During a recent message to the Federal Assembly, Russian President V. V. Putin announced information about the development in our country of a number of weapons, which today have no serial counterparts abroad. This statement, which caused a considerable rise in patriotic sentiment among a part of the population of our country, made on the eve of the presidential elections, undoubtedly strengthened the position of the current head of state in the election campaign. But it will be possible to judge how much the announced models of weapons will increase our defense capability only after they have passed the entire prescribed test cycle and begin to enter the troops in significant quantities. At the same time, it can be noted that the main part of the advanced weapons presented is intended for "strategic containment" of our main "potential partner", into whose financial system we regularly make multi-billion dollar injections. It is quite obvious that these models are inapplicable in armed regional conflicts, since their use with a high degree of probability will put the world on the brink of a nuclear missile catastrophe. At the same time, in the future, a scenario is not completely ruled out in which areas remote from the central part of the country may be subjected to aggression without the use of nuclear weapons. First of all, this concerns the Kaliningrad region, which is an isolated Russian enclave and our sparsely populated Far Eastern territories, connected to the center by a narrow Transsib line.
As you know, at present, the main striking force in a non-nuclear conflict is air attack weapons: long-range bombers, attack aircraft of tactical and carrier-based aviation, combat helicopters, reconnaissance and strike unmanned aerial vehicles and cruise missiles. As the experience of the use of military aviation of Western countries in operations to "establish democracy" shows, not only troops, defense facilities, transport communications and communication centers are bombed, but also the infrastructure that ensures the life of the population. Due to its geographic location and climatic factors, the Russian Far East is especially vulnerable in this regard. Winter comes early in most of the Far Eastern Federal District. Thus, in the area of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, a stable snow cover is formed in late October - early November and lies until mid-April. The middle course of the Amur is far from the northernmost part of the Far East, in Tynda or in Novy Urgal it is even colder. In the event of the destruction of energy facilities in winter, when it is below -30 ° C outside the windows of apartments, the bulk of the urban population will be put on the brink of survival. The few facilities with autonomous heating and houses in rural areas simply cannot accommodate all those in need. Those who have been to the Far East north of Khabarovsk could not help but notice how rarely settlements are located, even along federal highways, and how few local residents there are.
Experts know that electricity and heat supply facilities are highly susceptible to various man-made accidents, they are even more vulnerable in the event of a deliberate air strike. So, to disable a combined heat and power plant, a "successful" hit of one cruise missile or an aerial bomb of 250-500 kg caliber is enough. Damage to the generating capacity of one of the power plants will inevitably cause a failure in the entire system. And the destruction of transformer substations will lead to emergency shutdown of high-voltage transmission lines tied into a single power system. Railway transport junctions, oil and gas pumping stations and facilities of oil refineries in Khabarovsk and Komsomolsk-on-Amur, which supply the region with hydrocarbon fuel, are no less vulnerable.
It cannot be said that the Russian Far East is devoid of anti-aircraft and aviation cover. But in comparison with the times of the USSR, this is a shadow of its former power. The number of positions of anti-aircraft missile systems and the number of fighter-interceptors covering the Far Eastern defense-industrial centers decreased several times. By the time of the collapse of the USSR, the 11th Separate Air Defense Army with headquarters in Khabarovsk had three corps (8th, 23rd and 72nd) and four air defense divisions. Part of Eastern Siberia and the entire Far Eastern region, including Chukotka, Kamchatka, Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, the Amur Region, Khabarovsk and Primorsky Territories, were under the cover of the 11th Air Defense OA.
A separate Far Eastern Air Defense Army was created on April 4, 1945. On March 24, 1960, an order was issued to form the 11th Separate Air Defense Army. And from April 30, 1975, the 11th Air Defense Army became the Red Banner. In the summer of 1998, in connection with the merger of the Air Force and Air Defense, the name was changed to the 11th Separate Red Banner Army of the Air Force and Air Defense. Until 2015, the name of the task force was changed several times, as if the renaming could increase the combat power.
In Soviet times, the headquarters of the 8th Air Defense Corps in Komsomolsk-on-Amur controlled the actions of an anti-aircraft missile brigade and two anti-aircraft missile regiments. The air situation over the Khabarovsk Territory was controlled by two radio engineering brigades and two radio engineering regiments. The 28th Fighter Aviation Division was subordinated to the corps.
