And now I want to give readers a consistent chronology of the events that took place over Sakhalin. Here is how Wolf Mazur restored it on the basis of Soviet officially submitted reports, American interceptions of Soviet air defense negotiations (the so-called "Kirkpatrick tape" filed by the United States in the UN) and radar maps of the USSR, the United States and Japan:
2:45 am. Kamchatka air defense radars detected the plane, which had been walking along the border for 2 hours. This is usually an American reconnaissance aircraft, most often an RC-135.
At 4:51 am, the 2nd plane appeared. Having approached until their marks on the screen merged, they flew together for 9 minutes, which was like refueling in the air, then one went north, and the other towards Petropavlovsk. Turning on the jammer, he disappeared from the screens over the Sea of Okhotsk. The radar map in the ICAO report shows RC-135 heading south, crossing the trail of said aircraft 40 minutes after it passed.
2:51. The radar spotted the plane flying at supersonic speed, heading southwest. He disappeared at 3:26.
3:32. An airplane appeared, turning inland over the sea north of Petropavlovsk.
Further, another plane crossed Kamchatka, sharply accelerating to supersonic to break off the pursuit in the areas of the Elizovo and Paramushir air force bases.
The 6th "guest" was revealed by the American Seymour Hersh in the book "Target is Destroyed", claiming that KAL 007 left Kamchatka at 3:58, passing over it at an average speed of 586 knots. But a 50-knot headwind is blowing over the peninsula, that is, the Boeing's speed was 636 knots (supersonic), which is impossible in principle! It was also a military aircraft.
So, some planes disappear, others arise; sometimes they merge to a single mark on the radar; the airwaves were full of American interference - something alarming was spinning in the sky. And the Soviet Union had different radar data than what they gave ICAO. In 1992, Boris Yeltsin handed the United States and South Korea "documents related to KAL 007", including a map reflecting the course data of the "black box" of an aircraft flying from Anchorage (Elmendorf Air Force Base) and downed over Sakhalin. This is the picture. It looks like a raid of many RC-135s under cover of electronic warfare (EW) aircraft, reflecting the high level of hostility. What I described refers to the 1st wave of the American invasion (according to radar and eyewitnesses, there was also a 2nd wave).
At 04:00 a combat alarm was sounded on Sakhalin, although it is very far from Kamchatka. This reflects the massive manifestation of aggression on the part of the United States: ships, submarines, aircraft, satellites in orbit - the USSR took this action seriously. The air defense saw 6 intruders approaching it at the same time, and it is clear why they decided to shoot them down without lengthy warning procedures. With a large number of targets identified as "military, possibly hostile", special orders began to operate.
05:14. The commander of the 24th Air Defense Division, General Kornyukov: "The target has violated the state border, I order the target to be destroyed." The fighter pilot already had his finger on the fire button, and the 1st intruder was shot down at 05:16.
05:17. “Seventeen thirty-one (17 min. 31 sec.), Destroy the 2nd target”, which was done.
05:18. "Eighteen thirty-one, destroy the 3rd target."
05:19. The plane, which the Japanese flew from 05:12, accelerated to 450 knots.
05:21. Order of the command post of the air defense division: "Do not announce the use of missiles over the loudspeaker." The missiles hit the target no later than 05:21. The order "not to declare" was issued so as not to disturb the people who were not involved in the actions. This is understandable if there are many goals, that is, the battle flares up.
05:20. KAL007 reported to Tokyo controllers a climb to 35,000 feet.
At the same time, a Japanese-observed aircraft, imitating a Korean and transmitting a civil transponder code of 1300, sank to 26,000 feet. At 05:15, he was already sharply diving from 35,000 to 29,000 feet. What for? ICAO Report: There were clouds over Sakhalin at this time at an altitude of 26,000-32,000 feet. The plane was looking for protection from missiles with infrared homing heads in them (the GOS, but was shot down at 05:27, the Japanese recorded its explosion. Then the fighter left the attack with a turn and climb, and the intruder disappeared, that is, 2 intruders were shot down literally nearby at the same time.
