Air defense forces of the country: ups and downs. Air defense of Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War Air defense system during the years of the Second World War

21.04.2020

Air Defense Forces during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) Teacher: Sergey Mavrin
Valerievich
Performed by: Vernokhaeva A.N. and
Tkachenko A. Yu.
"A" flow. 12th group of the Faculty of Medicine.
year 2012

Air defense - a set of measures to ensure protection
(defense) from enemy air attack means
April 8 Day of the Air Defense Forces (Day of the Air Defense Forces)
In April 1942, the Moscow Air Defense Front was formed, and in Leningrad and
Baku created air defense armies. The first operational formations appeared
Air defense troops.
In June 1943, the Office of the Commander of the Air Defense Forces of the territory
countries were disbanded. After the reorganizations by April
1944, the Western and Eastern fronts were created, as well as
Transcaucasian air defense zone, which in the same year were reorganized into
Northern, Southern and Transcaucasian air defense fronts.
The air defense forces that defended Moscow were reorganized into a Special
Moscow Air Defense Army. In the Far East in March 1945 there were
three air defense armies were created: Primorskaya, Amurskaya, Zabaikalskaya.

On November 9, 1941, the post of Commander of the Air Defense Forces of the country was introduced and Major General Gromadin was appointed to it.

The war found the air defense forces in the period of their rearmament. In anti-aircraft artillery, there were still few new 37-mm automatic and 85-mm anti-aircraft guns. AT

Yak-1
MIG-3

By the beginning of the massive Nazi air raids, these formations included over 600 fighters, more than 1000 medium guns and few

Transportation of gas for a balloon

The air defense forces defending Moscow destroyed 738 enemy aircraft. In addition, the 6th Fighter Aviation Corps, inflicting assault strikes,

an aerostat is an aircraft lighter than air, using for flight the lift force of a gas (or heated air) enclosed in a shell with

Widely used to protect
cities, industrial areas,
factories, government buildings
naval bases, etc. from
air attacks.
For precision bombing aircraft
compelled to stoop low and
fly directly over
object. It is in such
places, right above the roofs of buildings,
over bridges, over factory
pipes and launched balloons
barriers, preventing enemy
bombers to bring down on
the object is a flurry of fire.

The action of the barrage balloons was designed to damage aircraft in a collision with cables, shells or suspended from tr

Observation balloon

According to the type of filling balloons are divided into:
gas - charliers,
thermal - hot air balloons,
combined - rosiers.
The height of the "hover" of the balloon
calculated very accurately.
The enemy aircraft could not fly up
under the balloon: when bombing with
such a low height car would
just covered with an explosive wave from
own bombs. What if the plane
dropped bombs from above, they
destroyed the balloon (it also absorbed
and splinters) that gently
collapsed on or near an object
him. Even when the balloon hung on
high altitude high, the pilot is not
could fly under it: they interfered
cables that hold the air
giant.

devices for cutting ropes of barrage balloons

The Germans tried very hard to protect their own
aircraft from "attacks" of balloons. On the
bombers were installed paravanes.
Paravane is a triangle of cables,
connecting the nose of the aircraft (elongated
a special pole) and the ends of its wings.
The balloon cable just slipped off
aircraft, without clinging to the propellers or
other protruding parts.
There were other solutions as well. On the wings
installed blades for cutting cables
(they helped, frankly, weakly), and
aircraft were equipped with squibs for
burning balloons.

Aerostat ready for launch
barriers in front of the Bolshoi
theater in Moscow

In addition to trucks, Katyushas were also equipped with water transport - armored boats and specialized ships to support the landing of seas.

Katyusha
unofficial Soviet collective name for domestic military
rocket launchers BM-13 (rocket artillery vehicles.)
1941 - the first salvo of the famous Katyushas thundered. In 1921, the developers N.I. Tikhomirov, V.A.
Artemiev
-

Another exotic version. The guides on which the shells were mounted were called ramps. Raise the forty-two-kilogram projectile

Another option is that the name is associated with the “K” index on the mortar body - the installations were produced by the Kalinin plant (according to another source

"Night Witches"

46th Guards Taman Red Banner Order of Suvorov 3rd
degree night bomber aviation regiment (46gv. nbap)
- women's aviation regiment as part of the USSR Air Force during
Great Patriotic War.
During the war years, 23 servicemen of the regiment were awarded the title
Hero of the Soviet Union

Sebrova Irina Fedorovna Guards Senior Lieutenant 1004 sorties.

Guards Senior Lieutenant Meklin Natalya Fedorovna - 980 sorties. Awarded 23 February 1945.

Aronova Raisa Ermolaevna Guards Senior Lieutenant 960 sorties. Awarded 15 May 1946.

During the war, organizationally took shape as a kind of anti-aircraft defense troops
artillery and fighter aircraft.
During the Second World War, the Air Defense Forces successfully coped with their tasks. They are
ensured the defense of industry and communications, allowing a breakthrough to
objects only individual aircraft, as a result of which there were
short-term stoppages of enterprises and violations in the movement of trains
on certain sections of the railroads.
In carrying out their tasks, the Air Defense Forces of the country's territory destroyed 7313
aircraft of the German fascist aviation, of which 4168 by the forces of the IA and
3145 anti-aircraft artillery, machine-gun fire and barrage balloons.
Over 80,000 soldiers, sergeants, officers and generals of the Air Defense Forces were
were awarded orders and medals, and 92 soldiers were awarded a high rank
Hero of the Soviet Union and 1 - twice.

Reorganization of the country's air defense structure in 1941-1942.

Under the conditions of a general retreat, it was necessary to repeatedly regroup the forces and means of air defense to protect new objects of the country that were within the reach of enemy aircraft.

The first period of the war - 1941 (June-December)

With the outbreak of war, the Southwestern and Southern fronts were formed.

By the directive of July 23, 1941, the air defense zones were temporarily curtailed: Northern, North-Western, Kyiv and Southern. The commanders of these air defense zones were appointed to the positions of air defense chiefs of the troops of the fronts or their deputies. The headquarters of the air defense zones were temporarily merged into the air defense departments of the fronts.

STATE DEFENSE COMMITTEE.
RESOLUTION No. GKO-233ss
dated July 22, 1941

To organize air defense of the most important industrial and economic facilities and points of the USSR, it is urgent to cover:

9. Power plants:

a) Zuevka - one division consisting of 4 76-mm guns and 8 MZA guns, (ZuGRES, Donbass);
b) Shterovka - one division consisting of 4 76-mm guns and 8 MZA guns, (near Kharkov).

10. Industrial centers of the Donbass region:

a) Lugansk;
b) Makeevka;
c) Stalino.

Cover each point with one division of 12 76-mm guns and 4 MZA guns.

234 ozad - ZuGRES 4 guns 76-mm and 8 guns MZA (as of September 30, 1941, 1 gun 76-mm mod. 1915).
235 ozad - ShterGRES 4 guns 76 mm and 8 guns MZA (as of 09/30/41, 4 guns 76 mm mod. 1915).
80 ozad - Lugansk. The division was formed in Lugansk on August 2, 1941, from October 27, 1941 it was redeployed to the Lozhka junction under the control of the Stalingrad divisional air defense area. As of 09/30/41, 8 - 37 mm MZA.

Significant forces and means of the country's air defense were attracted to cover Kyiv and the troops of the Southwestern Front defending it from air strikes, as well as crossings across the Dnieper: more than 300 anti-aircraft artillery pieces, 110 fighter aircraft, more than 120 anti-aircraft machine guns, 81 barrage balloons and about 300 VNOS posts.

On November 9, 1941, the State Defense Committee (GKO) decided to introduce the post of Deputy People's Commissar of Defense for Air Defense (he is also the commander of the country's Air Defense Forces).

To ensure the centralized control of these forces, the Kyiv Air Defense Region was created, under whose command the 3rd Air Defense Division, the 36th Fighter Aviation Division and units of military anti-aircraft artillery allocated for the defense of Kyiv were subordinate. Major General of Artillery V. G. Pozdnyakov, who was also the commander of the 3rd Air Defense Division, was appointed commander of the air defense area.

Air defense formations and units that were part of the Kyiv, Kharkov and Southern air defense zones, together with the troops of the fronts, retreated in three directions to Voronezh, to the region of Rostov-on-Don, Stalingrad and Crimea.

On November 9, 1941, the State Defense Committee (GKO) decided to introduce the post of Deputy People's Commissar of Defense for Air Defense (he is also the commander of the country's Air Defense Forces). Under him, a headquarters was created, the heads of the branches of the air defense troops and services were appointed. All formations and units of the country's air defense were subordinate to the commander of the country's air defense forces, except for the air defense forces and means that covered Leningrad.

The retreating air defense brigade areas are disbanded, change their name to a new location, or turn to recruit new air defense formations.

Names	Entry periods into the current army	Subsequent reformation and transformations
Rivne Air Defense Brigade District	22.06.41-25.10.41	Disbanded
Stanislavsky air defense brigade area	22.06.41-15.07.41	Renamed to Kanevsky br. air defense district
Kanevsky Air Defense Brigade District Renamed from Stanislavsky br. air defense district	15.07.41-21.08.41	Renamed to Lubensky br. air defense district
Lubny Air Defense Brigade District Renamed from Kanevsky br. air defense district	21.08.41-21.09.41	Renamed Belgorodsky br. air defense district (I)
Tarnopol brigade air defense area	22.06.41-02.05.41	Disbanded
Chisinau Air Defense Brigade District	22.06.41-24.11.41	Disbanded
Zaporozhye air defense brigade area	22.06.41-23.12.41	Converted to staffing the Stalingrad div. air defense district
Pervomaisky air defense brigade area	22.06.41-24.11.41	Reorganized into Grozny div. air defense district (I)
Vinnitsa air defense brigade area	22.06.41-10.09.41	Reorganized into the Reserve Air Defense Brigade of the YuF
Reserve Air Defense Brigade YuF Reorganized from Vinnitsa br. air defense district	10.09.41-03.11.41	Reorganized into Stalingrad br. air defense district
Stalingrad air defense brigade area Reorganized from the Reserve Air Defense Brigade of the YuF	03.11.41-24.11.41	Reorganized into the Stalingrad div. air defense district
Voronezh air defense brigade area	01.07.41-20.11.41	Disbanded
Donbass Brigade Air Defense District	22.06.41-01.08.42	Disbanded
Zhytomyr Air Defense Brigade District	22.06.41-14.07.41	Renamed to Ostersky br. air defense district
Oster air defense brigade area Renamed from Zhytomyr br. air defense district	14.07.41-23.08.41	Renamed Sumy br. air defense district
Sumy air defense brigade area Renamed from Ostersky br. air defense district	23.08.41-06.10.41	Renamed Belgorodsky br. air defense district (II)
Konotop air defense brigade area	22.06.41-25.09.41	Renamed to Kupyansky br. air defense district
Kupyansky air defense brigade area Renamed from Konotop br. air defense district	25.09.41-02.11.41	Renamed Rossoshansky br. air defense district
Rossoshansky air defense brigade area Renamed from Kupyansky br. air defense district	02.11.41-01.12.41	Disbanded
Novorossiysk air defense brigade area	25.06.41-04.11.41	Renamed to Krasnodar br. air defense district
Krasnodar air defense brigade area Renamed from Novorossiysk br. air defense district	04.11.41-09.12.41	Reorganized into the Krasnodar div. air defense district

Instead of the air defense zones that existed in the European part of the USSR, air defense corps areas and new divisional air defense areas were created:

Voronezh-Borisoglebsky (20.11.41)
Grozny (24.11.41)
Krasnodar (09.12.41)
Stalingrad (26.04.42)

The formations and units of fighter aircraft intended for the country's air defense were operationally subordinate to the commander of the country's Air Defense Forces, and on the ground - to the commander of the corresponding air defense regions.

In accordance with the order of the People's Commissar of Defense dated January 22, 1942, all fighter aircraft allocated for air defense purposes became part of the Air Defense Forces. To ensure the combat operations of fighter aviation, 56 airfield service battalions were allocated. In organizational terms, this meant the creation of a new independent branch of the armed forces - air defense fighter aviation.

