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Regulations on air defense

Aerospace Defense #6, 2004

A.HupenengGeneral-Colonel, Doctor of Military Sciences, Professor, Chairman of the Presidium of the Joint Council of the Union of Veterans of the Air Defense Forces

At present, the date of creation of the air defense of Petrograd is already reliably confirmed by documents from the Russian State Military Historical Archive - November 25 (according to the new style - December 8), 1914. Thus, December 8, 2004 marks 90 years since the formation of the first units and parts of the Russian Air Defense Forces.

At the beginning of the First World War, in connection with the use opposing sides aircraft for military purposes in the armies of the fighting states, it became necessary to organize air defense of groupings of troops and important objects in the theater of operations. In Russia, among the priority tasks, measures were developed to prevent enemy aircraft from flying to the then capital of the country, Petrograd, and the emperor's residence in Tsarskoye Selo.

On November 17 (30), 1914, the Commander-in-Chief of the 6th Army, Adjutant General Konstantin Petrovich Van der Flit, by order No. 90, announced a special instruction, according to which the air defense of Petrograd and its environs was organized for the first time. Major General G.V. was appointed head of the air defense. Burman. The instruction attached to the order was signed by the Chief of Staff of the 6th Army, Major General Mikhail Dmitrievich Bonch-Bruevich, who later headed the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Georgy Vladimirovich Burman, an engineer by education, was in charge of the Officers' Station in Petrograd electrical school, which trained specialists from the engineering department, including telephone business and radiotelegraphy. Thus, major military specialists were at the origins of the formation of the country's air defense.

December 8, 1914 "Instructions for aeronautics in the area of the 6th Army" came into force. The air defense of the capital of Russia began to function. Under the leadership of her chief, Major General Burman G.V. the actions of "pilots and military units assigned to protect Petrograd and its region from enemy air attack" were united.

A network of observation posts was deployed to monitor the sky and warn of enemy aircraft. At positions around Petrograd and near Tsarskoye Selo, artillery pieces adapted for anti-aircraft fire were installed. At the Gatchina Aviation School, crews prepared to fight aircraft in the air were selected.

By April 1915, the air defense of Petrograd and the imperial residence in Tsarskoye Selo was replenished with new forces and means. In July of the same year, the following were approved: Special Instruction No. 6 for the defense of the imperial residence from attack air enemy and Instruction No. 7 for the operation of a special aviation detachment for the air defense of the imperial residence. These documents introduced the position of head of the defense of the imperial residence from air attack.

Thus, in 1915-1917. the beginning of the formation of air defense systems for objects in theaters of military operations was laid. AT Russian army positions of chiefs of air defense were introduced, their headquarters were created, and principles for organizing the air defense of rear facilities were developed. This system was continuously improved throughout the war, taking into account the situation on the Russian-German front, which are in service technical means and experience in combating an air enemy.

FORMATION

The construction of the air defense system of the Soviet state in the interwar period began in the period military reform 1924-1925 Since 1924, the Headquarters of the Red Army has become the main planning body for the creation of air defense Soviet Union. The directive of the Headquarters of the Red Army to the military districts, departments and services of the People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs of August 25, 1925 explained that "in the current budget year, the Headquarters of the Red Army is starting to organize the air defense of the country. The tasks arising in connection with this should be distinguished from the tasks air defense of the front line in war time where all these issues will be resolved on the basis of the relevant charters and instructions.

In this directive, the terms " air defense countries" and "air defense of the front line" and their difference is emphasized. But even today, some "specialists" cannot understand this difference and strive to unite the air defense of the country and the air defense of the troops.

In 1930, the Headquarters of the Red Army worked out proposals for the formation in the central apparatus of a body that should deal with air defense issues. On May 1, 1930, the 6th Directorate was created, the head of which was at the same time an air defense inspector and head of the air defense service of the Red Army.

Also in 1930, the first Master Plan for the country's air defense with the main figures for the development of air defense for 1931-1933 was developed and approved by the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR on November 23. On the defensive major centers countries, territorial air defense units are transferred to personnel. Anti-aircraft artillery regiments are being reorganized into air defense brigades, which included units and subunits of anti-aircraft artillery, machine guns, searchlights and VNOS. The brigades that stood guard over the sky over Moscow and Leningrad in the autumn of 1931 were transformed into air defense divisions.

On May 10, 1932, by order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR No. 033, the 6th Directorate of the Red Army Headquarters was renamed the Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army with direct subordination to the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR. The Revolutionary Military Council itself declared 1932 the year of a decisive turning point in the country's air defense, a year of powerful growth in air defense technology and a sharp improvement in the quality of combat training and the work of the entire air defense service system.

The measures taken have revitalized the activities of all bodies, institutions and establishments of the military department to improve existing weapons and create new models of weapons and military equipment for air defense. New types of anti-aircraft guns, fighter planes, anti-aircraft machine guns, searchlights, barrage balloons appeared. In 1934, for the first time in world practice, successful tests were carried out developed on the ideas and with the participation of P.K. Oshchepkov radar equipment for detecting aircraft in the air.

In February-April 1938, air defense corps were formed to protect Moscow, Leningrad and Baku from air strikes, and an air defense division was formed in Kyiv. Air defense corps and divisions of major centers of the country included units and units of anti-aircraft artillery, anti-aircraft machine guns, anti-aircraft searchlights, air surveillance, warning and communications, as well as units and subunits of barrage balloons. The commanders of the air defense corps and divisions were promptly subordinated to the fighter aircraft of the Air Force, assigned to carry out the tasks of air defense of objects.

On December 27, 1940, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense No. 0368, the Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army was transformed into the Main Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army. By this order, the head of the Main Directorate of Air Defense was entrusted with the leadership of the air defense of the territory of the USSR and the development of issues related to the use of air defense systems.

Thus, during the interwar period, various models of weapons and military equipment were developed for air defense, although not all of them were of the required quality. The entry of new types of weapons into the troops was hampered by the insufficient industrial base of the country. For objective and subjective reasons, a number of models of weapons and military equipment were either not accepted into production at all, or qualitatively new weapons were manufactured in negligible quantities.

In January 1941, the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR "On the organization of air defense" was issued. It defined a zone threatened by air attack to a depth of 1,200 km from the state border. In this area, included military districts air defense zones were created, which included air defense areas and points.

To the beginning of the Great Patriotic War The air defense of the country included: air defense zones - 13, air defense corps - 3, air defense divisions - 2, air defense brigades - 9, air defense brigade areas - 39. The number of personnel in the air defense is 182 thousand people.

From the first days and months of the war, the bodies of the military, political and state leadership have paid close attention to the state of air defense. On November 9, 1941, the State Defense Committee adopted Resolution No. 874ss "On Strengthening and Strengthening the Air Defense of the Union Territory." With this document, the Air Defense Forces territory of the country were transformed into an independent type of the Armed Forces of the USSR.

In the final period of the Great Patriotic War, four air defense fronts operated as part of the Air Defense Forces, covering the most important strategic air directions.

One of the main results of the Great Patriotic War should be considered the confirmation of the thesis about the increasing role of air defense among the conditions for ensuring the security of the state. Severe combat practice has proven that the tasks of repulsing an air enemy can only be performed in advance by strong Air Defense Forces deployed in constant combat readiness.

