How the Baltic Fleet fighter aircraft was destroyed
… How often we are convinced of the validity of the Russian folk proverb: "The less you know, the harder you sleep." Especially when we find out THAT, from which sleep disappears altogether. Completely.
There has been a lot of talk in the Russian press and on TV lately about NATO's eastward movement. Hurray-patriotic slogans are being heard ("The Motherland is in danger!" But … REALLY need to talk about something else: about what terrible and, obviously, irreversible processes are taking place in OUR Armed Forces.
This topic is dangerous. And our interlocutor is Guard Colonel Shekurov, commander of the famous 689th Guards, Sandomierz, Order of Alexander Nevsky Fighter Aviation Regiment named after A. I. Pokryshkin, takes a big risk: military secret is a very loose concept. And if they wish, the Russian generals can declare even a simple mention on the pages of the newspaper that such a regiment exists … and is based in our Kaliningrad region (although it would be more correct to use these verbs in the past tense). But Shekurov has no other choice. Rather, he was not left with any other way out. The regiment he commanded is virtually destroyed. And not by some external enemy, and not as a result of a natural disaster or a man-made disaster. The regiment was destroyed by the leadership - from the commander of the Baltic Fleet, who was in charge of this military unit, to the chief of the General Staff and the Minister of Defense. Sounds monstrous. But Colonel Shekurov makes arguments that cannot be simply dismissed.
… Valery Borisovich Shekurov has been in the Armed Forces since October 31, 1971. Graduated from the Armavir Higher Military Aviation School for Air Defense Pilots (fighter aircraft). He served for eight years in the Leningrad Military District. He graduated from the Academy of the General Staff of the Polish Army in Warsaw and in 1988 was sent to the village. Nivenskoye of the Kaliningrad region - squadron commander in the famous Pokryshkinsky regiment. Since 1998 - regiment commander.
Shekurov is a sniper pilot (the highest level of flying skills, there are one or two of them in the regiment). He has fifty-two years of service - at the age of fifty. He flew on L-29, MIG-15, MIG-17, SU-9, SU-7, MIG-23 (four modifications), SU-27 (the most modern fighter in the Russian army - an aircraft that has no equal in the world).
On January 15, 1998, Shekurov and two other fighter pilots intercepted and forced an intruder aircraft piloted by an English crew to land at the Khrabrovo airfield …
Over the years of service, Shekurov received about fifty incentives (only included in his personal file) and not a single penalty (not counting those imposed immediately before dismissal - but more on that later). Valery Borisovich's son is also a pilot, a captain, serves in the same regiment, but … does not fly.
Why?
- It happens that pilots are promoted to majors and do not fly. The planes have no resource …
What does it mean?
- … Once a pilot flew on average 110-120 hours a year. It took 10-12 hours a month. Considering that a training flight is 30-35 minutes, it means that there were about thirty flights a month. We flew five times a week. Day, night, in various meteorological conditions. In addition, the pilots took up combat duty to guard the border (and then - it happened - made up to thirty sorties a day). I was appointed commander of the regiment in 1998. Not the best time, but the pilots were still taking off.
The regiment is the only one in Russia with such glorious military and historical traditions. It was formed in 1939, for the period from June 22, 1941 to May 10, 1945, the regiment's pilots performed 13,684 sorties, carried out 937 air battles, and shot down 618 enemy aircraft. Only one legendary Pokryshkin, an ace pilot, three times Hero of the Soviet Union personally destroyed fifty-nine enemy fighters … One can talk about the history of the regiment for a long time …
(As well as about the present … The SU-27, which was in service with the regiment, is a unique aircraft, perhaps the best in world aviation, the dream of pilots of all generations. altitudes from 20-30 meters above the ground - up to 20 km. It is armed with 10 air-to-air missiles - they are capable of reaching the enemy at a distance of one hundred kilometers. In addition, the SU-27 has a large-caliber cannon with a good aiming system, can hit ground But the main task of the SU-27 is air combat. It can shoot down even cruise missiles. The maximum speed of the SU-27 reaches 2500 km / h. The flight range is up to 4,000 km, from Kaliningrad the plane easily gets England and returns to its airfield. In Russia, no more than ten regiments are armed with the SU-27. Its main opponents in our "near abroad" are the same F-16, which appeared in Lithuania, and MIGs in Poland.
But all of them are inferior to "drying" in terms of technical characteristics. And in the Pokyshkinsky regiment, which in the best time had four dozen aircraft (3 squadrons), out of 63 pilots - 58 were of the 1st class.