Order of the People's Commissar of Defense No. 056
on changes in the subordination and provision of corps, divisions
and individual regiments of air defense fighter aircraft of the country's territory

1. Corps, divisions and separate regiments of fighter aviation allocated for the air defense of the country's territory, completely subordinate to the commander of the air defense forces of the country's territory.

2. For the Main Directorate of the Red Army Air Force and the military councils of the districts to leave the obligation to provide these units with all types of allowances and technical supplies.

3. To the commander of the Red Army Air Force, allocate 56 airfield service battalions to provide air defense fighter aviation units and subordinate them to the commanders of the corresponding aviation corps, divisions and individual regiments.

4. Introduce in addition to the Directorate of Fighter Aviation of the Air Defense of the country the position of chief of staff, logistics and personnel departments and a transport aviation detachment.

At the beginning of 1942, new formations of the Air Defense Forces of the country were created; additionally, the Ural and Rostov air defense divisional regions were deployed. The Stalingrad divisional area was transformed into an air defense corps area.

Air defense troops in the summer and autumn of 1942

May 1942 - Beg. of the Air Defense Command of the South-Western Front, Major-General of Artillery Dzivin R. A., military commissar of the UPVO of the South-Western Front, battalion commissar Bednov P. I.

In the summer and autumn of 1942, the main enemy grouping was deployed on the southern wing, where there were 97 divisions (900 thousand people, 1.2 thousand tanks and assault guns, more than 17 thousand guns and mortars), supported by 1640 combat aircraft. These enemy forces were opposed by Soviet troops, which had approximately the same number of personnel and tanks, but were significantly inferior to the enemy in aircraft and guns. Thus, the 4th Air Fleet of Nazi Germany, operating in the Stalingrad direction, by July 17 had 1200 aircraft, while the 8th Air Army of the Stalingrad Front and the 102nd Air Defense Fighter Aviation Division had only 539 aircraft.

Enemy aviation concentrated its main efforts on the battlefield to support the offensive of the ground forces in the main directions and to mass operations on the strongholds of the defense of the Soviet troops on the Sevastopol, Voronezh, Rostov, and Stalingrad fronts.

The main task of the Air Defense Forces of the country was to protect the most important administrative, political and economic centers of the USSR from air strikes. Significant forces were brought in to cover front-line communications and front-line rear facilities, as well as areas where strategic reserves were concentrated. To strengthen the air defense on the southern flank in the summer of 1942, the Astrakhan divisional air defense area was created, with the task of defending Astrakhan, the lower reaches of the Volga and the Astrakhan-Upper Baskunchak railway. The anti-aircraft artillery defense of Baku and Krasnovodsk was strengthened.

The technical equipment of the Air Defense Forces of the country has improved due to the entry into service of parts of the Yak-7 fighters, 85-mm anti-aircraft guns and radar stations.

The new offensive of the Nazi troops in the south in the summer of 1942 began with a blow in the Voronezh direction. The advance of the troops was supported by the 4th air fleet, which had about 700-800 aircraft. Before the start of the offensive, enemy aviation conducted intensive reconnaissance in the areas of Gryaz, Voronezh, Liski and Povorino, as well as railway lines in the areas of Marmyzhi-Kastornaya-Voronezh-Gryazi, Kupyansk-Valuiki-Liski-Povorino, Liski-Voronezh.

The air defense of Voronezh, the railway junctions of Povorino, Liski, Valuyki, Kupyansk, Kastornaya, Gryazi and frontline communications was carried out by the troops of the Voronezh-Borisoglebsk Air Defense Region (commander Colonel P. E. Khoroshilov). This air defense area included: the newly formed 3rd air defense division, which defended Voronezh directly; 4th Air Defense Division and separate units covering railway facilities. The 101st Fighter Aviation Division was operationally subordinate to the commander of the air defense area. By the beginning of the offensive of the Nazi troops, these formations included 300 anti-aircraft guns, 3 anti-aircraft armored trains, 150 anti-aircraft machine guns, 50 fighter aircraft and 80 anti-aircraft searchlights.

The direct defense of Voronezh was carried out by the newly formed 3rd Air Defense Division (division commander Colonel N. S. Sitnikov) and the 101st Air Defense Fighter Aviation Division (division commander Colonel N. I. Shvedov).

Medium-caliber anti-aircraft artillery was located in two combat sectors: the western sector - the head of the sector, the commander of the 254th anti-aircraft artillery regiment, Lieutenant Colonel V. M. Shuyakov, and the eastern sector - the head of the sector, the commander of the 183rd anti-aircraft artillery regiment, Major S. Ya. Belavenets.

The 101st Fighter Aviation Division, armed with 47 fighters, repulsed enemy air raids on the outskirts of Voronezh.

Reconnaissance of the air enemy and notification of the air defense forces was carried out by the 4th VNOS regiment, which was part of the divisional area, under the command of Major N. M. Krivitsky. He had an advanced line of observation posts at the turn of Marmyzhi, Gubkino, Korocha at a distance of 125 - 130 km from Voronezh ().

On June 28, 1942, German aviation began an air operation within the boundaries of the Voronezh-Borisoglebsk air defense region. From June 28 to the end of July 1942, units of the 101st Air Division made 2413 sorties and conducted 68 air battles, in which 47 enemy aircraft were shot down. The fire of the anti-aircraft artillery units of the 3rd Air Defense Division during June-July 1942 destroyed 127 aircraft, 46 tanks, more than 20 guns and mortars, and a lot of enemy manpower.

Having met stubborn resistance, the Nazi troops turned south and began to advance along the right bank of the Don. From the second half of July 1942, defensive battles began on the distant approaches to Stalingrad.

By mid-August 1942, the enemy concentrated over 1,400 aircraft, including about 800 bombers, in the Stalingrad direction. The combat operations of the fascist German aviation were in the nature of an air operation.

The air defense of Stalingrad was carried out by the troops of the Stalingrad Air Defense Corps District (commanded by Colonel E. A. Rainin) and the 102nd Fighter Aviation Division operationally subordinate to him (commander Colonel I. I. Krasnoyurchenko, from October 1942 - Colonel I. G. Puntus) . These formations included about 60 fighter aircraft, 566 anti-aircraft guns (440 medium and 126 small caliber), 470 anti-aircraft machine guns, 81 barrage balloons, 165 anti-aircraft searchlights, 50 field guns (76-mm caliber), 220 anti-tank guns.

Organization of air defense of Stalingrad

The air defense system of the city was organized as follows.

The 102nd Fighter Aviation Division had as its main task to ensure the interception and destruction of an air enemy on the distant approaches to the city.

In addition to Stalingrad, the 102nd Fighter Air Division covered Astrakhan, railway and water communications within the boundaries of the air defense area, as well as the troops of the Stalingrad Front, escorted bombers, and delivered assault strikes on enemy ground forces. Parts of the 102nd Air Defense Fighter Aviation Division were staffed with young flight personnel and had an insufficient level of combat training. Therefore, in the first battles, the division suffered heavy losses. Already from mid-August 1942, the division began to conduct an effective fight against an air enemy. In July-December 1942, they destroyed 329 Nazi aircraft.

Anti-aircraft artillery was supposed to provide all-round defense of the city, destroy enemy aircraft on the immediate approaches to Stalingrad and above it. To control the fire of anti-aircraft artillery, seven combat sectors were created. In each sector, there were battle formations of one medium-caliber anti-aircraft artillery regiment with the means attached to it. Small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery and anti-aircraft machine guns were used to cover the most important objects from raids at low altitudes and from a dive. They were located directly at these objects and on the roofs of buildings.

At the end of August, the fascist German command launched an air operation against Stalingrad.

On August 23, 1942, enemy aviation troops launched one of the largest massive raids on Stalingrad. During the day, about 2,000 enemy aircraft sorties were recorded within the boundaries of the Stalingrad air defense corps area.

During the day on August 23, units of the Stalingrad Air Defense Corps, in cooperation with the fighter aircraft of the 8th Air Army, destroyed up to 120 enemy aircraft. The military operations of the troops of the Stalingrad corps area of air defense were carried out in close cooperation with the military air defense of the fronts.

However, due to the great superiority of the enemy in forces, it was not possible to protect the city from massive air strikes.

In August 1942, the Astrakhan divisional air defense area was created with the task of protecting Astrakhan from the air, objects located in the lower reaches of the Volga, as well as the Astrakhan-Baskunchak railway. The same decision to improve the defense of Baku and the oil facilities of Absheron provided for the formation of two new anti-aircraft artillery regiments of 100 guns each and one 60-gun regiment.
The air defense fighter aviation regiments were transferred to a three-squadron staff. At the same time, the three-aircraft link was replaced by a link of 4 aircraft, which was divided into two pairs. Three units made up a squadron. Such an organization justified itself throughout the subsequent course of the war. Fighter aviation tactics also changed.

Order of the People's Commissar of Defense No. 0442
on the combat use of army air defense regiments in the armies

For a more successful counteraction to massive enemy air strikes against the combat formations of our troops, for the four armies of the Southwestern Front, two army air defense regiments are attached (12 37-mm anti-aircraft guns, 12 heavy machine guns and 8 quadruple 7.62 mm anti-aircraft machine guns each) .

The regiments are subordinate to the deputy chiefs of artillery of the armies for air defense.

The combat mission of army air defense regiments is to cover the most vulnerable airborne groupings and combat formations of ground forces. Regiments should cover ground troops in the areas of active operations of enemy aircraft.

Army air defense regiments should be used in combat, as a rule, massively, having high mobility, they should widely maneuver within the borders of armies in order to timely counter enemy aircraft and inflict defeat on it.

Being in the battle formations of their troops, air defense regiments should always also be ready to fire flat fire at ground targets (machine gun companies - to repel attacks by enemy infantry and anti-aircraft batteries - to repel attacks by enemy tanks and manpower).

People's Commissar of Defense I. Stalin

From July to December 1942, the troops of the Stalingrad Air Defense Corps destroyed over 600 enemy aircraft, which accounted for almost 50% of all aircraft concentrated by the enemy by the beginning of the air operation in the Stalingrad direction.

List of Directorates, military formations and air defense units that took part in the defense of Stalingrad from 07/12/42 to 11/18/42

Directorate of the Red Banner Stalingrad Air Defense Corps District;
Anti-aircraft artillery regiments - 73rd Guards, 748, 1077, 1079, 1080, 1082, 1083, 1088, 1078th Air Defense ZAP;
43rd searchlight regiment;
Dep. anti-aircraft artillery divisions - 82, 106, 188, 267, 284, 296, 93rd;
Dep. anti-aircraft machine gun battalions - 15th, 16th;
Dep. anti-aircraft machine gun companies - 123, 791st;
Dep. air defense platoons - 938, 939, 941, 944th;
10th separate battalion VNOS and 19th, 70th;
Separate VNOS platoons - 105, 106th;
Dep. anti-aircraft armored air defense trains - 72, 122, 126, 132, 137, 141, 142, 136, 181st;
63rd separate communications battalion;
296th division anti-aircraft artillery division;
44th separate battalion VNOS (air surveillance and warning);
6th separate division of the balloon barrage;
Art workshop of the corps district.

Air defense troops in 1943

In the winter campaign of 1942-43, enemy aviation operated most intensively within the boundaries of the Stalingrad and Voronezh-Borisoglebsk air defense regions, which covered communications and other important objects during the counteroffensive of the Soviet troops unfolding near Stalingrad. The main efforts of the fascist German aviation were directed to communications.

In 1943, compared with 1942, the number of fighter planes in the Air Defense Forces of the country increased by 1.6 times, medium-caliber anti-aircraft guns - by 1.4, small-caliber anti-aircraft guns - by 4.7, large-caliber anti-aircraft machine guns - by 5.8 times. The growth of the technical equipment of the Air Defense Forces of the country made it possible to create a number of new formations and increase the depth of the air defense system in the European part of the USSR to 1100-1500 km.