POST-WAR YEARS

In June 1948, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of Ministers of the USSR determined the new structure of the system and the Air Defense Forces. Districts, air defense armies were to be disbanded, air defense areas of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd categories were created on their basis. The entire territory of the country was divided into the interior (rear facilities) and the border strip.

Responsibility for the air defense of rear facilities and for the preparation of the country's territory in terms of air defense was assigned to the commander of the country's Air Defense Forces - Deputy Minister of the Armed Forces. The Air Defense Forces of the country, which covered the objects of the rear areas of the USSR, and the VNOS service on the territory of the entire Soviet Union were subordinate to him. Responsibility for the air defense of objects in the border zone was assigned to the commanders of the military districts, naval installations (bases, ports) - to the commanders of the fleets.

On July 7, 1948, Deputy Minister of the Armed Forces Marshal of the Soviet Union L.A. was appointed Commander of the Air Defense Forces of the country. Govorov leaving behind him the post of Chief Inspector of the Armed Forces. The country's air defense troops have left the command of the artillery commander of the Armed Forces. In accordance with these decisions in 1948-1949. the second post-war radical reorganization of the troops and the air defense system was carried out.

In September 1951, the next reorganization of the air defense was carried out by a new government decree. In the border areas of the country, air defense troops of the border line were created, subordinate to one of the deputy commanders-in-chief of the Air Force. All parts of the VNOS in the border zone were transferred to their composition from the Air Defense Forces of the country.

On June 20, 1953, by order of the Minister of Defense "On measures to improve the organization of the air defense of the USSR," the air defense troops of the border line were abolished, and the areas under their control were transferred to the military districts. The commander of the Air Defense Forces of the country was responsible for air defense and leadership of its forces and means throughout the entire territory of the USSR.

On May 27, 1954, by resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Central Committee of the CPSU No. 1040-444 "On unpunished flights of foreign aircraft over the territory of the USSR," the leadership of the Air Defense Forces of the country and the VNOS service and responsibility for air defense was assigned to the Ministry of Defense, for which the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Air Defense Forces was established country - Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR. Marshal of the Soviet Union L.A. was nominated for this post. Govorov.

By order of the USSR Ministry of Defense dated June 14, 1954 "On the reorganization of the structure of the country's air defense forces", instead of air defense areas in the border zone and in the depths of the USSR, operational formations (districts and armies) and operational-tactical formations (corps, divisions) of air defense were restored, which included in its composition of all branches of the air defense troops.

During this period, weapons are also being improved, Combat vehicles and organization of troops at the tactical level. New samples of weapons and military equipment are supplied to the aviation and radio engineering troops of the air defense. Since the mid 1950s. the birth and development of anti-aircraft missile troops, which formed the basis of the firepower of air defense.

Since 1960, air defense corps and divisions of the new organization have been formed. Corps and divisions of military branches, and in air defense formations - and headquarters of military branches are liquidated. Districts and individual air defense armies began to consist of air defense corps and divisions, which, according to the combined arms principle, included formations and units of the ZRV, ZA, IA, RTV and special troops.

A simpler, more cost-effective and flexible command and control system for the country's Air Defense Forces was created. Districts and individual air defense armies were deployed in the main operational-strategic directions. The systems were widely used automated control, covering the entire territory of the country with areas of application of active arms of the air defense forces.

This air defense system with separate additions lasted until 1978. During this period, the air defense forces of the country included forces and systems of rocket and space defense, which actually became the Aerospace Defense Forces.

AT THE PRESENT STAGE

The next reorganization of the system and the Air Defense Forces in 1978-1980. returned them to the organizational forms already introduced and rejected by the war and post-war activities. The border district and air defense armies were disbanded, their air defense corps and divisions without fighter aircraft were transferred to military districts. Since January 1986, common sense still prevailed. The air defense forces were brought to their "pre-reform" form. However, weakened in the course of continuous reorganizations, they were never able to reach the required level of development until the very end of the existence of the USSR.

The collapse in 1991 of the unified air defense system led to a significant decrease in the combat capability of the state's air defense. In subsequent years, the gap between the Air Defense Forces and the required level of development has increased significantly. Numerous organizational and staff changes did not contribute to this, which, in the end, according to many experts, did not help to strengthen the state's defense capability. In 1997, the Air Defense Forces as a branch of the Armed Forces were liquidated, which today is assessed as the biggest mistake of the reforms of the 1990s. Current state air defense forces and means are very far from the required level of support national security Russia.

In this regard, we should all remember the assessment of the role of air defense expressed by Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov: “The war showed the exceptional and paramount importance of the air defense of the country and troops. only favorable conditions for the entry into the war of the Armed Forces, but also gives the country the opportunity to reorganize on a war footing in a more organized way, not to mention the fact that the morale of the people will not be seriously shaken. our potential adversary has intercontinental weapons with a thermonuclear filling, the importance of air defense has certainly become No. 1. Severe grief awaits the country that will be unable to repel an air strike."

About how insightful he was great commander, confirmed local wars and military conflicts of recent decades. Without a strong anti-aircraft (aerospace) defense, the Armed Forces cannot be truly combat-ready, and the security of the state cannot be ensured. This should not be forgotten at the current stage of reforming the military organization. Russian Federation.

The first experimental firing at air targets took place. Tethered balloons and horse-drawn balloons were used as aerial targets. Experimental shooting at air targets with bullet shrapnel from four-inch cannons, carried out at the Ust-Izhora training ground in 1890 and near Krasnoye Selo in 1891, showed the high efficiency of the use of artillery. Nevertheless, it was determined that a special anti-aircraft gun was needed to successfully combat enemy air targets. As a result, Russian engineers developed a 76-mm anti-aircraft gun of the 1914/15 model. This is how Russian air defense was created.

During World War I

During the years of the First World War, not a single enemy aircraft penetrated the airspace of Petrograd.

Interwar period

In September-October 1932, the issues of organizing the country's air defense were considered at the government level, and on October 4, 1932, the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR approved the "Regulations on the air defense of the territory of the USSR." In February-April 1938, air defense corps were formed to protect Moscow, Leningrad and Baku from air strikes, and an air defense division was formed in Kyiv. Air defense corps and divisions of major centers of the country included units and units of anti-aircraft artillery, anti-aircraft machine guns, anti-aircraft searchlights, air surveillance, warning and communications, as well as units and subunits of barrage balloons. The commanders of the air defense corps and divisions were promptly subordinated to the fighter aircraft of the Air Force, assigned to carry out the tasks of air defense of objects.

Germany

After the war

In the village of Vilga, Prionezhsky district of the Republic of Karelia, there is an air defense lane.

Notes

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THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY'S AIR DEFENSE

From the first days and months of the First World War, the organs of state and military leadership paid close attention to the state of air defense.

In the First World War, in connection with the intensive development and use of aircraft by the opposing sides for military purposes in the armies of the warring states, it became necessary to create special means of combating them and organize air defense of groupings of their troops and important objects in the theater of operations. In Russia, among the priority tasks, measures were developed to prevent flights of enemy air attack weapons over the capital and the residence of the emperor in Tsarskoe Selo.

On November 30, 1914, * the commander of the 6th Army, by order No. 90, announced a special instruction, on the basis of which the air defense ** of Petrograd and its environs was organized. Major General G.V. Burman. On December 8, 1914, the "Instruction on aeronautics in the area of the 6th Army" was put into effect, the air defense of the capital of Russia began to be carried out.