The division included the 60th Fighter Aviation Regiment, stationed at the Dzemgi airfield, which by the end of the 1980s was the first to master the Su-27P interceptors, while operating the Su-15TM in parallel. The MiG-23ML of the 301st IAP and the Su-27P of the 216th IAP were based at the Kalinka airfield (section 10) near Khabarovsk. The ports of Sovetskaya Gavan and Vanino were defended by the 308th IAP on MiG-21bis and MiG-23MLA interceptors, based at the Postovaya airfield near the village of Zavety Ilyich.
As part of the 23rd kPVO with headquarters in Vladivostok, there was an anti-aircraft missile brigade and an anti-aircraft missile regiment, a radio engineering brigade and a radio engineering regiment. The southern and central parts of Primorye were defended by the 22nd IAP on the MiG-23MLD from the Tsentralnaya Uglovaya airfield and the 47th IAP on the Su-27P based at the Zolotaya Dolina airfield. The MiG-25PD / PDS and MiG-31 530 IAP were located at the Sokolovka airfield near the village of Chuguevka.
The headquarters of the 72nd corps was located in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. It included a radio engineering and anti-aircraft missile brigade, the main task of which was to defend the base of strategic missile carriers in Avacha Bay. Around Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, two S-200VM air defense missiles and eleven C-75 and C-125 air defense missile systems were deployed. At the end of the 80s, the Kamchatka air defense was reinforced with three S-300PS air defense divisions. At the Elizovo airfield, the 865th IAP was based on the MiG-31.
The air borders of a section of the state border with a length of about 5000 km: from the coast along the Tatar Strait, Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands were the zone of responsibility of the 40th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Division. The 365th IAP, deployed at the Sokol airfield 8 km south of the city of Dolinsk on Sakhalin, was armed with MiG-31s. On the eastern outskirts of the urban-type settlement Smirnykh, 360 km from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the 528th Fighter Aviation Regiment was based, flying the MiG-23ML. The 41st IAP armed with MiG-23MLD was deployed at the Burevestnik airfield located on Iturup Island.
The northernmost in the Far East was the 25th Air Defense Division deployed in Chukotka with its headquarters in the village of Coal Mines. The division consisted of the 129th radio technical brigade, the 762nd anti-aircraft missile regiment (three air defense missile systems S-75) and the 171st IAP on the Su-15TM. The headquarters of the 29th Air Defense Division was located in Belogorsk. The division included anti-aircraft missile and radio-technical brigades. In the area of responsibility of the 24th Air Defense Division, headquartered in Khomutovo (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), there was Sakhalin Island, which in 1990 was defended by two anti-aircraft missile regiments, which included 9 S-75M3 and S-300PS air defense missiles and a radio engineering regiment.
At the time of the collapse of the USSR, the Far Eastern frontiers were guarded by more than 60 anti-aircraft missile divisions S-75M2 / M2, S-125M / M1, S-200V / VM and S-300PS. An anti-aircraft missile division is a unit capable, if necessary, of conducting combat operations autonomously for some time, in isolation from the main forces. In an anti-aircraft missile brigade of mixed composition, there could be from 2 to 6 target channels (srn) of the long-range air defense system S-200, and 10-14 srn S-75 and S-125. The composition of anti-aircraft missile regiments usually included three to five medium-range air defense missile systems S-75 or S-300PS. Also in the air defense forces of the Land Forces of the Far Eastern Military District there were numerous short-range air defense systems of the regimental echelon Strela-1, Strela-10 and ZSU-23-4 Shilka, divisional air defense systems Osa-AK / AKM and Kub, as well as the Krug-M / M1 air defense missile system of front-line or army subordination.
As of 1991, there was a continuous radar field over the entire territory of the Far East. Permanently operating radar posts were duplicated and covered the coverage area. The radio-technical units of the country's air defense forces were armed with radars: P-12M, P-14, P-18, P-19, P-35M, P-37, P-80, 5N84A, 19Zh6, 22Zh6, 44Zh6, ST-68UM, as well as radio altimeters: PRV-11, PRV-13, PRV-17.
