground, receive the dropped weapons and bring the landing force into full readiness for combat operations. In order to expand the experience, the drop of the first detachment was planned from a height of 350 meters, the second - from 500 meters, dropping cargo - from 150 meters. Preparations for the landing operation were completed on 31 July. Each fighter knew his place on the plane and his task on the ground. The equipment of the paratroopers, consisting of the main and reserve parachutes, was stowed and carefully adjusted to the figure of the fighter, weapons and ammunition were packed in hanging bags and boxes of cargo parachutes.
On August 2, 1930, at exactly 9 o'clock, a plane took off from the base airfield. On board is the first detachment of paratroopers. Together with us and the head of the second group Ya. Moshkovsky. He decided to see where the place of separation of our group was, so that later he could accurately parachute his guys. We were followed by three R-1 planes, under the wings of which cargo parachutes were suspended on bomb racks.
Having made a circle, our plane turned to the landing site, located about two kilometers from the airfield. The landing area is a field free from crops measuring 600 by 800 meters. She adjoined a small farm. One of the buildings, located on the outskirts of the farm, was designated as a landmark for collecting paratroopers after landing and as a starting point for the start of military operations of the landing force in the rear of the "enemy". - "Get ready!" - trying to shout over the rumble of engines, I commanded. The guys immediately got up and stood one after another, clutching the pull ring in their right hand. Faces are tense, focused. As soon as they crossed the platform, I gave the command: "Let's go!" ... - the fighters literally poured out of the plane, I dived last and immediately pulled the ring. I counted - all the domes opened normally. We landed almost in the center of the site, not far from each other. The soldiers quickly gathered their parachutes and ran up to me. In the meantime, the R-1 link passed overhead and dropped six parachutes with weapons on the edge of the farm. We rushed there, unpacked the bags, took out machine guns, cartridges. And now our "Farman" with the second group reappeared in the sky. As planned, Moshkovsky's group left the plane at an altitude of 500 meters. They landed next to us. It took only a few minutes, and 12 paratroopers, armed with two light machine guns, rifles, revolvers and grenades, were in full readiness for combat operations ... "
So the world's first parachute landing was dropped.
In the order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR dated October 24, 1930, People's Commissar K. Voroshilov noted: “Successful experiments in organizing airborne assaults should be noted as achievements. Airborne operations should be comprehensively studied from the technical and tactical side by the Headquarters of the Red Army and they were given appropriate instructions on the spot.
It is this order that is the legal evidence of the birth of the "winged infantry" in the Land of Soviets.
Organizational structure of the airborne troops
- Command of the Airborne Troops
- Airborne and air assault formations:
- 98th Guards Airborne Svir Red Banner Order of Kutuzov 2nd Class Division
- 106th Guards Red Banner Order of Kutuzov 2nd Class Airborne Division
- 7th Guards Air Assault (Mountain) Red Banner Order of Kutuzov 2nd Class Division;
- 76th Guards Air Assault Chernihiv Red Banner Division;
- 31st Separate Guards Airborne Assault Order of Kutuzov, 2nd Class Brigade;
- Military unit of special purpose:
- 45th Separate Guards Order of Kutuzov Order of Alexander Nevsky Special Purpose Regiment;
- Military support units:
- 38th Separate Communications Regiment of the Airborne Troops;
Airborne Troops- a type of troops intended for combat operations behind enemy lines.
Designed for airborne landings behind enemy lines or for rapid deployment in geographically remote areas, often used as a rapid reaction force.
The main method of delivery of the Airborne Forces is parachute landing, they can also be delivered by helicopter; during World War II, glider delivery was practiced.
- The Airborne Forces consist of:
- paratroopers
- tank
- artillery
- self-propelled artillery
- other units and divisions
- from units and subunits of special troops and rear.
The personnel of the Airborne Forces are parachuted along with their personal weapons.
Tanks, rocket launchers, artillery guns, self-propelled guns, ammunition and other materiel are dropped from aircraft using airborne equipment (parachutes, parachute and parachute-rocket systems, cargo containers, platforms for installing and dropping weapons and equipment) or delivered by aircraft behind enemy lines to captured airfields.
- The main combat properties of the Airborne Forces:
- ability to quickly reach remote areas
- strike suddenly
- successfully conduct combined arms combat.
The Airborne Forces are armed with airborne self-propelled guns ASU-85; self-propelled artillery guns "Octopus-SD"; 122-mm D-30 howitzers; airborne combat vehicles BMD-1/2/3/4; armored personnel carriers BTR-D.
Part of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation may be part of the joint armed forces (for example, the Joint Forces of the CIS) or be under joint command in accordance with the international treaties of the Russian Federation (for example, as part of the UN peacekeeping forces or the collective forces of the CIS to maintain peace in zones of local military conflicts ).