*Hereinafter, the dates are given according to the new style.
** The term "air defense", which meant a combination of forces and means, as well as organizational measures to combat the enemy's air fleet and protect its troops and facilities from its actions, was used in Russia for a relatively short time - from 1914 to 1926 ., in 1926-1927. the term "air-chemical defense" was used, since 1928 - "air defense". For the first time, the name "air defense" in an official document (it was signed by B.M. Shaposhnikov, Assistant Chief of Staff of the Red Army) appeared at the beginning of 1924, and since 1928 it was legalized by a decree of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR.

For the timely detection of the enemy in the air on the distant approaches to the city and warning about him, a network of observation posts was deployed, artillery pieces adapted for firing at aircraft were installed at positions around Petrograd and near Tsarskoye Selo, and prepared for combat were appointed from the Gatchina Military Aviation School. with aircraft crews.

By April 1915, the air defense of Petrograd and the imperial residence in Tsarskoye Selo was replenished with new forces and means, in connection with which, by order of the 6th Army No. leadership, units and divisions of various types of weapons. Since the summer of 1915, for the first time, the organization of the air defense of the capital of the empire was regulated by the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

During the First World War, air defense was also created to protect other cities, in particular Odessa and Nikolaev, large headquarters, groupings of troops on all fronts of the active Russian army. Improved its organization and weapons.

At the beginning of 1917, at the initiative of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, a radio intelligence system, or, as it was then called, radio telegraph defense, began to be created in the regions of Petrograd and Odessa in order to give early warning of the appearance of enemy airships and determine the direction of their flight.

Thus, in 1915-1917. the foundation was laid for the creation of air defense systems for individual cities and important military facilities in theaters of military operations. In the Russian army, special positions of chiefs of air defense were introduced (regularly and non-regularly), and their headquarters were formed.

The air defense systems being created for the administrative-political and military centers of Russia throughout the war were continuously improved taking into account the situation in the East European theater of operations, the technical means available in service and experience in combating an air enemy.

In the years civil war and military intervention air defense Soviet state took the first steps. The extremely low technical level and the small number of forces and means involved in air defense did not allow developing the experience that arose during the First World War in their combat use on the fronts of military operations.

After the end of the Civil War, by decision of the government of the RSFSR, the transfer of the Red Army to a peaceful position began in a short time. A significant reduction in these years was also carried out in air defense units (subunits). The absence of a single governing body for the latter, the limited number of anti-aircraft artillery and aviation, and their poor technical condition led to the fact that "in the period 1921-1924, air defense as a system did not exist in the country." This period was assessed in 1932 by the head of the Air Defense Department M.E. Medvedev.

The construction of the air defense system of the Soviet state in the interwar period began during the military reform of 1924-1925. Since 1924, the Headquarters of the Red Army has become the main planning body for this process.

Special meaning in the construction of air defense had a directive of the Headquarters of the Red Army to the military districts, departments and services of the People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs dated August 25, 1925, which explained that "in the current budget year, the Headquarters of the Red Army is starting to organize the country's air defense. with this, it should be distinguished from the tasks of air defense of the front line in wartime, where all these issues will be resolved on the basis of the relevant charters and instructions. In this directive, for the first time, the terms "air defense of the country" and "air defense of the front line" were used and their difference was emphasized.

In December 1926, the Headquarters of the Red Army made an attempt to combine air and chemical defense. To this end, air-chemical defense sectors are being created in the military districts, which combine the fight against an air enemy and the elimination of the consequences of a possible use of chemical weapons by him. In all command and staff bodies, in the plans and official documents being developed, the term "air-chemical defense (ACD)" began to be used instead of the term "air defense (AD)". However, the latter lasted a little more than a year, since it did not accurately reflect the essence of measures to protect the country from air strikes. On January 31, 1928, at a meeting of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR, at the suggestion of S.S. Kamenev, who at that time held the position of deputy chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council, it was decided to abandon the term "air-chemical defense". In accordance with the "Regulations on the air defense of the USSR (for peacetime)", approved on the same day by the People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs and Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR K.E. Voroshilov, all parts, means and bodies of the WMO were renamed into parts, means and bodies of air defense. The name "Air Surveillance, Warning and Communications Service (VNOS)" was also legalized. The leadership of the country's air defense was entrusted to the People's Commissar of the Navy, which he was to carry out through the Headquarters of the Red Army.

In 1930, at the Headquarters of the Red Army, proposals were developed to create a management body in the central apparatus of the military department that would directly oversee air defense issues. And on May 1 of the same year, in addition to the staff of the central apparatus as part of the Headquarters of the Red Army, such a body called the 6th Directorate was created. His boss was at the same time an air defense inspector and head of the air defense service of the Red Army.

In the same 1930, the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR developed and on November 23 approved the first Master Plan for the country's air defense with the main figures for the development of air defense for 1931-1933. In accordance with it, measures were taken to strengthen the units and create the first formations of the air defense forces. Many territorial air defense units, intended for the defense of large centers of the country, are being transferred to personnel. On the basis of anti-aircraft artillery regiments, air defense brigades are created, which, in addition to units and subunits of anti-aircraft artillery, include machine-gun, searchlight battalions (companies), units of barrage balloons and VNOS. In the autumn of 1931, the brigades on the defense of Moscow and Leningrad were reorganized into air defense divisions.

Such changes in the air defense forces required a new organization of the air defense leadership in the center. On May 1, 1932, by order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR No. 033, the 6th Directorate of the Headquarters of the Red Army was renamed the Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army with direct subordination to the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR.

The year 1932 was a turning point in solving the problems of building air defense, during which the state of air defense and measures for its further strengthening were considered twice (in April and in September-October) at the government level. The result of these discussions was the adoption of a number of documents that determined both the foundations of the organization of air defense throughout the country, its management in the center and in the field, and ways to improve the quality of combat training of units and the functioning of the entire air defense service system. One of these documents was, in particular, the "Regulations on Air Defense of the Territory of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" approved on October 4, 1932 by the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (announced by order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR No. 0031 of October 23, 1932).

The measures developed by the government and the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR, aimed at achieving a decisive change in the country's air defense, noticeably revived the activities of all bodies, institutions and establishments of the military department in modernizing existing and creating new domestic types of weapons and military equipment for air defense. More advanced types of anti-aircraft guns, fighter planes, anti-aircraft machine guns, searchlights, and barrage balloons appeared. For the VNOS service, samples of automatic signal communication equipment Avto-VNOS and others were developed.

Measures were also taken to create fundamentally new types of weapons for air defense based on the latest achievements in science and technology and the intensive development of production. In 1934, for the first time in world practice, successful tests were carried out developed on the ideas and with the participation of an electrical engineer of the Pskov anti-aircraft artillery regiment P.K. Oshchepkov equipment for detecting aircraft in the air based on the use of continuous radiation of radio waves (Rapid equipment), which served as the prototype for the first radio detection system RUS-1 adopted in 1939 by the VNOS service (the first aircraft radar; Rhubarb system). In July 1940, the RUS-2 ("Redut") airborne early warning station, operating on the principles of pulsed radiation and signal reception, was put into service.

