The Russian Armed Forces in mid-July 2018 held regular exercises of the airborne troops. These paratrooper exercises have become one of the largest in Russia over the past 20 years. To conduct the exercises, three aviation regiments stationed in the Pskov, Orenburg and Rostov regions at once transferred soldiers and military equipment thousands of kilometers from home. Large-scale paratrooper exercises took place in the Ryazan region.
More than a thousand servicemen, dozens of military transport aircraft, various armored vehicles and artillery were involved in large-scale exercises on the territory of the Ryazan region. As part of the exercises, the paratroopers stormed the enemy's airfield, liberated settlements, and also crossed the Oka in its narrowest place, not far from Ryazan. Also, within the framework of the exercises, the landing of the BTR-MD "Shell" tracked armored personnel carrier took place. This combat vehicle has been undergoing trials in the army since 2015, the landing of an armored personnel carrier with a landing force was recognized as successful.
According to the commander of the Russian Airborne Forces Andrei Serdyukov, 47 Il-76MDM military transport aircraft, more than 1200 personnel and 69 pieces of equipment were involved in the parachute landing. Everything that the Russian defense industry can offer to paratroopers today was demonstrated in the sky, on the ground and on land. A separate pride is the new generation parachutes. According to the instructor of the Center for Special Parachute Training of the Ministry of Defense of Russia Alexei Yushkovsky, the kit includes a parachute system, helmet, oxygen equipment, a cargo container, and a navigation system.
However, according to Izvestia journalists, these exercises demonstrated both the capabilities and the obvious limits of the capabilities of modern Russian airborne forces. At the moment, the Russian Airborne Forces includes two airborne and two airborne assault divisions, as well as four airborne assault brigades, a separate special-purpose brigade and a number of training and auxiliary units. At the same time, all combat units, both in the airborne assault and in the airborne units, are fully trained for parachute landing, and the parachute units and subunits are equipped with special airborne armored vehicles - airborne armored personnel carriers, airborne combat vehicles, etc.
At the same time, the Russian air force today has about 120 military transport aircraft Il-76 - these machines are the main ones when parachuting the Russian airborne troops is carried out. In the recently completed exercise, 47 of these aircraft were involved, which were enough to parachute less than an airborne regiment, including two battalions with armored vehicles. Based on this, it can be noted that the total available Il-76 fleet of military transport aviation will be enough to parachute less than two regiments with all the standard set of weapons and military equipment in one sortie.
The problem of the lack of aviation equipment for parachute landing of airborne forces existed and was realized even in the days of the USSR. According to military experts, for the parachute landing of just one Soviet airborne division, it was necessary to lift at least 5 military transport aviation divisions into the sky. Given the quantitative composition of the military transport aviation of the USSR Air Force, the parachute landing of one division was the limit of their capabilities in the event of a large-scale armed conflict, while possible opposition from the enemy was not taken into account.
In practice, in the Soviet Union, parachute landings in the post-war years, with the exception of a whole series of tactical episodes, were not used. The most famous in this regard were the airborne operations in Czechoslovakia in 1968 and in Afghanistan in 1979, which were carried out using landing airborne assault forces. During the subsequent war in Afghanistan, as well as the two Chechen wars, airborne units were either used as airborne assault formations, landing from helicopters, or as ordinary infantry, moving in trucks, armored vehicles or on foot.
In comparison with foreign armies, the Russian Federation currently has the most numerous and trained airborne units. Their number clearly exceeds the capabilities of the available military transport aviation fleet. This state of affairs raises certain questions regarding the efficiency of spending budget funding, given the high cost of parachute training of personnel and specialized landing equipment for the Russian budget. At the same time, significant restrictions imposed on the combat capabilities of the dropped equipment lead to the fact that when operating on the ground as ordinary infantry, paratrooper units are quite inferior to motorized riflemen, who have not only greater firepower, but also a larger range of weapons available to them and military equipment.
It is not possible to change the current state of affairs with the lack of landing equipment in the foreseeable future. This would require a multiple increase in the number of helicopter transport units - for the transfer of airborne assault units and an increase in the number of military transport aviation. This problem has been understood for a long time. At the same time, the traditional high political weight of the Russian Airborne Forces (since the early 1990s) has hindered the radical reform of this type of troops and made them not touch the existing structure. At the same time, plans for a significant reduction in the Airborne Forces with their transfer to the ground forces were hatched during the period when the Russian Ministry of Defense was headed by Anatoly Serdyukov, and Nikolai Makarov was the Chief of the General Staff. Their plans were never implemented.
At the same time, the need to cut military spending on the Russian budget requires a revision of the current state of affairs. Taking into account the capabilities of the Russian military transport aviation and its quantitative composition, the optimal number of airborne units is estimated at 1-2 regiments, while they do not need specialized armored vehicles with the possibility of landing: the most likely tactical landings during local wars and conflicts do not imply parachute dropping of military equipment. If necessary, armored vehicles, up to the main battle tanks, can be deployed to airfields using the traditional landing method, for which the presence of the BTR-D and BMD is optional.
At the same time, the airborne troops should be based on airborne assault units, which will be used as part of interspecific groupings of troops. This would make it possible to reduce the combat strength of the Russian Airborne Forces to one division, including 1-2 airborne and 1-2 airborne assault regiments, as well as four air assault brigades of district subordination. Taking into account the fact that various parts of the special forces and marines of the Russian Navy also have airborne assault training, this will still require a significant increase in the transport capabilities of the Russian Air Force. However, such a strengthening can already be carried out in a very reasonable time and with reasonable financial costs, which would make it possible to use all the available amphibious units as efficiently as possible. At the same time, accepting the existing structure of the Armed Forces and the political weight of the Airborne Forces in their composition, one must be aware that such radical transformations are unlikely in the foreseeable future, it is unlikely that anyone will be able to decide on them, Izvestia notes.
Despite this, the role and capabilities of the Airborne Forces in modern Russia are still being revised. The Airborne Forces are increasingly viewed as the elite, best trained and most contracted rapid response units that can replace infantry units in combat conditions. In fact, we are talking about the elite infantry, which, among other things, also has the necessary level of parachute training. It is in this context that it is worth considering the strengthening of the Airborne Forces units by tank units in the past few years.
According to Major General Viktor Kupchishin, deputy commander of the Airborne Forces for work with personnel, the firepower of the airborne forces will be significantly increased due to the reorganization of tank companies in airborne assault formations into full-fledged tank battalions. On Thursday, July 26, the general told the Interfax journalists about this. According to him, the task of reorganizing tank companies into tank battalions was set by the leadership of the Russian Defense Ministry, and no one doubts that it will be successfully completed. Already in 2018, the Russian Airborne Forces will receive the upgraded T-72B3 main battle tanks, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke about this at the beginning of March. In addition to tanks, the paratroopers will receive in 2018 more than 30 modernized artillery systems, BMD-4M, BTR-MDM and D-30 howitzers. Having received a tank battalion, airborne assault brigades become even closer to motorized rifle brigades, which also have one tank battalion each.
According to Shoigu, in the Airborne Forces in 2018 it is planned to complete the formation of three tank battalions, electronic warfare units and unmanned aerial vehicles. According to Andrey Krasov, deputy head of the Russian State Duma's defense committee, tank battalions will enhance the combat capabilities of the paratroopers. Of course, the Airborne Forces remain mobile, but among the tasks that are entrusted to them today, there are actions as part of or as separate ground groupings. According to Krasov, the T-72B3 tanks that the Russian Airborne Forces will receive, if necessary, can also be transferred by rail and sea transport.
