BMP landing. Nobody but them: how the Russian Airborne Forces learned to land military equipment with crews inside. Flight-tactical exercises of the Airborne Forces in the Pskov region

For the first time in the history of the Airborne Forces, servicemen of the 76th Guards Chernigov Red Banner Air Assault Division landed a BMD-2 with its crew. This happened during a command post exercise of the Airborne Forces on March 25, held on the basis of the 76th division. For landing personnel and the release of equipment in the area of ​​the village of Kislovo was observed by the commander of the Airborne Forces, Lieutenant General Vladimir Shamanov, and 21 military attaches from the USA, Germany, France, Belarus, China, Pakistan, Mongolia, Sweden, Italy, and Kazakhstan. A PAI correspondent reports this.

In total, 775 military personnel and 14 units of military equipment took part in the landing. Three BMD-2s were landed with a crew inside, two people each. After landing, Lieutenant General V. Shamanov personally met the heroic paratroopers, gave each of them a personalized watch and signed a presentation for awarding them the Order of Courage. The high government award was presented to airborne headquarters officer Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Ivanov and servicemen of the 234th regiment of the 76th division, Lieutenant K. Pashkov, senior sergeant V. Kozlov, junior sergeant K. Nikonov, privates A. Borodnikov and I. Tarsuev.

As assistant commander of the Airborne Forces, Colonel Alexander Cherednik, explained to a PAI correspondent, the first landing of military equipment with a crew inside took place in January 1973. Then the dangerous jump was made by the son of the legendary Airborne Forces commander and uncle of the senator from the Pskov region, Alexander Margelov. For this jump he was awarded the title "Hero" Soviet Union". For the last time in Airborne combat The equipment and crew were parachuted in June 2003. Then 7 airborne control officers landed inside the BMD-3. Throughout history Airborne landing No more than sixty people walked inside the military equipment.

Today's landing is also characterized by the fact that the BMD-2 has never been parachuted with a crew before. “This was the first experience of landing a BMD-2 with a crew, and this experience turned out to be successful,” said Alexander Cherednik.

Today, in order to modernize landing equipment, an experimental release of the BMD-4, the so-called “Sprut” landing tank, took place and demonstrated options for using ATVs, paragliders, snowmobiles and reconnaissance armored vehicles in the Airborne Forces. An exhibition of new models of combat weapons was also launched at the training ground near the village of Kislovo equipment, weapons, uniforms and equipment that will soon arrive at airborne weapons. Samples were also presented and demonstration flights of unmanned aerial vehicles were carried out. aircraft, developed by Russian enterprises.

Tomorrow, command post exercises of the Airborne Forces will continue at the training ground near the village of Strugi Krasnye. There will be live firing of all types of weapons and the theme of “defensive combat” will be practiced.

On January 23, 1976, near Pskov, the Reaktavr system for landing military equipment with a crew of Major Alexander Margelov and Lieutenant Colonel Leonid Shcherbakov was successfully tested for the first time. After 20 years, both were awarded the title of Hero of Russia for their courage in carrying out a risky task. The Margelov surname turned out to be forever associated with the history of the Airborne Forces.

Gaining time in battle

The system for landing the crew inside an airborne combat vehicle (BMD-1) using jet parachute traction got its name from the words “jet Centaur”. “Centaur” was the name given to the BMD-1 lowering system via a parachute landing platform. The experiment was carried out at the Tula parachute track training center 106th Guards Airborne Division.

No one has ever been thrown out of an airplane before military equipment along with the personnel inside. The idea belonged to the Commander-in-Chief of the Airborne Forces, Hero of the Soviet Union, Army General Vasily Margelov.

On that moment airborne equipment in the form of artillery self-propelled units, airborne combat vehicles, vehicles and engineering technology was delivered to the ground in two ways: through parachute landing platforms and parachute-rocket systems. The latter, upon landing, in a fraction of a second damped the rate of descent of heavy loads and automatically released them from the suspension slings. The personnel descended separately by parachute.