During the counteroffensive near Stalingrad, the Air Defense Forces of the country covered the combat formations of the troops of the Southwestern, Don and Stalingrad fronts, as well as their communications and the most important objects of the rear of these fronts.

A significant role in the fight against German aviation operating in the North Caucasus was played by the troops of the Transcaucasian Air Defense Zone (commanded by Lieutenant General of Artillery P. E. Gudymenko) and the Rostov Air Defense Corps District (commanded by Major General of Artillery N. V. Markov), covering communications and other important objects of the Southern and Transcaucasian fronts.

With the beginning of the offensive of the troops of the Transcaucasian Front, the units of the Transcaucasian Air Defense Zone were regrouped to organize the defense of facilities and communications in the territory liberated from the enemy.

The railway junctions of Bataysk and Rostov, as well as the railway bridge across the Don near Rostov, were subjected to fierce enemy air strikes.

In the summer of 1943, the main military events unfolded in the Kursk region, where the enemy intended to deliver two counter strikes in order to encircle and destroy the troops of the Central and Voronezh Fronts occupying the Kursk bridgehead.

The German air fleets concentrated in this area had over 2,000 aircraft, including 1,200 bombers. This amounted to almost 70% of the fleet of enemy aircraft operating at that time on the Soviet-German front.

The air defense of frontline communications, especially railways, has acquired exceptional importance. Of the 670 bombing raids carried out by the Nazi Air Force in July 1943, 469 (69%) were on major railway stations, bridges and trains en route. The main efforts were focused on the defense of railway junctions.

The forces of the Voronezh-Borisoglebsk air defense divisional area (commanded by Major General of Artillery N.K. Vasilkov) and the 101st Air Defense Fighter Aviation Division (commanded by Colonel A.T. Kostenko) ensured the defense of the most important communications facilities directly on the Kursk salient. A large role was assigned to anti-aircraft armored trains, which were used to independently cover railway stations and bridges, cover objects during the regrouping of anti-aircraft artillery, and escort echelons along the way.

The enemy air operation began on March 1 and lasted until July 4, 1943. At the beginning of the operation, Nazi aviation carried out systematic raids by small groups of aircraft, bombarding large railway junctions and bridges on the railway lines: Uzlovaya-Yelets-Kastornaya-Valuiki-Kupyansk; Ryazhsk-Michurinsk-Gryazi-Liski-Millerovo and on the highways extending from them to the front line: Gryazi-Yelets-Verkhovye; Voronezh-Kastornaya-Kursk-Lgov; Liski-Valuiki-Kupyansk. The Voronezh-Kastornaya-Kursk highway was subjected to especially active influence. Having not achieved significant results, the enemy began to undertake massive layered raids from mid-April. During April-June 1943, 10,283 enemy aircraft sorties were noted, which accounted for 30.3% of the total number of enemy aircraft sorties for the specified period within the operational boundaries of all associations and formations of the country's Air Defense Forces. The Kursk railway junction was subjected to the most severe blows. Only in two massive raids (June 2 and 3) about 900 enemy aircraft participated in this object.

To counter the offensive of our army, the enemy sharply increased the intensity of air strikes against front-line communications. Of the 896 bombing raids by fascist German aviation in July-September 1943, 867 were undertaken on railway installations and river crossings.

By the autumn of 1943, having defeated the Nazi armies near Kursk, in the Left-Bank Ukraine and in the Donbass, Soviet troops crossed the Dnieper and captured operational bridgeheads in the Kyiv region, southeast of Kremenchug and in the Dnepropetrovsk region.

The uninterrupted operation of the crossings across the Dnieper was one of the conditions that allowed our troops to successfully develop offensive operations in the Right-Bank Ukraine. Crossings in the areas of Kyiv, Perevolochnaya, Ulyanivka, Sukhachevka and Kushugumovka were of particular importance. These crossings were covered by the troops of the Kyiv (11/17/43) and Donbass (10/5/43) corps and Kharkov (1.3.43) air defense divisional areas.

At least one anti-aircraft artillery regiment was allocated to cover each crossing area. The largest grouping of the country's Air Defense Forces was focused on protecting the crossings in the Kyiv region: 150 fighter aircraft, over 350 anti-aircraft guns, 72 anti-aircraft machine guns and other means of the Kyiv air defense corps area. In addition, the 9th chemical brigade of the 1st Ukrainian Front was operationally subordinate to him, which ensured that the crossings were masked with smoke during enemy air raids.

The order of the commander of the troops of the Belorussian Front dated November 31, 1943 stated:

“Parts of the Kursk Air Defense Corps (10/06/43, renamed from the Voronezh Corps. Air Defense District) of Major General of Artillery Vasilkov N. K. together with the attached 9th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Corps of General S. G. Korol during April -November 1943 acted to cover the communications of the front. During this entire 8-month period, units of the indicated air defense area successfully coped with the assigned combat mission. Enemy air raids were skillfully repulsed by anti-aircraft artillery and fighter aviation, with heavy losses for the enemy. This was the case in May-June when massive enemy air raids on Kursk were repulsed. In the same way, all raids on railway bridges and the stations of Kastornaya, Kshen, Cheremisovo, Shchigry and others were repulsed, always with a great defeat for enemy aircraft. This ensured the uninterrupted supply of front troops with everything necessary for combat and life.
The beginning of a successful offensive by the troops of the front required their increased supply. Hundreds of trains went to the front. They safely arrived at the front thanks to the skillful maneuvering of air defense systems and their successful operation.

Air Defense Forces in 1944-45

By the beginning of January 1944, the largest grouping of forces and means of the country's Air Defense Forces in the frontline zone was created in the South-Western direction, where the main blow was delivered. In the offensive zones of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Ukrainian Fronts and the Separate Primorsky Army, there were four air defense corps areas (Kursk, Donbass, Kyiv, Kharkov air defense corps areas) and two fighter aviation corps (9, 10th Iak).

These formations included more than 50% of the anti-aircraft artillery and fighter aircraft that were part of the front-line air defense formations.

For the timely organization of the defense of facilities on the territory liberated from the enemy and to improve the control of forces and means of the country's Air Defense Forces in the South-Western direction in the second half of January 1944, two new air defense corps districts were formed as part of the Western Air Defense Front - Odessa and Lvov.

In the Crimean operation, the air defense of the crossings across the Kerch Strait and the Sivash, as well as the areas of concentration of our strike groups, played an important role.

During the strategic offensive of the Soviet Army in the winter of 1944, the main blow was delivered in the South-Western theater of operations. The fascist German command concentrated the bulk of its aviation operating on the Soviet-German front against the advancing Ukrainian fronts - 1200-1450 aircraft, 53-56% of all combat aircraft with the main task of counteracting the offensive of the Soviet troops. Air strikes on our communications were considered by the Nazi command as one of the main tasks. To this end, in January-April 1944, the German Air Force carried out an air operation against front-line communications in the South-West direction.

Massive raids were carried out on the most important railway junctions: Darnitsa, Kazatin, Fastov, Zaporozhye, Sarny, Shepetovka, Rivne and Znamenka. Important railway bridges were also subjected to massive air strikes.

The air defense of communications in the South-West direction in the winter campaign of 1944 was carried out by the troops of the Kyiv, Kursk, Kharkov, Donbass, Lvov and Odessa air defense regions. Over 2,000 anti-aircraft guns, about 450 fighter aircraft, 1,650 anti-aircraft machine guns and 300 anti-aircraft searchlights were concentrated to cover the railway facilities in the south, which accounted for over 50% of all the forces and means of the country's Air Defense Forces operating in the front line. These forces, first of all, covered the most important railway junctions and bridges, and on the main highways - all stations.

During the winter campaign, the troops of the Kyiv (commanded by Major General of Artillery N. K. Vasilkov) and Lvov (commanded by Major General of Artillery I. S. Smirnov) air defense corps areas defended the most important railway lines of Ukraine. Within the boundaries of these formations, enemy aircraft carried out intensive reconnaissance and bombardment. Only within the boundaries of the Kyiv air defense corps area during January - May, about 2300 German aircraft sorties were noted.

The troops of the Kyiv air defense corps area defended 14 railway junctions, 18 bridges, 3 crossings, 10 railway stations and 3 long-range airfields. 10 railway junctions, which were of particular importance, were each covered by three or four divisions of medium and small caliber anti-aircraft artillery, one or two anti-aircraft machine-gun companies, and one anti-aircraft searchlight company. The rest of the objects were usually defended by one battery of small-caliber artillery and one or two platoons of anti-aircraft machine guns.
In the Lviv air defense corps area, over 50% of all anti-aircraft forces and assets and 60% of fighter aircraft were concentrated to cover the 8 most important objects out of 35 defended.

Air cover was provided by the duty of fighter forces at airfields in the Kursk, Belopolye, Nizhyn, and Kyiv regions. In addition, mobile anti-aircraft artillery groups escorting trains and several maneuverable anti-aircraft machine-gun units operated along the railway lines.

To strengthen the defense of objects in the Kiev direction, four anti-aircraft artillery regiments, six separate anti-aircraft artillery battalions and ten separate units with a total of about 600 guns and over 100 anti-aircraft machine guns were transferred from the Eastern Air Defense Front to the Western Air Defense Front.

Anti-aircraft armored trains played a large role in organizing the cover of important communication facilities during the winter campaign of 1944.
To direct fighters at air targets in the southern part of the Left-Bank Ukraine and Donbass, radio stations were deployed in the areas of Lozovaya, Dnepropetrovsk, Chaplino, Zaporozhye, Melitopol, Pologi, Krasnoarmeysk. A continuous radar detection and guidance field was created in a vast area.

The air surveillance system was strengthened.

In mid-March 1944, VNOS battalions were deployed in the areas of Proskurov, Rovno, Zhitomir, Vinnitsa, Pervomaisk, and Nikolaev. VNOS battalions, intended for deployment in Kovel, Ternopil, Odessa and Simferopol, were also pulled up to their areas. Priority attention was paid to the organization of alerting fighter aircraft and anti-aircraft weapons that covered the most important railway facilities. As a rule, the company, battalion and main posts of the VNOS had direct communications with the fighter aviation and anti-aircraft artillery units that defended these objects.

Large forces and means of the Air Defense Forces of the country were involved in covering the areas of formation and deployment of strategic reserves from air strikes. For example, for the defense of the deployment points of the Dnieper military flotilla in March 1944, 620 anti-aircraft artillery guns and 340 anti-aircraft machine guns of the Western Air Defense Front were concentrated in the Kyiv-Zaporozhye sector. More than 200 anti-aircraft guns and 150 anti-aircraft machine guns of this air defense front in February - March provided cover for the points of concentration and unloading of troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front in the Zhitomir-Berdichev-Kazatin areas.

In order to improve the management of the forces and means of the Air Defense Forces of the country, by decision of the State Defense Committee of March 29, 1944, the Western and Eastern Fronts, as well as the Transcaucasian Air Defense Zone, were reorganized. Three air defense fronts were created on their basis: Northern, Southern and Transcaucasian.

ORDER ON STRENGTHENING THE AIR DEFENSE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT RAILWAY BRIDGES,
NODES AND STATIONS OF THE FRONT STRIP

In order to strengthen the air defense of the most important railway bridges, junctions and stations of the front line of the Southern and left flank of the Northern air defense fronts, I order:

1. By 20.6.44, form four anti-aircraft artillery regiments according to staff No. 050/74, consisting of 60 40-mm guns each.
2. By 20.6.44, in anti-aircraft batteries of small-caliber artillery, covering the most important railway bridges, junctions and stations, introduce an additional two 40-mm guns.
MZA battery platoons have a three-gun composition, in connection with which to make the necessary changes to the states Nos. 050/119, 050/38, 050/39 and 050/40.
3. By 06/15/44, form 56 batteries of gun-guided stations (SON-2) according to staff No. 050/135, each numbering 41 people.
4. To the commander of the artillery of the Red Army on 25.6.44 report to me for approval the plan for the use of the formed anti-aircraft units.
5. To the head of the Main Department of the Red Army, for staffing the units being formed and servicing the guns additionally introduced in the batteries of the MZA, by 10.6.44, to load at the disposal of the commander of the artillery of the Red Army 13425 privates and sergeants fit for military service.
6. To the head of the rear of the Red Army, for the same purpose, allocate 700 trucks to the commander of the artillery of the spacecraft for the same purpose until 1.7.44.

