Why Russia mostly launches missiles from a distance
On August 12, Russia will celebrate Air Force Day. Many military aviators will meet the holiday in a combat situation, in the conditions of conducting a military air defense. About the role of our military aviation in the special operation in Ukraine, about whether, after the end of the SVO, aviation tactics textbooks will be rewritten, «MK» talked with the ex-commander of aviation of the Moscow District of the Air Force and Air Defense, the ex-commander of the 16th air army, honored military pilot of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General Valery Retunsky.
Photo: RF Ministry of Defense
— I don't think the textbooks we used to learn how to fly and use aviation should go to the trash. Of course, tactics, along with other components of military science – operational art and strategy – develops faster and more efficiently in the process of conducting combat operations, bringing changes to the methods of using various types and types of aviation, Valery Retunsky believes.
— First of all, this is due to the emergence of new models of weapons and military equipment, aviation weapons, new technologies for aviation engineering and airfield technical support, but above all – means of control and intelligence. All this forces the warring parties to change, supplement, and make adjustments to the tactics of use developed on the basis of the experience of previous military conflicts. but never overwritten.
— High intensity, efficiency of application, primarily due to intelligence. In addition, the presence of a rich air defense system from the enemy. Especially on the line of contact in the area of hostilities, as well as near specially protected zones, for example in Kyiv.
— Strong opposition from the enemy's air defense is neutralized by more detailed preparation of air strikes, development & nbsp; measures to destroy, suppress and overcome air defense systems. For this purpose, appropriate forces and means are specially allocated. And not only from aviation, but also from other types of the Armed Forces and branches of the armed forces.
For example, these are the forces and means of electronic warfare (EW), missile troops, and long-range artillery. But flight crews must also skillfully use airborne defense systems — air defense systems, as well as skillfully and efficiently maneuver along the flight route and especially in the target area.
In aviation, special tactical groups are allocated to combat enemy air defense, which hit air defense systems along the route, in flight corridors on the front line, as well as in the target area, in order to subsequently ensure the further work of strike aviation groups.
The main thing when delivering such strikes is a very well-planned interaction between command posts, strike aircraft and all other forces and means that ensure the actions of the Air Force.
— There is nothing new here. Military science has always assumed such an approach, all this has been used before, and this is taught in military schools and academies.
Of course, the situation in Afghanistan or Chechnya was different from the current hostilities. There, the enemy simply did not have an air defense system. Only portable anti-aircraft missile systems, the same Stingers, were used. They also had to be reckoned with, and therefore the headquarters planned operations according to this algorithm.
— Of course, there are. Much in tactics changes as the technique itself changes. Its possibilities are increasing.
Take, for example, the armament of the Su-34 and Su-24 front-line bombers. Yes, they seem to perform the same tasks, but in terms of their combat capabilities, the Su-34 – the car is much more serious than the Su-24. One onboard complex is worth something there! This is now, as they say in Odessa, a completely new oil painting.
So, when the task of suppressing air defense in the target area is planned – what has been done before, – new capabilities of modern aircraft are already taken into account.
Moreover, in this matter, a creative approach is generally important. Tactics – this is not only what is written in textbooks: he took a notebook and copied it out. No! The value of the military thought of commanders lies in how to effectively apply the available equipment with its capabilities. The core of such a solution – misleading the enemy. Simply put, deceit, military cunning. Such an element is always present in the plans and preparation of a military operation.
— Yes, not just improved, but are at a higher level of planning and application. First of all, due to the latest weapons we have.
Here is the Russian hypersonic aviation missile system «Kinzhal». In the NWO, this new weapon received, one might say, a baptism of fire. There is simply nothing similar abroad.
By the way, I think that in order to successfully fight enemy air defense, of course, it is necessary to develop a hypersonic direction, creating such weapons that NATO air defense systems cannot resist.
In principle, we need to go in the direction of increasing speed of aircraft missiles, including cruise missiles. Social networks are full of videos of our missiles flying over Ukraine, but they cannot shoot them down.
— No. The fact is that when we started using aviation at the beginning of the special operation, as it was written in textbooks, we suffered losses. Later the situation changed. And I think the important point here is that each specialist should be in his place. The pilot should not command the tankers. And the tanker, even the most respected one, – pilots.