But in order to take their places in combat vehicles, in a real battle, crews sometimes need minutes, which the enemy may not provide. How to gain time? Margelov came to a paradoxical conclusion: the personnel must be parachuted in the equipment itself!

Who will sacrifice themselves?

Risk? Yes, huge. Many in the country's military leadership did not approve of this idea. Some of the multi-star generals even twirled their fingers at their temples: they say that the main paratrooper of the USSR had fantasized to the point of the impossible. Others approved the idea in principle, but believed that it was not yet technically feasible.

Finally, brave souls were needed - after all, no one could guarantee that they would not crash upon landing. You cannot give orders in such a matter. This is not a war - just an experiment, albeit a very dangerous one. When asked by Defense Minister Marshal Andrei Grechko who will be inside the BMD-1 launch, Vasily Margelov firmly answered that he himself. He could not answer otherwise. He had to do everything to ensure that the airborne troops reached high quality new level combat training.

One of the best

During the Great Patriotic War The paratroopers established themselves as one of the most persistent fighters of the Red Army. They fought back into the interior of the country at the beginning of the war, fought valiantly in the ranks of the defenders of Moscow and Stalingrad, participated in the Battle of Kursk, took part in the capture of Vienna and the battles for Berlin.

But despite the fact that Soviet paratroopers repeatedly carried out airborne operations, in most battles they fought as infantry, albeit highly trained ones. Therefore, after the war, with the advent of the atomic era, the Airborne Forces faced new tasks: to become what is now called rapid reaction troops.

Until 1954, the country's airborne troops were alternately led by 7 generals, among whom we can note the first commander of the Airborne Forces, Twice Hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Glazunov, as well as Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Gorbatov.

Uncle Vasya's troops

However, despite their military merits, the commanders did not stay long in the post of commander-in-chief of the Airborne Forces. As a result, the personnel leapfrog had a negative impact on combat training troops entrusted to them.

The fact that by the 80s of the twentieth century the Airborne Forces had become the most massive and combat-ready among their kind in the world is primarily the merit of the man who led them for many decades - General Margelov.

It is no coincidence that in the airborne forces the abbreviation VDV is still unofficially deciphered as “Uncle Vasya’s troops.” “Our Chapai,” Vasily Filippovich’s subordinates respectfully called him.

Like most previous commanders of the Airborne Forces, Margelov came from other branches of the military, but was quite familiar with the specifics of the airborne forces - before his appointment he commanded the 76th Guards Chernigov Red Banner Airborne Division, and then was the commander of the 37th Guards Airborne Svirsky Red Banner Corps.

Paratrooper at 40 years old

It is curious that he made his first parachute jump at the age of 40 - before taking command of the paratroopers. At the same time, he made a bet on several jumps with another newly promoted airborne division commander, Hero of the Soviet Union, General Mikhail Denisenko, who crashed during another parachute jump in 1949. Fate protected Margelov - until the end of his life he made more than 60 air landings.

During the Battle of Moscow he commanded the 1st Special Ski Regiment Marine Corps. Being the commander of the Airborne Forces, Margelov did not forget his brave sailors, introducing a vest into the paratroopers’ uniform as a sign of continuity from one brave branch of troops to another. Another striking feature of the paratrooper was his beret - first crimson (following the example of Western paratroopers), and then blue.

Margelov's reforms included not only changes in uniforms. The new commander of the Airborne Forces abandoned the outdated doctrine of using airborne troops only as a means to hold bridgeheads until the main forces arrived. In conditions modern warfare passive defense inevitably led to defeat.

New military equipment

Margelov believed that after the drop, the paratroopers should conduct active, offensive actions, not allowing the stunned enemy to come to their senses, and counterattack them. However, in order for the paratroopers to be able to maneuver widely, they needed to be equipped with their own armored vehicles, to increase their firepower and update the aviation fleet.

During the Great Patriotic War, for example, winged infantry fought mainly with the help of light small arms. After the war, the troops began to be equipped with special airborne equipment. By the time Margelov assumed the post of commander, the Airborne Forces consisted of light self-propelled artillery installation ASU-57 with modifications.

