| Russian missiles are ready to destroy terrorist bases anywhere in the world Yesterday, Russian air defense specialists celebrated the 90th anniversary of the creation of this type of armed forces, which is now part of the Air Force. On the occasion of the anniversary, the Chief of the Main Staff, First Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force, Colonel General Viktor Cheltsov, pleased taxpayers with the results achieved and no less rosy plans.
There really is something to show off. Despite the fact that reconnaissance aircraft of foreign countries fly along our borders with the same intensity, air defense units control all their movements. Including in previously calm areas - this refers to the recent flight of the American Orion over the Black Sea and the renewed violations of the state border by small-sized balloons. The latter do not have espionage content, and incidents involving them are resolved, as a rule, through diplomatic channels.
In order to make the air borders even stronger, airborne personnel are actively patching up the holes in the sky over the country that have formed in the last decade - trying to recreate a continuous radar field, as in the days of the Union. This is a labor-intensive and expensive task, so in addition to air defense radio equipment, air traffic control structures, including those belonging to civilian departments, will be involved in the work.
The air defense is especially counting on the new S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile system, which will enter service next year. The new product will also be used in non-strategic missile defense. It fits well into the concept of aerospace defense (ASD), which has already been adopted by the board of the Ministry of Defense and is being finalized today. The implementation of the concept will begin in the near future. However, the creation of aerospace defense as a whole will require at least five to seven years.
General Cheltsov confirmed that his subordinates today have high-precision long-range weapons in their arsenal, which “allows us to find terrorists anywhere in the world.” The Chief of the General Staff was referring to strategic cruise missiles that can carry a conventional charge, allowing them to hit terrorist bases with high accuracy. Air bombs are also used for such purposes.
It is clear that on a holiday the military wants to talk about successes, but the true state of affairs is not so positive. The former first deputy commander-in-chief of the country's air defense forces, retired Colonel General Vladimir Litvinov, in a conversation with a Vremya Novostei observer, said without equivocation: “There are no air defense troops today. After all, there used to be a system of radar and electronic reconnaissance, anti-aircraft missile fire, fighter aviation cover, a system of command posts from the regiment to the main command. The order took less than a minute. And this structure must be returned. Please note that I am not talking about the return of air defense systems in the previous volumes. And before, we only had strike groups in different directions, and in other areas we could build up the existing forces. Today there is nothing and no one to build up: the equipment has exhausted its resources, the officers have dispersed.”
According to Vladimir Litvinov, during the reform it was necessary to leave in the structure of the Air Force the position of, if not the commander-in-chief of the air defense forces, then at least simply a commander, preserving the vertical so beloved by the country’s leadership. He believes that conclusions have not been fully drawn after the long-standing story of hooligan pilot Matthias Rust, who landed a sports plane on Red Square. Each commander of a border air defense division, the general is convinced, should have the right to independently make decisions on stopping the intruder’s flight. This, however, is not the case today.
Former commander-in-chief Army General Anatoly Kornukov, who also came to the anniversary, is even more critical. Of the entire mass of targets heading towards the capital, he believes, modern air defense systems are capable of intercepting only one in five. Moreover, two thirds of the country's strategic facilities from the list approved by the president, according to General Kornukov, are not protected from the air. This is part of our nuclear missile shield, railway junctions, military command posts, nuclear power plants... Some of the several dozen chemical and radiation hazardous facilities in the capital have also been exposed. Nikolay POROSKOV |
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