On February 8, the Russian Armed Forces celebrate the professional holiday of military topographers. The Day of the Military Topographer appeared in the calendar of modern military holidays with a historical reference to February 8 (January 27) 1812, when the Regulations for military topographic affairs were approved in the Russian Empire. Today the military personnel of the Topographic Service of the RF Armed Forces are tasked with topographic and geodetic support of modern military operations.
The full range of tasks that the General Staff assigns to military topographers today is as follows:
creation, updating, accumulation of stocks of topographic maps, catalogs of geodetic and gravimetric points, bringing them to the headquarters and troops;
production, accumulation and creation of funds of digital and electronic maps and other means of digital information about the terrain and their provision of automated systems for command and control of troops and weapons;
preparation of initial geodetic and gravimetric foundations to support missile launches, aviation flights, artillery firing and combat use of radio systems for various purposes;
the production of special maps, photographic documents of the terrain and other means of topographic and geodetic information and the provision of them to the troops;
the publication of graphic military documents;
execution of geodetic and cartographic works for federal purposes.
A high-quality solution of navigation support tasks makes it possible to achieve effective results both in the transfer of troops to the area of hostilities or ongoing combat training exercises, and in the delivery of striking strikes against a conventional or real enemy. For example, special maps and photographic documents of the terrain in Syria, created back in Soviet times, today allow the Russian Aerospace Forces to successfully cope with the tasks of destroying militants of various terrorist groups. Special assistance here is provided by military topographers of the Syrian armed forces, many of whom were trained in Soviet and Russian military universities. Syrian civilians, including members of the patriotic Syrian opposition, whose task is also related to the elimination of terrorist groups that have taken deep roots on Syrian soil, actively supported by Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United States, also contribute to the creation of detailed topographic maps and other elements of navigation support. States of America.
Russian military topographers today are actively working to create geospatial materials, including using space geodesy units (this work is carried out using data from the Russian satellite constellation).
Within the framework of the Topographic Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, in addition to the main center of space geodesy, navigation and cartography, a main center for geospatial information, an expeditionary topographic and geodetic detachment, military units of district and army subordination - parts of the Topographic Service have been formed.
For their work, military topographers use a whole range of technical means, thanks to which the accuracy of determining the coordinates on the ground is increased, the speed and overall efficiency of this kind of activity increase. Among the means of technical support is a set of automated workstations ARM-EK, which allows you to create electronic maps and plans of settlements. In addition, the military personnel of the Topographic Service of the RF Armed Forces are assisted in solving navigational and topogeodetic tasks by the mobile digital topographic system "Volynets" and the hardware-software complex "Violit".
In 2015, the military personnel of the Eastern Military District conducted a number of exercises to determine coordinates, referencing the terrain, and create electronic three-dimensional maps. Such activities were carried out at the landfills of the Khabarovsk, Primorsky and Trans-Baikal Territories, the Amur and Sakhalin Regions, as well as the Jewish Autonomous Region. With the help of the mobile digital topographic system "Volynets", the most important materials of a navigational nature were obtained - detailed three-dimensional maps of the area. The capabilities of PCTS "Volynets" allow solving problems, including in the field. The complex is installed on the base of the Ural vehicle.
Gravimetric and astronomical-geodetic data can be obtained by the PNGK-1 complex (based on KamAZ), as well as by the Geonika-T navigation and geodetic support system.
The introduction of modern technologies allows military topographers to deploy topographic and geodetic equipment within a short period of time, up to 10 minutes, and begin to perform tasks, including the task of ensuring the operation of high-precision weapons with the necessary geospatial information.
Voennoe Obozreniye congratulates the military topographers of the RF Armed Forces and all veterans of the service on their professional holiday!