Vasily Filippovich gave the task to the military-industrial complex to develop a more modern artillery vehicle landing. As a result, ASU-57 was replaced by ASU-85, developed on the basis of the PT-76 light amphibious tank. On the battlefield it was required and combat vehicle for the movement of personnel in radioactively contaminated areas. The BMP-1 army infantry fighting vehicle was not suitable landing troops because of heavy weight(13 tons) during landing.

"Thunder" of landing vehicles

As a result, at the end of the 60s, the BMD-1 (airborne combat vehicle) was adopted, whose weight was slightly more than 7 tons, the armament was a semi-automatic 2A28 "Thunder" cannon, and the crew consisted of seven people. Based on the BMD-1, they developed artillery self-propelled guns, fire control vehicles, reconnaissance and command post vehicles.

Through the efforts of Margelov, the battered Li-2, Il-14, Tu-2 and Tu-4 aircraft were replaced with powerful and modern An-22 and Il-76, which made it possible to take on board significantly more paratroopers and military equipment than before. “Uncle Vasya” also took care of improving the paratroopers’ personal weapons. Margelov personally met with the developer of the famous assault rifle, Mikhail Kalashnikov, and agreed to create an “airborne” version of the AK, with a folding metal butt.

Son instead of father

After the Minister of Defense did not agree with the participation of the Commander-in-Chief of the Airborne Forces in testing the Reactavr system, he offered one of his five sons, Major Alexander Margelov, to the crew. Alexander Vasilyevich was an employee of the Scientific and Technical Committee of the Airborne Forces, which was responsible for preparing equipment and personnel for landing.

The personal example of Margelov’s son was supposed to convince the Airborne Forces of the success of the new landing option. Another participant in the experiment was Margelov Jr.’s colleague at the Scientific and Technical Commission of the Airborne Forces, Lieutenant Colonel Leonid Shcherbakov.

On January 23, 1976, for the first time, a parachute-propelled landing was carried out from an An-12 BMD-1 military transport aircraft. After landing, the crew immediately fired blank shells briefly, demonstrating their readiness for combat.

During Margelov's tests on command post chain-smoked his favorite "Belomor" and kept a loaded pistol at the ready so that in case of failure he would shoot himself. But everything turned out well.

The world's first museum of airborne troops has opened an updated exhibition telling the story parachuting and the secrets of successfully landing people inside fourth-generation BMD-4M airborne combat vehicles.

From September 24 to 26, the Rossiyskaya Gazeta festival was held in Ryazan, one of the stages of which was a visit to the Airborne Forces Museum, located in the former building of the Ryazan Theological Seminary early XIX century.

During the war years, under the vaulted ceilings of the ancient mansion there was a hospital, and in 1972, on the initiative of the Airborne Forces commander, General Margelov, a museum dedicated to elite troops. The date of creation of the Airborne Forces is considered to be August 2, 1930, when 12 military pilots simultaneously jumped with a parachute and landed successfully, while retaining their personal weapons. Within a few years, the number of trained military paratroopers in our country exceeded 50 thousand people, who formed the elite of the armed forces.

The world's first parachute backpack was patented by Russian inventor Gleb Kotelnikov in France in 1911. The product was named RK-1 (Russian Kotelnikovsky First). They say that Kotelnikov tested his invention in Paris, throwing a poor Russian student from the Eiffel Tower, who remained alive after landing.

At first, the backpacks were metal and not very comfortable. Superstitious pilots initially refused to use them. However, soon backpacks began to be produced from more practical and plastic materials, saving the lives of pilots and balloon passengers. In the second decade of the twentieth century, a parachute became a mandatory attribute of almost any pilot, while no one in the world came up with a better design than Kotelnikov’s. All subsequent models were only improved replicas of the creation of our inventor.