Over the past 16 years, no one has died in the regiment. The last loss was on August 29, 1988. After takeoff, the turbine blades of one engine came off the plane and pierced the fuel tank. A fire broke out. The pilots could have ejected, but then the plane would have fallen on the village of Vladimirovo. They managed to turn away from the settlement and fell nearby, on the field … The crew was posthumously awarded orders, - approx. auth.)
Why do planes fly so rarely today? On the May holidays, I spent two weeks in Chkalovsk, and, to be honest, I have never seen at least one plane take off during this time …
- Since May 5, I have been excluded from the lists of the unit … Generally speaking, the main problem is the exhausted resource of the engines. In September 1998, after being appointed commander of the regiment, during my own vacation, I went to Moscow, to the Salyut plant, to solve the problem with the repair of aircraft engines. A brigade was then sent to the regiment, which extended the life of 13 engines. And a year later, in honor of the 60th anniversary of the regiment, on behalf of Moscow Mayor Luzhkov, we were presented with 4 more engines with a large resource. That is, more than half of the aircraft managed to extend their life.
There was also a very good prospect: it was possible to donate to the plant engines that could no longer be used in airfield conditions and they are dead weight in warehouses. Instead, the plant offered us to repair more than 20 engines per year. Absolutely free. There was a second option: repair of another 20 engines - with payment in installments for more than eight years. By the way, this agreement is still relevant today …
That is, the shameful situation when today the whole regiment flies in a year as much as before - one pilot, could it be quite possible to fix it?
- I don't know where you got this information from … But the possibility of organizing intensive flights existed several years ago.
And this is generally the task of the regiment commander - to travel to Moscow, to solve problems with engines?.. Who is your regiment under direct command of?
- This is not the task of the regiment commander. We are directly subordinate to the Chief of the Air Force and Air Defense of the Baltic Fleet. There is an aviation headquarters on Sovetsky Prospekt in Kaliningrad, there are many offices … But my proposals were not implemented.
Who did you contact?
- It's easier to say who I did NOT address. And to the factories … And to the aviation commander - first to General Novikov, then to Sokerin, who replaced him, to the commander of the Baltic Fleet - both Yegorov and Valuev, to the commander of the naval aviation of the Russian Navy, Lieutenant General Fedin, to the commander-in-chief of the Navy, Admiral Kuroyedov (and about the engines, and about the regiment's redeployment to an airfield not adapted for the SU-27), and to the Chief of the General Staff, General of the Army Kvashnin (on issues of preserving the regiment), and to President Putin - three times … Wherever I wrote, answers came, as we jokingly say, from the "next office" - and at best from the aviation headquarters of the Russian Navy … But as soon as I reported to Admiral Kuroedov about the real state of affairs (December 18, 2003), I immediately received a proposal for dismissal. Instantly.
The questions, therefore, have not been resolved. Does this mean that today most of the regiment's planes cannot even take off?
- No comments.
You say that you appealed to the Chief of the General Staff Kvashnin about the preservation of the regiment. What does it mean?
- In October 2001, General of the Army Kvashnin signed, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Kuroyedov and the Commander of the Baltic Fleet, Admiral Valuev, ordered to execute the directive according to which our Guards Fighter Regiment was to be reduced and turned into the 143rd Fighter Aviation Squadron without historical names and the name of Pokryshkin.
In fact, this meant the elimination of the famous Pokyshkinsky regiment.
According to the same directive, you were ordered to relocate from Nivenskoye to the airfield in Chkalovsk?
- No comments.
And what was supposed to do with the downsized pilots?
- This is not written in the directive. But after these events, 19 1st class pilots decided to stop their flying activities …
How much does it cost for the budget to train one 1st class pilot?
- More than $ 30 million. And this is still at Soviet rates. On the western side it is much more expensive. Judge for yourself: when I entered the Armavir Flight School, out of 2500 people who passed the medical commission and received a referral to the entrance exams, about 350 were enrolled. That is, one of the twelve already selected. And about 200 graduated.
In reality - one of a hundred youths of military age. And it is still unknown what kind of pilot he will turn out to be. This is not even a piece, but a piece of jewelry. And when two dozen experienced pilots were shown at the door, consider that the losses amounted to more than half a billion dollars in monetary terms alone. And the losses from the point of view of defense capability cannot be estimated at all!
That is, we can say that the directive of the General Staff is the fifth column, a stab in the back … And now the border of Russia is bare, the sky in the West of Russia is left without protection …
- No comments. I can only say one thing: when the chairman of the Council of Veterans of the 9th Fighter Division, Colonel Maslov, a front-line soldier, learned about this directive, about how many pilots we had lost, he said: “We had such losses only in 1943, in the skies over the Kuban, when we broke the back of the Fritz. This is a real sabotage …"
In the thirties, the command would have been shot for such a decision. In full force … But now are different times. How did events develop further?
