On August 12, 1912, by order of the Military Department No. 397, a special aeronautical unit was formed in the Russian Empire.

Major General Mikhail Shishkevich was appointed head of the unit.

Questions of the development of military aviation were then under the jurisdiction of the Main Directorate of the General Staff.

By the beginning of World War I, the Russian army had 39 squadrons.

The aircraft fleet included 263 vehicles, the aeronautic fleet included 15 airships and 46 tethered kite balloons.

In 1997, this date - August 12 - was set as a holiday for all specialists involved in the Russian Air Force.

For reconnaissance and strikes

The emergence of the Russian Air Force was preceded by scientific and experimental work that had been carried out in the Russian Empire since the beginning of the 19th century.

In 1804, the first domestic balloon was raised into the air - the simplest aircraft, the principle of operation of which is based on the law of Archimedes.

And eight years later, during the Patriotic War of 1812, the first combat use of an aircraft almost took place.

The German inventor Franz Leppich, who was in the Russian service, proposed equipping the balloon with powder boxes and dropping them on French squadrons.

However, the engineer made serious mistakes when designing a product unique for his time and could not lift it into the air.

  • Aircraft of the Air Force of the Russian Empire

  • © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

Interest in the development of military aeronautics in Russia returned in the Crimean campaign of 1853-1856, when Ivan Matsnev, in fact, came up with the same initiative as Leppich.

However, Nicholas I refused the inventor, calling his project "not a chivalrous way of waging war."

A significant breakthrough in the development of domestic aviation occurred after the creation in 1869 of a permanent commission to discuss the use of aeronautics for military purposes.

In 1885, the first regular team of aeronauts was formed in the empire.

Domestic aircraft received their baptism of fire during the Russo-Japanese War.

The balloons that were in service were successfully used for reconnaissance and navigation.

Shortly before World War I, the Russian air fleet received its first bomber.

The aircraft developed under the leadership of Igor Sikorsky was named "Ilya Muromets".

Ammunition was suspended both inside and outside the aircraft hull.

The maximum speed of the bomber reached 130 km / h, the service ceiling - 3.2 km, the flight duration - more than four hours.

During the war years with Germany and Austria-Hungary, aircraft of the Ilya Muromets type formed the basis of Russian heavy aviation.

They were used to perform reconnaissance and strike missions deep behind enemy lines.

Russian aviators made a great contribution to the success of the operation to capture the fortress of Przemysl in 1914-1915.

An immortal feat during the First World War was performed by Staff Captain Pyotr Nesterov.

On September 8, 1914, for the first time in the world, at the cost of his own life, he destroyed an enemy aircraft with an air ram. 

Along with the bomber during the First World War, fighter aircraft began to develop, as well as air defense troops (future air defense troops).

In total, in 1914-1917, Russian pilots completed about 50 thousand sorties.

"Huge Jump"

With the coming to power of the Bolsheviks, the projects of Nikolai Polikarpov, Andrei Tupolev, Boris Cheranovsky, Alexander Yakovlev, Sergei Ilyushin, Arkady Shvetsov, Anatoly Bessonov were of great importance for the restoration and improvement of the domestic Air Force.

As Honored Pilot of the Russian Federation Vladimir Popov noted in an interview with RT, the Soviet leadership was aware of the growing importance of the Air Force in defensive and offensive operations.

According to the expert, with the advent of a powerful industrial base in the 1930s, the USSR was able to acquire a large number of combat vehicles, but did not solve a number of pressing problems.

“Pre-war industrialization created the foundation without which the formation of the Air Force was unthinkable.

Of course, not everything went smoothly.

For example, the USSR lacked its own engine-building technologies, and therefore had to copy Western units.

There were problems with spare parts, the establishment of production of new aircraft, the training of flight personnel, ”Popov stated.

  • Soviet Pe-2 bombers

  • RIA News

  • © Leonid Korobov

The Soviet Union met the attack of Nazi Germany, with more than 22 thousand aircraft.

However, most of them were inferior in terms of tactical and technical characteristics to German vehicles.

In addition, in the first two days of the war, the Luftwaffe launched massive attacks on border airfields.

As a result, the enemy seized air supremacy, and the Red Army practically lost air support.

