The birthday of the RKhBZ troops is considered November 13, 1918, when the Chemical Service of the Red Army was created by order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic No. 220. By the end of the 1920s, chemical units were present in all rifle and cavalry divisions and brigades.
But in fact, chemical troops, as they were then called, first appeared during the First World War, when poisonous substances and flamethrowers were used.
Chemical troops carried out gas attacks, gas-cannon shelling and flamethrowing. By the end of 1916, the Russian Imperial Army already consisted of 15 chemical units (companies), which operated in 1915-1918.
In the period between the 1st and 2nd world wars, the armament of the chemical forces developed rapidly: the subunits and military units received portable flamethrowers of various designs, mortars, rocket launchers and chemical ammunition for them. Flamethrower tanks and special vehicles appeared.
During the Great Patriotic War, the chemical troops included: technical brigades (for setting up smoke and camouflaging large objects), brigades, battalions and companies of anti-chemical protection, flamethrower battalions and companies.
During the war, the Soviet chemical troops maintained a high readiness of the anti-chemical protection of army units and formations in case the enemy used chemical weapons, destroyed the enemy with flamethrowers and carried out smoke camouflage of the troops.
For military merits during the Great Patriotic War, 17 battalions and 13 companies of knapsack flamethrowers, 25 battalions of high-explosive flamethrowers, 18 battalions of anti-chemical protection were awarded orders. 40 military units of the chemical troops received honorary titles.
28 servicemen were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, thousands were awarded orders and medals.
With the advent of nuclear and biological weapons, the scope of the tasks of the chemical forces increased sharply and began to include also protection against radioactive and bacterial agents.
At the same time, the RChBZ troops began their formation as dual-use troops. Environmental disasters in the modern world have become a reality, and their consequences are quite comparable to the use of weapons of mass destruction.
At present, the definition of the main purpose of the Russian Chechen Defense Forces is the organization of the protection of troops and forces, the population and objects of the rear from radiation, chemical and biological hazards, both in peacetime and in wartime.
In April-October 1986, 10 regiments and battalions of the RHBZ of the USSR Armed Forces took part in the decontamination and construction of the "Sarcophagus" over the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Today, specialists from the RChBZ troops successfully apply skills and abilities in emergencies such as the outbreak of anthrax in 2016 in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
In 1992, the chemical troops in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation were renamed the RChBZ troops (radiation, chemical and biological protection).
The RChBZ troops of the Russian Armed Forces include units and subdivisions of notches, radiation and chemical reconnaissance, radiation, chemical and biological protection, aerosol countermeasures, flamethrowers, degassing of uniforms and equipment, repair of weapons and means of radiation, chemical and biological protection, computational and analytical station.
The equipment and armament of the RChBZ units have automated control systems, and special-purpose robotic systems, including unmanned aerial vehicles, and remote RChB reconnaissance systems. All this helps to minimize human participation in work and allows not only to reduce the probability of errors to almost zero, but also to protect the life and health of servicemen.
Recently, new developments have been received by the RChBZ troops, we wrote about some of them in detail on our pages. This is a modern reconnaissance and analysis machine RHM-6, a powerful TDA-3 smoke screen.
Do not forget about the "Solntsepek" and "Buratino", which are also one of the weapons of the RChBZ.
Officers for the troops are trained at the Military Academy of Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defense named after Marshal of the Soviet Union Timoshenko in Kostroma.
Happy holiday to all fighters with an invisible, but nevertheless very formidable enemy!
Happy Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defense Troops Day!