- The airfield in Nivenskoye, from which we were transferred to Chkalovsk, is modern, 1st class. The runway is three-layer concrete, special airfield slabs, the price of each is more than $ 300, and there are thousands and thousands of them. Under the Germans, there was a Luftwaffe airfield there. Perfectly equipped: deep drainage, well-laid cables, well-thought-out access roads. (Marshal Goering himself once sat in the office of the current regiment commander, - editor's note.) After the war, the airfield was modernized taking into account the border specifics. After Israel destroyed all Arab aircraft at Egyptian airfields during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, expensive concrete shelters appeared at our border airfields. The airfield has heated caponiers, rooms for technical and flight personnel, fuel storage and weapons depots, roads, a railway line, electrical substations, etc. etc. According to my estimates, the cost of the object is about $ 1,000,000,000.
Who needs it?
- You know, it is not customary to ask questions in the army. In the army, you must obey orders.
- You did not have a thought: is this order not criminal?
- No comments. I know that representatives of many private companies were interested in the airfield in order to lease it for 49 years and use it for commercial transportation … But now it is actually given over to looting. If you take a few photos there at sunset, and then ask "Where is it?" - most likely they will answer you: "In Chechnya."
And what is the airfield in Chkalovsk?
- There the concrete strip is slightly wider and slightly longer than in Nivenskoye. Previously, a naval aviation regiment was based there, but it was disbanded. And for six years this whole economy was abandoned. Homeless people plundered everything there to the core. The strip is unkempt and requires major repairs. It is extremely difficult to restore - in my opinion, it is cheaper to build a new one.
Here are just two examples: on October 16, 2002, at the Nivenskoye airfield, we detained Colonel Daniel Eagle, an American air attaché, and with him two state majors. They explained (and provided documents) that the purpose of their arrival was to prepare for Bush's visit. In Kaliningrad, a meeting of the US President with Putin was supposed to discuss the expansion of NATO and the Schengen area.
So, according to Igla, the Niven airfield is the best in the Kaliningrad region … When Igla and his satellites were handed over to the representative of the Baltic Fleet command, he accompanied them to Chkalovsk the next day. As a result, the meeting of the two presidents took place in St. Petersburg. American specialists were not satisfied with the state of the airfield in Chkalovsk.
And further. In the summer of 2003, you remember, Vladimir Putin's presidential IL-96 landed in Chkalovsk. A few days later, we received a telegram from the state transport company: "Upon arrival from Kaliningrad (Chkalovsk) IL-96 REG / RA 96012 to Vnukovo, during the post-flight inspection, blades were found. items ".
… The third engine of the presidential airliner was damaged due to the ingress of runway decay products.
(I was taught to drive at this abandoned airfield - even before the redeployment of the Zaki regiment - the landscape there is really infernal. Potholes, bumps, tall and hard grass making its way between the slabs, crumbled concrete posed a danger even for a car - not to mention an aircraft engine, which, at the time of takeoff, sucks in pieces of concrete, garbage and other rubbish, like a vacuum cleaner - approx.aut.)
And ten days before that, the SU-27 engine was disabled (about 30 million rubles of damage). The plane was piloted by the chairman of the state commission Hero of Russia, Colonel Kozhin, who hosted the airfield … Then the engines "flew" three more times. Three were corrected, the fourth was taken out of service.
Within eight months, the commission "accepted" the airfield five or six times - and each time serious defects surfaced … Therefore, Lieutenant Colonel Reshetov, the full-time flight director, refused to take aircraft to the unprepared airfield in Chkalovsk.
- He considered it a crime?
- Reshetov filed a letter of resignation, but did not land the planes - even under pressure from the BF aviation commander, General Sakerin … Then the command found another way out.
(According to the newspaper's editorial office, some of the "dryers" were transported to Chkalovsk in disassembled form. With the wings, tail, stabilizers, etc. removed. By car, by trailer, by road. In this way, almost two-thirds of the aircraft of the Pokryshkinsky regiment were dragged to Chkalovsk. Caravans of four or five "cigars" were often seen on July 2002 nights. There was even a broadcast on local television. And all and sundry were taking pictures of these "movements". Including German tourists. Who frankly laughed when they saw our military planes being dragged by their trunks - approx. auth.)