05:27. KAL 007 reported to Tokyo control the passage of checkpoint NOKKA.
05:38. An RC-135 with an aircraft identified by the Japanese as a MiG-23 on its tail disappeared from Japanese radar. It was probably shot down at 05:39.
05:40. Having displaced another RC from Soviet space, two Soviet fighters were running out of fuel and left for Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.
05:42. Fighter 805 took off.
05:45. Displaced earlier by fighters RC again turned to Sakhalin. Lieutenant Colonel Osipovich: “I lit the lights and gave 4 warning bursts in front of his nose. He didn't react. Having received the order to destroy it, I fired 2 missiles."
05:45. Sakhalin requested reinforcements from the mainland - fighters from Postovaya (Sovetskaya Gavan), already on alert. The details were reconstructed from the Kirkpatrick tape and the recordings of the Soviet pilots' communications with ground control (ICAO report). Unlike the "K tape" with scraps of radio traffic, there are no gaps in the record from 163, it gives a complete picture of what the interceptor was doing during the 2nd hour of the invasion.
05:45. Taking off the 121st began to aim at the target.
05:46. The 163rd went to the 2nd task.
05:52. KAL 007, according to the US version shot down by the Russians at 05:27, answered the call to KAL 015 - 4 encrypted Korean words, which calmed his colleague, he answered "Roger" and stopped the radio traffic. This is recorded by the center of Tokyo-Narita, that is, 007 flew far from Sakhalin, already being in the coverage area of the VHF receiver of Tokyo control!
06:00. 805 intercepted RC coming from the Pacific Ocean. But first he fired a burst from the cannon, and RC slowed down. It was their trick: fully extending the flaps, decelerate so sharply that the fighter flew past, and the RC went beyond the border of the USSR airspace.
06:08. The 163rd met the intruder north of Cape Terpeniya. Having dropped the full tanks, he began to maneuver frantically, diving and going upward with a candle, while abruptly changing course. Suspended tanks are expensive and no pilot will drop them, especially full ones, unless they are preparing to engage. A small maneuverable target tried to shake off 163, but he firmly grabbed his victim. Judging by the calmness that changed this race, and by the question to the dispatcher about his position, the 163rd won the battle; the intruder fell in the mountains east of Leonidovo.
06:19. The 163rd went to course 230 and reported that he was pursuing another intruder. At 06:21, the mark on the screen was divided: there were 2 targets, at a distance of 10 and 15 km. They increased their speed, got close to each other and accelerated to supersonic. And the 163rd at 06:27 again began a series of puzzling maneuvers, holding on to the target, and at 06:28 he reported on the execution of the order. But the battle was not over for him, at 06:29 he was guided to a new target. He turned sharply to the north and laid down on a course of 360, towards Sakhalin, at 06:32 changed course to 210 and requested the target's altitude. At 06:34 he reported the remaining missiles (2) and fuel, requested instructions, suddenly turned 60 degrees, and walked for 6 minutes in search of a target.
At 06:41, he carried out a new order, firing the remaining 2 missiles, turned around and went to the base.
At this time, the Japanese announce the DEFCON 3 alert for the air force of the north of the country (1 level below the general mobilization); 72 fighters (50% of all forces) and 2 rescue squadrons at Chitose airbase prepared for battle.
All B-52 bombers at Pensacola / Florida took off and remained airborne for several hours. This was clearly an emergency procedure for the strategic forces.
06:02. Lieutenant Colonel Osipovich took off for the 2nd time; The first target was RC-135, the second was similar to the Tu-16.
06:10. Dispatcher: "The target is right on the course, going in your direction, now it will violate our airspace." Pilot: “He walked at a speed of 1000 km / h. Having caught it with radar, I followed at a distance of 13 km. Suddenly, the controller began nervously asking for my course, course, and target altitude. My radar showed nothing, which was a complete surprise to me. I have flown in the area many times, but this is the first time. " He was later told that the radar markers of both planes had disappeared from the screen.
