Military Space Forces of Russia: description, structure and composition
Air Forces of Russia begin their history from August 121912 - then the staff of the aeronautical unit was created by the order of the General Staff. And already when the First World War (1914-1918) was going on, aviation became a necessary means of aerial reconnaissance and fire support of ground troops from the air. We can say with full confidence that Russia's military space forces have a fairly rich and extensive history.
Pre-war time and first year (1942)) Of the Patriotic War on a bitter example showed how tragic for the country's defense capability could be the lack of a central command of the Air Force units.
It was at this time that the country's air forces were fragmented. Moreover, in such a way that it was possible to control the air forces as commanders of military districts, as well as commanders, and commanders of army corps.
As a result of the absence of a centralizedthe leadership of the country's air forces, the German-fascist Luftwaffe troops, who incidentally were directly subordinated to the German Air Force's Reichsmarschall German Gehring, inflicted heavy damage on the Soviet Air Force.
The result was bitter for the Soviet army. 72% of the Air Force from the border districts were destroyed. Having won supremacy in the air, the Luftwaffe troops secured an offensive on the fronts of the land forces of the Wehrmacht.
Such hard lessons of the first period of the warserved as the basis for the introduction of the Supreme High Command Headquarters (1942), the concentrated control of the Air Force. The air armies were again formed on the basis of the Air Force military districts.
All these measures led to the fact that by the summer of 1943 Soviet aviation had gained a dominant position in the air.
At the moment, the Russian Air Force is experiencing a newtime in its development. We can say that we all live in an era of change, when the army of Russia is rapidly renewed. The military-space forces officially began operating on August 1, 2015 as a new form of the Russian Armed Forces.
Military-space troops in 2010 alone, by warning systems, recorded more than thirty launches of foreign ballistic missiles.
In the same year 2010, about 110 spacecraft could be included in the structure of Russian VCS. And 80% of them were space vehicles, both military and dual-purpose.
In the plans of the VCS management, also duringseveral years, the renewal of the key elements of the entire orbital grouping. This will increase the productivity of the entire space system. Thus, the Military Space Forces of the Russian Federation were able to solve various tasks.
Destruction of military aviation in the USSR
But, given the current experience in the management of the VCS, we must remember that in the 1960s the first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Nikita Khrushchev, in fact, destroyed the bomber aircraft.
The reason for such defeat was the myth that missiles can completely replace the existence of aviation as a kind of troops.
The result of this initiative was thata significant fleet of aircraft, consisting of fighter planes, ground attack planes, bombers, was simply sent for scrapping, despite the fact that they were fully operational and able to carry out combat duty.
The tasks that can solve the VCS
Modern Military-space forces of Russia are able to solve various tasks:
- protection against attack by means of the enemy's military reconnaissance aircraft and repulsion of aggression;
- strikes against enemy facilities and troops, both conventional and with nuclear weapons;
- Air support during the conduct of military operations by other types of troops;
- ensuring the destruction not only of ballistic missiles of a probable enemy, but also of their warheads;
- detection and warning of the missile attack of senior management at the start of ballistic missiles.
VCS constantly observe space objectsand identify threats to Russia's interests, both in space and from outer space. Space launches launch into orbit, while controlling satellites of both military and dual use. Satellite systems and facilities for launching satellites and controlling them are maintained in constant readiness.
Efforts to rebuild the air force
Today's Air Force, like the pre-war forties,passed the same stage of decentralization of front-line aviation management. The USSR Ministry of Defense in 1980 issued a directive, according to which, instead of air armies, the Air Force began to form military districts. And the process went so far as to solve strategic tasks required special permission to attract the air force of any of the military districts!
It was a full eight years, while there was a stubborn strugglefor restoring the principle of centralized control of the Russian Air Force. That, in turn, at times increased maneuverability in the transfer of operational units of the Air Force from one direction to another.
Structure of the Russian Air Forcelooks in such a way that aviation, air defense forces, missile defense, as well as space forces were united under a single head. The commander-in-chief was Colonel-General Viktor Bondarev. As a result of this, a new type of troops, the Air and Space Forces, arose.
Revival of the Air Force
If we talk about the modern Russian Air Force, this is absolutelyanother level of aviation. First of all, it should be noted that by the President's decree (of 16.08.1997) the air defense forces and the Air Force have been reorganized and merged into the Air Force. This decision helped to increase the impact of the use of aviation and air defense forces and improved interaction with the Land Force and the Navy.