Surveillance radars and altimeters were coupled with automated control systems 5Н55М, 5Н53, 5Н53, 86Ж6, 5Н60, as well as with fighter ACS "Air-1M", "Air-1P" and with ACS of anti-aircraft missile forces ASURK-1MA and ASURK-1P.
Not far from the village of Lian, 30 km northeast of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, in the second half of the 80s, the transmitting antenna of the over-the-horizon radar "Duga" began to function. The receiving antenna was located 60 km to the south, in the vicinity of the village of Bolshaya Kartel. In addition to early detection of launching ballistic missiles, ZGRLS "Duga" could detect aircraft flying at medium and high altitudes from the east.
In service with the fighter regiments of the USSR Air Defense Forces deployed in the Far East, excluding the Yak-28P, Su-15 and MiG-23 aircraft in storage, there were more than 300 fighter-interceptors. After retraining for new equipment, the old types of fighters that remained in service were often operated in parallel. So at the Dzemgi airfield, the pilots of the 60th IAP flew the Su-15TM simultaneously with the development of the Su-27P.
For several years after the complete transition to the Su-27P, the old interceptors were stored in caponiers in the northern part of the airfield. In Soviet times, a large storage base for air defense fighter-interceptors was located at the Khurba airfield, 30 km south of Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Here, dozens of Su-15 and Yak-28P were mothballed until the early 90s. In addition to specialized air defense interceptor fighters, the MiG-23ML / MLD and MiG-29, which were part of the 1st Air Force of the Far Eastern Military District, could be involved in repelling enemy air raids. In addition, the pilots of the regiments armed with Su-17 and MiG-27 fighter-bombers also practiced interception techniques and defensive air combat.
Thus, in the late 1980s, units and subunits of the 11th Separate Air Defense Army were a formidable, well-organized force. The personnel of the anti-aircraft missile and radio-technical troops, who were on constant combat duty, had a fairly high qualification, and the equipment was maintained in a high degree of combat readiness. This was largely due to the fact that the anti-aircraft missile battalions and surveillance radars deployed on the coast were in the area of increased attention of the basic patrol and reconnaissance aircraft of the United States and Japan. Until the end of the 80s, SR-71 Blackbird aircraft regularly flew in the Far East direction. After the detection of an approaching three-flight high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, all air defense units in the zone of which the Blackbird route ran were put on high alert. Taking into account the fact that the operation of the SR-71 was too expensive for the American taxpayer, they did not fly so often towards the end of their careers. Much more concern to radar operators and air defense missile systems was delivered by RC-135V / W Rivet Joint reconnaissance patrols, P-3 Orion base patrol aircraft and EP-3E Aries II electronic reconnaissance aircraft capable of hanging for hours on the border of our territorial waters. However, after an airplane inadvertently approached our air line, the aircraft was taken to accompany the target illumination of the S-200 air defense system with a radar, or Soviet interceptors flew in its direction, the air spy hastily retreated.
In the late 1980s, in the event of a conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States without the use of strategic nuclear weapons, faced only with the anti-aircraft missile forces of the USSR air defense, the American military aviation would have suffered huge losses. After 1991, the rapid degradation of the air defense system began. Many remote radar posts were eliminated, which negatively affected the ability to timely alert air defense units, especially in the sparsely populated northern territories. By 1995, all fighter air regiments armed with MiG-23, MiG-25 and Su-15 fighters were disbanded in the Far East. Also, in the mid-90s, almost all S-75 and S-125 air defense systems were decommissioned. Long-range air defense systems S-200 lasted a little longer - until the beginning of the 21st century. In the course of several stages of "reorganization", "reform", "optimization" and "giving a new look", units and formations underwent a landslide reduction, and the number of air defense troops decreased several times compared to Soviet times. At the same time, command posts, communication centers, military camps were abandoned and destroyed. The number of operating military airfields has decreased several times, the abandoned capital runways quickly fell into decay, a significant part of the former military airfields can no longer be restored, since the concrete slabs of the runway have been dismantled.