People's Commissar of Defense
Marshal of the Soviet Union I. STALIN

F. 4, op. 11, d. 77, l. 432-433. Script.

In July 1944, the front-line formations of the air defense forces repelled a number of massive air raids on railway junctions. In the following months, until the end of 1944, flights of only single reconnaissance aircraft were noted within the boundaries of air defense formations.

To strengthen the defense of railway junctions and other important facilities in the zone of the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian fronts in May-June 1944, two fighter aviation divisions and more than forty anti-aircraft artillery units were advanced from the rear areas of the Southern Air Defense Front.

By the end of 1944, all medium-caliber anti-aircraft artillery regiments received gun-guided radar stations, and searchlight units received radio searchlight stations. The composition of small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery batteries was increased from 4 to 6 guns. The staff of all fighter aviation regiments included radar detection and guidance stations, the staffing of units by January 1, 1945 was 75%.

In December 1944, on the basis of the Northern and Southern Air Defense Fronts, three fronts were formed - the Western, Southwestern and Central Air Defense Fronts. The last of them was intended for the defense of deep rear facilities. The commanders of the air defense fronts were appointed: Western - Colonel General of Artillery D. A. Zhuravlev, Central - Colonel General M. S. Gromadin, Southwestern - Colonel General of Artillery G. S. Zashikhin.

The disaggregation of the air defense fronts was intended to increase the efficiency of command and control of the air defense forces in the conditions of the general strategic offensive of the Soviet Army and to ensure close interaction between the front-line air defense formations and the fronts of the ground forces. After this reorganization, four air defense fronts became part of the country's Air Defense Forces, which covered the most important strategic air directions.

The main efforts of the front-line formations of the country's Air Defense Forces in the 1945 campaign were directed to cover railway and water communications and other important facilities in the front line.

Sources

Anti-aircraft artillery and anti-aircraft missile troops of the air defense, Part One. Moscow - 1982
Lists of formations, units and institutions of the Soviet Army with the terms of their entry into the army. List No. 11
Svetlishin N. A. Air defense forces of the country in the Great Patriotic War. - M: Science, 1979
International Military Forum (International Military Forum)
Air defense forces of the country. - M.: Military publishing house, 1968.

History of Russian air defense ( air defense) originates from the winter of 1914, when during World War I For the first time in the Russian Empire, cannons and light machine guns were used to fire at Austrian and German airplanes. In November 1914, the headquarters of the 6th Army developed a special document called “ Instructions for aeronautics in the 6th Army area“. The army commander signed the secret order number 90, who approved the instruction and determined the dates for its entry into force - December 8, 1914. This day is considered to be Happy birthday to the Russian air defense system.

Then it included specially formed artillery units adapted for firing at air targets. Air cover was provided by specially trained crews of the Gatchina Aviation School. By the same order, Major General BURMAN G.V., head Officers electrical school.

The foundations laid down during the creation of air defense in the tsarist army continued to improve and develop and improve after the Great October Socialist Revolution. In May 1918, the Directorate of the Chief of Air Defense of the City of MOSCOW was created, which controlled 25 aircraft and 8 artillery batteries. 4 months before the start of the war, in February 1941, General Staff of the Red Army led by General of the Army ZHUKOV G.K. officially fixed the division of anti-aircraft air defense systems into the air defense of the country and the means of military air defense. This was the first attempt to move from the object to the territorial construction of the air defense of the USSR.

On June 22, 1941, the Air Defense Forces of the country included 13 air defense zones, 3 corps, 2 brigades, 39 air defense brigade areas. The number of personnel of the air defense forces was 182 thousand people. To cover the important economic and administrative centers of the country, 40 fighter regiments were allocated, numbering 1,500 combat aircraft and 1,206 crews.

FIRE SHIELD OF THE CAPITAL

The initial period of the Great Patriotic War revealed serious shortcomings in command and control of troops, their training and equipment. Demonstrating mass heroism, air defense warriors in the most difficult conditions of the initial stage of the war, 2,500 German aircraft were shot down.

Warriors also made their worthy contribution to the treasury of victory Moscow Air Defense District. They destroyed 7313 fascist aviation aircraft, of which 4168 aircraft were shot down by fighter aircraft and 3145 by anti-aircraft artillery.

During the battle near Moscow, the soldiers of the air defense units of MOSCOW showed high skill, including the 54th, 55th, 59th anti-aircraft artillery air defense divisions and the 25th fighter aviation regiment ( iap), which were located on the territory of the Leninsky district of the Moscow region. Previously, this area was part of the area of responsibility of the 1st Air Defense Corps of the 1st Air Defense Army of the ON, then the 5th brigade of the aerospace defense. Since December 1, this is the area of responsibility of the 5th air defense division. Finally, the veterans waited until justice and reason prevailed among the current military leaders and our true military structure was restored. commander Moscow air defense zone was appointed

Not a single capital of Europe had such powerful air defense as the capital of the USSR - MOSCOW.

One of the brightest pages in the defensive battles on the outskirts of Moscow was written by the soldiers of the 1st Air Defense Corps, 193rd and 329th anti-aircraft artillery regiments, who took part in repelling the first Nazi air raid on Moscow. About 200 - 250 aircraft participated in the first raids. Only a few were able to break through to the capital.

Natives of vil. Petrovskoe GOLOVIN V.S., der. Zhukovo - BOBYREV V.P., pos. state farm them. Lenin - PALITSKY M.A.

On the territory of the Leninsky district on the territory of the present Gorkinsky and Molokovsky settlements was located 1203 zenap to protect Moscow from the south and southeast. In October, a regiment of night bombers consisting of 57 aircraft was deployed near the villages of Vlasyevo and Pykhchino. In May 1942, the Molokovskaya school housed the headquarters 1203 zenap, which provided the air defense of Moscow in the western direction of the Vidnoe-Pugovichino-Domodedovo line. This is reminiscent of a memorial plaque on the former building of the Molokovskaya school.

The personnel of the Moscow air defense showed vivid examples of courage and heroism in the performance of their military duty to the Motherland. Pilot made a night ram 28 iap(Vnukovo) Lieutenant EREMEEV V.P., awarded the title of HERO (posthumously) for his feat.

For courage and heroism in the defense of Moscow, 6 units became guards, 11 were awarded orders of the USSR. More than 25 thousand soldiers, sergeants, and generals were awarded government orders and medals, 32 were awarded the title HERO OF THE SOVIET UNION, 7 warriors are forever enlisted in the lists of military units.

In memory of the heroic deeds of warriors air defense On May 7, on the eve of the 65th anniversary of the Great Victory, a military-historical monument was created in the city of Vidnoye and an anti-aircraft gun was installed.

Valery Yakovlevich Golyas, from the materials of the forum of the Moscow Air Defense District, especially for website

And today they rightfully remain at the forefront of the defense of the Fatherland

Every year on the second Sunday of April, the whole country, its Armed Forces, veterans of military service celebrate the Day of Air Defense Troops. This holiday was established by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 20, 1975 in honor of the great merits of the Air Defense Forces in the Great Patriotic War and their performance of especially important tasks in peacetime.

Domestic air defense has a long and very difficult history. Its beginning can be considered the decision taken by the military command of Russia in December 1914 to deploy anti-aircraft (then called air) defense of the capital - St. Petersburg and the imperial residence in Tsarskoye Selo. In subsequent years, the air defense of Odessa and a number of other cities was created.

At the same time, even then the basic principles of such defense were formulated, which are still relevant today: the integrated use of various means, including ground (anti-aircraft) and air (aviation); concentration of the main forces on the defense of the most important objects; circular construction of the defense of objects with its strengthening in the most dangerous directions; the creation of a reconnaissance system in the form of a network of observation points (on the defense of St. Petersburg and Odessa, these points were combined into a "radio-telegraphic air defense").

The beginning of the creation of air defense in the USSR should be considered 1924-1925, when, under the leadership of M.V. Frunze, a military reform began to be carried out in the country. In the course of the reform, a strategically completely correct understanding of the vast prospects for military aviation and the scale of its threat in future wars was developed. And most importantly, it was recognized as important and necessary to organize an active fight against enemy military aircraft.

To do this, it was proposed to create special air defense forces on the basis of anti-aircraft (anti-aircraft) weapons (since August 1924, the term "air defense" began to be used). These troops were to be used in cooperation with the Air Force fighter aircraft.

Here we should pay attention to one more important aspect: already in those years, the authors of the military reform understood that the rapidly developing military aviation would sharply increase the depth of the zone of armed struggle, cover not only the front, but also the rear of the country; accordingly, the air defense troops must solve the tasks of repelling air strikes both on the active troops and on objects and communications in the rear. Thus, for the first time, the need for the creation and development of military air defense and air defense of the country was declared.

After the sudden death of M. V. Frunze, the military reform was essentially curtailed. The development and comprehension of conceptual provisions in the field of building air defense was not completed either. At the same time, part of the developments was put into practice.

In 1925, the Red Army Headquarters developed proposals for organizing the air defense of the USSR and creating bodies to manage it in the center and in the field. In the same year, the directive of the Headquarters of the Red Army announced that the Headquarters of the Red Army was starting to organize the country's air defense. The directive formulated the tasks of the country's air defense in peacetime and wartime, their difference from the tasks in the front line.

With the radar of the P-35/37 family, the creation of the country's radar field began
Photo: Alexey MATVEEV

In 1927, a department was created at the Headquarters of the Red Army, which in 1930 was transformed into the 6th Air Defense Directorate of the Headquarters of the Red Army. Given the ever-increasing importance of air defense, in May 1932 the 6th Directorate was reorganized into the Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army, directly subordinate to the People's Commissar of Defense. At the same time, despite the official division of air defense into military air defense and air defense of the country, all air defense forces on the ground were subordinate to the commanders of the military districts.

The basis of the air defense forces were formations and units of anti-aircraft artillery. They also included units and subunits of anti-aircraft machine guns, anti-aircraft searchlights, air barrage balloons, air surveillance, warning and communications troops (VNOS). Fighter aircraft of the Air Forces of the military districts were not included in the Air Defense Forces and were involved in the fight against an air enemy on the basis of interaction.

From the beginning of the 1930s the process of a significant build-up of air defense forces and assets in the border military districts began. In 1932, the first anti-aircraft artillery divisions were formed. In 1937, for the defense of Moscow, Leningrad and Baku, air defense corps were formed, and for the defense of other large cities (Kyiv, Minsk, Odessa, Batumi, etc.) - divisions and separate air defense brigades.

In February 1941, 4 months before the start of the war, the entire border area of the country was divided into air defense zones, the boundaries of responsibility of which were combined with the boundaries of military districts. In total, 13 air defense zones of the country's territory (air defense of the CU) were created. In 9 air defense zones of the CU with large spatial dimensions, brigade areas of the air defense of the CU were created. There were 36 such districts. In a number of air defense districts, air defense points were allocated - separate objects covered by units and subunits of anti-aircraft artillery.

The commanders of the air defense zones of the CU were the assistants to the commanders of the troops of the military districts. The exceptions were the Central (Moscow) and Northern (Leningrad) zones of the air defense of the CU, where the commanders of the 1st and 2nd air defense corps, respectively, were appointed commanders. The commanders of the air defense zones found themselves in dual subordination - the military districts and the Main Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army (the latter was formed in 1940 on the basis of the Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army). Practice has shown that such dual command is ineffective.

In the last pre-war years, the air defense forces were intensively equipped with new weapons and equipment. The anti-aircraft artillery unit began to receive 37-mm automatic and 85-mm anti-aircraft guns, artillery anti-aircraft fire control devices - PUAZO-2 and PUAZO-3. Since 1939, the VNOS service began to receive the first domestic detection radars RUS-1 and RUS-2.