Thus, in the interwar period, various models of weapons and military equipment were developed for air defense, although not all of them had the required quality characteristics. The entry into the troops of new types of weapons was hampered by the insufficiently developed industrial base of the country. For objective, and often subjective reasons, a number of new models were either not accepted into production at all, or qualitatively more advanced weapons were produced in negligible quantities. All this, as well as a number of other factors, eventually led to serious shortcomings in the air defense system, which Marshal of the Soviet Union S.K. Timoshenko: "The air defense of the troops and guarded points is in a state of complete neglect ... Given the current state of leadership and organization of air defense, proper protection against air attack is not provided."

In the interwar years, changes were also made in the organization of air defense and its management bodies.

On April 14, 1936, the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR approved the proposals of the General Staff of the Red Army for the construction of an air defense system, developed by the Air Defense Directorate. The forces and means of air defense of the largest points - Leningrad, Moscow, Baku and Kyiv, led by the air defense chiefs of these points, were directly subordinate to the commanders of the military districts; the chiefs of the air defense posts were endowed with the functions of the chiefs of the military branches of the districts. In February-April 1938, air defense corps were formed to protect Moscow, Leningrad and Baku from air strikes, and an air defense division was formed in Kyiv. Air defense corps and divisions included formations and units of anti-aircraft artillery, anti-aircraft machine guns, anti-aircraft searchlights, air surveillance, warning and communications, as well as units and subunits of barrage balloons. Air defense corps and division commanders were promptly subordinated to the fighter aviation (IA) of the Air Force, which was assigned to carry out the tasks of air defense of the point.

Beginning in 1937, the turnover of the heads of the Air Defense Directorate increased. So, on December 2 of this year, commander of the 2nd rank A.I. Sedyakin (head of the department since January 25, 1937) was arrested, and I.F. temporarily took over the leadership of the air defense. Blazhevich, but he was also arrested on February 18, 1938. Colonel G.M., head of the 2nd department, took over the duties of the head of the Air Defense Directorate. Koblenz, and on November 13 this position was accepted by division commander Ya.K. Polyakov, who arrived from the post of commander of an air defense brigade. However, on June 4, 1940, Polyakov was transferred to the Far East, and Major General M.F. took over the leadership of the Air Defense Directorate. Korolev, who prior to this appointment was the commander of a rifle corps. But in November 1940, he left for a new duty station in the Main Directorate of the Local Air Defense of the NKVD.

On December 21, Lieutenant General D.T. took over the leadership of the air defense. Kozlov, who commanded rifle corps in the war with Finland. On December 27, 1940, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR No. 0368, the Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army was transformed into the Main Directorate (GU) of the Red Army Air Defense. By the same order, the head of the Main Directorate of Air Defense was entrusted with the organization of air defense of the territory of the USSR, the leadership of combat training and the use of air defense forces and means.

In January 1941, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution "On the organization of air defense." It defined a zone threatened by air attack to a depth of 1,200 km from the state border. On this territory, within the military districts, air defense zones were created (by order of the NPO of the USSR of February 14), in them - air defense areas, as well as air defense points. The combat composition of the air defense zone included air defense formations and parts of anti-aircraft artillery, anti-aircraft machine guns, searchlights, airborne launchers and barrage balloons, which directly performed the tasks of protecting cities, objects and structures on the territory of the zone from air attacks.

Lieutenant General D.T. Kozlov headed the Main Directorate of Air Defense until February 14, 1941. Further (until November 1941), the heads of the Main Directorate of Air Defense were: Lieutenant General of Aviation E.S. Ptukhin, Colonel General G.M. Stern, Colonel General of Artillery N.N. Voronov, Major General of Artillery A.A. Osipov (vreed).

In total, by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the air defense forces had: air defense zones - 13; air defense corps - 3; air defense divisions - 2; air defense brigades - 9; air defense brigade districts - 39. The number of personnel of the air defense troops was 182 thousand people. To solve the problems of air defense of the most important centers of the country, 40 fighter aviation regiments were also allocated, numbering about 1500 combat aircraft, 1206 crews.

At the same time, the shortcomings that had taken place in the air defense forces, the unresolved problems of the organizational and technical plan, could not be eliminated by June 1941, which was one of the reasons for the serious losses of the armed forces and the state as a whole from air strikes in the initial period of the war.

At dawn on June 22, 1941, bombing and assault strikes by Nazi aviation against troops and facilities within the borders of the Baltic Special, Western Special, Kiev Special, Odessa and Leningrad military districts and the Black Sea Fleet began the Great Patriotic War for the Soviet people. At 03:15 Ochakov and Sevastopol were hit. From 03:30 enemy aircraft bombed the cities of Belarus, Ukraine, the Baltic states, and launched massive strikes on airfields based in the air forces of the border districts. At 4 o'clock, the invasion of the land forces of Nazi Germany into the USSR began. The Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and, in their composition, the forces and means of air defense entered into a fierce confrontation with the enemy. Often, air defense units and subunits entered into battle with enemy aircraft without permission from above, at their own peril and risk, since on the eve of the war there was an order: do not open fire on violators of the border.

From the first days and months of the war, state and military authorities paid close attention to the state of air defense. The military councils of the fronts, the commanders of the troops of the military districts sent applications to the General Staff for additional air defense systems to strengthen the cover of points and objects in their areas of responsibility. In June-July 1941, the heads of the people's commissariats, secretaries of the regional committees of the CPSU (b) repeatedly applied to the General Staff on the issue of the allocation of air defense means.

At the same time, the state of the air defense of Moscow and other important cities and regions of the country was a matter of serious concern to the leaders of the highest rank. In particular, the State Defense Committee (GKO), formed on June 30, 1941, headed by I.V. Stalin, from the first days of his activity until the end of the Great Patriotic War, repeatedly turned to solving air defense problems. So, on July 9, 1941, he adopted a special resolution "On the air defense of Moscow", and on July 22, 1941 - "On the air defense of the city of Leningrad."

The course of the summer-autumn campaign of 1941 convincingly confirmed the growing role of air defense in the war. Under the conditions of enemy dominance in the air, in the first days and months of the war, in border defensive battles, while repulsing massive raids on Moscow, while defending Leningrad, Kyiv, Odessa and other important points from air strikes, they inflicted significant damage on fascist aviation, destroying more than 2,500 enemy aircraft, acquired the necessary combat experience. At the same time, irreparable losses of air defense formations and units, identified shortcomings in the organization and management of air defense led to the need to take urgent measures to improve the organization and build up air defense forces and means.

On November 9, 1941, the State Defense Committee adopted a resolution "On strengthening and strengthening the air defense of the territory of the Union", which radically changed the organization of the entire air defense system. In accordance with it, formations and units intended to protect large administrative and political centers and vital objects in the rear of the country from air strikes were withdrawn from the subordination of military councils of districts, fronts and fleets (with the exception of formations and units that covered Leningrad: they remained subordinate to the command of the Leningrad Front) and were transferred to the command of the commander of the Air Defense Forces of the country's territory - the deputy people's commissar of defense for air defense (Lieutenant General M.S. Gromadin was appointed to this newly introduced position). Under him, a department was created, which included: headquarters, directorates of fighter aviation, anti-aircraft artillery and other bodies (IA, allocated to solve the problems of air defense of objects, was transferred to the commander of the Air Defense Forces of the country's territory only for operational subordination). At the same time, instead of the air defense zones that previously existed in the European part of the USSR, two corps (Moscow and Leningrad) and a number of divisional air defense areas were created on their basis.

