On Sunday, August 2, the professional holiday is celebrated by the servicemen of the Russian Airborne Forces. This year there is a special occasion for celebration - this elite family of the Russian Armed Forces turns 90 years old.

The day of birth of the winged infantry is considered to be the landing near Voronezh of a small unit of Soviet soldiers, which took place on August 2, 1930 as part of the air force exercises of the Moscow Military District. However, the de facto history of the Airborne Forces began somewhat earlier.

According to the RF Ministry of Defense, Soviet paratroopers were baptized by fire on April 13, 1929. On this day, a group of Red Army men who arrived by air in the area of ​​the village of Garm (Tajikistan) defeated a detachment of Basmachi.

In general, in the pre-war period, the use of winged infantry was of an experimental nature. Nevertheless, by the end of 1933, there were already 29 airborne battalions and brigades in the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA). At that time, these troops were not yet a separate branch of the Armed Forces and were subordinate to the Air Force.

The development of the USSR Airborne Forces was constrained by the lack of specialized weapons and the imperfection of transport aviation. So, the equipment had to be delivered to its destination by landing. Combat vehicles and artillery were transported on special suspensions under aircraft fuselages, and small-sized cargoes were dropped in soft bags.

For this reason, during the Great Patriotic War, winged infantry corps were used mainly as rifle units. For heroism on the battlefields, all airborne formations were given the honorary titles of "guards", and 296 soldiers received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

  • Red Army paratroopers
  • © Wikimedia commons

Large-scale technical re-equipment of the Airborne Forces took place already in the post-war period. The Blue Berets received specialized airborne military equipment and transport aircraft (An-12, An-22 and Il-76). The system of combat training was also continuously improved, which ultimately allowed the winged infantry to fulfill the mission entrusted to it in the Afghan campaign with honor.

Vasily Margelov, who led the landing forces in 1954-1959 and 1961-1979, made a colossal contribution to the development of the combat power of the Soviet "blue berets". Now the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School bears his name, and career military personnel and retirees continue to jokingly decipher the abbreviation of the Airborne Forces as "Uncle Vasya's troops."

"Complete the hardest task"

Experts note that 90 years later, the tasks of the Russian Airborne Forces have not changed significantly. As before, the winged infantry is designed to capture the bridgehead and various objects behind enemy lines. The transfer of paratroopers to the theater of operations can be carried out by parachute or landing method.

In an interview with RT, military expert Yuri Knutov explained that in practice, the Airborne Forces can be used to deliver a surprise strike on illegal armed formations and facilities of a high-tech enemy.

The analyst stressed that the Russian Airborne Forces continue the best Soviet military traditions. Service in the ranks of the "blue berets" is still prestigious and imposes special professional, moral and ethical obligations on the paratroopers.

“The specificity of the“ blue berets ”service is that they must always be ready, at the cost of their lives, to fulfill the most difficult task, including the destruction of the enemy's nuclear weapons. Therefore, so much attention is paid to the selection of the Airborne Forces, personnel training and technical equipment, ”says Yuri Knutov.

On August 1, at a military sports festival to mark the 90th anniversary of the winged infantry, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the Russian Airborne Forces are "a highly mobile branch of the armed forces, equipped with the latest weapons and equipment, capable of quickly performing tasks of any complexity."

On July 31, in an interview with the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, the commander of the Airborne Forces, Colonel-General Andrei Serdyukov, said that within the framework of the state defense order, the "blue berets" should receive more than 15 thousand sets of landing equipment and over 600 units of new and modernized weapons.

"First of all, these are rocket and artillery weapons, airborne combat vehicles and armored personnel carriers, electronic warfare (electronic warfare. - RT ) equipment, communications equipment and automated control systems, unmanned aerial vehicles, engineering weapons, logistics and medical support equipment," Serdyukov said. ...

The commander of the winged infantry was highly commended by the Typhoon-VDV special-purpose airborne vehicle with a wheel arrangement of 4 x 4. The vehicle weighs about 11 tons and can accommodate up to eight people. The armor and construction of the vehicle can withstand an explosion with a capacity of 6 kg of TNT under the wheel and up to 4 kg of TNT under the bottom.

The Typhoon-VDV is equipped with a remotely controlled combat module with an automatic 30-mm cannon and an upgraded Kalashnikov machine gun (PKTM) of 7.62 mm caliber. Serial deliveries of these machines to the Blue Berets may begin as early as next year.

  • Airborne armored vehicles before loading on transport aircraft
  • © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

The rearmament of the Airborne Forces with BMD-4M airborne combat vehicles, armored personnel carriers BTR-MDM "Shell" and BTR-82AM continues as planned. The delivery of these samples made it possible to significantly increase the firepower of the winged infantry and increase its mobility.

As reported earlier in the RF Ministry of Defense, a whole family of armored vehicles will be developed on the basis of "Shell", which will include command and staff platforms, vehicles for communication and control, as well as medical and logistic support.

Taking into account modern realities

According to the command of the Airborne Forces, the armored vehicles that enter the winged infantry units are superior in a number of indicators to Western equipment. In particular, one of the key advantages of the products of the Russian defense complex is the ability to overcome water obstacles without preliminary preparation.

In the near future, in addition to new armored vehicles, the Airborne Forces may receive a 120-mm airborne self-propelled artillery gun (SAO) 2S42 "Lotos", which is being developed by designers of TsNIITOCHMASH (Podolsk) to replace various modifications of the 2S9 "Nona" complex. 

"Lotos" will surpass its Soviet predecessor in firing range (13 km versus 8.8 km), travel speed and level of protection against hitting precision weapons. Also, the new generation CAO will have more advanced electronic equipment.

“For the needs of the airborne troops, a wide variety of equipment is being developed and produced, taking into account the realities of the modern theater of military operations. Many samples are unique, they are not in service with any country in the world, ”Knutov says.

Military expert Yuri Lyamin adheres to a similar point of view. According to him, a wide arsenal of specialized equipment and individual weapons allows the Russian Airborne Forces to operate successfully in harsh and unusual natural and climatic conditions. 

“It is gratifying that in recent years, exercises have been conducted, which are accompanied by a massive landing of paratroopers and the landing of equipment. For example, the April exercises in the Arctic were of great importance, during which the “blue berets” landed from a height of 10 thousand meters. All this suggests that the Airborne Forces are a rapid reaction force that can be quickly deployed to an area where there is a potential threat for Russia, "Lyamin emphasized.