The industry mass-produced searchlights, sound collectors and air barrage balloons. From 1940, the Yak-1 and MiG-3 fighters began to enter service with fighter aviation, and from 1941 - LaGG-3.

However, there was not enough time for sufficient rearmament of the air defense forces.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, shortcomings in the organization of the country's air defense were sharply revealed, when all air defense forces were subordinated to the fronts. Already in the first months of the war, the five main air defense zones of the TS - Northern, North-Western, Western, Kyiv and Southern, which, according to the plan of the military leadership, constituted the first echelon of air defense, actually ceased to exist.

Bolshoe Savino airfield (Perm). Fighter-interceptor MiG-31
Photo: Leonid YAKUTIN

German aviation, bypassing scattered groups of anti-aircraft artillery, penetrated 500-600 kilometers into the interior of the country with virtually impunity and bombarded defenseless industrial and communication facilities.

In this regard, the General Staff of the Red Army even issued a special directive dated July 9, 1941, which ordered "to release the commanders of the air defense zones - assistant commanders of the front troops in air defense from the direct leadership of the air defense of the troops of the fronts and turn them to direct duties in the air defense zones."

The directive could not change the state of affairs, since it did not change anything in the air defense organization itself. And only after the devastating German air raids on defense facilities in the city of Voronezh far beyond the front line in August 1941 did I. V. Stalin intervene in air defense.

As a result, on November 9, 1941, the Decree of the State Defense Committee of the USSR No. 874 “On strengthening and strengthening the air defense of the country's territory” was issued. In this document, modest in name, for the first time, a fundamentally new organization of the air defense of the CU and its structure are outlined.

The pre-war organization of the country's air defense, subordinate to the military districts (fronts), was completely rejected. The air defense forces of the country were withdrawn from their subordination and for the first time transformed into an independent branch of the Red Army, subordinate to the people's commissar of defense and headed by the commander of the air defense forces of the Customs Union - deputy people's commissar of defense for air defense. Major General M. S. Gromadin was appointed the first commander of the Air Defense Forces of the Customs Union.

Somewhat later, the TS was transferred from the Air Force to operational subordination to the Air Defense Forces, and in January 1942, 39 fighter aviation regiments were introduced into the state, more than 1,500 aircraft in total. Now, along with the tasks of defending individual objects, the air defense forces of the CU could solve the tasks of covering the country's regions. The operational construction of a new air defense system of the TS was not tied to the borders of the fronts and military districts, but was determined by the location of the covered objects and communications.

The Moscow air defense system has become a classic example of organizing an effective air defense of a large administrative and industrial center. It included the 1st Air Defense Corps (commander - Major General of Artillery D. A. Zhuravlev) and the 6th Fighter Aviation Corps operationally subordinate to him (commander - Colonel I. D. Klimov).

By the beginning of the massive air raids on Moscow (July 22, 1941), this grouping included more than 600 fighters and 1000 anti-aircraft guns, about 350 anti-aircraft machine guns, over 600 anti-aircraft searchlights, 124 posts of air barrage balloons, 612 VNOS posts. The Moscow air defense system was built on the principle of all-round defense, its depth was 200-250 kilometers.

During the war years, the German Luftwaffe carried out 141 raids on Moscow, a total of about 8,600 sorties. According to official data, 234 aircraft (less than 3%) broke through to the city, almost 1,400 aircraft were shot down. These successes are largely due to the massive use of air defense forces and means and the effective organization of defense: no other capital, including London and Berlin, had such a concentration of air defense forces during World War II.

Unfortunately, the history of Russian air defense knows less brilliant examples. So, in the course of three massive German air raids on the automobile plant. Molotov in the city of Gorky in June 1943, the plant suffered enormous damage, despite the very strong grouping of the Gorky air defense divisional area. The most important defense enterprise was actually put out of action, and it took more than three months and almost 35,000 workers to restore it.

Later in the course of the war, the CU Air Defense Forces underwent organizational changes, which were objectively dictated by an increase in their combat strength and changes at the front. In April 1942, the Moscow Air Defense Front was formed, and air defense armies were formed in Leningrad and somewhat later in Baku. Thus, the first operational formations of air defense forces appeared. The transition of the Red Army to broad offensive operations significantly changed the nature of the combat use of the air defense forces. In June 1943, the Directorate of the Commander of the Air Defense Forces of the Customs Union was abolished, and two air defense fronts were created instead: Western and Eastern. The air defense troops on the cover of Moscow were reorganized into the Special Moscow Air Defense Army.

On-load tap-changer S-300PM and NVO at one of the sites of the Ashuluk test site
Photo: Georgy DANILOV

By the end of the war, all formations that carried out air defense in the rear of the country were consolidated into the Central Air Defense Front with headquarters in Moscow. Forward formations and units of the air defense forces formed the Western and Southwestern air defense fronts. In the Far East in March 1945, on the eve of the start of hostilities against Japan, three air defense armies were created: Primorsky, Amur and Transbaikal, which became part of the fronts.

In general, during the Great Patriotic War, the Air Defense Forces solved a number of the most important operational-strategic and operational tasks, saved many large administrative and industrial centers, hundreds of industrial enterprises and groupings of troops from destruction and destruction. Organizationally, anti-aircraft artillery and fighter aircraft took shape as branches of the air defense forces. The VNOS Service has been greatly developed. Operational formations and operational-tactical air defense formations, formations and units of military branches were created. For merits in the performance of military duty, over 80 thousand soldiers and officers of the air defense forces were awarded orders and medals, 92 soldiers became Heroes of the Soviet Union.

With the end of World War II, humanity, alas, did not receive peace and tranquility. Former allies in the anti-Hitler coalition again found themselves on opposite sides of the barricades. A long-term political and military confrontation between the two world systems, called the Cold War, began. Many associate its beginning with the famous speech of W. Churchill on March 5, 1946 in the American city of Fulton (Missouri).

Then the British Prime Minister for the first time voiced the term "Iron Curtain", which divided Europe, and called for relations with the USSR to be built exclusively from a position of strength. At the same time, the United States already possessed nuclear weapons and their means of delivery - strategic aviation, which created a real air threat not only to the groupings of the Soviet Armed Forces, but also to the economic potential of the country, including the strategic rear.

In this regard, despite the general reduction of the Armed Forces and the most difficult post-war economic situation in the country, the Supreme Military Council in July 1946 takes a strategic decision to deploy air defense of the vehicle throughout the country, even where it was not in the war. Somewhat earlier, in February 1946, the post of Commander of the Air Defense Forces of the Customs Union was re-introduced, who now reported directly to the Commander of Artillery. The command of the Air Defense Forces of the Customs Union was instructed to develop a plan for strengthening air defense in the Volga region, the Urals and Siberia, as well as its creation in Central Asia.

In terms of organizing the country's air defense, the ambitions of the branches of the Armed Forces again escalated: the air defense forces proposed to increase the number of air defense districts and create the country's air defense by analogy with the military air defense of the vehicle, the Ground Forces proposed to return to the pre-war organization, dividing the country's air defense forces into military districts, the Air Force proposed include air defense forces in their composition.

In 1948, an "intermediate option" was adopted: the country's territory was divided into a border strip and an inland territory; in the border zone, responsibility for air defense was assigned to the military districts, in the interior - to the air defense forces of the country, in which instead of the four air defense districts that existed in the first post-war years, 12 air defense districts were created.

On April 4, 1949, a military-political union of 11 states of Europe and the USA was created - the NATO bloc (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). With the creation of this structure, the general political and military tension in Europe and in the world as a whole, as well as the intensity and scale of provocative and reconnaissance flights by NATO aircraft in the airspace of the USSR, increased.

At the same time, the reorganized air defense system of the vehicle proved unable to effectively counter air intruders, which had already reached the regions of Leningrad, Minsk, and Kyiv.

A whole series of organizational transformations of the air defense troops of the Customs Union began. In an attempt to introduce an organized principle into the fragmentation of the air defense system, so-called border air defense zones (BCAA) were formed in the border districts and in the fleets. The organization and leadership of the Air Defense Forces were still assigned to the military districts and fleets. Having not received the expected result, the military leadership based on the air defense system created the "air defense of the border line" (BOPL).

At the same time, the leadership of the VOPL was transferred to the commander-in-chief of the Air Force (the first deputy commander-in-chief of the Air Force was also the commander of the VOPL troops). The direct responsibility for air defense in the VOPL areas (that is, in the military districts) was shifted from the commanders of the military districts to the commanders of the air armies of the Air Force.

However, the remaining fragmentation of the air defense essentially did not change anything. Violations of air borders continued to increase, and the depth of incursions by foreign aircraft reached the Moscow region.

It soon became clear that the VOPL, headed by the Air Force, was an unnecessary and essentially useless structure. Therefore, in June 1953, the VOPL command under the Air Force Commander-in-Chief was disbanded. One part of the VOPL forces was transferred to the military districts and fleets, the other to the air defense troops of the Customs Union. At the same time, overall responsibility for the entire air defense of the country, including within the boundaries of military districts, was assigned to the commander of the air defense forces of the Customs Union.

Such a unification of all the air defense forces of the CU was of a very conditional nature, since in the border areas the forces and means were still part of the military districts and fleets. The interaction between them was weak. This was soon confirmed. On April 29, 1954, three American B-47 strategic bombers violated the state border from the Baltic Sea, penetrated as far as Novgorod, Smolensk and Kyiv, and went west with impunity. 10 days later, on the eve of Victory Day, a new daring violation of the border followed.

These outrageous pre-holiday incidents did not go unnoticed by the country's top political leadership. In the course of an urgent inspection, serious shortcomings in the organization of the entire air defense of the country were revealed, which were based on the fragmentation of the air defense forces.

On May 27, 1954, a special resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR “On unpunished flights of foreign aircraft over the territory of the USSR” was issued. The same resolution announced a new organization of air defense of the vehicle. Taking into account the rapid development of military aviation, a significant increase in its combat capabilities, as well as the ever-increasing scale of violations of the airspace of the USSR by NATO aircraft, it was considered expedient to deploy the air defense forces of the CU from the branch of service into the form of the Armed Forces - the Air Defense Forces of the country. It included all the main air defense forces and established the boundaries of responsibility along the state border of the country. In the military districts, only parts of the military air defense of land formations remained, and in the fleets - ship assets. In the Air Defense Forces of the country, the generally accepted army military structures created back in 1944 were restored: air defense formations (districts, armies) and air defense formations (corps, divisions). Fighter aviation of the military districts was promptly subordinated to the new structures of the Air Defense Forces of the country.

Simultaneously with the above-mentioned resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR, a resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On providing the Air Defense Forces of the country with new equipment" was adopted. This decision turned out to be very timely, since in recent years there has been a noticeable lag in the development of air defense weapons from the development of military aviation.

Marshal of the Soviet Union L. A. Govorov was appointed the first Commander-in-Chief of the Air Defense Forces of the country. However, soon after his death, Marshal of the Soviet Union S.S. Biryuzov became the commander-in-chief. An experienced military leader and a thoughtful organizer, he made a great contribution to the formation and development of a new kind of Armed Forces. It was under him that the foundations of the operational art and tactics of the Air Defense Forces were formed and many of the fundamental principles of the integrated organization of the fight against an air enemy, which are still relevant today, were implemented.

On the initiative of S. S. Biryuzov and under his leadership, military science in the Air Defense Forces was essentially re-created and in 1957 organizationally formalized by combining disparate scientific units of the armed forces into the first in the Armed Forces of the USSR a single integrated research institute of the Armed Forces of the Research Institute -2 air defense (subsequently - the 2nd Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense, and now - the Air Defense Research Center of the 4th Central Research Institute of the Russian Federation).

In connection with the massive re-equipment of troops with fundamentally new equipment, the need for highly qualified personnel of commanders and military engineers has sharply increased. Therefore, on the initiative of S. S. Biryuzov in the mid-1950s. a number of new higher military air defense educational institutions were created.

Since 1956, the Air Defense Military Academy began training in Kalinin (now Tver). Today it is the Military Academy of Aerospace Defense, which has become a forge of military command and engineering personnel for the Air Defense Forces (VKO) not only of our country, but also of a number of countries near and far abroad.