On November 24, 1941, in pursuance of the decision of the State Defense Committee, the People's Commissar of Defense, by his order, distributed air defense units and formations between the Air Defense Forces of the country's territory and the fronts. Thus, the air defense system was divided into two components - the country's air defense and military air defense.

In the following months of the first period of the Great Patriotic War, the State Defense Committee at its meetings repeatedly returned to the consideration of problems related to air defense. So, on January 22, 1942, he discussed issues related to the Air Force. The result of this discussion was the order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR I.V. Stalin from the same date, according to which the corps, divisions and individual regiments of the IA allocated for air defense of objects were transferred to the complete subordination of the commander of the Air Defense Forces of the country's territory, and with them the airfield service battalions that provided them. With the publication of this order, in fact, the transformation of the Air Defense Forces of the country's territory into an independent branch of the USSR Armed Forces was completed. Solving a strictly defined range of tasks of a strategic nature, they had a structure peculiar only to them and an independent command, directly subordinate to the highest military leadership. The main types of troops were anti-aircraft artillery and fighter aircraft with their inherent forms and methods of action against an air enemy using anti-aircraft searchlights and the VNOS system, the first radio detection stations for aircraft in the air began to enter service with units and units.

On April 5, 1942, the State Defense Committee adopted a resolution on the reorganization of the Moscow Air Defense Corps District into the first operational-strategic association of the country's Air Defense Forces in the Russian Armed Forces - the Moscow Air Defense Front. By another decree of the same date, a qualitatively new operational formation was created on the basis of the Leningrad Air Defense Corps District - the Leningrad Air Defense Army, and on the basis of the Baku Air Defense Corps District - the Baku Air Defense Army.

On June 29, 1943, the State Defense Committee considered "Issues of Air Defense of the Country's Territory" and adopted a special resolution, according to which it was prescribed to have two air defense fronts in the country - Western and Eastern. Coordination of their actions and control over them were assigned to the commander of the artillery of the Red Army N.N. Voronov (the Office of the Commander of the Air Defense Forces of the country was liquidated). Under him, the Central Headquarters of the Air Defense Forces, the Central Headquarters of the Air Defense Fighter Aviation, the central post of the VNOS and other bodies were formed.

The creation of two air defense fronts improved the organization of interaction between the country's air defense formations and formations with the forces of fighter aviation and anti-aircraft artillery of combined arms fronts and fleets. At the same time, the abolition of the post of commander of the Air Defense Forces of the country's territory was not caused by an objective necessity and complicated the centralized management of forces and means performing the tasks of air defense of objects and communications in the rear of the country. The dividing line between the air defense fronts, drawn from north to south, was also not expedient, in which the Eastern Air Defense Front covered objects in the deep rear, and the Western one performed tasks on a vast territory that stretched behind the active combined arms fronts. With the rapid advance of the latter to the west during the strategic offensive of the Red Army in the second half of 1943 - early 1944, the gap between the formations of the Western Air Defense Front, which followed the advancing troops with a tense struggle against the air enemy, and the formations of the Eastern Air Defense Front, which continued to remain on cover objects, which were for the most part outside the reach of German aviation, increased more and more, which created serious difficulties in resolving issues not only of control, maneuvering forces and means in depth to build up air defense in the liberated territory, but also of its organization as a whole.

In order to eliminate the identified shortcomings of the reorganization, on March 29, 1944, the State Defense Committee adopted a resolution "On measures to improve the control of the active air defense forces of the Red Army", which determined the creation of the Western and Eastern fronts Air defense, respectively, of the Northern and Southern air defense fronts with a dividing line between them from west to east. The Transcaucasian Air Defense Zone was reorganized into the Transcaucasian Air Defense Front.

The further offensive of the Red Army troops to the west increased the airspace within which it was necessary to organize and carry out air defense of objects dispersed over great depth in the front line, which led to an increase in the number of forces and means in the air defense fronts, complicating their control. In this regard, on December 24, 1944, by another decree of the State Defense Committee, measures were taken to bring the bodies of operational control of air defense closer to the active troops. The Northern Air Defense Front was transformed into the Western Front with the transfer of front control from Moscow to Vilnius, and the Southern - into the South-Western with the relocation of the headquarters from Kyiv to Lvov. To cover the objects of the deep rear of the country, on the basis of the Special Moscow Air Defense Army, the Central Air Defense Front was created with headquarters in Moscow. The Transcaucasian Air Defense Front remained unchanged. The Central Headquarters of the Air Defense Forces and the Air Defense Fighter Aviation of the Red Army were renamed the Main Headquarters of the Red Army Air Defense Forces and the Main Headquarters of the Red Army Air Defense Fighter Aviation, respectively.

In the campaign of 1945 in Europe, the Air Defense Forces of the country, continuing to carry out the tasks of defending the most important centers, industrial regions and communications of the Soviet Union, concentrated their main efforts on securing the final offensive operations fronts, organizing the defense of the most important objects liberated by the Red Army in Central and South-Eastern Europe. During this period, four air defense fronts operated as part of the Air Defense Forces, covering the most important strategic air directions.

In the east of the country, where groups were concentrated and deployed Soviet troops in order to defeat militaristic Japan, it was necessary to strengthen the cover against possible enemy air strikes by the Trans-Siberian railway line, other communications, important industrial facilities, warehouses, troops. To do this, by decision of the State Defense Committee (decree "On strengthening air defense Far East and Transbaikalia" dated March 14, 1945) three air defense armies were formed: Primorskaya, Amur and Transbaikal, which later became part of the 1st and 2nd Far Eastern and Transbaikal Fronts. In a special respect, they were transferred to the command of the artillery commander of the Red Army .

The overall result of the combat activity of the Air Defense Forces of the country is their significant contribution to the achievement of the Victory, won by the joint efforts of all branches of the Armed Forces of the USSR and combat arms. During the Great Patriotic War, the Air Defense Forces successfully completed their tasks. They, together with the forces and means of air defense of the fronts and fleets, saved many cities from destruction from the air, settlements, industrial enterprises, railway communications, ensured the conduct of operations in the land and sea theaters of operations of the Soviet troops and fleet forces. Fulfilling their combat missions, the Air Defense Forces of the country destroyed 7313 aircraft of the Nazi aviation, of which 4168 - by air defense fighter aircraft and 3145 - by anti-aircraft artillery, machine-gun fire and barrage balloons.

Constant attention to air defense during the war years by the highest bodies of state and military leadership ensured a steady increase in the quantity and quality of air defense forces and means, determined the creation of an independent organizational structure - the country's Air Defense Forces. One of the most important conclusions based on the results of the Great Patriotic War should be considered the confirmation of the thesis about the increasing role of air defense in ensuring the security of the state. The tasks of repelling enemy air strikes can only be carried out in advance by strong Air Defense Forces that are deployed in constant combat readiness.

At the end of the war, the Red (since 1946 Soviet) Army, including the Air Defense Forces of the country, are transferred to peacetime states. In 1945-1946. the first post-war reorganization of the entire air defense system of the USSR is being carried out. By the end of the war, 4 fronts and 3 air defense armies were reorganized into 3 districts and 2 air defense armies, a significant number of formations and air defense units were disbanded. In April 1946, the post of commander of the Air Defense Forces of the country was restored, to which Colonel General M.S. Hulk. As a result of the reduction by October 1946, the strength of the Air Defense Forces decreased to 147,287 people (at the end of the war it was about 637 thousand people).