The museum's exhibition contains unique footage from the 1930s, which shows the first parachutists jumping from the outer hull of the aircraft. Now it’s scary to imagine how paratroopers manage not to fall in flight at an altitude of 350 meters at a speed of 250 kilometers per hour, holding on to a single rope with their hand. Apparently, many accidents occurred with this method of landing. Having hit their heads on the metal body of the plane during a jump, the soldiers lost consciousness in the air. They could not open their parachute in time and crashed. Flight tragedies prompted designers to create mechanisms for forced deployment of parachutes, which subsequently saved many lives.

Ironically, it is with France that the history of not only the parachute is connected, but also the landing of heavy military equipment with the crew inside.

The world's first landing of people inside an airborne combat vehicle (BMD-1) took place on January 5, 1973 at the training ground of the 106th Guards Airborne Division "Slobodka".

To protect the lives of crew members, slightly modified analogues of the Kazbek-D space seats were installed inside the BMD.

The secret to successfully landing people inside BMD lies in the use of special parachute systems. The complex was named "Centaur". Such landing significantly reduced the time it took to bring the vehicle into combat readiness, - said " Rossiyskaya newspaper"representative of the Airborne Forces Museum Vladimir Nemirovsky.

This method of landing greatly increased the combat effectiveness of the army, giving it the ability to land at lightning speed on a given territory and quickly strike.

On the eve of the exercises, the commander of the Airborne Forces, General Margelov, was so confident in the reliability and safety of the vehicle’s design that he wanted to participate in the first descent himself. However, Defense Minister Grechko categorically refused to risk the general. Then inside the car were a teacher of the airborne school, Lieutenant Colonel Leonid Zuev, and the son of General Vasily Margelov, Senior Lieutenant Alexander Margelov. The landing was successful. After this, an image of a centaur appeared on the emblem of the Tula Airborne Division.

Many countries dreamed of repeating the unprecedented combat success of the Airborne Forces, but nowhere among the military were there volunteers. The only state that decided to take a similar step was France. As tour guide Vladimir Nemirovsky said, after the military refused to participate in the experiment, the French government distributed an announcement among prisoners sentenced to death, promising the daredevil a presidential pardon.

One condemned man agreed to the adventure. The criminal was placed in combat vehicle and dropped by parachute from the plane. The volunteer died during landing. After this, the French President fulfilled his promise by presenting his relatives with a decree pardoning him posthumously. But they decided not to conduct further experiments with landing people inside equipment in France.

Now landings are carried out using vehicles not of the first, but of the fourth generation,” said Nemirovsky.

Thus, this year, tests carried out by the Ministry of Defense at a site near Ryazan confirmed the possibility of landing the BMD-4M from IL-76 aircraft. According to the military department, during the exercises a landing method called a train was used, in which the length of the landing is one and a half times shorter than the length of other methods of lowering the BMD.

On January 23, 1976, at the parachute track of the 76th Guards Airborne Division Kislovo, for the first time in the world, military equipment and crew were dropped from an aircraft using a parachute-jet system, called “Reactavr”. The crew included A.V. Margelov and L.I. Shcherbakov.

Landing of the BMD-1 on the Reaktavr PRS.

The adoption of this parachute-jet system into service by the Airborne Forces in 1976 made it possible to reduce the time required to assemble personnel and equipment at the landing site after landing.

In practice it looks like this. During experimental exercises in 1983, eight objects with Reaktavr systems were landed.

From the moment the first vehicle left the plane to the collection of all eight vehicles at a distance of 1.5 kilometers from the landing site, only 12-15 minutes passed, whereas with separate landing of crews and equipment, this would have taken 35-45 minutes.

By 1976, the USSR had already developed the Centaur multi-dome parachute-platform system, which made it possible to parachute the crew inside the BMD-1 airborne combat vehicle, first tested on January 5, 1073.

Usually, the crew leaves the aircraft after their combat vehicles, observing their movement in flight. However, in this case, after landing, the paratroopers find themselves scattered within a radius of several kilometers from the vehicle and, accordingly, spend a lot of time searching for it and preparing for movement. It was the full awareness of the importance of quickly preparing a vehicle for the start of hostilities that prompted in the 70s the commander of the USSR Airborne Forces, Army General V.F. Margelov, to identify a task of paramount importance - to create a method of joint landing of equipment with a crew.