1950s - truly revolutionary in terms of the development of air defense weapons, the creation of fundamentally new models. It was during this period that the formation of anti-aircraft missile troops, jet fighter aircraft, and radio engineering troops took place.

In August 1950, a decision was made to create an anti-aircraft missile defense system for Moscow. The project was named Berkut. The lead developer of the system was the specially created Design Bureau No. 1 (KB-1), the future famous NPO Almaz, known throughout the world for its anti-aircraft guided missile systems. A. A. Raspletin became the leader of the development. The air defense system consisted of 10 A-100 all-round radars and two rings around Moscow of stationary sectoral multi-channel air defense systems (56 in total), each consisting of a B-200 guidance radar and V-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles of vertical launch. The air defense system was created in a fantastically short time - less than five years. And this despite the fact that all its elements were developed practically from scratch, and the volume of capital construction was truly enormous. Already in May 1955, the Moscow S-25 air defense system was put into service and served for three decades.

In 1957, the first transportable (that is, non-stationary) S-75 medium-range air defense systems began to enter service with the country's Air Defense Forces. These complexes, like no other, were widely used in real combat operations, including in Vietnam and the Middle East. In Vietnam, in 1972 alone, the last year of the war, 421 American aircraft were destroyed by S-75 systems, including 51 B-52s. Such losses were one of the decisive factors that forced the Americans to withdraw from Vietnam. Upgraded S-75 air defense systems are still in service in a number of countries near and far abroad.

In 1961, the development of the S-125 short-range air defense system was completed, the main specialization of which is the fight against low-altitude targets. For the SAM, the V-600P solid-fuel missile was developed for the first time. The export version of the air defense system ("Pechora") was supplied to 35 countries of the world. The air defense system received its first baptism of fire in 1970 in Egypt. Then there were Syria and Libya. In March 1999, in the skies over Yugoslavia, an American F-117A stealth aircraft was shot down by an S-125 air defense system.

In June 1958, a government decree was adopted on the development of the S-200 long-range air defense system. By January 1960, its draft design was already ready. For the first time in domestic practice, the air defense system implemented the principle of homing missiles at a target. When creating the air defense system, the developers faced a number of technical difficulties, many of which had to be solved during field and state tests. The S-200 air defense system was adopted in February 1967.

Thus, within 10 years, a well-thought-out set of types of anti-aircraft missile weapons was created in the USSR, which made it possible to build effective anti-aircraft missile defense systems for various objects and regions of the country.

The development of fighter aviation proceeded at an impressive pace. The MiG-15 became the first mass domestic jet fighter of the 1st generation. The first air regiments with MiG-15 fighters were formed back in 1949. The debut of the large-scale combat use of these aircraft was the war in the skies of Korea (November 1950 - July 1953), where our MiGs were in no way inferior to the latest American F-86 Saber fighters : in total, Soviet pilots shot down about 1100 enemy aircraft, their losses amounted to 335 fighters.

To replace the 1st generation fighters MiG-15, MiG-17, Yak-25 in the late 1950s - early 1960s. fighters and aircraft interception missile systems of the 2nd generation came - Su-9 (1959), Su-11-98 (1961), Su-15-98, Tu-128-S4 and Yak-28 (1965). ARCP Su-15-98 for a long time formed the basis of the fighter aviation of the Air Defense Forces of the country.

In June 1954, the formation of the air defense radio engineering troops was completed. By this time, the domestic industry had mastered the production of a fairly wide range of radar equipment. One of the first mass radars of the post-war period was the P-20 Periscope mobile two-coordinate centimeter-range radar, the P-8 Volga early warning m-range radar (1950) and the PRV-10 Konus radio altimeter.

In 1955–1956 the troops began to receive the P-15 "Tropa" meter range radar for detecting low-altitude targets and the P-12 "Yenisei" radar. The P-12 radar was the first to use the SDC coherent-compensation equipment. This radar gradually replaced almost all previously created meter range radars.

Somewhat later, in 1959, the Oborona-14 mobile early warning radar was put into service, and in 1961, the Altai radar, consisting of four radio altimeters and two rangefinders. In the same year, the PRV-11 "Vershina" radio altimeter of the centimeter range began to enter the troops. The latest modifications of this radio altimeter are still in service with the RTV of the Russian Air Force and a number of CIS countries.

Gradually, automation tools began to be used for combat command and control of troops. The first adopted control automation system (ACS) was the warning, control and guidance system for fighter aircraft Vozdukh-1. The command posts of the operational level began to be equipped with a complex of automation equipment (KSA) "Almaz-2".

Under the conditions of the new organizational structure of the country's Air Defense Forces and equipping them with new weapons with sharply increased combat capabilities, the ideology and principles of organizing air defense have changed. It was considered expedient in a number of regions of the country to switch from the object-based to the zonal (zonal-objective) principle of organizing defense. In the border (coastal) areas, anti-aircraft missile defense zones were advanced to the 1st echelon of defense with the creation of anti-aircraft missile defense lanes. Fighter aviation formed the basis of the 2nd echelon, but with the ability, if necessary, to operate in the ZRV zones.

Created in the 1960s. the air defense system was mainly focused on the Western, Southwestern and Southern strategic directions, where the main US and NATO air attack forces were concentrated. In the future, with the growth of the capabilities of US strategic aviation and equipping it with strategic cruise missiles, the North direction became potentially dangerous. In this regard, work began on the organization of air defense in this area (the "Shield" system) on the basis of the long-range interception ARCP.

The organizational structure of the Air Defense Forces of the country itself was changing. By 1960, the operational link was enlarged. Instead of 20 air defense formations and formations, 13 were left: two air defense districts, five air defense armies and six air defense corps, whose areas of responsibility covered the entire country. Soon, changes were made at the operational-tactical and tactical level. Instead of corps and divisions of the military branches, air defense formations (corps, divisions) of mixed composition were created, in which the types of troops (ZRV, IA, RTV) were represented by regimental structures.

The relatively calm and very productive development of the Air Defense Forces of the country under the leadership of Marshal S. S. Biryuzov, and then Marshal P. F. Batitsky ended in 1978. The Chief of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces N. V. Ogarkov put forward the idea of creating the so-called Unified Air Defense System of the country and the Armed Forces. The commander-in-chief of the Air Defense Forces of the country, P.F. Batitsky, sharply opposed, but the top political and military leadership (L.I. Brezhnev and D.F. Ustinov) supported N.V. Ogarkov. As a result, Batitsky resigned as commander-in-chief, and in December 1979 a decision was made by the Defense Council, according to which the air defense system essentially returned to the pre-war organization.

The territory of the country was again divided into border and inland regions. In the border areas, the Baku Air Defense District and five separate air defense armies (Minsk, Leningrad, Kyiv, Arkhangelsk, Khabarovsk) were disbanded. The air defense corps and divisions included in them were again subordinated to the military districts. Fighter aviation regiments from these formations were seized and transferred to the Air Force of the military districts. As a result, the unity of command and control of air defense forces and means was disrupted and the unified air defense system of the country actually ceased to exist.

At the end of 1982, after the death of L. I. Brezhnev, P. F. Batitsky managed to draw the attention of the new Secretary General Yu. V. Andropov to the so-called reform of the country's Air Defense Forces. As a result, a commission of the Central Committee of the CPSU was created, which, after two years of work, concluded that the reorganization of N.V. Ogarkov was wrong and "The air defense forces of the country should be returned to their previous state."

The corresponding resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR was adopted on January 24, 1986. In the border areas, five former air defense formations were restored, returning them to direct subordination to the commander-in-chief of the Air Defense Forces. Instead of the Baku Air Defense District, a separate air defense army was formed with headquarters in Tbilisi.

At the same time, the dual command over the Air Defense Forces remained: they were operationally subordinate to the commanders-in-chief of the troops of the directions (soon abolished), and in fact - to the military districts.

Despite organizational fluctuations, in the 1970s and 1980s. there was a dynamic process of equipping the Air Defense Forces with new weapons and military equipment.

Since 1979, the Air Defense Forces began to receive fundamentally new S-300P air defense systems (the lead developer was NPO Almaz). At present, modifications of this system (S-300PS, S-300PM) form the basis of the armament of the anti-aircraft missile system. On the basis of this air defense system, the Moscow S-50 air defense system was created, which replaced the previously existing S-25 system.

Fighter aviation continued to develop. In the 1970s the industry has mastered the mass production of 3rd generation fighter-interceptors - MiG-23P and MiG-25PD, and in the early 80s 4th generation fighters - MiG-31 (1981), MiG-29 (1983) and Su-27 (1984).

The MiG-31 long-range fighter was for the first time equipped with a phased array radar and had high capabilities for detecting and destroying cruise missiles. It was considered as the main element of the above-mentioned air defense system in the Northern direction "Shield". Aircraft of the 4th generation currently form the basis of the weapons of the Air Force IA.

The radio engineering troops have almost completely updated their fleet of radar equipment. During the period under review, the RTV received radars and radars ST-68U (UM), Casta 2-1 and Casta 2-2, Periscope-VM, Oborona-14S, P-18, P-37 , "Sky" and "Sky-U", "Desna-M", "Opponent-G", "Gamma-S1", K-66 (M).

EW units and subunits were equipped with new equipment.

Taking into account the high dynamics of the combat operations of the air defense forces, the military leadership paid great attention to the development of means of automation of combat control and equipping the troops with them. At the same time, the process of complex equipment of the KSA of the control points of the operational, operational-tactical and tactical levels of control was underway. The command posts of the operational control level were equipped with Almaz-type KSA. ACS "Luch-1", "Luch-2" were introduced into the operational-tactical level of command. The command posts of formations and units of the military branches were equipped with KSA of the Senezh, Vector-2, Baikal, Rubezh-1, Niva, AKUP-1 types.

In the 1970s the Air Defense Forces of the country included the forces and means of rocket and space defense (RKO). The RKO system combined the missile attack warning system (SPRN), the outer space control system (SKKP), the anti-missile (ABM) and anti-space (PKO) defense systems.

The early warning system officially took up combat duty in 1976 as part of a command post, six early detection nodes (Dnepr radar) and the US-K space echelon. In 1978, the modernized Moscow A-135M missile defense system was adopted as part of the Don-2N radar, a command and computer center and two types of anti-missiles. In November 1978, the PKO IS-M complex was put into service. A few years earlier, a space control center began to function.

The further history of the Air Defense Forces of the country is inextricably linked with the history of the formation and development of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Unfortunately, its beginning was far from joyful. Already in 1992, they announced the reform of the Armed Forces.

The reform was carried out in the absence of a coherent military ideology for ensuring the military security of the state as a whole and a clear understanding of the rational image of the RF Armed Forces (“The Concept of National Security of the Russian Federation” and the Military Doctrine of the Russian Federation were adopted only at the beginning of 2000).

As a result, the main result of the reform of the Air Defense Forces was a sharp reduction in the combat strength and funding for their maintenance. The troops have practically ceased to receive new weapons, the level of combat training has dropped to a dangerous limit.

In July 1997, a large-scale reorganization of the country's air defense took place. In accordance with the decree of the President of the Russian Federation, the Air Defense Forces were liquidated as a branch of the Armed Forces. The air defense forces from their composition were transferred to the Air Force, and the RKO forces - to the Strategic Missile Forces (later - to the newly formed Space Forces). Among military specialists, disputes about the benefits and harms of these transformations still do not subside.

However, life does not stand still. As Russia's economic position strengthened, so did its Armed Forces. Considerable attention was paid to the air defense of the country.

Military science played a significant role in the development and strengthening of air defense. With her active participation in the early 2000s. a draft "Concept of Aerospace Defense of the Russian Federation" was developed, which in November 2002 was approved by the collegium of the Ministry of Defense. Subsequently, the concept was approved by the President of the Russian Federation and became one of the fundamental documents regarding the development of the country's aerospace defense. At the same time, a system project for the aerospace defense of the Russian Federation was developed, and a little later, a draft design for an integrated system of the aerospace defense of Moscow and the Central Industrial Region.