In June 1948, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of Ministers of the USSR determined the new structure of the air defense system and troops. Districts, air defense armies were to be disbanded, air defense areas of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd categories were created on their basis. The entire territory of the country was divided into the interior (rear facilities) and the border strip. Responsibility for the air defense of rear facilities, as well as for the preparation of the country's territory in terms of air defense, was assigned to the commander of the country's Air Defense Forces - Deputy Minister of the Armed Forces. The Air Defense Forces of the country, which covered the objects of the rear areas, and the VNOS service on the territory of the entire USSR were subordinate to him. Responsibility for the air defense of objects in the border zone was assigned to the commanders of the military districts, naval bases and ports - to the commanders of the fleets.

On July 7, 1948, Deputy Minister of the Armed Forces Marshal of the Soviet Union L.A. was appointed Commander of the Air Defense Forces of the country. Govorov leaving behind him the position of chief inspector. Since that date, the Air Defense Forces of the country have ceased to be subordinate to the artillery commander of the Soviet Army.

In accordance with these decisions in 1948-1949. the second post-war radical reorganization of the troops and the air defense system was carried out, which made it possible to expand work on preparing the country's territory for air defense (construction of airfields, command posts, communication lines, etc.) on a wider scale. At the same time, the unity of the leadership of the air defense system was disrupted, which had a negative impact on its combat readiness.

In September 1951, the next reorganization of the air defense was carried out by a government decree. Due to the fact that in the border zone the air defense forces were divided into military districts, and this made it difficult to manage them and mutual information about the air situation, it was ordered to create a single air defense of the border line from units and formations of fighter aviation, headed by the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force. All VNOS units in the border zone were transferred from the Air Defense Forces of the country to the formed 8 districts of this line. However, this event did not play a significant role in increasing the effectiveness of the fight against aircraft violating the country's airspace.

On June 20, 1953, by order of the Minister of Defense "On measures to improve the organization of the air defense of the USSR," the air defense areas of the border line were abolished, and air defense directorates of military districts were created on their basis, which were included in the Air Defense Forces of the country. The commander of the latter was entrusted with responsibility for air defense and leadership of air defense forces and means throughout the entire territory of the USSR.

On May 27, 1954, by a decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Central Committee of the CPSU "On unpunished flights of foreign aircraft over the territory of the USSR", the leadership of the country's Air Defense Forces and the VNOS service and responsibility for air defense were assigned to the Ministry of Defense. For the direct management of it, the post of commander-in-chief of the country's air defense forces was established, he is also the deputy minister of defense of the USSR. Marshal of the Soviet Union L.A. was appointed to this position. Govorov.

By a decree of May 28 and an order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR of June 14, 1954 "On the reorganization of the structure of the country's air defense forces", instead of areas and directorates of air defense in the border military districts, as well as in the depths of the country, operational formations (districts and armies) and operational-tactical formations (corps, divisions) of air defense, which included in their composition all types of troops.

During this period, weapons, military equipment and the organization of troops at the tactical level were also improved. New models of weapons are delivered to the aviation and radio engineering units of the Air Defense Forces.

Since the mid-1950s, the intensive development of anti-aircraft missile forces began, which formed the basis of the firepower of air defense. On May 7, 1955, by a decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, the first S-25 anti-aircraft missile system was adopted by the country's Air Defense Forces, and the formation of units intended for anti-aircraft missile defense of Moscow was completed. In July of the same year, by order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR, the Special Purpose Air Defense Army (1st Air Defense Army ON), which included four corps, became part of the Moscow Air Defense District. With the adoption in October 1954 of the government decree "On the creation of an anti-aircraft battery of the S-75 system," work began to complete the design and supply to the troops of new anti-aircraft missile systems capable of maneuvering to new positions on their own or transported by rail. In May 1957, the development of the S-125 anti-aircraft missile system began. At the end of this year, the S-75 (Dvina) medium-range mobile complex was put into service, and in May 1961, the S-125 (Neva) complex, designed to combat air targets at low altitudes, appeared in air defense units. . Work began on the creation of the S-200 Angara long-range anti-aircraft missile system (put into service in 1967)

Since 1960, air defense corps and divisions of the new organization have been formed. Formations of military branches, and in air defense formations and headquarters of these military branches, are liquidated. The number of large air defense formations and formations was reduced by almost 2 times. The Air Defense Forces of the country included two districts and seven separate air defense armies, which included 16 corps and 18 air defense divisions. In 1961, it was planned to create three more divisions. Districts and individual air defense armies began to consist of air defense corps and divisions formed on the combined arms principle from formations and units of anti-aircraft missile troops, anti-aircraft artillery, fighter aircraft, radio engineering troops and special troops. In some directions, anti-aircraft missile barriers (frontiers) were created from mixed ZRV groupings (anti-aircraft missile battalions S-75 and S-125).

A simpler, more cost-effective and flexible command and control system for the country's air defense forces was introduced. Districts and separate air defense armies were deployed in the main operational-strategic directions, each on an area of about 1500x1500 km or more. Widespread use of automated control systems was ensured, coverage of the entire territory of the country by areas of application of active arms of the air defense forces.

The air defense system created in these years, with separate additions, lasted until 1978. In the same period, thanks to the coordinated activities of scientists, teams of designers and production workers, forces and systems of rocket and space defense were included in the Air Defense Forces of the country, and common system defense of the state The Air Defense Forces actually became the troops of the aerospace defense.

Another reorganization of the air defense system and troops in 1978-1980. returned them to the structure already introduced and rejected by the war and post-war activities. The border districts and air defense armies were disbanded, their air defense corps and divisions without fighter aircraft were transferred to military districts. The Air Defense Forces of the country in 1980 were reorganized into the Air Defense Forces.

From January 1986, this system was canceled (except for the name of the troops), and individual air defense armies were again restored.

The collapse of the Soviet Union as a single state at the end of 1991, and with it the unified system and the Air Defense Forces of the USSR, led to a significant decrease in the combat capability of the air defense forces within the borders of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

With the signing of the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation on the creation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation on May 7, 1992, a new stage in the development of the Air Defense Forces began. The subsequent reformation (in fact, reduction) of the Armed Forces and the Air Defense Forces in their composition did not lead, unfortunately, to the restoration of the necessary level of protection of the state from an aerospace enemy.

An analysis of the development of the armies of the leading world powers and, in general, the military organization of the NATO countries, their use in local wars and armed conflicts of the last decade of the last century shows that in these countries the forces and means of aerospace attack play a decisive role. There is an obvious increase in the dependence of the course and outcome of hostilities on the results of confrontation in aerospace. Consequently, aerospace defense in the overall defense system of the country should occupy one of the central places. The ongoing long-term purposeful work of the main command of the Air Defense Forces, and since 1998 - the Air Force (since February 1998, the Air Defense Forces became part of the Air Force) to justify major areas and the stages of creating the aerospace defense of Russia has recently given certain positive results: the concept of aerospace defense of the Russian Federation was developed; The main provisions of the state policy in the field of air defense of the Russian Federation; measures have been planned and are being implemented to improve the air defense system of the Russian Federation.

