Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force of the USSR. Russian Air Force

Bondarev Viktor Nikolaevich - commander of the 899th Guards Orsha twice Red Banner Order of Suvorov, 3rd degree assault aviation regiment named after F.E. Dzerzhinsky of the 105th mixed aviation division of the 16th Air Force and Air Defense Army, Colonel.

Born on December 7, 1959 in the village of Novobogoroditskoye, now the Petropavlovsk district of the Voronezh region. Russian. In 1977 he graduated from high school in Novobogoroditsky.

Since August 1977 - in the Air Force of the USSR. In 1981 he graduated from the Borisoglebsk Higher Military Aviation School named after V.P. Chkalov. Since 1981, he served in the 44th Aviation Training Regiment, which provided the educational process for the Barnaul Higher Military Aviation Pilot School (Kalmanka Station, Altai Territory): instructor pilot, senior pilot, flight commander. In 1989 he was sent to study at the academy.

In 1992 he graduated from the command department of the Air Force Academy named after Yu.A. Gagarin. Since 1992, he served in the Borisoglebsk training center for the training of flight personnel: senior navigator, squadron commander. Then he served as commander of an attack aviation squadron, deputy commander, and from September 1996 to October 2000 - commander of the 899th Guards Assault Aviation Regiment of the 105th mixed aviation division of the 16th Air Force and Air Defense Army stationed at the Buturlinovka military airfield in Voronezhskaya areas.

Participant of hostilities in the North Caucasus region during the first and second Chechen wars. In the first Chechen war he made over 100 sorties. In December 1994, during the attack on the positions of the Dudaevites near the village of Shatoy, the plane of one of the pilots of the regiment was shot down by fire from the ground. Then V.N. Bondarev suppressed the militants' anti-aircraft weapons and, before the rescue helicopter arrived, drove the militants away from the pilot's landing site with fire from the sky. During the second Chechen war, he made over 300 sorties against illegal armed gangs.

By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 709dsp of April 21, 2000, for courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duty in conditions involving a risk to life, to Colonel Bondarev Viktor Nikolaevich awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.

From November 2000 to 2002 - Deputy Commander of the 105th Mixed Aviation Division of the 16th Air Force and Air Defense Army (Voronezh). In 2004 he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Since June 2004 - commander of the 105th mixed aviation division. Since May 2006 - Deputy Commander, and since June 2008 - Commander of the 14th Air Force and Air Defense Army (Novosibirsk).

From July 17, 2009 - Deputy Commander-in-Chief, from July 15, 2011 - Chief of the General Staff - First Deputy Commander-in-Chief, and from May 6, 2012 to August 1, 2015 - Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force of the Russian Federation. From August 1, 2015 to September 26, 2017 - Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation.

He mastered the aircraft L-29, MiG-21, Su-25 and others. Has a total flight time of over 3000 hours. He was allowed to fly day and night, in any weather conditions. On May 9, 2015, during the aviation part of the military parade in Moscow to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, he piloted a Tu-160 aircraft.

On September 26, 2017, he was relieved of his post and dismissed from military service. Prior to that, on September 19, 2017, as a representative of the executive body of state power of the Kirov Region, he was appointed a member of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. On September 27, 2017, he was approved as Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security.

Lives and works in Moscow.

Military ranks:
major general (2005);
lieutenant general (08/09/2012);
colonel general (08/11/2014).

He was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 4th class (2016), Courage (01/04/1995), Order of Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR, 3rd class (1984), medals, including the medal of the Order of Merit Before the Fatherland" 2nd degree with swords (01/06/1995), as well as orders and medals of foreign countries.

Honored Military Pilot of the Russian Federation (2010).

Candidate of Technical Sciences.

The most desirable candidate is Colonel General Surovikin

According to MK sources, three main candidates are being considered for the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, after being vacated on Tuesday by Colonel General Viktor Bondarev: Commander of the Space Forces Colonel General Alexander Golovko, Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Chairman of the Scientific and Technical Council of the Ministry of Defense General Lieutenant Igor Makushev, as well as the commander of the Eastern Military District, Colonel General Sergei Surovikin.