Nevertheless, the pre-war efforts of domestic industry were not in vain.

So, in the summer of 1940, the legendary Pe-2 dive bomber was added to the fleet of the Soviet Air Force, and in January 1941, the Il-2 attack aircraft, which the Nazis called the "Black Death" for its high combat qualities.

Already during the Great Patriotic War, significant progress was made in the improvement of fighter aviation.

The Air Force of the Red Army acquired the latest machines of Semyon Lavochkin (La-5, La-7) and Alexander Yakovlev (Yak-3, Yak-7, Yak-9).

True, due to the shortage of aluminum, Soviet fighters were built mainly from wood and linen with a metal frame.

During the war, it was possible to solve the problem of providing aircraft with engines.

In 1943, the Soviet industry could produce almost the entire range of motors.

Moreover, the average power of each unit increased by 1.5 times.

“During the Great Patriotic War, a huge breakthrough was made in the aviation sector and related industries, incredibly talented engineering teams, flight schools appeared, the first steps were taken in creating air-breathing engines that allow reaching supersonic speeds,” Popov emphasized.

Adequate strategy

In addition to the creation of jet power units, at the final stage of the Great Patriotic War and after its end, airborne radar stations (BRLS) were developed.

In the 1950s, the USSR Air Force was equipped with the Thorium, Korshun, Emerald, Sokol, and Sapphire complexes.

Some of them were improved and installed on fourth-generation aircraft.

Radar is considered the "brain" of a manned aircraft.

This product allows you to receive information about the environment, air and ground targets.

Domestic engineers continuously increased the scanning range of space, increased the number of fixed objects and the quality of processing incoming data.

Today, the most advanced type of aviation radar is the active phased array radar (AFAR).

For example, such a complex is mounted on the fifth generation Su-57 fighter.

  • Su-57 aircraft

  • © United Aircraft Corporation

Another major scientific and technological revolution in the history of domestic aviation occurred with the advent of airborne missile weapons.

The first such ammunition was the KS-1 "Kometa", which was put into service in 1953.

Its carriers were Tu-4 and Tu-16 strategic bombers.

“Later, the USSR Air Force acquired a wide range of air-to-surface and air-to-air missiles, aerial bombs, including adjustable ones.

Without achievements in the Cold War era, it would be impossible to create a number of modern Russian missiles, such as the ultra-long X-101 / 102 and the Kinzhal hypersonic aeroballistic missile, Dmitry Kornev, founder of the Military Russia portal, noted in a comment to RT.

In addition, during the Cold War, strategic aviation appeared in the Air Force in the form of Tu-22, Tu-95 and Tu-160 bombers.

These aircraft are capable of using nuclear and conventional weapons against targets deep behind enemy lines.

Now all these machines are undergoing modernization.

The development of a new-generation “strategist” PAK DA is also underway, which will receive an aerodynamic “flying wing” design that is unconventional for domestic aviation.

In the future, this aircraft will replace the Tu-160 and Tu-95MS.

The Su-57 is the most advanced aircraft in the fleet of the Russian operational-tactical aviation of the VKS.

The advantages of the aircraft include versatility, incredible maneuverability, low level of radar visibility.

Until 2028, the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation should receive 76 such fighters.

Also, high flight performance and combat characteristics distinguish the aircraft of the previous generation Su-35, Su-34, Su-25SM3, which are used during a special operation in Ukraine.

“Due to exports, Russian military aviation more or less survived the most difficult 1990s normally.

And as soon as our state began to invest in it again, the troops immediately began to receive aircraft made from scratch and modernized versions of Soviet machines.

New aviation weapons and on-board electronics products have appeared, ”Kornev explained.

According to Vladimir Popov, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has chosen an adequate strategy for the development of the Aerospace Forces, based on the wide use of the resource of aircraft produced in the USSR while simultaneously developing projects for new aircraft and UAVs.

“Analyzing the conflicts of recent years, we can conclude that our country's aviation fleet is used very effectively.

Good results in combat use are demonstrated by Soviet vehicles and new models of aircraft, such as the multifunctional Su-35 and Su-34 fighter-bombers, ”Popov emphasized.