A large amount of research has been carried out to identify and streamline the most important objects of the Armed Forces, the economy and infrastructure in the interests of improving the organization of their air defense. Active scientific research was carried out in the field of development of the unified air defense system of the CIS, formed in 1996.

In 2010–2011 there have been significant changes in the organization of air defense (VKO) of the country. To date, air defense forces and assets in the Air Force are concentrated in four Air Force and Air Defense Commands, each of which is operationally subordinate to the corresponding military district (in accordance with the new military-administrative division of the country, since December 1, 2010, four military districts have been operating in the Russian Federation - Western , Southern, Central and Eastern). The air defense corps and divisions that existed earlier were transformed into aerospace defense brigades. Fighter aviation has been reduced to air bases.

On the basis of the Space Forces, the Aerospace Defense Troops were formed. They include the Space Command (PRN systems and reconnaissance of the space situation) and the Air Defense-ABM Command, which provides aerospace defense of Moscow and the Central Industrial Region. It includes the Moscow missile defense system and three air defense brigades. On December 1, 2011, the troops of the East Kazakhstan region took up combat duty.

In recent years, the process of re-equipping the Air Defense Forces (VKO) with new equipment has significantly revived. The troops began to receive the latest S-400 air defense systems, Pantsir air defense systems, and 4+ generation fighters. The latest radar equipment is supplied to the radio engineering troops. Control systems are equipped with ever more intelligent and fast automation systems. The country's leadership announced impressive amounts of funding for the Armed Forces, planned for the period up to 2020. The implementation of these plans will significantly increase the rate of rearmament of the troops and ensure a significant increase in their combat capabilities.

The experience of local wars and armed conflicts in recent decades convincingly testifies to the steady growth of the role of aviation in modern warfare. Outer space is also becoming more potentially dangerous. Under these conditions, the issues of improving the means and methods of countering potential threats from the air and space are becoming increasingly important.

The modern system of aerospace defense of the Russian Federation is designed to provide a solution to the entire set of tasks of combat in aerospace:

warning of air, missile and space attacks, reconnaissance of the air and space situation and notification of troops about it;
protection of the state border of the Russian Federation in the airspace and control of the procedure for using the airspace;
reflection of aggression in the aerospace sphere, air and missile defense of the most important objects of state and military administration, key objects of the Armed Forces, economy and infrastructure.

The Air Defense Forces have traveled a glorious and difficult path. There were ups and downs, moments of glory and years of disappointments, high achievements and failures. And today they rightfully remain at the forefront of the defense of the Fatherland, strengthening and increasing the military glory of our grandfathers and fathers.

Boris Leonidovich ZARETSKY
Candidate of Military Sciences, Corresponding Member of the AVN, Senior Researcher at the Air Defense Research Center (Tver)

Yuri Timofeevich ALEKHIN
candidate of technical sciences, professor of AVN, senior researcher at the Air Defense Research Center (Tver)

Sergei Glebovich KUTSENKO
senior researcher at the Air Defense Research Center (Tver)

In modern warfare, the leadership of the Red Army was concerned with the creation of modern air defense systems.
The royal legacy in the form of: 76-mm Lender anti-aircraft guns, a few 40-mm Vickers machine guns and semi-handicraft installations of the Maxim machine gun did not meet modern requirements.

The first Soviet anti-aircraft installation was designed by M.N. Kondakov under the machine gun of the Maxim system arr. 1910. It was made in the form of a tripod and connected to a machine gun with a swivel. Possessing simplicity and reliability, installation arr. 1928 provided circular fire and high elevation angles.

An annular sight was adopted for it, designed to fire at aircraft moving at speeds up to 320 km / h at a distance of up to 1500 m. Later, with an increase in flight speed, the sight was repeatedly upgraded.

In the Design Bureau of the Tula Arms Plant in 1930, a twin anti-aircraft gun was designed, which turned out to be much more massive. The ability to fire from each machine gun separately was retained, which reduced the consumption of ammunition during zeroing.

She also entered service, although for a number of reasons she did not receive much distribution.

In connection with the need to equip the air defense forces with more powerful installations capable of providing massive fire, the famous gunsmith N.F. Tokarev created a quad anti-aircraft machine gun Maxim arr. 1931

She had a high rate of fire, good maneuverability, constant combat readiness. Shooting at air targets from it was carried out using the same sights as in single and twin installations.

Due to the presence of a liquid cooling system and the large capacity of the tapes, for its time it was an effective means of combating low-flying aircraft. It had a high combat rate of fire and density of fire.

The good combat effectiveness of the installation, first used in the battle on Khasan, was noted by foreign military observers who were present in the Japanese army.

The quad installation of the Tokarev system was the first integrated anti-aircraft installation adopted by the ground forces.
During the Great Patriotic War, the quadruple anti-aircraft gun was successfully used to cover troops, important military facilities and cities, and was repeatedly used with great efficiency to combat enemy manpower.

After the adoption of the ShKAS aviation rapid-fire machine gun, in 1936. serial production of a twin anti-aircraft gun began. However, ShKAS did not take root on earth. This machine gun required special edition cartridges, the use of conventional infantry ammunition led to a large number of delays in firing. The machine gun turned out to be poorly adapted for service on the ground: it is complex in design and sensitive to pollution.

Most of the existing anti-aircraft installations with ShKAS machine guns were used for air defense of airfields, where they had conditioned ammunition and qualified service.

In the initial period of the war, in order to strengthen the air defense and compensate for the losses incurred, it was decided to use the PV-1, DA and DA-2 aircraft machine guns available in the warehouses.

At the same time, it was decided to follow the path of maximum simplification, without a significant decrease in combat effectiveness.

On the basis of PV-1 N.F. Tokarev in August 1941. a built-in ZPU was created. In 1941-42. 626 such units were manufactured.

A significant part of them was used in the defense of Stalingrad.

Twin and single aviation machine guns YES designed by V.A. Degtyarev were mounted on a simple swivel.

Often this happened in military workshops, in the field. Despite the relatively low rate of fire and the disk magazine with a capacity of only 63 rounds, these installations played a role in the initial period of the war.

In the course of the war, due to the increase in the survivability of aircraft, the importance of rifle-caliber installations in the fight against enemy aircraft noticeably decreases, and they are inferior to the primacy of the DShK heavy machine gun, although they continue to play a certain role.

February 26, 1939 by the decision of the Committee of Defense, 12.7-mm is adopted for service. easel machine gun DShK (Degtyarev-Shpagin large-caliber) on a universal machine Kolesnikov. For firing at air targets, the machine gun was equipped with special anti-aircraft sights. The first machine guns entered the army in 1940. But by the beginning of the war, there were still very few of them in the troops.

The DShK became a powerful means of combating enemy aircraft, having high armor penetration, it significantly exceeded the 7.62-mm ZPU. in range and altitude of effective fire. Thanks to the positive qualities of the DShK machine guns, their number in the army was constantly growing.

During the war, twin and triple DShK installations were designed and produced.

In addition to domestic machine guns for anti-aircraft fire, they were used supplied under Lend-Lease: 7.62-mm Browning M1919A4 and large-caliber 12.7-mm. "Browning" M2, as well as captured MG-34 and MG-42.

The powerful quadruple 12.7-mm guns were especially valued among the troops. American-made M17 installations mounted on the chassis of the M3 half-track armored personnel carrier.

These self-propelled guns proved to be a very effective means of protecting tank units and formations on the march from air attacks.
In addition, M17s were successfully used during the fighting in cities, delivering heavy fire on the upper floors of buildings.

The pre-war industry of the USSR was not able to fully equip the troops with the necessary anti-aircraft weapons, the air defense of the USSR on 06/22/1941 was only 61% equipped with anti-aircraft machine gun installations.

An equally difficult situation was with heavy machine guns. January 1, 1942. there were only 720 of them in the active army. However, with the transition to a military footing, industry in ever-increasing volumes of troops is saturated with weapons.

Six months later, in the army already -1947 units. DShK, and by January 1, 1944 - 8442 units. In two years, the number has increased almost 12 times.

The importance of machine-gun fire in the military air defense and air defense of the country was maintained throughout the war. Of the 3,837 enemy planes shot down by the troops of the fronts from June 22, 1941 to June 22, 1942, 295 fell on anti-aircraft machine gun installations, 268 - on rifle and machine gun fire of the troops. From June 1942, the staff of the army anti-aircraft artillery regiment included a DShK company, which had 8 machine guns, and from February 1943 - 16 machine guns.

The anti-aircraft artillery divisions (zenad) of the RVGK, formed since November 1942, had one of the same company in each regiment of small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery. Quite characteristic is the sharp increase in the number of heavy machine guns in the troops in 1943-1944. Only in preparation for the Battle of Kursk, 520 12.7-mm machine guns were sent to the fronts. True, since the spring of 1943, the number of DShKs in the zenad has decreased from 80 to 52, while the number of guns has increased from 48 to 64, and according to the state updated in the spring of 1944, the zenad had 88 anti-aircraft guns and 48 DShK machine guns. But at the same time, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense of March 31, 1943, from April 5, an anti-aircraft artillery regiment was introduced into the staff of tank and mechanized corps (16 anti-aircraft guns of 37 mm caliber and 16 heavy machine guns, the same regiment was introduced into the cavalry corps), in the staff of tank, mechanized and motorized brigades - an anti-aircraft machine gun company with 9 heavy machine guns. At the beginning of 1944, anti-aircraft machine gun companies of 18 DShKs were introduced into the state of some rifle divisions.

DShK machine guns were usually used by platoon. Thus, an anti-aircraft machine-gun company of a division usually covered the area of artillery firing positions with four platoons (12 machine guns), and the command post of the division with two platoons (6 machine guns).

Anti-aircraft machine guns were also introduced into medium-caliber anti-aircraft batteries to cover them from enemy attacks from low altitudes. Machine gunners often successfully interacted with air defense fighters - cutting off enemy fighters with fire, they provided their pilots with evasion from pursuit. Anti-aircraft machine guns were usually located no further than 300-500 m from the front edge of the defense. They covered advanced units, command posts, front-line railways and roads.

By the beginning of the war, the situation with anti-aircraft artillery was very difficult.

As of June 22, 1941, there were:
-1370 pcs. 37 mm. automatic anti-aircraft guns model 1939 (61-K)
-805 pcs. 76 mm. field guns model 1900 on anti-aircraft installations of the Ivanov system
-539 pcs. 76 mm. anti-aircraft guns mod. 1914/15 Lender systems
-19 pcs. 76 mm. anti-aircraft guns mod. 1915/28
-3821 pcs. 76 mm. anti-aircraft guns mod. 1931 (3-K)
-750 pcs. 76 mm. anti-aircraft guns mod. 1938
-2630 pcs. 85 mm. arr. 1939 (52-K)

A significant part of them were hopelessly outdated systems, with weak ballistics, without anti-aircraft fire control devices (POISO).

Let's dwell on the guns that had real combat value.

37 mm. the automatic anti-aircraft gun model 1939 was the only small-caliber machine gun adopted before the war, it was created on the basis of the Swedish 40 mm Bofors gun.

The 37-mm automatic anti-aircraft gun of the 1939 model is a single-barreled small-caliber automatic anti-aircraft gun on a four-beam carriage with an inseparable four-wheel drive.

The automation of the gun is based on the use of recoil force according to the scheme with a short barrel recoil. All actions necessary for firing a shot (opening the bolt after a shot with the extraction of the cartridge case, cocking the firing pin, feeding cartridges into the chamber, closing the bolt and lowering the firing pin) are performed automatically. Aiming, aiming the gun and feeding clips with cartridges to the magazine are carried out manually.

According to the manual of the gun service, its main task was to fight against air targets at ranges up to 4 km and at altitudes up to 3 km. If necessary, the gun can also be successfully used for firing at ground targets, including armored vehicles.

During the battles of 1941, anti-aircraft guns suffered significant losses - until September 1, 1941, 841 guns were lost, and in total in 1941 - 1204 guns. Huge losses were hardly made up for by production - on January 1, 1942, there were about 1,600 37-mm anti-aircraft guns in stock. On January 1, 1945, there were about 19,800 guns. However, this number included 40 mm. Bofors guns supplied under Lend-Lease.