Candidate for the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces Sergey Surovikin. Photo: 42msd.livejournal

At the moment, the acting commander-in-chief of the VKS is Lieutenant General Pavel Kuralenko, the first deputy commander-in-chief of the VKS. According to MK, he is also considered as a successor. However, the main candidate is still considered, oddly enough, it is Sergei Surovikin.

If his appointment takes place, it will become a real sensation: the combined arms general - commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces - this has never happened before in the history of modern Russia. However, it should be borne in mind that Surovikin is considered one of the most experienced and combative generals. He commanded not only the district, but also our military group in Syria, where he gained experience in managing diverse forces, when space forces, air defense systems, aviation, and various ground structures were combined in a single integrated system.

And here I would like to remind you that such appointments - when a commander is appointed to a non-core branch or type of troops - as a rule, indicate that this structure needs to be put in order. And this should be done by a person who is not burdened by official and friendly ties in this kind or type of troops and is capable of looking at the problems there with a fresh, unfiltered look.

So, in 1987, after a high-profile story with the passage and landing of the German amateur pilot Matthias Rust on Red Square, major organizational events were held in the army. Then General of the Army Ivan Moiseevich Tretyak, an outstanding military leader, but who had nothing to do with air defense, was appointed commander-in-chief of the air defense. He was remembered in the army as a person engaged in the arrangement of military camps throughout the country, which turned out to be very useful for air defense personnel, although it was not directly related to the tasks of combat training.

But now, when the tasks of combat training are a priority, the candidacy for the post of commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces, according to our sources, is considered exclusively from these positions. And here, other candidates for this position are also spoken of as exceptionally honored military leaders.

Lieutenant General Igor Makushev went through all the required steps of the career ladder - from a simple fighter pilot to the deputy commander of the air army. In 1985 he graduated from the Chernihiv Higher Military Aviation School for Pilots, and in 2006 from the Academy of the General Staff. He is a sniper pilot and has over 3,000 flight hours. Many people remember him from the press conferences of the military department in 2014, where he presented the materials of the Ministry of Defense related to the death of the Malaysian Boeing 777 over the Donbass.

Another candidate for commander-in-chief, Colonel General Alexander Golovko, also graduated from the Academy of the General Staff in 2003. He served in positions from department engineer, station chief, company commander, department head, department head at the G.S. Titov Main Center for Testing and Control of Space Facilities to Commander of the Space Forces.

Designed to protect the centers, regions of the country (administrative, industrial and economic), groupings of troops and important objects from enemy strikes from air and space, ensuring the actions of the Ground Forces and, delivering strikes against the enemy’s aviation, land and sea groupings, its administrative-political and military and economic centers.

The main tasks of the Air Force in modern conditions are:

• opening the beginning of an attack by an air enemy;
• notification of the main headquarters of the Armed Forces, headquarters of military districts, fleets, civil defense agencies about the beginning of an enemy air attack;
• gaining and maintaining air supremacy;
• covering troops and rear facilities from aerial reconnaissance, air and space strikes;
• air support for the Ground Forces and the Navy;
• destruction of objects of the military-economic potential of the enemy;
• violation of the military and state administration of the enemy;
• the destruction of nuclear missile, anti-aircraft and aviation groups of the enemy and his reserves, as well as air and sea landings;
• defeating enemy ship groupings at sea, in the ocean, at naval bases, in ports and bases;
• dropping military equipment and landing troops;
• transportation by air of troops and military equipment;
• conducting strategic, operational and tactical air reconnaissance;
• control over the use of airspace in the border zone.

In peacetime, the Air Force performs the tasks of protecting the state border of Russia in the airspace, notifying about the flights of foreign reconnaissance vehicles in the border zone.

The air force includes the air armies of the Supreme Command for Strategic Purposes and the Supreme Command for Military Transport Aviation; Moscow Air Force and Air Defense District; armies of the Air Force and Air Defense: separate corps of the Air Force and Air Defense.