06:22. When ordered to force the intruder to land, he fired 243 warning shots: “There was indescribable confusion on the air. I was followed by a MiG-23 with outboard tanks; he could not fly fast, and the pilot did not stop shouting: “I see a battle! Air battle!" I don't know what fight he was talking about."
At this moment, the 163rd reported that the intruder was 25 km ahead of him, that is, neither Osipovich nor the 163rd took part in this battle. There were many other aircraft in the air, including two early warning aircraft from Vanino, giving an indication of the scale of the American invasion. Osipovich: “I signaled with lights, and he tried to shake me off, slowing down. I could not fly slower than 400 km / h without stalling the air flow. The border was close, and to stop him, I dived sharply, turned to the right and grabbed it with a sight. I could see it: it was larger than the Il-76, the silhouette resembled a Tu-16. The 1st rocket hit the tail and I saw a large orange flame; The 2nd demolished half of the left wing."
“I turned away and, going to the base, heard control talks with another interceptor:“The target is descending, I can't see it”; pilot: "The target is losing altitude, it is at 5 thousand meters, I can't see it." Another pilot also shot down the intruder. Due to lack of fuel, Osipovich withdrew as soon as he saw that the target was on fire. The other could watch the fall of his target longer; the dispatcher, when pointing him, did not mention Osipovich, which means that they were in different areas.
Osipovich: “I shot down an enemy scout. They always circled around us. It doesn't matter what they say, I am responsible for my words: the plane I shot down was a spy plane."
06:25. General Kornyukov: "The crew is in the Kostroma area, the rescuers are on readiness number one, the target course is 210, the missile is fired, the flight is controlled by Oguslaev."
06:25:31. Under the control of the CP, Deputy 805 fires 2 infrared missiles, they explode in the tail of the intruder, the left wing is not damaged; pilot report: "Target hit."
06:26:25. Captain Solodkov: "KP Emir, 26 minutes 25 seconds, the 37th fired a missile at the target."
In 1 minute, 3 targets were shot down: under the control of Oguslaev, KP Deputy (805th) and KP Emir (37th)!
The Americans actively wedged themselves into the work of the Soviet air defense with false orders, trying to create confusion. New fighters arrived from the mainland.
06:35. The 731 was heading 120, after 15 seconds it turned 200, at 06:38 it went up sharply. Maneuvers talk about chasing, fighting, and getting out of the falling debris. In this case, American radio intercept stations recorded the fall of their plane in the Tatar Strait near Moneron Island. The US National Security Agency sent its fleet a radar trail that prompted them to search for this very point.
06:50. The sun has risen over Sakhalin.
07:00. In the La Perouse Strait, the trawler "Uvarovsk" was going north of Moneron with an order to look for people and wreckage on the water, and almost collided with an American frigate, which was already looking for something! At the same time, patrol captain Ivanov was ordered to look south of the island for downed pilots: "Armed, perhaps resistance." And "Uvarovsk" found a milky spot on the water with a diameter of 200 m, it was aviation kerosene rising from the depths. The sea was covered with floating debris, an orange torch was still smoking (they burn for up to half an hour). In 2 hours, 1 ton of debris was collected, which is a lot, given their extreme lightness. In total, it is possible to determine 10 wreck sites in the sea off Sakhalin, at least three on the island itself, the exact coordinates of two more wrecks are unknown.
To search for the plane, which disappeared at 05:27 at Moneron, the Japanese sent 2 patrol boats. Arriving at the site, they saw Soviet ships collecting debris, including large, heavy objects. Seeing a Soviet patrol boat with uncovered guns and a signal "Do not approach!", The Japanese began to watch from the side. The wreckage was clearly from a military plane (fur jackets were also floating there, and KAL007 flew from New York on August 31, where it was still summer). In 3 districts around Moneron, the Russians worked even at night under the light of searchlights, combing every square inch of the ocean floor with the forces of 80 ships, lifting a lot of material. But officially they still "haven't found anything." The Yankees were looking 19 miles northeast, and the Japanese were in the 100x150 km zone, already realizing that 007 did not fall here, and they are looking for something else. Someone "blindly" used them for their own purposes. In total, according to Wolf Mazur, it is possible to determine 10 wreck sites in the sea off Sakhalin, at least three on the island itself, the exact coordinates of two more wrecks are unknown.