The Airborne Troops trace their history back to August 2, 1930. During the demonstration exercises of the Moscow Military District near Voronezh, for the first time, a landing of 12 people and weapons for them was dropped. After landing, the paratroopers, having collected containers with machine guns, rifles and ammunition, completed the assigned combat mission. This experiment allowed military theorists to see the prospect of the advantage of parachute units, their enormous capabilities associated with the rapid coverage of the enemy through the air. Margelov V.F Flag of the Airborne Forces
The theory of the purpose and role of the Airborne Forces was based on the works of M. Tukhachevsky. The development of landing equipment was carried out at the Research Institute Air Force Forces under the leadership of P. Grokhovsky, a team headed by the director of the plant M. Savitsky worked on parachute equipment. He designed the domestic parachute PT-1 for training jumps, replacing the foreign ones.
The decisive role in the formation of the theory of combat use and the development of weapons of the airborne troops belongs to the Soviet military leader Vasily Filippovich Margelov, Commander of the Airborne Forces from 1954 to 1979. The name of Margelov is associated with the positioning of airborne formations as highly maneuverable, covered with armor and having sufficient fire efficiency units to participate in modern strategic operations in various theaters of military operations. On his initiative, the technical re-equipment of the Airborne Forces was launched: serial production of landing equipment was launched at the enterprises of the military-industrial complex, modifications of small arms for paratroopers were created, new military equipment was modernized and developed (including the first BMD-1 tracked combat vehicle), were adopted for weapons and new military transport aircraft entered the troops, and finally their own symbols were created airborne vests and blue paratrooper berets.
The basis of modern weapons of the Airborne Forces are combat vehicles BMD-1, BMD-2, BMD-3, 120mm self-propelled artillery guns, 122mm howitzers, armored personnel carriers, anti-aircraft artillery installations. For landing which are used by military transport aircraft Il-76, An-22. The reliability of the equipment, repeatedly confirmed in combat operations, makes it possible to parachute combat vehicles along with their crews, which drastically reduces the time to find their weapons and engage in battle after landing.
After the Afghan events, many parts of the Airborne Forces were involved in peacekeeping functions with the task of preventing the flare-up of interethnic hostility. Paratroopers more than once stood as a human shield between the opposing sides in Baku, Karabakh, South and North Ossetia, Osh, Transnistria and in the zone of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict. Two airborne battalions honorably perform tasks as part of the UN Peacekeeping Forces in Yugoslavia. The paratroopers also took part in the events in Chechnya.
At the same time, despite the difficult conditions, the Airborne Forces remain one of the most combat-ready. This allows the Airborne Forces to become the basis of the Mobile Forces, since in terms of their equipment, the specifics of the tasks being solved and the experience gained, they are most suitable for this role.
Commanders of the Airborne Forces * Glazunov Vasily Afanasyevich, Major General (August 29, 1941 June 1943) * Kapitokhin Alexander Grigorievich, Major General (June 7 August 1944) * Zatevakhin Ivan Ivanovich, Major General (August 1944 January 1946) * Glagolev Vasily Vasilyevich, Colonel General (April 1946 September 1947) * Kazankin Alexander Fedorovich, Lieutenant General (October 1947 December 1948) * Rudenko Sergey Ignatievich, Colonel General (December 1948 September 1949) * Kazankin Alexander Fedorovich, Lieutenant General (October 1949 March 1950) ) * Alexander Vasilyevich Gorbatov, Colonel General (March) * Vasily Filippovich Margelov, Colonel General (June 1, 1954 March 1959) * Ivan Vasilyevich Tutarinov, Lieutenant General (March 14, 1959 July 1961) * Vasily Filippovich Margelov, Colonel General (until 1967), General of the Army (July 1961 January 1979) * Sukhorukov Dmitry Semyonovich, Colonel General (until 1982), General of the Army (January 1979 July 1987) * Kalinin Nikolai Vasilyevich, Colonel General (August 1987 January 1989) * Achalov Vladislav Alekseevich, Colonel General (January 1989 December 1990) * Grachev Pavel Sergeevich, Colonel General (December 30 August 1991) * Podkolzin Evgeny Nikolaevich, Colonel General (August 31, 1991 December 1996) * Shpak Georgy Ivanovich , Colonel General (December 4, 1996 September 2003) * Kolmakov Alexander Petrovich, Colonel General (September 8, 2003 November 2007) * Evtukhovich Valery Evgenievich, Lieutenant General (November 19 May 2009) * Ignatov Nikolai Ivanovich, Lieutenant General (and .about. May 6, 2009) * Shamanov Vladimir Anatolyevich Lieutenant General (since May 24, 2009)