The attention of the country's top state and military leadership to the development of a specific program for the development of the state's aerospace defense system gives hope for the creation in the near future of means, complexes and weapons systems capable of combating all enemy aerospace attack means or contributing to solving this problem. Today we have all the necessary prerequisites for the successful solution of the tasks facing us.

Heads of air defense of Russia, the USSR and the Russian Federation

Position	Full Name	Military rank (at the end of the service)	Years of life	Length of stay in the position
Head of the air defense of Petrograd and its environs, head of the air defense of Petrograd and Tsarskoye Selo (May 1915 - March 1917)	BURMAN Georgy Vladimirovich	Major General
	BLAZHEVICH Joseph Frantsevich			May - October 1930
Head of the 6th Directorate of the Headquarters of the Red Army, head of the air defense service of the rear of the country	KUCHINSKY Dmitry Alexandrovich
Head of the 6th Directorate of the Headquarters of the Red Army, head of the air defense service of the rear of the country	MEDVEDEV Mikhail Evgenievich
	MEDVEDEV Mikhail Evgenievich
Head of the Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army, Head of the Air Defense of the Red Army	KAMENEV Sergey Sergeevich	Commander 1st rank
Head of the Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army, Head of the Air Defense of the Red Army	SEDYAKIN Alexander Ignatievich	Commander 2nd rank		January - December 1937
Head of the Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army, Head of the Air Defense of the Red Army (vrid)	KOBLENTS Grigory Mikhailovich	Colonel		February - October 1938
Head of the Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army, Head of the Air Defense of the Red Army	POLYAKOV Jacob Korneevich	Major General of Artillery
Head of the Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army, Head of the Air Defense of the Red Army	KOROLEV Mikhail Filippovich	Lieutenant General		June - November 1940
	KOZLOV Dmitry Timofeevich	Lieutenant General
Head of the Main Directorate of Air Defense of the Red Army	PTUKHIN Evgeny Savvich	Air Lieutenant General		February - March 1941
Head of the Main Directorate of Air Defense of the Red Army	STERN Grigory Mikhailovich	Colonel General		March - June 1941
Head of the Main Directorate of Air Defense of the Red Army	VORONOV Nikolay Nikolaevich	Chief Marshal of Artillery		June - July 1941
Head of the Main Directorate of Air Defense of the Red Army (vrid)	OSIPOV Alexey Alexandrovich	Major General of Artillery		July - November 1941
Commander of the Air Defense Forces of the country, Deputy Commissar of Defense for Air Defense	Gromadin Mikhail Stepanovich	Colonel General
Commander of the Air Defense Forces of the country	Gromadin Mikhail Stepanovich	Colonel General
Artillery Commander of the Red Army	VORONOV Nikolay Nikolaevich	Chief Marshal of Artillery
	Gromadin Mikhail Stepanovich	Colonel General
Commander of the Air Defense Forces of the country - Deputy Minister of the USSR Armed Forces	GOVOROV Leonid Alexandrovich*	Marshal of the Soviet Union
Commander of the Air Defense Forces of the country	NAGORNY Nikolay Nikiforovich	Colonel General
Commander of the Air Defense Forces of the country	VERSHININ Konstantin Andreevich	Air Chief Marshal
	GOVOROV Leonid Alexandrovich	Marshal of the Soviet Union
Commander-in-Chief of the country's Air Defense Forces - Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR**	BIRYUZOV Sergey Semyonovich	Marshal of the Soviet Union
Commander-in-Chief of the Air Defense Forces of the country - Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR	SUDETS Vladimir Alexandrovich	Air Marshal
Commander-in-Chief of the Air Defense Forces of the country, Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR	BATITSKY Pavel Fedorovich	Marshal of the Soviet Union
Commander-in-Chief of the Air Defense Forces of the country - Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR, since January 1980 - Commander-in-Chief of the Air Defense Forces, Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR	KOLDUNOV Alexander Ivanovich	Air Chief Marshal
	Tretyak Ivan Moiseevich	Army General	Genus. in 1923
Commander-in-Chief of the Air Defense Forces, Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR	PRUDNIKOV Viktor Alekseevich	Army General	Genus. in 1939	August - December 1991
Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States - Commander of the Air Defense Forces	PRUDNIKOV Viktor Alekseevich	Army General	Genus. in 1939
Commander-in-Chief of the Air Defense Forces of the Russian Federation	PRUDNIKOV Viktor Alekseevich	Army General	Genus. in 1939
Commander-in-Chief of the Air Defense Forces of the Russian Federation (vrid)	SINITSYN Viktor Pavlovich	Colonel General	Genus. in 1940
Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force of the RF Armed Forces	KORNUKOV Anatoly Mikhailovich	Army General	Genus. in 1942	March 1998*** - January 2002
Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force of the RF Armed Forces	MIKHAILOV Vladimir Sergeevich	Army General	Genus. in 1943	January 2002 - present

* Marshal of the Soviet Union L.A. Govorov simultaneously remained in the post of chief inspector of the Armed Forces of the USSR.
** From January 1956 to February 1991, the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Defense Forces of the USSR was at the same time Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Joint Armed Forces of the States Parties to the Warsaw Pact, Commander of the Air Defense Forces of the Joint Armed Forces.
*** In the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force since January 1998, responsibility for air defense has been assigned since March 1998.

Information sources

Colonel General B.F. CHELTSOV, Chief of the General Staff of the Air Force - First Deputy
Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force. THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY'S AIR DEFENSE"Military History Journal" No. 12, 2004

After the end of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet people faced the task of eliminating the consequences of fascist aggression. The bodies and forces of the MPVO made their significant contribution to the solution of this problem.

First of all, the special pyrotechnic detachments of the MPVO continued to take part in the continuous demining of the territory of the USSR, which had undergone fascist invasion. Millions of explosive ordnance have been found and defused. For courage and bravery shown during demining, over 700 soldiers, sergeants and officers of the MPVO units were awarded orders and medals.

Another important task of the MPVO during this period was assistance on the ground in the restoration of the national economy. Of particular importance in this case for the MPVO was the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, adopted on August 21, 1943 "On urgent measures to restore the economy in areas liberated from German occupation." According to the data received by the Main Directorate of the MPVO of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, a large amount of restoration work was carried out by the forces of the units and formations of the MPVO.

At the same time, the completion of the combat activities of the MPVO in connection with the end of the war made it expedient to reduce the number of command and control bodies and forces of the MPVO, and reorganize its structure. It should be noted that the gradual reduction in the number of command and control bodies and air defense forces began at the end of the war, and continued after it ended. In accordance with the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of October 24, 1945, the number of personnel was reduced by almost 60 thousand people. The city units of the MPVO were disbanded, and the governing bodies were significantly reduced.

However, despite organizational changes, a sharp reduction in the number of command and control units of the air defense units and formations, the issues of preparing to protect the population from air attacks remained on the agenda.

First of all, the preparation of the population, enterprises and institutions for protection against air attacks continued. The training of citizens was carried out in circles according to the 20-hour program "Ready for PVHO". This work was carried out by DOSAAF and other organizations under the leadership of the MPVO headquarters. Knowledge and skills were consolidated through exercises and training.

Reducing the number of MPVO and categorized cities, the state took measures to preserve the accumulated fund of protective structures. Decree State Committee Defense of August 30, 1945 "On the use of special structures of local air defense" provided for the organization of control over the state of shelters and shelters, command posts and other special structures.