NHK TV journalist Iwao Koyama realized that Soviet courts were communicating in plain text. Taking the receiver and tape recorder, he recorded the messages: the base was telling the fishermen what to do with the debris and bodies. For the sake of the importance of the information, Koyama did not make money on it, but sent the recording to the NHK headquarters in Tokyo. However, their fragments have never been shown by anyone. Later requesting his own tape, he did not receive it.
Japanese and American helicopters and airplanes, including the Orions anti-submarine aircraft, were flying over the heads of the Russians; the Avaks and six F-15s from Okinawa approached, reinforcing 50 American F-16s from the Misawa base. As you can see, the forces corresponded more to a small war than to a humanitarian rescue action.
And in conclusion, I will cite the version voiced by an official, the former deputy representative of ICAO in Montreal, Vladimir Podberezny, who took part in the investigation into the circumstances of the death of the South Korean plane.
According to him, the reconnaissance plane was the first to suffer, most likely the R-3 Orion. This happened 10-12 minutes before the destruction of the Boeing by the Su-15 pilot Osipovich.
The destruction of the reconnaissance aircraft was not part of the plans for the "air operation". As they say, a coincidence: on the "screen" of the Su-15 radar sight, the scout's mark was closer than that of the Boeing. The second - at 6.24.56 (Sakhalin time) - was destroyed (blown up) "Boeing". 4 minutes later (6.28.49) it exploded on its international air route Boeing, flight KAL-007. Its first fragments were found 8 days later off the coast of Hokkaido, north of Honshu. " All three aircraft were destroyed over international waters. On the morning of September 1, 1983, preliminary combat reports (encrypted messages) from three commanders-in-chief: the Air Defense Forces, the Air Force and the Far East Military District, were placed on the table of the Chief of the General Staff, Marshal N. Ogarkov. The reports testified that the pilot Gennady Osipovich shot down a US reconnaissance aircraft in neutral waters.
In the evening, Marshal Ogarkov was on the Vremya program on Central Television, and then only a half-truth was reported in the TASS statement, Podberezny said. Allegedly after warning shots of tracer shells fired by a Soviet pilot, the intruder aircraft left the airspace of the USSR. Then, for ten minutes, he was observed by radar equipment, and later left the surveillance area. That is, its flight by the Su-15 fighter was not stopped. Marshal Ogarkov could not tell the world another part of the truth that a Soviet fighter jet shot down an American reconnaissance aircraft in international airspace - this would cause a worldwide scandal, since there was a gross violation of international law. After 5-6 days, when Marshal S. Akhromeev got a "black box" (a voice recorder from the South Korean flight KAL-007) in the hands of Marshal S. Akhromeev, the version of the incident changed dramatically. According to it, the intruder plane that left the airspace of the USSR was destroyed by a Su-15 fighter. The new statement even voiced the responsibility of the Soviet state for the destruction of a passenger plane.
Four days later, the pilot Osipovich was transferred to continue his service in Armavir. However, he first appears in Moscow, at the General Staff, for a "conversation." He is accused of disrupting the combat mission to destroy the intruder plane. And this is actually the case. But the high ranks of the General Staff "pardoned" the pilot, "advising" him in a television interview to "retarget" the missiles from the US reconnaissance aircraft to the South Korean Boeing, which he did not shoot down and could not shoot down. For "exemplary" behavior in front of a TV camera, he was given a premium of 192 rubles.