The Air Force includes the following types of troops (Fig. 1):

• aviation (types of aviation - bomber, assault, fighter, air defense, reconnaissance, transport and special);
• anti-aircraft missile troops;
• radio engineering troops;
• special troops;
• units and institutions of the rear.

bomber aviation It is armed with long-range (strategic) and front-line (tactical) bombers of various types. It is designed to defeat groupings of troops, destroy important military, energy facilities and communications centers mainly in the strategic and operational depth of the enemy’s defense. The bomber can carry bombs of various calibers, both conventional and nuclear, as well as air-to-surface guided missiles.

Attack aircraft designed for aviation support of troops, defeating manpower and objects mainly at the forefront, in the tactical and immediate operational depth of the enemy, as well as commanding the fight against enemy aircraft in the air.

Rice. 1. Structure of the Air Force

One of the main requirements for an attack aircraft is the high accuracy of hitting ground targets. Armament: large-caliber guns, bombs, rockets.

Fighter aviation air defense is the main maneuvering force of the air defense system and is designed to cover the most important directions and objects from enemy air attacks. It is capable of destroying the enemy at maximum ranges from the defended objects.

Air defense aviation is armed with air defense fighter aircraft, combat helicopters, special and transport aircraft and helicopters.

reconnaissance aviation Designed to conduct aerial reconnaissance of the enemy, terrain and weather, can destroy enemy hidden objects.

Reconnaissance flights can also be carried out by bomber, fighter-bomber, attack and fighter aircraft. To do this, they are specially equipped with photographic equipment for day and night shooting at various scales, radio and radar stations with high resolution, heat direction finders, sound recording and television equipment, and magnetometers.

Reconnaissance aviation is subdivided into tactical, operational and strategic reconnaissance aviation.

Transport aviation designed to transport troops, military equipment, weapons, ammunition, fuel, food, airborne landings, evacuation of the wounded, sick, etc.

Special aviation designed for long-range radar detection and guidance, air-to-air refueling, electronic warfare, radiation, chemical and biological protection, control and communications, meteorological and technical support, rescue of crews in distress, evacuation of the wounded and sick.

Anti-aircraft missile troops designed to protect the country's most important facilities and groupings of troops from enemy air strikes.

They constitute the main firepower of the air defense system and are armed with anti-aircraft missile systems and anti-aircraft missile systems for various purposes, which have great firepower and high accuracy in destroying enemy air attack weapons.

Radio engineering troops- the main source of information about the air enemy and are designed to conduct its radar reconnaissance, control over the flights of its aviation and compliance with the rules for the use of airspace by aircraft of all departments.

They issue information about the beginning of an air attack, combat information for anti-aircraft missile forces and air defense aviation, as well as information for controlling air defense formations, units and subunits.

Radio-technical troops are armed with radar stations and radar complexes capable of detecting not only air but also surface targets at any time of the year and day, regardless of meteorological conditions and interference.

Units and divisions of communications are intended for the deployment and operation of communication systems in order to ensure command and control of troops in all types of combat activities.

Units and subdivisions of electronic warfare designed to interfere with airborne radars, bomb sights, communications and radio navigation means of enemy air attack.

Units and divisions of communications and radio engineering support designed to provide control of aviation units and subunits, aircraft navigation, takeoff and landing of aircraft and helicopters.

Units and divisions of engineering troops, as well as units and divisions of radiation, chemical and biological protection are designed to perform the most complex tasks of engineering and chemical support, respectively.

The Air Force is armed with Tu-160 (Fig. 2), Tu-22MZ, Tu-95MS, Su-24, Su-34, MiG-29, MiG-27, MiG-31 aircraft of various modifications (Fig. 3), Su -25, Su-27, Su-39 (Fig. 4), MiG-25R, Su-24MP, A-50 (Fig. 5), An-12, An-22, An-26, An-124, Il -76, IL-78; helicopters Mi-8, Mi-24, Mi-17, Mi-26, Ka-31, Ka-52 (Fig. 6), Ka-62; anti-aircraft missile systems S-200, S-300, S-300PM (Fig. 7), S-400 "Triumph", radar stations and complexes "Opponent-G", "Nebo-U", "Gamma-DE" , "Gamma-C1", "Casta-2".