The fate of the aviation equipment of the disbanded Far Eastern fighter regiments was sad. Within literally a couple of years, all "obsolete" aircraft were mercilessly cut into scrap metal. It turned out no better with the removed from combat duty anti-aircraft missile systems and radars. Although the bulk of the air defense missile system, ACS and radar station was transferred to storage bases, proper conservation of equipment was usually not carried out. Cabins and equipment rooms with sophisticated electronic equipment were kept in the open air, often without proper security. Very soon, next to the storage bases, points for receiving radio components containing precious metals were opened, and for a short period of time, anti-aircraft missile systems, radars, communication and control equipment became completely unsuitable for further use.
Separately, I would like to say how justified the hasty decommissioning of the first generation anti-aircraft missile systems was. In 1991, in addition to the newest at that time S-300PT / PS air defense systems, the S-75M2 / M3, S-125M / M1 and S-200A / V / D medium-range air defense systems were in service. On "seventy-fives" and "two hundred" used rockets with liquid-propellant jet engines operating on toxic fuel and a caustic and explosive oxidizer. The personnel of the technical divisions engaged in preparing anti-aircraft missiles for use had to refuel and drain fuel with an oxidizer in insulating gas masks and special protective suits, working in extreme heat and winter cold. As a matter of fact, this was the main disadvantage of the S-75 and S-200 air defense systems. At the same time, in Soviet times, the procedures for refueling, servicing and transporting liquid-fueled missiles were well developed, and subject to the established rules and regulations, this did not cause any particular difficulties.
By the beginning of the 90s, single-channel air defense systems of the C-75 family no longer fully met modern requirements. However, the last air defense systems of the C-75M3 / M4 modifications were built in the mid-80s with an estimated service life of 25 years by the time of decommissioning, and had not worked for 10 years. These still not old complexes could easily serve in secondary directions or in the rear areas until the beginning of the 21st century, or they could be sold abroad. Even more controversial is the hasty abandonment of the S-200VM / D long-range complexes. And now the heavy anti-aircraft missiles 5V28 and 5V28M are unsurpassed in range (up to 300 km) and height (40 km) of target destruction. In our anti-aircraft missile forces at the moment there are no serial missiles with the same or greater indicators of range and height of destruction. Despite numerous promises, the new long-range missile defense system 40N6E, included in the ammunition of the S-400 air defense system, has not yet entered the troops in droves. "Dvuhsotki" of the latest versions, with proper care, repair and modernization, could still serve. Yes, it was a rather complex and expensive complex to operate, but some of the newest long-range air defense systems were quite realistic to keep, which, of course, would make our neighbors more sensitive to the inviolability of Russian air borders.
At the moment, the problem of combating strike-reconnaissance UAVs, cruise missiles, combat helicopters and aircraft flying at low altitude is very acute. It is no secret that modern SAMs of the S-300 / S-400 anti-aircraft systems are very expensive, and it is not rational to massively spend missiles on targets that are cheaper than the missiles themselves. In addition, if the Pantsir-S mobile artillery and missile systems are designed to protect the S-400 air defense system from low-altitude attacks, then the S-300P air defense missile systems from low-altitude attacks should be covered by MANPADS and anti-aircraft large-caliber machine guns.
This problem could be solved by using the modernized low-altitude air defense systems S-125M / M1, which could be deployed in secondary directions and to protect expensive long-range complexes. However, in our country, they did not bother with the safety of the "hundred twenty five" and very successful low-altitude air defense systems with a large modernization potential for the most part turned into scrap metal.
Now the Russian Far East is protected by the 11th Red Banner Army of the Aerospace Forces (11th A Aerospace Forces) - an operational formation of the Aerospace Forces of the RF Armed Forces as part of the Eastern Military District. Compared to Soviet times, the forces and assets of the air defense forces have decreased significantly.
The 23rd Air Defense Forces covering the Primorsky Territory was transformed into the 93rd Air Defense Division (headquarters in Vladivostok). The ground air defense forces deployed in Primorye shrank to the 1533th Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment of the Red Banner, the 589th Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment and the 344th Radio Technical Regiment.
The 1533th air defense missile regiment, which defends Vladivostok, is armed with the S-300PS long-range air defense system. One anti-aircraft missile battalion is deployed on the Russky Island and not far from the Shchitovaya village. Another division, previously located on Popov Island, is not on constant combat duty, and periodically unfolds north-west of Vladivostok in a triangle between the settlements of Davydovka, Tavrichanka and Rybachy.
