On January 21, military personnel and employees of the engineering troops celebrate their professional holiday. Engineering troops are an arm of troops (special troops) of the RF Armed Forces, which are intended for engineering support: equipping the territory of military (combat) operations, escorting troops in an offensive, engineering reconnaissance and other tasks. The engineering troops include command and control bodies, enterprises, institutions, engineers and sappers, pontoon, road engineering and other formations, military units and subunits. Very soon, the ranks of the engineering troops will be replenished with "shock" units.
The day of the engineer troops was established on the basis of the order of the President of the Russian Federation Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin of September 18, 1996. This memorable date was set taking into account the contribution to the development of the defense potential of Russia, which was made by the engineering troops, and also as a tribute to historical traditions. Military engineering and military architecture existed even in the days of Ancient Russia, but engineering troops received systematic development only after the formation of a regular army during the reign of Peter I.
Already in 1692 and 1694, under the leadership of Peter I, most likely the first engineering training exercises took place in the country, during which the construction of various defensive structures was being worked out. It is known that at that time, when developing engineering measures, the emperor used the work of the most famous engineer at that time - Marshal of France Vauban. While forming regular armed forces in Russia, Peter I tried to pay special attention to the development of artillery and engineering troops. The first legislative act, which dealt directly with military engineering, was the decree of Peter I of January 21, 1701 on the opening of the Pushkar Prikaz School. The Pushkarsky Prikaz school became the first artillery, engineering and naval school in our country, the historical forerunner of the entire modern system of engineering and technical education in Russia. And the day of January 21 is celebrated today as the Day of the Engineering Troops.
Russian Engineering Troops flag (since 2005)
In 1712, Peter I ordered to separate the engineering school from the school of the Pushkarsk order and expand it. In 1719, by an imperial decree, the St. Petersburg School of Engineering was formed, to which the Moscow School joined after 4 years. In a combined form, they began to train non-commissioned and chief officers for the engineering troops. Subsequently, the engineering troops took part in all significant wars waged by Russia. They stood guard over our country. Courage, courage and the accumulated knowledge of military engineers to a large extent contributed to the successful conduct of hostilities in the Patriotic War of 1812. Military engineers played an important role in the defense of Sevastopol (1854-1855) and during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), as well as in two world wars.
Fighters and commanders of engineering troops especially distinguished themselves during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. For the feats performed on the battlefields, more than 100 thousand servicemen of the engineering troops were presented with orders and medals, about 700 of them were awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union, 294 military engineers became full holders of the Order of Glory.
Today, engineering troops are special troops designed to solve the most complex tasks of engineering support for combined arms operations (including combat operations), which require special training of personnel and the use of various engineering weapons, as well as inflicting losses on the enemy using engineering ammunition. Organizationally, the engineering troops of Russia consist of units, formations and subunits for various purposes: engineering and reconnaissance, engineering and reconnaissance, engineering and road, engineering, engineering, camouflage, pontoon-bridge (pontoon), airborne, field water supply, assault and others.
In the preparation and conduct of combined arms operations (combat operations), the engineering troops are entrusted with a number of main tasks:
- conducting engineering reconnaissance of the terrain, objects and the enemy;
- erection of various fortifications (trenches, trenches and communication routes, shelters, shelters, dugouts and other objects), the device of field structures intended for the deployment of troops (economic, residential, medical);
- creation of engineering barriers, including the installation of minefields, equipment on the terrain of non-explosive barriers (escarps, counter-escarps, anti-tank ditches, gaps, etc.), blasting operations;
- carrying out demining of terrain and objects;
- preparation and maintenance of routes for the movement of their troops;
- arrangement and maintenance of crossings on various water obstacles, including the construction of bridges;
- extraction and purification of water in the field.
And these are not all the tasks that the engineering troops have to solve today. They also take part in countering the enemy's reconnaissance and weapon guidance systems (camouflage), simulating troop and object concentrations on the ground, in providing disinformation and demonstrative actions aimed at deceiving the enemy. Among other things, engineering units must take part in eliminating the consequences of the use of weapons of mass destruction by the enemy.