61-K during the Great Patriotic War were the main means of air defense of the Soviet troops in the front line.

Shortly before the war, a 25-mm automatic anti-aircraft gun of the 1940 model (72-K) was created, borrowing a number of design solutions from the 37-mm. 61-K. But by the beginning of hostilities, she did not get into the troops.

The 72-K anti-aircraft guns were intended for air defense at the level of a rifle regiment and in the Red Army occupied an intermediate position between the DShK large-caliber anti-aircraft machine guns and the more powerful 37-mm 61-K anti-aircraft guns. However, the use of clip loading for a small-caliber anti-aircraft gun greatly reduced the practical rate of fire.

Due to difficulties in mastering their serial production, a significant number of 25-mm anti-aircraft guns appeared in the Red Army only in the second half of the war. 72-K anti-aircraft guns and twin 94-KM mounts based on them were successfully used against low-flying and diving targets. In terms of the number of issued copies, they were much inferior to the 37 mm. automatic machines.

The most numerous at the beginning of the war 76-mm. anti-aircraft gun mod. 1931 (3-K) was created on the basis of the German 7.5 cm anti-aircraft 7.5 cm Flak L / 59 company "Rheinmetall" in the framework of military cooperation with Germany. The original samples, made in Germany, were tested in February-April 1932 at the Scientific Research Anti-Aircraft Range. In the same year, the gun was put into service under the name "76-mm anti-aircraft gun mod. 1931".

A new projectile was developed for it, with a bottle-shaped cartridge case, which was used only in anti-aircraft guns.

76 mm anti-aircraft gun mod. 1931 is a semi-automatic gun, since the opening of the shutter, the extraction of spent cartridges and the closing of the shutter during firing are carried out automatically, and the supply of cartridges to the chamber and the shot are made manually. The presence of semi-automatic mechanisms ensures a high combat rate of fire of the gun - up to 20 rounds per minute. The lifting mechanism allows you to fire in the range of vertical aiming angles from -3° to +82°. In the horizontal plane, shooting can be carried out in any direction.

Cannon arr. 1931 was a completely modern gun with good ballistic characteristics. Its carriage with four folding beds provided circular fire, and with a projectile weight of 6.5 kg, the vertical firing range was 9 km. A significant drawback of the gun was that its transfer from traveling to combat took a relatively long time (more than 5 minutes) and was a rather laborious operation.

Several dozen guns were installed on YaG-10 trucks. The self-propelled guns received the index 29K.

In the back of a YAG-10 truck with a reinforced bottom, the swinging part of the 76.2-mm anti-aircraft gun mod. 1931 (3K) on a standard pedestal. To increase the stability of the platform during firing, the gun pedestal was lowered relative to the platform by 85 mm. The car was supplemented with four folding "paws" - "jack-type" stops. The body was supplemented with protective armored shields, which folded horizontally in the combat position, increasing the gun maintenance area. In front of the cockpit there are two charging boxes with ammunition (2x24 rounds). On the hinged sides there were places for four crew numbers "on the march".

On the basis of the 3-K gun, a 76-mm anti-aircraft gun of the 1938 model was developed. The same gun was installed on a new, four-wheeled wagon. That significantly reduced the deployment time and increased the speed of transportation of the system. In the same year, a synchronous servo drive system was developed by Academician M.P. Kostenko.

However, the growth of speeds and the "ceiling" of aircraft, the increase in their survivability required an increase in the reach of anti-aircraft guns in height and an increase in the power of the projectile.

Designed in Germany 76mm. the anti-aircraft gun had an increased margin of safety. Calculations showed that it is possible to increase the caliber of the gun to 85 mm.

The main advantage of the 85-mm anti-aircraft gun over its predecessor - the 76-mm anti-aircraft gun of the 1938 model - is the increased power of the projectile, which created a larger amount of destruction in the target area.

Due to the extremely short time allotted for the development of a new system, the leading designer G.D. Dorokhin decided to put an 85-mm barrel on the platform of a 76-mm anti-aircraft gun mod. 1938, using the bolt and semi-automatic of this gun.

A muzzle brake was installed to reduce recoil. After finishing tests, the anti-aircraft gun was launched into mass production on a simplified carriage (with a four-wheeled cart) of a 76.2-mm anti-aircraft gun mod. 1938

Thus, a qualitatively new anti-aircraft gun was created at minimal cost and in a short time.

In order to increase the accuracy of firing at air targets, the batteries of 85-mm anti-aircraft guns were equipped with PUAZO-3 artillery anti-aircraft fire control devices, which made it possible to solve the task of meeting and developing the coordinates of a predicted target point within a range of 700-12000 m, in height up to 9600 m at base size up to 2000 m. In PUAZO-3, an electrical synchronous transmission of the generated data to the guns was used, which ensured high rates of fire and its accuracy, as well as the possibility of firing at maneuvering targets.

85 mm. The 52-K anti-aircraft gun became the most advanced Soviet medium-caliber anti-aircraft gun of the war. In 1943 in order to increase the service and operational characteristics and reduce the cost of production, it was modernized.

Very often, Soviet medium-caliber anti-aircraft guns were used to fire at ground targets, especially in anti-tank defense. Anti-aircraft guns sometimes became the only barrier in the way of German tanks.

Air defense systems played a very important role in the Great Patriotic War. According to official data, during the war, 21,645 aircraft were shot down by ground-based air defense systems of the ground forces, including 4,047 aircraft by anti-aircraft guns of caliber 76 mm or more, 14,657 aircraft by anti-aircraft guns, 2,401 aircraft by anti-aircraft machine guns, and 2,401 aircraft by machine-gun fire. 540 aircraft

But it is impossible not to note a number of blunders in the creation of air defense systems.
In addition to the clearly unsatisfactory quantitative saturation of the troops with anti-aircraft weapons, there were serious shortcomings in the design and creation of new models.

In 1930, the USSR and the German company Rheinmetall, represented by the front company BYuTAST, entered into an agreement for the supply of a number of artillery weapons, including automatic anti-aircraft guns. According to the terms of the contract, Rheinmetall supplied the USSR with two samples of a 20-mm automatic anti-aircraft gun and complete design documentation for this gun. It was adopted in the Soviet Union under the official name "20-mm automatic anti-aircraft and anti-tank gun mod. 1930". However, in the USSR, for production reasons, they could not be brought to an acceptable level of reliability. In Germany, this machine gun, which received the designation 2 cm Flugabwehrkanone 30, was adopted and massively used until the very end of the war.

At the end of 1937 at the plant. Kalinin, the first prototype of a 45-mm automatic anti-aircraft gun was manufactured, which received the factory index ZIK-45, later changed to 49-K. After modifications, it successfully passed the tests, but the military leadership short-sightedly considered that the 45-mm. the projectile has excess power, and the designers were asked to develop a similar 37 mm. anti-aircraft gun.
Structurally, 49-K and 61-K almost did not differ, had a close cost (60 thousand rubles versus 55 thousand rubles), but at the same time, the reach and destructive effect of 45-mm shells are significantly higher.

Instead of the not-so-successful 25mm. of the 72-K submachine gun, which had manual clip loading, which limited the rate of fire, a 23-mm Volkov-Yartsev (VYa) aircraft gun with belt feed and a high rate of fire would be more suitable for the needs of air defense of the regimental level. During the war, VYa were installed on Il-2 attack aircraft, where they proved themselves excellently. Only in , for arming torpedo boats, a certain amount of twin 23-mm was used. anti-aircraft guns.
Only in the aftermath of the war, under the cartridge of the VYa cannon, were twin anti-aircraft guns ZU-23 and ZSU "Shilka" created.

The opportunity was also missed to create a highly effective anti-aircraft weapon under 14.5 mm during the war. cartridge PTR. This was done only after the end of hostilities in the Vladimirov Heavy Machine Gun (KPV), which is still in service.

The realization of all these missed opportunities would significantly increase the potential of the air defense forces of the Red Army and hasten the victory.

According to materials:
Shirokorad A. B. Encyclopedia of domestic artillery.
Ivanov A.A. Artillery of the USSR in World War II.
http://www.soslugivci-odnopolhane.ru/orugie/5-orugie/94-zenitki.html
http://www.tehnikapobedy.ru/76mm38hist.htm
http://alexandrkandry.narod.ru/html/weapon/sovet/artelery/z/72k.html

On November 9, 1941, the post of Commander of the Air Defense Forces of the country was introduced and Major General Gromadin was appointed to it.

The war found the air defense forces in the period of their rearmament. In anti-aircraft artillery, there were still few new 37-mm automatic and 85-mm anti-aircraft guns. AT

By the beginning of the massive Nazi air raids, these formations included over 600 fighters, more than 1000 medium guns and few

The air defense forces defending Moscow destroyed 738 enemy aircraft. In addition, the 6th Fighter Aviation Corps, inflicting assault strikes,

an aerostat is an aircraft lighter than air, using for flight the lift force of a gas (or heated air) enclosed in a shell with

The action of the barrage balloons was designed to damage aircraft in a collision with cables, shells or suspended from tr

Observation balloon

devices for cutting ropes of barrage balloons

In addition to trucks, Katyushas were also equipped with water transport - armored boats and specialized ships to support the landing of seas.

Another exotic version. The guides on which the shells were mounted were called ramps. Raise the forty-two-kilogram projectile

Another option is that the name is associated with the “K” index on the mortar body - the installations were produced by the Kalinin plant (according to another source

"Night Witches"

Sebrova Irina Fedorovna Guards Senior Lieutenant 1004 sorties.

Guards Senior Lieutenant Meklin Natalya Fedorovna - 980 sorties. Awarded 23 February 1945.

Aronova Raisa Ermolaevna Guards Senior Lieutenant 960 sorties. Awarded 15 May 1946.

Reorganization of the country's air defense structure in 1941-1942.

The first period of the war - 1941 (June-December)

STATE DEFENSE COMMITTEE.RESOLUTION No. GKO-233ss dated July 22, 1941

Rivne Air Defense Brigade District

Stanislavsky air defense brigade area

Kanevsky Air Defense Brigade District

Lubny Air Defense Brigade District

Tarnopol brigade air defense area

Chisinau Air Defense Brigade District

Zaporozhye air defense brigade area

Pervomaisky air defense brigade area

Vinnitsa air defense brigade area

Reserve Air Defense Brigade YuF

Stalingrad air defense brigade area

Voronezh air defense brigade area

Donbass Brigade Air Defense District

Zhytomyr Air Defense Brigade District

Oster air defense brigade area

Sumy air defense brigade area

Konotop air defense brigade area

Kupyansky air defense brigade area

Rossoshansky air defense brigade area

Novorossiysk air defense brigade area

Krasnodar air defense brigade area

Order of the People's Commissar of Defense No. 056 on changes in the subordination and provision of corps, divisions and individual regiments of air defense fighter aircraft of the country's territory

Air defense troops in the summer and autumn of 1942

Organization of air defense of Stalingrad

Order of the People's Commissar of Defense No. 0442 on the combat use of army air defense regiments in the armies

List of Directorates, military formations and air defense units that took part in the defense of Stalingrad from 07/12/42 to 11/18/42

Air defense troops in 1943

Air Defense Forces in 1944-45

ORDER ON STRENGTHENING THE AIR DEFENSE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT RAILWAY BRIDGES, NODES AND STATIONS OF THE FRONT STRIP

Sources

Report a typo

Text to be sent to our editors:

Your comment (optional):

STATE DEFENSE COMMITTEE.
RESOLUTION No. GKO-233ss
dated July 22, 1941

Order of the People's Commissar of Defense No. 056
on changes in the subordination and provision of corps, divisions
and individual regiments of air defense fighter aircraft of the country's territory

Order of the People's Commissar of Defense No. 0442
on the combat use of army air defense regiments in the armies

ORDER ON STRENGTHENING THE AIR DEFENSE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT RAILWAY BRIDGES,
NODES AND STATIONS OF THE FRONT STRIP