The positions of anti-aircraft systems of the S-300P family are strongly unmasked by the low-altitude detector 5N66M raised on a 25 m tower 40V6M. The abandoned and active positions of anti-aircraft missile systems, the location of radar posts and the airfields of fighter-interceptors are also perfectly visible on Google Earth satellite images that are freely available, and anyone can find them.
The 589th Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment is armed with one S-300PS air defense missile system and two air defense missile systems of the latest S-400 anti-aircraft missile system. Divisions of the 589th ZRP protect the ports of Nakhodka and Vostochny, as well as the airfield of naval aviation near the village of Nikolayevka, where the Ka-27 anti-submarine helicopters and Il-38 anti-submarine patrol aircraft are based. One S-400 division is located in positions south of Nakhodka, on the cape separating the Tungus and Popov bays. Two more divisions are deployed in the vicinity of the Golden Valley airfield.
Until 2007, on a hill near the Kozmina Bay, there was a position of the S-300PS air defense missile system. However, after the deployment of the S-400 air defense system near Nakhodka with 48N6 anti-aircraft missiles capable of hitting aerodynamic targets at a distance of up to 250 km, the outdated S-300PS was withdrawn from this area. The range of destruction of air targets of the S-300PS air defense missile system with the 5V55RM missile defense system is 90 km. Currently, next to the former C-300PS position, a stationary radar post is still functioning as part of the 5N84A radar ("Defense-14") and low-altitude stations. The position also has radio-transparent spherical shelters designed to protect radars from wind and precipitation.
The detection of air targets and the issuance of target designation to interceptors and anti-aircraft missile systems in the Primorsky Territory is carried out by radar posts of the 344th radio technical regiment, whose headquarters is located in the city of Artyom.
In Soviet times, on the hills dominating the terrain, platforms with radio-transparent domes were equipped to protect radar equipment from the influence of meteorological factors. Along with the Soviet-made stations: P-18, P-19, P-37, 5N84A, 22Zh6 and 55Zh6, 36D6, the troops have radars: 39N6 "Casta-2E", 55Zh6 ("Sky"), 59H6-E ("Enemy -GE ") and 64L6" Gamma-C1 ". In total, there are 11 permanent radar posts on the territory of the Primorsky Territory.
Three-coordinate radar of the standby mode of the meter range "Sky", designed to detect and issue coordinates (range, azimuth, altitude) of air targets when operating as part of an air defense automated control system or autonomously.
The Protivnik-GE mobile three-coordinate radar station of the decimeter range is designed to detect and track aerodynamic, ballistic air objects and provide radar information for fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft missile systems, and ensure the safety of aviation flights.
Three-coordinate surveillance radar of centimeter range "Gamma-C1", developed to replace the P-37 radar and is intended for use in air force and air defense systems, as well as for air traffic control.
The Kasta-2E mobile three-coordinate radar station of the decimeter range of all-round visibility, created to replace the P-19 mobile radar, serves to monitor the airspace, determine the range, azimuth, flight level and route characteristics of air objects, including those flying at small and extreme low altitudes.
Aviation cover of the central and southern parts of the Primorsky Territory is provided by the 22nd Fighter Aviation Khalkhingol Red Banner Regiment, based near Vladivostok at the Tsentralnaya Uglovaya airfield.
Unlike many other aviation units, this fighter regiment, formerly armed with single-engine MiG-23MLD, was not disbanded, and its pilots were retrained for heavy Su-27 fighters. In 2009, the regiment included the equipment and personnel of the 530th Fighter Aviation Regiment, which was previously based in Sokolovka.
At the moment, the 22nd IAP includes two mixed squadrons of the Su-27SM, Su-30M2 and Su-35S and one squadron of MiG-31 and MiG-31BM heavy interceptors - a total of more than forty vehicles. In addition to fighters in flight condition, at the Tsentralnaya Uglovaya airfield there is a number of Su-27Ps with a depleted resource and MiG-31s awaiting their turn for refurbishment and modernization.