It is curious that none of the commissions to investigate the incident involved him in their work. Two official reports from ICAO say that its specialists "failed" to meet with Osipovich.
“Is there evidence of two Boeings? According to Podberezny, the voice recorder and flight parameters recorder, which were investigated in the USSR, Russia and ICAO, were actually not from the South Korean Boeing, but from two different aircraft. That is why there is no trace of a fake. The remains of the passengers of the South Korean Boeing (flight KAL-007), which flew the entire flight along the international air route R-20 (as confirmed by the decoded voice recorder), are at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, east of Hokkaido Island. Soviet expert divers determined with a high probability: judging by the absence of passengers, and by other parameters, the remains of the Boeing “destroyed” by Osipovich did not belong to the South Korean flight.
Meanwhile, the US reconnaissance aircraft, following the international air route R-20, intercepted and recorded all the conversations of the KAL-007 crew with the dispatch services of Anchorage and Japan, with other crews, organizing temporary radio interference to communication lines. The goal is to create the appearance of the plane deviating from the track. This is how the second "black box" (voice recorder) appeared in parallel. No, not a copy - it was he who, 5-6 days after the incident, somehow ended up with Marshal S. Akhromeev.
E-3A, on board which was W. Casey, took off from one of the US airbases in Alaska on the evening of August 31 (Kamchatka time). Discovered at 23.45, 800 km from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, at an altitude of 8000 m by radio technical troops. Judging by the message of Marshal Ogarkov at the press conference, it was presumably the RC-135. Upon detection, the plane made a "strange" loitering. After a while, another two or three reconnaissance aircraft took off from the same base.
Two Boeing 747s took off from the Anchorage airfield. One of them, Boeing-747-200 B, is an unmanned aerial vehicle, a duplicate of the South Korean one, imitating its flight as an violator of the USSR airspace. Doppelganger and E-3A approached and walked together for 10 minutes. Then they split up. E-3A turned to the southeast, towards the international route, with a decrease in altitude, trying to get out of the zone of visibility of the USSR air defense radio-technical troops. The unmanned Boeing (without passengers, but stuffed with suitcases, various clothes - men, women, children) went along the now known route of violation. 10 minutes after leaving the airspace of the USSR, the first Boeing was liquidated (blown up) according to a pre-laid program or remotely via radio from an E-3A aircraft. (For 10 minutes of observation, the plane could cover 150 km at a speed of 900 km / h, but this distance did not pass, therefore, it turned in order not to go far from the airspace of the USSR. At this time, the second Boeing-747-230 V (flight KAL -007) flew on autopilot along the international route R-20, from which he did not deviate anywhere (if he deviated, then from the conversations of the crew members this could be established). But they behaved as they should not a single official investigation has yet been able to explain the motives for the cold-blooded behavior of the crew members of the South Korean Boeing.
4 minutes after the destruction of the first Boeing, KAL-007 explodes. Also on the radio, from the E-3A, Podberezny sums up.(Considering the American-marked missile tail found among the wreckage off the coast of Japan, I personally believe that it was shot down by an interceptor).
Japan's position on this issue was interesting. The government lied in voicing the American version. At the same time, information was constantly leaking in the media, and what was it: clear pictures of finds, details of reports from Japanese radar employees, and much more. This made it possible to collect a mass of irrefutable facts about the American invasion of the Far East of the USSR.
And undoubtedly, the Soviet pilots won that night battle, having filled up several of the aggressor's newest machines on "bad airplanes with bad radars." But the battle for the minds was won by the United States, feeding lies to the whole world. And sewn with white thread continues to "sour" in the heads of people.
Used material:
Michelle Brune. Sakhalin incident.
Mukhin Yu. I. World War III over Sakhalin, or Who Shot Down the Korean Airliner?
Korean Boeing-747 shot down over Sakhalin //
Mazur Wolf. Black Birds over Sakhalin: Who Shot Down the Korean Boeing? // An airport.
Shalnev A. American report // Izvestia, 1993.
"Red Star", 2003.