Also, the modern Russian Air Force basically becamemissile, since the main fighter aircraft were hinged missiles of the air-to-air type with a target range of up to tens of kilometers.
But the Russian Space Forces in the new composition are able to hit air targets, using only anti-aircraft missile systems of air defense on approach up to 150 km and at altitudes up to 40 km.
History of the flag
The flag of the VKS has, though a small, but its history. On the first version of the flag was the inscription "Military Space Forces".
But already in May 2004 the order of the Defense Ministry established a new flag. The VKS symbol remained, but the inscription disappeared.
The flag of the new Space Forces was restored by the order of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation of 30.05.2004.
On a blue cloth (with the dimensions of the ratiosides 2: 3) depicts the emblem of the Space Forces. It displays a stylized image of the globe, divided into stripes in the colors of the state flag of the Russian Federation. And in the very center of the panel is placed the emblem of the Space Forces in the form of a stylized missile.
And when in 2015 the troops of the VKS, which united the aviation, the air defense forces, the ABM forces and the capabilities of the space forces, were created, the flag of the Russian Space Forces did not change.
Structure of the Russian Military Space Forces
Technically, the Armed Forces of the Russian Armed Forces inject three types of troops into themselves:
- Air Force;
- Air Defense Forces and ABM troops;
- Space troops.
From this point of view, the creation of the VCS is an important, but the first step in creating a combat-able type of the Armed Forces of Russia.
There is still a lot to do in order tothe most important strategic facilities, both military and industrial, were under reliable cover from the attack, both from the air and from outer space.
The total number of aircraft of the VKS consists of the presence of new vehicles and the modernization of the existing fleet of vehicles.
Aircraft VKS Russia by 2020 will have in its fleet to 2,430-2,500 aircraft and helicopters.
Here you can mention a small list of aircraft already in the fleet of aircraft and promising:
- Yak-141 - fighter of vertical take-off and landing;
- Tu-160 "The White Swan";
- fighter "Berkut" Su-47 (S-37);
- PAK FA T-50:
- Su-37 "Terminator";
- Tu-95MS "Bear";
- Su-25 Grach;
- An-124 Ruslan.
Along with the renewal of the fleet of combat vehicles VKSThe infrastructure in the basing areas is also being actively created. Also of great importance in terms of improving combat readiness is the timely maintenance and repair of military equipment.
Space Threats and VCS
According to the Minister of Defense S. Shoigu, VKS will protect Russia from the space threat. For this purpose, the created view of the Armed Forces unites in itself:
- troops and units of air defense and missile defense;
- Space troops;
- means of the RF Armed Forces.
The need for such a reform, the Minister of Defenseexplained by the fact that in the new realities of military operations the emphasis is shifting more and more to the space sphere. And without involvement in the fighting in modern conditions, the Space Forces can not be avoided, but they themselves can not exist by themselves.
But it was specially noted that the existing system for managing the forces of aviation and air defense is not subject to change.
The general leadership will continue to be conducted by the General Staff, and the direct leadership, as before, by the High Command of the Military Space Agency.
But there are also dissenters. In the opinion of the president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, Doctor of Engineering Sciences. K. Sivkova, the Russian Space Forces were created without taking into account the specifics of the work of the Air Force troops and the troops of the East Kazakhstan region. They are so different that the transfer of control of them into one hand is fundamentally inappropriate.
If to unite, then it is more logical to do thisa combination of space command and command of the ABM system. In the opinion of the doctor of military sciences, they both solve one common task - the fight against objects that threaten the space sphere.
Use of all the capabilities of spacesystems by all leading military powers is regarded as an important factor of security. Modern armed conflicts begin with aerial reconnaissance and surveillance.
The US armed forces are actively implementingthe concept of "total strike" and "total missile defense". At the same time, they stipulate in their doctrine the rapid destruction of enemy forces anywhere in the world. In this case, the damage from a retaliatory strike is minimized.
The main bet is made on the prevailingdomination both in airspace and in outer space. To this end, once hostilities have begun, massive air and space operations are conducted with the destruction of vital enemy facilities.
The air and space forces will replace the Air Force in Russia. For this purpose, such reforms are carried out in the country.
But the opinion of the Minister of Defense, the newThe air and space forces of the Russian Federation will allow to concentrate all means in the same hands, which will allow to formulate the military-technical policy for the further development of the troops responsible for air and space security.
All this is done to ensure that all citizens of Russia have always been confident that they will be protected by the army and the Air and Space Forces.