The Air Force of the Russian Federation is a separate branch of the forces that is part of the structure of the Aerospace Forces of our country. The abbreviated name is the RF Air Force. Until 08/01/15, the Air Force was considered a separate branch of the armed forces. After this date, by decree of the President of Russia, the Air Force was combined with the aerospace defense forces and became a new type of armed forces - Aerospace.
The Air Force is rightfully considered the most mobile and operational branch of our army. The Air Force includes aviation, anti-aircraft missile and radar troops, and special forces.
Tasks of the RF Air Force
The set of tasks of the Air Force includes:
- Detection of the beginning of an attack at distant stages by means of aerial patrols and radar reconnaissance.
- Notification of the beginning of an attack by all headquarters of the RF Armed Forces, all branches and branches of the armed forces in all military districts of Russia, including the headquarters of civil defense.
- Reflecting an attack in the air, establishing full control over the airspace.
- Protection of military and civilian objects from attacks from the air and from space, as well as from aerial reconnaissance.
- Air support for the actions of the Land and Naval Forces of the Russian Federation.
- Defeat military, rear and other enemy targets.
- Defeat enemy air, land, ground and sea groupings and formations, his air and sea landings.
- Transportation of personnel, weapons and military equipment, landing of troops.
- Conducting all types of aerial reconnaissance, radar reconnaissance, electronic warfare.
- Control of land, sea and air space in the border strip.
The structure of the Air Force of the Russian Federation
The structure of the RF Air Force has a complex multi-level system. By type and strength of the Air Force troops are divided into:
- aviation;
- anti-aircraft missile troops;
- radio engineering troops;
- special troops.
Aviation, in turn, is divided into:
- distant and strategic;
- front-line;
- army;
- exterminating;
- military transport;
- special.
Long-range aviation is designed to deliver missile and bomb strikes deep behind enemy lines at a considerable distance from the borders of the Russian Federation. In addition, strategic aviation is armed with nuclear missile and bomb weapons. Its aircraft are capable of covering considerable distances at supersonic speeds and at high altitudes, while carrying a significant bomb load.
Fighter aviation has the task of covering the most important directions and important objects from air attack and represents the main maneuverable force of air defense. The main requirement for fighters is high maneuverability, speed, the ability to effectively conduct air combat and intercept various air targets (interceptor fighters).
Frontline aviation includes assault and bomber aircraft. The former are designed to support ground forces and naval groupings, to defeat ground targets at the forefront of hostilities, to combat enemy aircraft. Front-line bombers, unlike long-range and strategic ones, are designed to destroy ground targets and groupings of troops at short and medium distances from basing airfields.
Army aviation in the RF Air Force is represented by helicopters for various purposes. First of all, it carries out close cooperation with the ground army forces, solving a wide variety of combat and transport tasks.
Special aviation is called upon to solve various highly specialized tasks: conduct aerial reconnaissance, electronic warfare, detect ground and air targets at long distances, refuel other aircraft in the air, provide command and communications.
Special troops include:
- intelligence;
- engineering;
- aeronautical;
- meteorological;
- topogeodetic troops;
- electronic warfare forces;
- RHBZ forces;
- search and rescue forces;
- parts of electronic support and ACS;
- parts of logistics;
- rear parts.
In addition, the RF Air Force associations are divided according to their organizational structure:
- special command;
- airborne special forces;
- air armies of military transport aviation;
- Air Force and Air Defense armies (4th, 6th, 11th, 14th and 45th);
- units of the central subordination of the Air Force;
- foreign air bases.
The current state and composition of the Air Force of the Russian Federation
The active process of degradation of the Air Force, which took place in the 90s, led to a critical state of this type of troops. The number of personnel and the level of its training fell sharply.
According to many media reports, at that time Russia could count a little more than a dozen highly trained pilots of fighter and assault aircraft who had experience in combat. Most of the pilots had little or no experience in flying aircraft.
The overwhelming majority of the aircraft fleet's equipment required major repairs, airfields and ground military facilities did not stand up to criticism.
The process of losing the combat capability of the Air Force after 2000 was completely stopped. Since 2009, the process of total modernization and overhaul of equipment has begun. So, plans for the purchase of new military equipment were brought to the level of Soviet times, the development of promising weapons began again.
As of 2018, many authoritative publications, including foreign ones in terms of size and level of equipment, put the Air Force of our country in second place after the US Air Force. However, it is noted at the same time that the growth in the number and equipment of the Chinese Air Force is ahead of the Russian air force and in the very near future the Chinese Air Force may equal ours.
During the military operation from Syria, the Air Force was not only able to conduct full-fledged combat tests of new weapons and air defense systems, but also, through the rotation of the numerical strength, to conduct "shelling" in combat conditions for the majority of fighter and assault aircraft pilots. 80-90% of pilots now have combat experience.
Military equipment
Fighter aviation in the troops is represented by the SU-30 and SU-35 multipurpose fighters of various modifications, the front-line fighters MIG-29 and SU-27, and the MIG-31 interceptor fighter.
Frontline aviation is dominated by the SU-24 bomber, the SU-25 attack aircraft and the SU-34 fighter-bomber.
Long-range and strategic aviation is armed with supersonic strategic missile-carrying bombers TU-22M and TU-160. There is also a number of obsolete turboprop TU-95, modernized to the modern level.
Transport aviation includes transport aircraft AN-12, AN-22, AN-26, AN-72, AN-124, IL-76 and passenger AN-140, AN-148, IL-18, IL-62, TU -134, TU-154 and the joint Czechoslovak-Russian development Let L-410 Turbolet.
Special aviation includes AWACS aircraft, air command posts, reconnaissance aircraft, tanker aircraft, electronic warfare and reconnaissance aircraft, and relay aircraft.
The helicopter fleet is represented by attack helicopters KA-50, KA-52 and MI-28, transport-combat MI-24 and MI-25, multipurpose Ansat-U, KA-226 and MI-8, as well as a heavy transport helicopter MI- 26.
In the future, the air forces will receive: a front-line fighter MIG-35, a fifth-generation fighter PAK-FA, a multipurpose fighter SU-57, a new AWACS aircraft of the A-100 type, a multipurpose strategic bomber-missile carrier PAK-DA, multipurpose helicopters MI-38 and PLV, attack helicopter SBV.
Among the air defense systems in service with the Air Force are the world famous long-range anti-aircraft missile systems S-300 and S-400, short-range missile and cannon systems Pantsir S-1 and Pantsir S-2. In the future, a complex of the S-500 type is expected.