When a decision is prepared for the commander, he must approve it. And if this boss is not a specialist in this field, then it turns out that such a person is actually substituted. And then he still has to report his unsuccessful actions to the top.
— Certainly. In Rus', from time immemorial, it has been established: up – only good. This approach is now being criticized. But many have paid for it before and now.
And so that nothing like this happens, there are no losses, no troubles, what is easier to do? Forbid to fly over the front line. That is, to use aviation only from afar. Hence the “long arm”, which launches missiles from the Caspian in order not to fall into the zone of detection, capture and launch of enemy air defense. That is, from where it does not shine at all on air defense screens.
— Concrete military actions always dictate their conditions and correct the decisions made. But, by and large, no one canceled the planning of the use of aviation in the face of strong opposition from enemy air defenses on the battlefield.
In military science, entire sections are devoted to this, which have been studied, are being studied and will be studied in the future. And we have everything we need to plan such actions: from organizing the interaction of military branches to the allocation of special aviation forces and assets.
— Something like this: on the front line, a strip is selected for the operation of the aviation component. For aviation overflight, it is pre-processed by all possible means. There, air defense radars are interfered with, rockets are fired to the maximum depth, artillery hits enemy positions identified by reconnaissance.
Then come aviation demonstration groups, which do not enter the zone of destruction of enemy air defense systems, but reveal their location. This task can be performed, for example, by target missiles or drones.
During the Karabakh war of 2020, the Azerbaijanis, for example, sent An-2 — corn growers. They helped open the Armenian air defense systems, which were subsequently destroyed by missile strikes, artillery and kamikaze drones.
Behind the demonstration air group are groups for the destruction of air defense systems. They carry «air-radar» anti-radar missiles, «dazzle» air defense system. At the same time, army aviation is operating, which suppresses MANPADS crews on the ground. And only then do the main attack air groups begin to work. There may be several levels. Each group strikes at designated targets.
The maximum effect of such massive air strikes is largely determined by surprise. Yes, in the conditions of enemy space reconnaissance, it is difficult to achieve this, but it is possible. For example, due to false actions, indicating their activity in completely different directions, using the night time, difficult weather conditions…
— There is no battle without losses. But the enemy will have only object air defense there, which by this moment should be destroyed and suppressed by missile troops.
And if only a few Su-25 attack aircraft enter the target area, and then turning up the nose of the aircraft, putting it into a nose-up and launching S-5 or S-8 unguided rockets from this position, then this will be unforgivable wastefulness. The cost of such attacks is too expensive, and the effectiveness is minimal.
— No matter how the hell, he will still remain a devil. I don't understand what a special operation is. In our country, any military operations have always been special. For myself, I understood: these are full-scale military operations of great intensity. And all professionals understand how to conduct them.
— Undoubtedly. It will always be up to date. Attack aviation, when it works, also conducts practically air combat, only against ground targets. With regard to air combat in fighter aircraft, success will accompany the ace who has at his disposal a more effective radar field. It all depends on who will detect the enemy earlier and whose command post will give target designation to the crews from the ground earlier. the enemy, who with the aiming system will quickly capture and auto-track.
Then everything is decided by means of destruction — who has missiles that could be launched from a greater range, what kind of homing head this missile has, whose equipment will create the best conditions for launching such missiles…
— Yes, the situation in long-range air missile battles always arises dueling – The groups meet face to face. Then launches are carried out, and then whoever is lucky wins.
But, let's say, if all this did not lead to success. For example, the pilots carried out an anti-missile maneuver, evaded missiles, and used on-board protection systems — heat traps, interference. Then, in the end, the pilots are forced to converge in close combat.
As a rule, fighters work out two or three options for starting close air battles. In such a battle, everything will already depend on who is armed with more efficient maneuverable aircraft, who has more effective melee missiles, and, of course, who has better trained flight personnel.
— Everything that is written on paper for potential buyers of the F-16 does not quite correspond to reality. This is – just an advertisement. I recently heard a Ukrainian Su-27 pilot who flew an F-16 talk about him. He says: yes, the plane is good, like a toy, but compared to our Su-27, it's worth nothing.
Well, if, according to the Ukrainian pilot, even the Su-27 surpasses the F-16 in its combat characteristics, then what can we say about our Su-30s, Su-35s? And I’m generally silent about the Su-57.