Rice. 2. Strategic supersonic bomber Tu-160: wingspan - 35.6 / 55.7 m; length - 54.1 m; height - 13.1 m; maximum takeoff weight - 275 tons; maximum combat load - 45 tons; cruising speed - 960 km / h; range - 7300 km; ceiling - 18000 m; weapons - missiles, bombs (including nuclear); crew - 4 people

Rice. 3. Multipurpose fighter MiG-31F / FZ: wingspan - 13.46 m; length - 22.67 m; height - 6.15 m; maximum takeoff weight - 50,000 kg; cruising speed - 2450 km / h; range - 3000 km; combat radius of action - 650 km; ceiling - 20,000 m; armament - 23-mm six-barreled gun (260 rounds, rate of fire - 8000 rounds / min); combat load - 9000 kg (UR, bombs); crew - 2 people

Rice. 4. Attack aircraft Su-39: wingspan - 14.52 m; length - 15.33 m; height - 5.2 m; maximum speed near the ground - 2450 km / h; range - 1850 km; ceiling - 18,000 m; armament - 30 mm cannon; combat load - 4500 kg (ATGM with ATGM. RCC, NUR, U R. bombs - conventional, induced, cluster, nuclear)

Rice. 5. A-50 long-range radar detection and control aircraft: wingspan - 50.5 m; length - 46.59 m; height - 14.8 m; normal takeoff weight - 190,000 kg; maximum cruising speed - 800 km / h; range - 7500 km; ceiling - 12000 m; target detection range: air - 240 km, surface - 380 km; crew - 5 people + 10 people tactical calculation

Rice. 6. Combat attack helicopter Ka-52 "Alligator": rotor diameter - 14.50 m; length with rotating screws - 15.90 m; maximum weight - 10,400 kg; ceiling - 5500 m; range - 520 km; armament - 30-mm cannon with 500 rounds of ammunition; combat load - 2000 kg on 4 hardpoints (ATGM, unified containers with machine-gun and cannon weapons, NUR, UR); crew - 2 people

Rice. 7. Anti-aircraft missile system S-300-PM: hit targets - aircraft, cruise and tactical missiles of all types; affected area - range 5-150 km, height 0.025-28 km; the number of simultaneously hit targets - up to 6; the number of simultaneously aimed missiles at the target - 12; readiness for combat work from the march - 5 minutes

Today, General Viktor Bondarev is the commander-in-chief of the Russian aerospace forces. It is difficult to overestimate the merits of this man, who repeatedly risked his life to defend his homeland. His exploits are evidenced by many awards and medals received from the hands of the president himself. And yet, what do we know about the life of Viktor Bondarev? How did he become a soldier? In what battles did the aviator participate? And who is he today?

Viktor Bondarev: early years and education

Victor was born on December 7, 1959. It happened in the small village of Novobogoroditsky, in the Petropavlovsk district, Voronezh region. From a young age, he dreamed of conquering the sky and did not see himself as anything other than a pilot.

That is why Viktor Bondarev, immediately after graduating from school, went to the Borisoglebsk Higher Military Aviation School for Pilots. In 1981 he successfully completed his studies, after which he went to serve at the Higher Barnaul Aviation School. Here he worked as an instructor pilot until 1989.

In 1989, he began attending courses at the Air Force Academy. Gagarin. Thanks to this training, in 1992, Viktor Bondarev became a squadron commander, as well as a part-time senior navigator at the Borisoglebsk flight training center. In the period from 2002 to 2004, the great pilot was studying at the academy at the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

Military career

In the period from 1996 to 2000, Viktor Bondarev commanded the 889th Guards Assault Aviation Regiment in the 105th Aviation Mixed Division of the 16th Air Defense and Air Force Army. At that time, part of them was located near Buturlinovka, in the Voronezh region. In 2000, he was promoted to deputy commander, and in 2004 he became commander in the same aviation division.

In 2006, Viktor Bondarev became deputy commander in the 14th Air Force and Air Defense Army in Novosibirsk. And two years later he was appointed to the post of commander of this formation. In 2009, Bondarev became Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force of the Russian Federation. In June 2011, he is waiting for a promotion and the post of Chief of the General Staff and 1st Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force. May 6, 2012 Viktor Bondarev becomes Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force of the Russian Federation.

Participation in military operations

In the past, Bondarev was a participant in the hostilities in the North Caucasus. If we consider the First Chechen War, then during its period the aviator made about 100 sorties. But during the Second, this number more than tripled.