After the repair of the runway, life returned to the Sokolovka airfield. Since the summer of 2016, it has been used as a reserve airfield by the 22nd IAP fighters. The restoration of the infrastructure and runway of the airfield in the vicinity of the village of Chuguevka made it possible to disperse the squadrons of the Khalkhingol Red Banner Regiment and reduce their vulnerability on the ground in the event of the outbreak of hostilities.
The Khabarovsk Territory and the Jewish Autonomous Region are in the area of responsibility of the 25th Air Defense Division, created on the basis of the 8th Air Defense Corps with its headquarters in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The 25th Air Defense Division is a fairly powerful unit, which includes three anti-aircraft missile and two radio technical regiments. However, the territory that the 25th division is supposed to defend is also very vast. Based on the number of deployed S-300PS divisions, the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, which is the most important military-industrial center, is best covered in the Khabarovsk Territory. In the city of Yunosti there are large aircraft and shipbuilding enterprises, an oil refinery, and a ferrous metallurgy enterprise. In its vicinity there are mining facilities, as well as factories for the production of ammunition and the processing of explosives. Responsibility for the defense of Komsomolsk-on-Amur from air attack weapons is assigned to the 1530th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment, whose headquarters until recently was located in the ZATO Lian. This regiment was rearmed from the first generation air defense system to the S-300PS air defense system in the early 90s. In total, until 2015, the 1530 regiment had five anti-aircraft battalions, while the usual number in other regiments was two or three. At the same time, two divisions were not on constant combat duty, their personnel, equipment and weapons were located at the place of permanent deployment in the ZATO Lian.
Until recently, anti-aircraft battalions were deployed in the vicinity of the villages of Lian (40 km north of Komsomolsk), Bolshaya Kartel (30 km east of the city), and Verkhnyaya Ekon (20 km south of the city embankment). In addition to the city, the Khurba and Dzemgi airfields are under the umbrella of the last two zones. The equipment of the anti-aircraft missile battalion in the vicinity of the village of Bolshaya Kartel stands on the site where, until 1997, the receiving antenna of the Duga ZGRLS was located. Currently, the 1530th regiment is in the process of reorganization, and most likely it should be expected that the heavily worn and outdated S-300PS will be replaced with new equipment. In 2017, the media published information that the anti-aircraft systems that were previously on alert in the Khabarovsk Territory, after refurbishment, were transferred to the CSTO allies.
The 1529th Guards anti-aircraft missile regiment is stationed near Khabarovsk near the village of Knyaze-Volkonskoye. Until 2016, it had three S-300PS anti-aircraft battalions. Two anti-aircraft missile divisions are currently deployed in positions where, until the beginning of the 90s, they were on combat duty of the S-200VM long-range air defense system. In the late 1980s, positions were equipped for two S-300PS divisions near the Kalinka airfield, the villages of Nagornoye and Kazakeechevo. For the personnel, capital barracks and office premises, warehouses and boxes for equipment were erected there. Currently, these structures are abandoned, and everything built for the most part turned into ruins.
As part of the 25th Air Defense Division, there is a 1724th anti-aircraft missile regiment of two divisions deployed near Birobidzhan in the Jewish Autonomous Region. This is the only air defense missile system in the Khabarovsk Territory equipped with the S-300V air defense system. The place of permanent deployment of the anti-aircraft missile regiment is located 5 km southeast of the center of Birobidzhan. Anti-aircraft missile divisions are on combat duty one by one, at a position 1 km south of the main technical park.
Beginning in 2006, the anti-aircraft missile brigades of the air defense of the ground forces, which were armed with the S-300V long-range air defense systems and the Buk medium-range air defense systems, were transferred to the subordination of the Air Force. On the basis of the brigades, anti-aircraft missile regiments were formed, which were attracted to combat duty. This was due to the fact that within the joint command of the Air Force and Air Defense, 20 years after the collapse of the USSR, a shortage of medium and long-range anti-aircraft systems began to form. As you know, after 1994, over the next decade, not a single new air defense system of the S-300P family was supplied to the country's air defense forces, and the construction of new anti-aircraft missiles was carried out in very modest volumes. In the 21st century, the resource of equipment built in the USSR in the late 70s - mid 80s began to come to an end, and it was decided to strengthen the air defense facilities of large administrative-industrial and defense centers by weakening the military air defense. This measure is, of course, a forced one, military complexes and systems on a tracked chassis, have better cross-country ability, but they destroy public roads, the speed of their march on the highway is less than that of the wheeled S-300P. In addition, the S-300V, which have good capabilities to counter tactical and operational-tactical ballistic missiles, have a lower fire performance than the S-300P and S-400 and a much longer replenishment time. As for the Buk air defense missile system, this, of course, a very successful system is not very suitable for long-term combat duty.