In general, attention to the problems of MPVO in the country has weakened in these years.

“With the end of the Great Patriotic War,” it was said, for example, in a circular letter from the Main Directorate of the MPVO of the NKVD of the USSR, sent to the people’s commissariats and departments in June 1946, “work on the MPVO at industrial and transport facilities has significantly weakened. A number of enterprise managers, instead of taking measures to preserve and consolidate the principles of work on the MPVO, established during the war, in many cases contributed to the spread of "liquidationist" sentiments and practically withdrew from work on the MPVO.

Meanwhile, life was preparing another serious test for the Soviet people, the personnel of the MPVO. On the night of October 5-6, 1948, a catastrophe broke out on the territory of the Turkmen SSR - one of the most destructive earthquakes known in world history occurred. Within a few seconds, the capital of Turkmenistan, the city of Ashgabat with a population of 130 thousand people, turned into ruins.

The catastrophic scale of the consequences of the earthquake for the first time set before the country, the MPVO and the Armed Forces of the USSR a number of complex and specific tasks, for which there was not enough experience and skills.

These tasks primarily included the restoration of broken control, the organization of search and rescue of people who found themselves under the ruins of houses, the provision of medical assistance to the victims, the extraction and burial of the dead, the provision of people with housing and basic necessities, food, the evacuation of women, children, and the elderly to other areas.

The experience gained in dealing with the aftermath of an earthquake had great importance to further improve the MPVO in solving peacetime tasks aimed at conducting rescue, emergency recovery and other urgent work in the disaster zone. In particular, the experience of sharing responsibility between different ministries for certain areas of assistance and mobilizing the necessary resources was considered unique.

At the same time, soon after the end of the 2nd World War, international relations began to worsen again.

In this regard, the Soviet government is taking measures to strengthen the country's defense capability, including improving the protection of the population and economy from air attack. A new “Regulations on the MPVO of the USSR” and a number of other documents concerning the organization and implementation of protective measures and the education of the population are being developed. When developing them, not only the experience accumulated by the MPVO in previous years was used, but also advanced foreign experience in this area.

The new "Regulations on the local air defense of the USSR" was approved by the Council of Ministers of the USSR on October 31, 1949. It defined the goals, objectives, organizational structure Air defense, the main activities carried out on the territory of the country, the role and place of the air defense forces, air defense formations and self-defense groups, the procedure for training personnel in the air defense system; responsibilities of ministries and departments.

The Regulations determined the procedure for the implementation of a number of measures for which there were no previously normative documents. These included the creation of mobilization funds for the deployment of an air defense system in wartime; determination of the procedure for introducing the “Threatened period” on the territory of the country (assigned to the Main Directorate of the MPVO of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR in agreement with General Staff Soviet army); increasing the engineering and technical requirements of MPVO in civil and industrial construction, etc.

It should be noted that the preparation of the air defense system during this period clearly lagged behind the level of development of foreign weapons. The resolutions of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of June 29 and 30, 1955 "On measures to improve the readiness of the country's air defense to protect the population and industrial facilities from atomic weapons" and "On measures to provide medical care to the population in the conditions of the use of atomic weapons" indicated that the preparation of the country to the air defense until 1955 was carried out without taking into account the possible use by the enemy nuclear weapons. Forces and means were preparing for operations under simplified conditions, without taking into account possible destruction resulting from the use of nuclear weapons. By this decree, the evacuation of the population of large economic and administrative-political centers was determined as the main method of protection against nuclear weapons. To achieve this goal, permanent republican, regional, regional, city and district evacuation commissions are being created, and plans for the evacuation of the population are being developed. In addition, with the announcement of the "Threatened Situation", it was planned to introduce two blackout regimes in the country: complete - along the state border of the USSR at a distance of possible action of enemy bomber aircraft and in a number of large industrial cities of the Volga region and the Urals, and partial - throughout the rest of the country. For the first time, universal and compulsory training of the population in anti-nuclear defense was introduced in the country. Special attention was given to the organization of timely notification.

On April 14, 1956, a new “Regulation on the Air Defense Forces of the USSR” was approved, in which it was determined that universal compulsory training of the population in measures of protection against weapons of mass destruction is one of the main tasks of the Air Defense Forces.

For the first time in the Regulations, it was noted that the MPVO is a system of nationwide defense measures carried out in order to protect the population from atomic weapons and other modern weapons, create conditions that ensure the reliability of the operation of national economy facilities in the face of an air attack, conduct rescue operations and provide assistance to victims , as well as the implementation of urgent emergency and restoration work in the lesions. Particular attention was paid to the fact that MPVO should be organized throughout the country.

Much attention was paid to the training of young students. The organization of training of students and pupils on issues of MPHE was entrusted to the Ministry higher education USSR, Ministry of Culture of the USSR, Ministries of Education of the Union Republics, Main Directorate labor resources and other departments. They developed programs and guidelines, which were coordinated with the Headquarters of the MPVO of the USSR. Thus, MPHE training acquired a planned, organized character, and the teaching of MPHE issues became one of the academic disciplines.

Taking into account the ongoing aggravation of the international situation, on May 4, 1959, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopts a new resolution "On measures to ensure the preparation of the country for local air defense", which provided for measures to improve the notification of the population, the construction in 1959-1965. protective and special structures, the accumulation of mobilization resources and the increase in the combat readiness of military units and formations of the Air Defense Forces, the dispersed location of enterprises, the shelter of especially important factories, state reserves in special underground structures, the creation of duplicates of unique and especially important enterprises, to strengthen the work of DOSAAF, the Union of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (SOCC and KP) on universal compulsory education in cities and rural areas, protection from atomic, chemical and bacteriological weapons.

As a result of the implementation of these measures, the operational readiness of the entire air defense system has significantly increased. In a short time, a significant fund of protective structures was created. The MPVO shelters were tested at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site and showed high efficiency.

Appearance in the 1950s fast development nuclear missile weapons required new approaches to protecting the population in conditions nuclear war. A qualitatively new stage in the improvement of the MPVO, which began in the mid-1950s, ended with the creation of a civil defense system on its basis.

The foregoing allows us to state the following:

1. The appearance at the beginning of the 20th century and the rapid development of aviation capable of striking at the rear of belligerent states led to the creation in Russia of a system for protecting the population from air attack.

2. The created MPVO went through the stages of formation and development, repeated reorganizations, and by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War came up ready to protect the population, material and cultural values in war conditions.

3. During the Great Patriotic War, the MPVO successfully coped with the tasks it faced, saving the lives and health of millions Soviet people, ensuring the reliability of the operation of rear facilities.

4. In the post-war years, the governing bodies and forces of the MPVO took an active part in the restoration of the national economy, performing a huge amount of work.

5. The appearance in the 50s of nuclear missile weapons required the improvement of methods for protecting the population, a radical reorganization of the MPVO, the creation new system national defense measures. The foundations in the field of protecting the population from dangers arising from the conduct of hostilities or as a result of these actions, laid down during the years of the functioning of the MPVO, became the foundation on which the civil defense of the country was created and still functions.

In January 1960, the Government of the USSR made a decision to transfer the headquarters and troops of the MPVO to the subordination of the USSR Ministry of Defense.