In particular, in December 1994, near the village of Shatoy, the Dudayevs shot down a Russian plane. Under a hail of bullets, the pilot was still able to eject, but was imprisoned in the ring by the enemy. Upon learning of this, Viktor Bondarev decided on a heroic act: he independently disabled the anti-aircraft installations of the Dudaevites and covered the position of his fighter until the rescue helicopter arrived for him. For his heroism and courage, the President of Russia awarded Viktor Bondarev the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.

Great aviator today

Despite his age, Bondarev still skillfully pilots aircraft. In particular, it was he who drove the TU-160 at the military parade in honor of May 9 in 2015.

And now, in August 2015, Colonel-General Viktor Bondarev was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces. According to the great aviator, this position was one of the greatest victories of his life. And in March 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave Bondarev another incredible gift. The head of state handed over to the great aviator the battle banner of his troops, which symbolizes the country's deep trust and respect for the merits of Viktor Bondarev.

The Russian Federation is a mighty aviation power with its own history, the air force of which is capable of resolving any conflicts that threaten our country. This was clearly demonstrated by the events of recent months in Syria, where Russian pilots are successfully fighting against the ISIS army, which poses a terrorist threat to the entire modern world.

Story

Russian aviation began its existence in 1910, but officially the starting point was August 12, 1912 when Major General M.I. Shishkevich took control of all units in the Aeronautical Unit of the General Staff organized by that time.

Having existed for a very short time, the military aviation of the Russian Empire became one of the best air forces of that time, although the aircraft industry in the Russian state was in its infancy and Russian pilots had to fight on foreign-made aircraft.

"Ilya Muromets"

Despite the fact that the Russian state bought aircraft from other countries, the Russian land has never been scarce for talented people. In 1904 Professor Zhukovsky founded an institute for the study of aerodynamics, and in 1913 the young Sikorsky designed and built his famous bomber. "Ilya Muromets" and a biplane with four engines "Russian Knight", designer Grigorovich developed various hydroplane schemes.

Aviators Utochkin and Artseulov were very popular among pilots of that time, and military pilot Pyotr Nesterov amazed everyone by completing his legendary “dead loop” and became famous in 1914 by ramming an enemy plane in the air. In the same year, Russian pilots conquered the Arctic for the first time during flights to search for the missing pioneers of the North from the Sedov expedition.

The Russian air force was represented by Army and Naval aviation, each type had several aviation groups, which included air squadrons of 6-10 aircraft each. Initially, the pilots were engaged only in adjusting artillery fire and reconnaissance, but then with the help of bombs and machine guns they destroyed enemy manpower. With the advent of fighters, battles began to destroy enemy aircraft.

1917

By the fall of 1917, Russian aviation numbered about 700 aircraft, but then the October Revolution broke out and it was disbanded, many Russian pilots died in the war, and most of the survivors of the revolutionary coup emigrated. The young Soviet republic in 1918 founded its own air force under the name of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Air Fleet. But the fratricidal war ended and military aviation was forgotten, only at the end of the 30s, with the course towards industrialization, its revival began.

The Soviet government intensively took up the construction of new enterprises in the aviation industry and the creation of design bureaus. In those years, brilliant Soviet aircraft designers – Polikarpov, Tupolev, Lavochkin, Ilyushin, Petlyakov, Mikoyan and Gurevich.

For the training and education of flight personnel, flying clubs were founded as schools for the initial training of pilots. After receiving piloting skills in such institutions, cadets were sent to flight schools, and then distributed to combat units. More than 20 thousand cadets were trained in 18 flight schools, technical personnel were trained in 6 institutions.

The leaders of the USSR understood that the first socialist state was in dire need of the air force and took all measures to quickly increase the aircraft fleet. At the turn of the 40s, wonderful fighters appeared, built in the Yakovlev and Lavochkin Design Bureau - these are Yak-1 and LaG-3, Ilyushin Design Bureau commissioned the first attack aircraft, designers led by Tupolev created a long-range bomber TB-3, and the design bureau of Mikoyan and Gurevich completed flight tests of the fighter.

