The North Caucasus is a troubled region. The hotbeds of hostilities have flared up here many times, and the attacks of the militants have not stopped in recent years. The local nature of clashes, the transience and maneuverability of the battle require surgical precision when striking disparate groups of bandits. In such conditions, in order to perform tactical tasks, the operational data of aviation reconnaissance can solve, and sometimes even predetermine the outcome of the battle itself.
INTELLIGENCE ACES
The aviation reconnaissance squadron of Lieutenant Colonel Andrei Uvarov, stationed in the North Caucasian Military District, had to prove the necessity of its mission more than once in business. The registration of the Su-24MR tactical reconnaissance aircraft largely predetermined the modern combat path of the separate reconnaissance aviation Vitebsk Red Banner, the Order of Kutuzov regiment. Today the air squadron, into which the famous aviation unit was transformed, is included in the Morozov air base.
However, the pilots have not forgotten that they are the successors of the traditions of such an illustrious unit. The servicemen of the regiment, formed in the summer of 1942, took part in the Rzhev-Vyazemskaya, Velikolukskaya, Dukhovsko-Demidovskaya and Smolensk-Roslavl offensive operations. In all armed conflicts that fell to the share of the North Caucasus region, air reconnaissance officers took an active part. Aviators worked for special forces, paratroopers, and gunners.
Unfortunately, there were some losses. In the spring of 1999, the squadron commander, Lieutenant Colonel Anatoly Kovalenko, and the squadron's assistant navigator, Major Andrei Malkerov, did not return from the flight. In October of the same year, a MANPADS missile shot down the car of the flight commander, Major Konstantin Stukalo - the pilot was killed. And the next year, another crew did not return from a combat mission - flight commander Major Yuri Kazakov and flight navigator Captain Yevgeny Kurdyukov died while performing a reconnaissance flight in the mountains of Chechnya - near the village of Benoi-Vedeno. Another serviceman of the regiment, senior warrant officer Sergei Perchenko, died in 2002 when an Mi-8 helicopter with a rescue paratrooper group on board crashed during search and rescue operations in the Khankala region.
Su-24MR tactical scouts were also actively involved during the operation to force Georgia to peace. This time, before starting to monitor the enemy's actions from above, the reconnaissance aircraft had to open their air defense system. The risk is undoubtedly enormous. But, fortunately, luck was on the side of our pilots.
- Of course, we took into account the experience of the two Caucasian campaigns. When, for example, we went to the necessary object, we performed all the tasks from the first call, - explains the "luck" of his colleagues, the squadron's reconnaissance chief, Captain Alexei Bykov.
There is another important reason that, while carrying out tasks to restore peace and stability in the zone of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict, the reconnaissance aircraft did not lose a single aircraft and not a single serviceman. In the so-called five-day war, the Su-24MRs were armed with a more modern reconnaissance complex.
A few years ago, the most experienced crews climbed into the sky most often. Now there is an opportunity to fly a lot for young officers.
- The emphasis today is on combat training. Fuel for flights is allocated in the required volumes, - says the squadron commander, Lieutenant Colonel Andrei Uvarov.
The total flight time in the squadron has more than doubled compared to last year. The pilots who have recently come to the unit already have a class: five pilots passed to the 3rd class, the same number are ready to take to the 2nd class and four will pass to the 1st. As experienced pilots note, quite recently, very few could boast of such solid raid rates - as a rule, instructor pilots. Now this is the general norm. Today, 14-15 flight shifts per month have become commonplace.
Pilot training proceeds traditionally: from simple to complex. Young people have already successfully mastered flying during the day in simple weather conditions - now they have to work out the tasks of combat use at night. In the middle of summer, the squadron held a tactical flight exercise, in which all aircraft and 80 percent of the crews were involved. It is significant that not only "old men" flew out to carry out combat training missions. The crew of Lieutenants Igor Korolev and Artyom Pakhomov, along with more mature tandems, successfully coped with the detection and photographing of a small target, moreover, following a previously unknown route.
- The training of pilot-instructors has also intensified. The entire command staff of the squadron has permission to work as instructors, - emphasizes the lieutenant colonel Shumkarali Gaparov.
Pilots-instructors majors Vyacheslav Podchasov, Igor Kukartsev and Sergei Filya bear the main burden of improving the flight skills of the pilots of the air reconnaissance squadron.
However, the engineering and technical staff have no less work: Majors Rauf Mamedov, Yuri Babka, Sergei Gritsuk, captains Alexander Usov and Ruslan Maznichenko, senior warrant officer Sergei Shumilov and sergeant Andrei Pinkin. It takes a lot of work on the ground for planes to safely take to the sky.
A number of positions of aerodrome technical support have recently been staffed with conscripts, but the necessary specialists from the "civilian" are not yet in the proper quantity. Even the positions of drivers are sometimes sent to conscripts who do not have not only driving experience, but also the right to drive a car. Therefore, some specialists have to work for two. As, for example, the driver of the ATO company Viktor Shabolkin. Similar situations in other services. Several non-staff positions were assigned to the head of the electronic warfare service, senior lieutenant Andrei Fedotov, and the commander of the security platoon, senior lieutenant Vladislav Godliauskas. However, they are not the only ones from among the military and civilian personnel who are conscientious about their duties: Alexey Vasiliev, Pavel Kidyaev, Viktor Privalov, Evgeny Ivanov, Mikhail Perfilyev, Igor Proniv, Natalya Tuzhilkina, Natalya Bortnikova and many others. The deputy squadron commander for educational work, Lieutenant Colonel Igor Yerkhin, gives new names. His colleagues love and value their profession, are truly dedicated to their work, and want to continue to do it. In aviation, people who are infinitely in love with the sky are still serving.