In peacetime, the Engineering Troops of the RF Armed Forces also perform a number of very important socially significant tasks. They are used to clean the area from all kinds of explosive objects, take part in eliminating the consequences of natural disasters and man-made accidents and catastrophes, prevent the destruction of various hydraulic structures and bridges during ice drifts and solve many other equally important tasks.
The engineering troops, like all the armed forces of the Russian Federation, do not stand still, they try to meet the challenges of the time and are constantly developing. By the end of 2018, "shock" sapper units will appear in the Russian army. They will be created in all regiments and brigades of the engineering troops of the RF Armed Forces. On Friday, January 19, the chief of the engineering troops, Lieutenant-General Yuri Stavitsky, told reporters about this. In an interview with the Izvestia newspaper, he noted that at present the engineering-assault, engineering-reconnaissance units and special mining units are being prepared for use. The Lieutenant General noted that, according to calculations, by the end of 2018, the brigades and regiments will have one "shock" unit.
According to Stavitsky, with the appearance of such units, "a radical revision of the tactics of using troops will not happen, but the quality of engineering support will change, and the speed of performing such tasks will also increase, which is very important in the conditions of modern wars." According to the general, one of the most important qualities of engineering and assault units is their versatility - from specific engineering tasks, demining objects and terrain to direct fire suppression of enemy resistance at any even fortified firing point.
Robotic demining complex "Uran-6"
During the period from 2012 to 2017, 19 units of engineering units and organizations were formed in Russia. In addition, four military units were reassigned to the Chief of Engineering Troops of the RF Armed Forces, and two federal budgetary institutions were formed. The formation of army engineer regiments in the Russian army, which began in 2013, continues. It is planned to complete the process of their formation by 2021. At the same time, the newly formed engineer regiment joined the 2nd Combined Arms Army of the Central Military District in 2017. The regiment was formed in Udmurtia in the village of Kizner, earlier it housed a military unit for the safe storage and disposal of chemical weapons. At the end of September 2017, the chemical weapons elimination program was officially completed.
Also, the ranks of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation were replenished with the engineering and camouflage regiment of central subordination, formed in 2017, the main purpose of which is to increase the possibilities of hiding and imitating important objects and areas. Two months after its creation, the new regiment was already taking part in special exercises of the engineering troops, which took place as part of the large exercises "West-2017", while receiving high marks for its actions.
It is impossible to imagine modern engineering troops without new technology, often robotic. According to Yuri Stavitsky, in 2017, 18 modern weapons were adopted for the armament and supply of the engineering troops. In particular, the development of promising engineering weapons has been organized: a multifunctional robotic complex for demining anti-tank mines, an induction mine detector, a capacitor explosive device, group and individual sources of electricity and other means that are designed to improve the efficiency of special tasks.
Already in 2018, it is planned to adopt the "Uran-6" robot-sapper, as well as the "Sphere" and "Scarab" systems, which were tested in combat conditions during the operation in Syria, into service with the engineering troops. The experience gained in Syria was taken into account, it will be used in the future for the training of officers of the engineering troops, the general noted. Engineering troops are replenished with new combat vehicles, for example, equipment for overcoming and destroying obstacles.
Units are replenished with engineering barrage vehicles, wheeled vehicles for various purposes, armored bulldozers, heavy mechanized bridges, and modern means of overcoming water obstacles. High-tech modern facilities for field water supply of troops are important innovations, engineering units are being replenished with mobile drilling rigs, water conservation complexes and integrated treatment plants. New means of mechanization of earthworks are also coming in: military excavators and front-line loaders and many other special equipment, without which the work of military engineers is impossible.
On the Day of the Engineering Forces, the Military Review team congratulates all active soldiers and officers of the Engineering Forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, as well as veterans and all citizens involved in this branch of the military, on their professional holiday.
