Traditionally, on the second Sunday of April, the Russian Armed Forces celebrate the holiday of the Air Defense Forces (air defense). In 2018, the holiday fell on April 8 and coincided with the Resurrection of Christ.
Officially, in our country, the day of the air defense forces has been celebrated since Soviet times. In the calendar of army holidays, he appeared in 1975 on the basis of a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. The official reason, as they say, did not have to be invented. By that time, the air defense forces had repeatedly managed to prove themselves as a real shield of the Fatherland, protecting the country and citizens from attacks from the air.
From the official doc:
Until 1980, the holiday of the air defense troops was assigned a "stationary" date - April 11. And since 1981, the date has become "floating" - the second Sunday in April.
When were air defense forces first used? The answer to this question is obvious - in that historical period when ground targets and troops began to be really threatened from the air. First - from balloons, balloons and airships.
It is generally accepted that the first use of anti-aircraft weapons took place during the war of the so-called First Coalition (90s of the 18th century). We are talking about the anti-French coalition. Historical notes contain documents describing the shelling of a French observation balloon from the ground. The shelling was carried out by the Austrians from artillery guns - from mortars with a maximum elevation angle of the barrel. The historical document describes the events as follows:
There was a decent shortage of nuclei, but the shelling forced the French balloon to leave the airspace over the battlefield.
He was simply pulled back with ropes, after which the ball landed. This historical event is described by an engraving:
An interesting fact is that two years later the Austrian "anti-aircraft" artillery shot down a French balloon near the Charleroi fortress, which at that time belonged to the Dutch. The balloon belonged to the then existing French aeronautical company.
The first massive threat of the use of aircraft manifested itself during the First World War. It was then that not only balloons and airships, but also airplanes began to work actively against ground positions (including reconnaissance). Moreover, they worked in the deep rear.
Historians know the approximate ratio of the availability of aircraft in countries that participated in the First World War. By its beginning, the leading European states had the following number of airplane fleets:
France - 500, Germany - 150, Russia - 140, England - 65, Italy - 50, Austria-Hungary - 20.
As you can see, the anti-German coalition had a significant advantage, including at the expense of hundreds of French aircraft. Another question is how effectively these French airplanes were used …
Here it is necessary to note such an important point as the practical experience of using aeronautics during the war with Japan in 1904-1905. In particular, aeronautics were then used in the defense of Port Arthur.
Two years after the end of the Russo-Japanese War, the command of the Artillery Committee decides to develop measures to combat controlled balloons. After a while, an actually key principle for the operation of all air defense systems was proposed - to hit the target not necessarily with a direct hit from a fired ammunition, since this is an extremely difficult task, it is enough to create ammunition that would explode in the target's engagement zone. This option was proposed by the military engineer of the Russian imperial army N. V. Gerasimov, who eventually designed a gyroscopic rocket, but during the tests, the ammunition revealed a number of shortcomings, including shortcomings in performance characteristics.
Modern air defense systems of Russia are becoming a real guarantee that the threat from the air is minimized. For the S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile systems, there is literally a line of customers who appreciate the effectiveness of these Russian weapons. China, Turkey, India, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan.
Deputy Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Lieutenant General Viktor Gumenny, notes the effectiveness of Russian anti-aircraft missile systems in Syria. From his interview with the departmental newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda, in which he noted that thanks to air defense systems, Moscow and Damascus know about "every step" of the American coalition:
We receive from the forces of the Syrian air defense point all the necessary information about the air situation, including the actions of our and Syrian aviation in the performance of the combat missions assigned to them. Thanks to the well-established interaction, we know about every step of the coalition aviation over the territory of Syria and we inform the military-political leadership of our country about it.
Other air defense and missile defense systems also contribute to the security of Russia and other countries of the world. In particular, we can recall the transfer of the S-300 air defense system to Iran.
On the way is the promising S-500 system, the parameters of which are already interested in foreign "partners".
However, air defense is by no means only technology. These are, first of all, people who can create such equipment, and people who can effectively use it to protect the country's air borders. And it is these people who have a professional holiday today.
Voennoye Obozreniye congratulates all those involved with the Day of the Air Defense Forces of Russia!