1941

At the beginning of the summer of 1941, the aviation industry, on the verge of war, produced 50 aircraft per day, and three months later doubled the production of aircraft.

But for the Soviet aviation, the beginning of the war was tragic, most of the aircraft located at the airfields in the border zone were smashed right in the parking lots without having time to take off. Our pilots in the first battles, having no experience, used outdated tactics and as a result suffered heavy losses.

It was possible to reverse the situation only in the middle of 1943, when the flight crew gained the necessary experience and aviation began to receive more modern equipment, such aircraft as fighters Yak -3, La-5 and La-7, modernized attack aircraft with an air gunner IL-2, bombers, long-range bombers.

In total, more than 44 thousand pilots were trained and released during the war period, but the losses were huge - 27,600 pilots died in battles on all fronts. By the end of the war, our pilots had gained complete air superiority.

After the end of hostilities, a period of confrontation began, known as the Cold War. In aviation, the era of jet aircraft began, a new type of military equipment appeared - helicopters. During these years, aviation developed rapidly, more than 10 thousand aircraft were built, the creation of projects for fourth-generation fighters and Su-29, began the development of machines of the fifth generation.

1997

But the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union buried all undertakings, the republics that left it divided all aviation among themselves. In 1997, the President of the Russian Federation, by his decree, announced the creation of the Russian Air Force, which combined the air defense and air force forces.

Russian aviation had to participate in two Chechen wars and the Georgian military conflict; at the end of 2015, a limited contingent of the air force was relocated to the Syrian Republic, where it successfully conducts military operations against world terrorism.

The nineties were a period of degradation of Russian aviation, this process was stopped only in the early 2000s, by the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, Major General A.N. Zelin in 2008 described the situation in Russian aviation as extremely difficult. The training of military personnel has significantly decreased, many airfields have been abandoned and collapsed, aircraft equipment has been serviced unsatisfactorily, training flights have practically ceased due to lack of finances.

year 2009

Since 2009, the level of preparedness of personnel has begun to rise, aviation equipment has been modernized and overhauled, purchases of new aircraft and renewal of the aircraft fleet have begun. The development of the fifth generation aircraft is nearing completion. The flight crew began regular flights and is improving their skills, the material well-being of pilots and technicians has increased.

The Russian Air Force is steadily conducting exercises, improving combat skills and craftsmanship.

Structural organization of the air force

On August 1, 2015, the Air Force organizationally merged into the military space forces, the commander-in-chief of which was Colonel-General Bondarev. The Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces is currently Lieutenant General Yudin.

The Russian Air Force consists of the main types of aviation - these are long-range, military transport and army aviation. Radio engineering, anti-aircraft and missile troops are also included in the Air Force. The most important functions of providing intelligence and communications, protection against weapons of mass destruction, conducting rescue operations and electronic warfare are performed by special troops also included in the air force. In addition, the Air Force cannot be imagined without engineering and rear services, medical and meteorological units.

The Russian Air Force is designed to perform the following tasks:

• Reflection of any attacks of the aggressor in the air and space.
• Implementation of air cover for launchers, cities and all significantly important objects,
• Conducting reconnaissance.
• Destruction of enemy troops using conventional and nuclear weapons.
• Close air support for ground forces.

Back in 2008, a reform of Russian aviation took place, which structurally divided the air force into commands, brigades and air bases. The command was based on the territorial principle, which abolished the Air Force and Air Defense armies.

To date, the commands are located in four cities - St. Petersburg, Khabarovsk, Novosibirsk and Rostov-on-Don. A separate command exists for long-range and military transport aviation, located in Moscow. By 2010, there were about 70 former aviation regiments, and now these are air bases, in total there were 148 thousand people in the air force, and the Russian Air Force is second only to US aviation in numbers.

Military equipment of Russian aviation

Long-range and strategic aircraft

One of the brightest representatives of long-range aviation is the Tu-160, which bears the affectionate name "White Swan". This machine was produced during the Soviet Union, develops supersonic speed and has a variable sweep wing. according to the plan of the developers, it is capable of overcoming enemy air defenses at ultra-low altitude and delivering a nuclear strike. There are only 16 such aircraft in the Russian Air Force, and the question is - will our industry be able to establish the production of such aircraft?