But, as far as we know, the SU-27 cannot be assembled by hand? "Zaporozhets" - and it is better to repair it in a car service, and not with the help of a sledgehammer and such and such a mother. And an ultra-modern aircraft should be assembled only in the stationary conditions of the manufacturer. It turns out that our SU-27s have been out of order since 2002? Or, at least, they no longer correspond to their tactical and technical characteristics?
- No comments.
What is the cost of one plane?
- About $ 30,000,000.
That is, the losses have already approached two billion dollars? And the end-edge is not visible to them?
- There is one more aspect. In Nivenskoye, 1320 comfortable apartments remained, not counting about a hundred German houses designed for two families and a high-quality barracks fund. There is no housing for the pilots at the new place. In the future, the commander of the Baltic Fleet was promised 12 (!) Apartments, which will not be known when they will be built. People get to their new duty station either by public transport or by two (!) Garrison cars. Distance - 50 km. Under normal conditions, the journey takes 2, 5-3 hours … Previously, a pilot could get from Nivenskoye to the airfield in 12-15 minutes on alarm. And even faster. Another 10 minutes - and the whole regiment is in the air.
So now it takes 5-6 hours to raise a regiment? And this is real combat readiness?.. Does NATO know about all this?
- This is a provocative question.
But people are not blind … Satellites fly above us …
- When it all started, I began to turn to the management with reports - about bringing the airfield in accordance with the requirements of the governing documents, I asked for help from the command. It is my duty and obligation to preserve the regiment, equipment and personnel. I have not received exhaustive answers. I was just sent on vacation. Ahead of schedule. And then, while I was on vacation, they were given two severe reprimands. And later - four more. I was suspended from flights - and actually from the performance of official duties. I was unlawfully removed - which is confirmed by a court decision, where I was forced to apply. As a result, three penalties were removed immediately. But while I was on vacation, the planes were transferred first to Khrabrovo (for a month and a half), and then to Chkalovsk. At the same time, it was decided to resign eight leading pilots (practically the entire commanding staff of the regiment) - deputy regiment commanders, squadron commanders and their deputies.
If you meekly followed the order of the command, would you have the opportunity to transfer somewhere for a promotion and then get a general?
“That would be a betrayal of the regiment. I saw what all this would lead to: the Baltic Fleet would lose its aviation, and the country would lose its illustrious regiment with rich traditions and first-class officers. I went to Moscow four times, tried to keep the regiment …
- I have one conclusion: on the eve of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Baltic Fleet, its fighter aircraft was destroyed.
- No comments.
Now it is clear why the SU-27 performed very modest flights at the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Baltic Fleet …
- In 2000, when Putin came to the parade in Baltiysk, he was piloting an SU-27. Flight (four aircraft) and single. In the solitary unit there were Lieutenant Colonel Filippov, the senior navigator of the regiment, a sniper pilot - he performed aerobatics (now written off for health reasons), and - in the 2nd cockpit - me.
("SU-27" then made a passage below the upper decks of warships, above the water's edge. Putin said "Super!" And showed his thumb … And after three years everything was much more modest."SU-27" just flew by, without aerobatics. There was no one to fly already? - approx. ed.)
You know, the golden fund of Russian aviation has gathered in our regiment. International Foundation! Ossetians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Russians, Moldovans … The country collapsed, and the Soviet Union of fighter pilots survived and continued to exist. Masters, professionals … And so, when the regiment was relocated, the elite of Russian aviation was forced to do the work of soldiers of the support battalion … To my friend, a pilot, who has completed 200 sorties to escort a real enemy in neutral waters, some hard worker-repairman at the Chkalovsky airfield shouted: "Hey, lieutenant colonel, bring the battery here!" I mean, heating.
One pilot told me that Admiral Valuev in front of the formation generally said: "Everyone can fly, but you pull the grass on the runway!" Is this the relationship level?
- In Chkalovsk there was nowhere to hide - everything was in disarray, there was no water, no toilet …
(The pilots believe that more than one million dollars was paid to someone for destroying the Zakshkin regiment … Not to mention money laundering. It is known that in the "repair" of one and the same lane, you can hammer in a lot of money … In December 2002 Year Valuev removed about ten million rubles from the repair of the SU-27 - and transferred it “for other purposes.” The financier Major Zmushko was demoted by order of the admiral - in the opinion of many, because he did not sign the paper with an estimate that was overstated by 5.000.000 rubles … Zmushko knew a lot about the relationship between the command of the Baltic Fleet and the company "Business-RINA-2." Repair, double-glazed windows, etc.
