Faster, higher, stronger - this Olympic motto may well be applied to the Russian Air Force, which celebrates their professional holiday on August 12. It is celebrated on the basis of the decree of the President of the Russian Federation "On the establishment of the Day of the Air Force" No. 949 of August 29, 1997. The August date with minor calendar changes can be considered the "successor" of the USSR Aviation Day.
On this day, back in 1912, the Russian emperor Nicholas II, by his decree, formed the first military aviation unit in Russia, which was subordinate to the General Staff. The Imperial Air Force (1910-1917) was considered one of the finest navies in the world, and for good reason. Equipment, professionalism of pilots, effective training system. After the October Revolution, everything had to start virtually from scratch.
The Great Patriotic War dealt a serious blow to the country's air force. Due to the sudden attack of the Nazis (at least, official reports are reporting about the surprise) on our country in June 1941, more than 2 thousand aircraft were destroyed - many simply burned down at the base airfields. The Soviet military aviation fleet was actually bled out.
Despite heavy losses, Soviet front-line aviation managed to maintain its combat capability. In a short time, it was possible to establish mass production of aircraft. By the middle of the summer of 1943, Russian aviation had firmly won strategic air supremacy (photo 2). Before that, back in 1941, with significant problems with technical equipment, Soviet pilots were sent from the territory of the Baltic States to strike at Berlin. For the Nazis, those Soviet raids were a real shock. And even if they did not lead to significant damage, they had an important psychological effect for all aviation and not only.
During the war years, the Soviet Air Force flew about 3,100 sorties and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy in manpower and equipment. In air battles and at airfields, 57,000 enemy aircraft were destroyed. These are really impressive numbers.
During the war, Soviet pilots used over 600 air rams and about 500 "fire" rams. Air battles from group battles often developed into air battles with the participation of large aviation forces. Over 200 thousand pilots were awarded orders and medals of the USSR for the successful completion of combat missions of the command, for their courage and courage.
After the end of the war, the Soviet government decided to modernize the Air Force. So, in the post-war period, there was a transition from piston aviation to jet aviation, the organizational structure of units and formations was updated. And here one cannot but express gratitude to the outstanding Soviet designers who forged the success of aviation.
The collapse of the USSR made its own sad adjustments to the development of aviation. More precisely, there was no talk of any development in the 90s. They began to cut - cut on the living. However, the trend was reversed. How much work and money it cost, so far no expert will give accurate estimates.
In 2015, in accordance with the decree of the President of Russia, the Air Force was combined with the Aerospace Defense Forces and formed a new type of troops - the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation (VKS RF).
The official reason for the creation of the Aerospace Forces was announced by the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu: “The formation of the Aerospace Forces by combining the Air Force and the Aerospace Defense Forces is the best option for improving the country's aerospace defense system. This allows, first of all, to concentrate in one hands all responsibility for the formation of military-technical policy for the development of troops solving tasks in the aerospace sphere, secondly, due to closer integration, to increase the efficiency of their use, and thirdly, to ensure progressive development of the country's aerospace defense system”.
The Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation have already proved their high efficiency in practice, on September 30, 2015, the Aerospace Forces began performing combat missions as part of the Russian military operation in Syria.
Russia was able to ensure a successful operation in such a remote theater of operations, and most importantly, to provide itself with the necessary logistics. The Syrian authorities say that it was Russian aviation that made it possible to turn the tide of hostilities in Syria, over which the threat of a repetition of the Libyan scenario loomed.
The combat operations were carried out in the format of air strikes and air reconnaissance. During the operation, the latest multifunctional fighters were used, such as the Su-30SM, Su-35S, Su-34 front-line bombers, the Tu-160 and Tu-95MS strategic aviation vehicles were used for the first time, which launched the latest Kh-555 and X cruise missiles. -101 for terrorist targets.
The round-the-clock combat regime and the high rate of strikes came as a surprise to outside observers and experts, not to mention the terrorists themselves.
NATO analysts assess the conduct of military operations of the Aerospace Forces in Syria as highly effective - thanks to the skill of the pilots and the capabilities of Russian aircraft. Many servicemen have received high awards. Unfortunately, a number of pilots were posthumously. In March 2016, part of the air group was withdrawn from the deployment site in connection with the fulfillment of the assigned tasks, however, today the aircraft and the Russian Aerospace Forces continue to speak their weighty word in the fight against terrorism in the SAR.
Today the Russian military aviation carries out defense, strategic and reconnaissance tasks. The Russian Air Force includes long-range, front-line, military transport and army aviation. Weapons and military equipment are being updated in a timely manner.
“More than 100 units of the latest aviation equipment will enter the Russian air units in 2017,” said Viktor Bondarev, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces.
Within the framework of the State Armaments Program (2011-2020), it is planned to purchase more than 600 aircraft and 1,100 helicopters for all types of the Armed Forces, and so far this program has been consistently implemented in its aviation unit.
Winged defenders of the Fatherland, engineers and designers, technicians and workers of the aviation industry have always been the embodiment of courage, talent and hard work. The names of the best of them have become national and world heritage.
The Air Force is among the elite troops in Russia - by right! Happy holidays, aviation!