The aircraft of the Tupolev Design Bureau first took to the air during Stalin's lifetime and has been in service ever since. Four turboprop engines allow long-distance flights along the entire border of our country. Nickname " Bear"deserved because of the bass sound of these motors, capable of carrying cruise missiles and nuclear bombs. In the Russian Air Force, 30 of these machines remained in service.

A long-range strategic missile carrier with economical engines capable of flying at supersonic speed, equipped with a variable sweep wing, the production of these aircraft was launched back in the last century in the 60s. Are in the ranks of 50 cars, a hundred aircraft Tu-22M mothballed.

Fighter aircraft

The front-line fighter was produced in the Soviet era, belongs to the first aircraft of the fourth generation, later modifications of this aircraft are in service, about 360 units in number.

On the base Su-27 a vehicle with electronic equipment was released, capable of identifying targets on the ground and in the air at a great distance and transmitting target designations to other crews. There are 80 such aircraft in total.

Even deeper modernization Su-27 became a fighter, this aircraft belongs to the 4 ++ generation, it has high maneuverability and is equipped with the latest electronics.

These aircraft entered combat units in 2014; the air force has 48 aircraft.

The fourth generation of Russian aircraft began with MiG-27, more than two dozen modified models of this machine were produced, in total 225 combat units are in service.

Another fighter-bomber that cannot be left out is the latest aircraft in service with the Air Force in the amount of 75 units.

Attack aircraft and interceptors

- This is an exact copy of the F-111 aircraft of the US Air Force, which has not been flying for a long time, its Soviet counterpart is still in service, but by 2020 all machines will be decommissioned, now there are about a hundred of these machines in service.

Legendary Stormtrooper Su-25 Grach, which has high survivability, was developed in the 70s so successfully that after so many years of operation they are going to modernize it, since they do not yet see a worthy replacement. Today, 200 combat-ready vehicles and 100 aircraft are on conservation.

The interceptor develops high speed in a matter of seconds and is designed for a long range. The modernization of this machine by the twentieth year will be completed, in total there are 140 such aircraft in parts.

Military transport aviation

The main fleet of transport aircraft is the Antonov Design Bureau and several modifications of the Ilyushin Design Bureau. Among them are light transporters and An-72, medium duty vehicles An-140 and An-148, solid heavy trucks An-22, An-124 and . About three hundred transport workers carry out tasks for the delivery of goods and military equipment.

training aircraft

Designed after the collapse of the Union, the only training aircraft went into production, immediately gaining a reputation as an excellent training machine with an aircraft imitation program for which a future pilot is being retrained. In addition to him, there is a Czech training aircraft L-39 and an aircraft for training pilots of transport aviation Tu-134UBL.

Army Aviation

This type of aviation is represented mainly by Mil and Kamov helicopters, and even by the machine of the Kazan Ansat Helicopter Plant. After being discontinued, the Russian army aviation was replenished with a hundred and the same number. Most of the helicopters in combat units are proven and Mi-24. Eights in service - 570 units, and Mi-24- 620 units. The reliability of these Soviet machines is beyond doubt.

Unmanned aircraft

In the USSR, little importance was attached to this type of weapon, but technological progress does not stand still, and in modern times, drones have found worthy use. These aircraft conduct reconnaissance and filming of enemy positions, carry out the destruction of command posts without risk to the lives of people who control these drones. In the Air Force, several types of UAVs are "Pchela-1T" and "Reis-D", the obsolete Israeli drone is still in service "Outpost".

Prospects for the Russian Air Force

In Russia, several aircraft projects are under development and some are close to completion. Undoubtedly, the new fifth-generation aircraft will arouse great interest among the general public, especially since it has already been demonstrated. PAK FA T-50 passes the final stage of flight tests and will enter combat units in the near future.

An interesting project was presented by Ilyushin Design Bureau, aircraft and, developed by its designers, are replacing Antonov machines and removing our dependence on the supply of spare parts from Ukraine. The newest fighter aircraft is put into operation, test flights of new rotorcraft are being completed and Mi-38. Started developing a project for a new strategic aircraft PAK-DA, they promise that it will be lifted into the air in 2020.