The president of this company is Irina Nikolaevna, the daughter of a legal adviser of the Baltic Fleet Air Force - a friend of General Kulakov … Kulakov came from the Pskov region - and there was Business-Rina -1 … Kulakov was a deputy commander there, and then a regiment commander, was engaged in air transportation. On the passenger TU-134, he carried generals and admirals. He did not fly the SU-27. And on a fighter-bomber - too, - approx. ed.)
So, today the aviation headquarters, the aviation commander Kulakov, remained at the Baltic Fleet … but there is no combat aviation itself?
- No comments.
How many aircraft are on alert today?
- This issue is not subject to discussion in the press.
- But it is obvious that combat duty in its former form does not exist. There is no one and nothing to be on duty. It is enough to observe the Chkalovsk airfield - not from space, but simply from the road to Svetlogorsk …
- No comments.
- Do pilots have the opportunity to practice at least on a simulator plane?
- Unfortunately, the simulator is not working yet.
(We know that on October 1, 2003, during the transportation of the simulator, an electronic computer was damaged. It was accidentally dropped. A lot of money was spent on repairs, about 15 million rubles. But the simulator still does not work.. ed.)
That is, in reality today only the admiral's TU-134, which is at the disposal of Mr. Valuev, is in a normal state? In order for Valuev to fly to Moscow, the Chkalovsky airfield is quite suitable. We know that Valuev spent $ 60,000 on the interior decoration of his traveling plane alone …
- I am more worried about the state of the aircraft of my regiment.
With what wording were you fired?
- Upon reaching the age limit. Although I didn’t see the order of the Minister of Defense, I didn’t give up the job and the post. On May 11, 2004, I received a letter from General Kulakov, which said that by order of my deputy (!) I was excluded from the unit's lists. But I did not receive a calculation. And when I went to court, documents appeared there that it seems that I was not expelled now, but passed to the disposal of my deputy.
And the last thing. There was a Pokryshkin Museum in the regiment. Was he also relocated?
- In June 2002, the museum was dismantled and ceased to exist. The exhibits have been curtailed for almost two years now and are awaiting transportation to the Chkalovsky House of Officers. Although before the museum was visited monthly by students from 20-30 schools, boarding schools, orphanages.
(Alas, there is no room for the Pokryshkin Regiment Museum. Everything is leased for firms and shops, - ed.)
* * *
…That's all. They sailed. We flew off. Arctic fox kitten, roughly speaking. What Goering could not dream of in the sweetest dreams has happened. The Pokyshkinsky regiment was destroyed, the very memory of the legendary hero was destroyed - "piled up in a heap". And - we repeat - not by some external enemy (like the stars and stripes "Uncle Sam"), but by their own generals and admirals, who have piled up so much lately that ominous parallels arise with the 41st year of the last century. Then - albeit for other reasons - border fortifications were also dismantled, military equipment was cut, "staffs" of regular officers were reduced. And then the war, lost by the then generals, was won on the bones of the people.
Do we want repetition so much? Do we believe in "peace-friendship-chewing gum" with those who consider it their duty to totally "spread democracy"? Look at the photos of US warriors (there are plenty of them on the Internet): grinning at all thirty-two, they are filmed against the background of tortured, tortured Iraqi prisoners of war … and somehow they are not much different from the blond Nazis who were filmed against the background of hanged Russian partisans or shot civilians … Is it really not clear that the strong are respected in the world ?! And without modern aviation - and experienced pilots - we are not a world power, not an independent state … just a territory.
However … what are we talking about? All these matters are for us mere mortals. And the generals "made in Russia" think in very different categories. Others they "felt". (Although … if the collapse of the Zakshkinsky regiment has only an economic rationale, this is still half the trouble. It is worse if the airfield in Nivenskoye is vacated … for NATO pilots.)
…And further. Didn't it seem strange to you that a military officer, a regiment commander, gave an interview to a purely civilian private newspaper? Moreover, the same one whose founder, I. Rudnikov, A. Stepanov, deputy plenipotentiary of the President of the Russian Federation, accuses the center of "separatism" in his denunciations to the center … The fact is that first Colonel Shekurov turned to the military "Red Star". But there they said that they would not write about the liquidation of the Zakshkin regiment. Because Krasnaya Zvezda is subordinate to the Chief of the General Staff.
… Well, we are not at all indifferent to what will happen to OUR land and to those who guard it. Therefore, we are waiting for an official response to this material - although we have no doubt that we will only wait for accusations of encroachment on military secrets. And all sorts of punitive and intimidating sanctions. But … there are times when not to risk is to betray. And this is exactly the case.