The coverage of the air situation over the Khabarovsk Territory and Sakhalin is carried out by the forces of the 343rd and 39th radio technical regiments. In total, there are 17 permanently deployed radar posts in the 25th Air Defense Division's area of responsibility. Somewhere in 2012, a large-scale upgrade of the equipment of radio engineering units of the 25th Air Defense Division began. Thus, at the Amurstalevskaya Sopka, north of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, the modern Protivnik-GE and Gamma-C1 stations were added to the Soviet-made Oborona-14 radar and the PRV-13 radio altimeter.
Air cover of Komsomolsk-on-Amur is carried out by fighters of the 23rd Tallinn Fighter Regiment. The 23rd IAP was formed in August 2000 through the merger at the Dzemgi airfield of the 60th IAP and the 404th IAP, formerly based at the Orlovka airfield in the Amur Region. According to the official version, this was done in order to increase the combat effectiveness and management efficiency. In fact, in two regiments, the number of serviceable aircraft did not satisfy the regular strength. In addition, the runway and infrastructure of the Orlovka airfield were in need of repair. After the 404th Aviation Regiment left the airfield in the Amur Region, it fell into complete decline and is now abandoned. The Dzemgi airfield, due to the fact that it was used by the aviation plant together with the fighter aviation regiment, on the contrary, was maintained in good condition.
The 23rd IAP was the first to start deliveries of the upgraded Su-27SM and serial Su-35S fighters. This is largely due to the proximity of the manufacturer. When based within walking distance, it is possible to quickly treat the inevitable "childhood sores". However, this did not help much with the development of the new missile armament of the Su-35S fighter. For a number of reasons, until the end of December 2015, it was not possible to bring to mind the armament of the new fighter, and there were no medium-range missiles in its ammunition load. In fact, the aircraft, which was in trial operation for about 5 years, was of limited combat capability and could only conduct close air combat using a 30-mm air cannon and R-73 melee missiles.
According to the information provided by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, by the beginning of 2016, the 23rd IAP had: 24 Su-35S, 16 Su-27SM and 3 Su-30M2. Sparks Su-30M2 replaced the combat training Su-27UB intended mainly for training pilots.
Fighters of the Tallinn Aviation Regiment are frequent guests at the Khurba airbase, where the Su-24M and Su-34 front-line bombers of the 277th Mlava Bomber Regiment are also based. In 2015, the Su-35S and Su-30M2 from the 23rd IAP relocated to the Elizovo airfield in Kamchatka, where they participated in major exercises.
According to data published in open sources, the 26th Mukden Air Defense Division (headquarters in Chita) is part of the 11th A Aerospace Forces. It cannot be said that this unit has great combat power. There are no permanent positions of the S-300P and S-400 long-range anti-aircraft missile systems in the territory from Birobidzhan to Irkutsk. In addition, the north of Eastern Siberia has a very weak radar coverage; most of the stationary radar posts in this area were eliminated in the 90s. The forces of the only 342nd radio technical regiment are simply not able to cover a huge territory. In the 26th air defense missile defense there is one 1723rd air defense missile system on the Buk medium-range air defense missile system (Dzhida village, Buryatia).
The 120th separate mixed aviation regiment is based at the airbase 27 km south-west of the city of Chita. The regiment is armed with MiG-29 and Su-30SM fighters, as well as Su-25 attack aircraft.
At present, the light MiG-29 fighters of the 120th Aviation Regiment have exhausted their service life and are subject to decommissioning. After a number of accidents and disasters, the operation of the MiG-29 in the Chita region was discontinued, but the fighters are still at the airfield. In 2013, the first multifunctional Su-30SM fighters arrived from the nearby Irkutsk Aviation Plant in 2013; the 120th Aviation Regiment has at least 24 such aircraft.