Personally, I would rate the technical characteristics of the F-16 at the level of our MiG-29. So, in the case of deliveries of F-16s to Kyiv, we will still have a serious superiority in aviation technology.
— It's hard to talk about it… We used to go to the same schools. At one time, I flew side by side with the Ukrainians in the same battle formations. I still have many familiar veteran pilots there.
— Of course not. But what are we all about them! Unfortunately, our flight schools were also destroyed during the so-called Serdyukov's army reforms. Now, in fact, only one Krasnodar is operating, well, and its branches. And where to get air combat masters – 1st class pilots?
And who is a 1st class pilot? This is a person who has been trained in the school for 3-4 years, and then for the same number of years engaged in intensive training in combat units. It takes about 800 flight hours to prepare a bomber or fighter capable of performing combat missions day and night, in simple and difficult weather conditions.
It takes 6 to 8 years to train such a pilot. Only in this case we will get a good air fighter. And not before.
And we have only one school. I don't think it graduates at least 1,500 people every year. Previously, all specialized flight schools – Kacha, Yeysk, Borisoglebsk, Balashov and others – they recruited 300 people per course, while only half of the initial recruitment was released.
— The rest were written off during their studies, either due to health or due to unfitness for flying.< /p>
— Some of the guys, for example, were excellent students, they graduated from school with a gold medal, while studying theory at the school they had only fives, they knew aerodynamics very well. And they used to put such a person in the cockpit of an airplane, so he – complete zero, can not fly. Well, not given! As a result, they were written off. So it turned out that they let out guys from the school much less than they recruited.
— I think it's big. Much more than the only remaining Krasnodar flight university with branches is capable of preparing. In our former schools — Borisoglebsk, Tambov, Balashov – flight training bases have been preserved as branches of the Krasnodar Higher School of Pilots. But, unfortunately, branches cannot be considered full-fledged schools. They are not able to provide the training cycle that they could provide when they were independent educational institutions.
— I believe that not only should the enrollment of cadets at the Krasnodar School be increased, but, in principle, the entire system of flight education should be expanded. Moreover, flying schools should appear not only in the European part of the country, but also in Siberia and the Far East.
In our country, for example, the Barnaul School was destroyed. It must be restored. Irkutsk Engineering should also work at full capacity. I think that a new flight school should be opened somewhere in Khabarovsk so that people can study in their region.
This is especially relevant in the framework of the tasks that the Supreme Commander-in-Chief set to create a new air army, as well as a number of new aviation units and formations, including eight bomber aviation regiments and one fighter aviation regiment.
— The task is not easy. Well, okay, our «defense industry», for example, will pull up on the flight equipment and release it. And where to get the leadership for these new structures? Who will command the new divisions? And who should fly in them?
Let's count: the aviation regiment – this is about 60 pilots. There are three regiments in the division, which means 180 pilots plus the division's command — about 200 people in total. Where to get them? 200 people – this is about a third of the annual graduation of the Krasnodar School. But they are also yellowmouths.
These are not the pilots yet, due to which it is possible to create a division, especially an army. Therefore, in order to fulfill the task set by the president, we need to bring the system of training the flight crew to the proper numerical and qualitative level.
— Exactly. Moreover, enemy aviation was practically nullified largely due to the actions of our Aerospace Forces. Of course, in cooperation with other branches and branches of the Armed Forces — missilemen, gunners, and ground troops. Therefore, now no Ukrainian aviation is practically visible on the battlefield.
— Unfortunately, the enemy's air defense in the area of the line of contact, as well as in the territories where military transportation is carried out, the regrouping of forces and the training of reserves is still in effect. But I have no doubt that our heroic flight personnel will successfully complete the tasks of destroying it, carrying out strikes against these objects, including with long-range cruise missiles. I am sure that our guys will cope.
On the occasion of the Air Force Day, I want to congratulate all the aviation specialists of the country – flight personnel, engineering and technical staff, support services personnel, Air Force veterans – with our wonderful professional holiday. I wish them success in their hard work. And we don’t have idlers in aviation and it’s not customary to mess around – everyone is in business.
And I also urge all our great military leaders to always remember: victory, of course, is achieved through the efforts of all types and branches of the military. All of them are important and contribute to the victory. But without aviation in modern warfare, there will never be a common victory on the battlefield.