The Su-30SM was launched into combat duty in Domna in 2014. Since September 2015, the personnel and equipment of the 12th Aviation Regiment have been used in hostilities in Syria.
At the moment, the most northern Far Eastern anti-aircraft missile units are the S-400 and S-300PS air defense missile systems deployed in Kamchatka. In 2015, the rearmament of the 1532th anti-aircraft missile regiment began from the S-300PS to the S-400. Anti-aircraft positions protect the nuclear submarine base in Krasheninnikov Bay, the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and the Elizovo airfield. According to the information announced by the Russian Defense Ministry, the 1532th air defense unit should have three S-400 divisions. However, as of 2017, two S-400 missiles and one old S-300PS were on combat duty.
Lighting of the air situation, guidance of interceptors and the issuance of target designation to anti-aircraft missile divisions is entrusted to the radar posts of the 60th radio technical regiment. Ten radar posts equipped with radars: 35D6, P-18, P-19, P-37, 5N84A, 22Zh6 and 55Zh6 are scattered not only across the Kamchatka Peninsula, but also in Chukotka and the Kuril Islands.
Due to the harsh climatic conditions and strong winds, about half of the available radars are located in stationary radio-transparent shelters built during the Soviet era. As a rule, such shelters were built on elevations dominating the terrain.
Contrary to the assertions of some "experts" about the presence of "anti-missile defense" on the Kuril Islands, there are no permanent positions of anti-aircraft missile systems and medium and long-range complexes there. They were not on the Kuril Islands and in Soviet times. Several years ago, rumors circulated in the Russian media that Buk-M1 medium-range air defense systems would be deployed on the islands, which, incidentally, turned out to be a duck. It is possible that there were such plans in the RF Ministry of Defense, but in the end, in 2015, the air defense of the 18th machine-gun and artillery division was reinforced with the Tor-M2U short-range air defense missile system (8 units). Prior to that, the 46th and 49th machine-gun and artillery regiments had an anti-aircraft missile and artillery battalion (6 Strela-10 air defense systems and 6 ZSU-23-4 Shilka). But, of course, it is impossible to classify "Strela" and "Torah" as anti-missile systems.
The control of the air situation over the southern part of the Kuril ridge is carried out by several mobile P-18 meter-range radars. Soviet-built stations operate on a permanent basis at the Burevestnik airfield located on Iturup Island. Another radar post operates on the northern tip of the Simushir island, a 22Zh6 radar station and possibly a P-37 are deployed here.
Interceptors MiG-31 of the 865th IAP are based at the Yelizovo airfield, 12 km west of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. On July 1, 1998, the regiment was transferred from the 11th Air Defense Army to the Pacific Fleet Air Force. The regiment's mission is to provide fighter cover for the deployment of the submarine forces of the Pacific Fleet, to provide cover from air strikes at the bases in Kamchatka, and to carry out combat missions to protect the Russian air border in the northeastern direction. However, the number of interceptors capable of performing a combat mission in Yelizovo clearly does not correspond to the regular strength of the fighter regiment, since a maximum of a dozen MiG-31s are in flight condition.
At present, the air defense forces stationed in Kamchatka are organizationally consolidated into the 53rd Air Defense Division. In December 2017, in the Russian media, with reference to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, information was published that in 2018 the formation of another air defense army would begin. This structure will include aviation units, missile and radio engineering units of the 53rd Air Defense Forces. The zone of responsibility of the new formation will include Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk.
There are also plans to restore the anti-aircraft cover of Sakhalin Island. In 1991, on the territory of the Sakhalin region, there were 9 positions of the S-75 and S-300PS air defense systems and the Krug-M1 medium-range army complex. However, in the course of the "reform" and "optimization" of the armed forces, all of them were eliminated. Longest of all, until 2005, the brigade armed with the Krug-M1 air defense missile system, covering Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk from the south, held out. Now the S-300V division is deployed in this place. The media announced plans to build a garrison for equipment and personnel of the newly created anti-aircraft missile regiment near the Khomutovo airfield.
RS: All information contained in this publication was taken from open and publicly available sources, the list of which is given.