After many experiments, the first joint landing took place in 1973 using a system called “Centaur”. The operation of the system was as follows: the airborne combat vehicle was equipped with two cosmonaut seats of the “Kazbek” type, developed by the chief designer of the Zvezda plant, Guy Ilyich Severin, Hero of Socialist Labor, but in a simplified version - “Kazbek-D” (it was not possible to install shock absorbers in the headrest area , and also had to abandon the individual casting of the inside of the chair, like the astronauts).

The landing was carried out on the P-7 parachute platform. The result of the reset proved that the use of this method allows not only to save the lives of paratroopers, but also their combat readiness.

However, preparation for landing of BMD on a parachute platform with a multi-dome system (ISS) required a lot of time and material resources, especially during mass landings, which were planned to be used in the “big” war. The landing platforms, already loaded with combat vehicles, were towed to the airfield on wheels from their deployment sites by trucks at speeds of up to 10 km/h, but it was still necessary to accurately “roll” the platform to the aircraft, which was done manually.

The multi-dome system was transported separately by additional vehicles, mounted on a vehicle directly near the aircraft, and only then the resulting monocargo was launched into the aircraft’s cargo compartment using a hoist. Transportation to the airfield required availability good roads, since it was impossible to tow platforms with military equipment off-road. Preparation of platforms for landing, loading and securing military equipment on them, concentration to aircraft parking areas, installation; parachute system, loading onto aircraft took up to 15–18 hours (according to the experience of regimental exercises). This had a negative impact on the combat readiness and operational use of airborne assault forces.

The design of the parachute-rocket systems (PRS) made it possible to store the BMD-1 in parks with landing equipment mounted on them in the “stowed” position. The vehicles advanced to the waiting areas for loading onto the plane under their own power, and the method of placing landing equipment on them made it possible to march over rough terrain over a distance of up to 500 kilometers and, if necessary, even fire from standard weapons. On site, the crew could immediately begin transferring the PRS to the “landing” position, which took no more than 30 minutes. Then the BMD-1 moved under its own power to be loaded into the aircraft (strapless parachute landing systems with the same advantages appeared later). Thus, the time from leaving the park to loading onto the plane was significantly reduced.

The landing itself was also accelerated, since the rate of reduction of the load on the PRS reached 20–25 m/s (about 3 times higher than on the parachute-platform system), which made the system practically invulnerable to enemy fire from the ground. Near the ground, due to the operation of the braking propulsion system, which consisted of three soft-landing jet engines, the speed was reduced to almost zero. This increased the landing accuracy. For shock absorption during landing, two foam shock-absorbing bars were installed under the bottom of the combat vehicle.

The PRS mounted on the BMD-1 made up a smaller share of the landing monocargo, both in weight and in size, which generally made it possible to land more cargo in one air echelon. In addition, the combat vehicle was parachuted from increased amount ammunition and fuel. After landing, the PRS did not leave huge sheets of parachutes around the vehicle - a “white swamp”, which often prevented it from starting to move - the system had only one dome with an area of ​​540 square meters, "Centaur" landed on five domes of 760 square meters.

The Reactavr testers are A.V. Margelov and L.I. Shcherbakov.

Placing a crew member in a Kazbek-D seat in the BMD-1 hull during landing.

From the memoirs of Hero of Russia Alexander Vasilyevich Margelov, one of the creators of the “Centaur” and “Reactaur”, the first tester of these systems:

“As for the Reactavr test, most of all the specialists were concerned about the reliability of the parachute-reactive system. Its calculated reliability was 0.95, but practical resets after all the modifications and upgrades were only 47. But this result was considered quite good, given the significant advantages of the system when combat use compared to parachute-platform means...

Commander Margelov entrusted this experiment to two volunteers - me and Lieutenant Colonel Shcherbakov. I was appointed crew commander. Leonid, who knew the combat vehicle very well, was appointed driver. Upon arrival at the 76th Guards Chernigov Airborne Division, we were introduced to our backup guards - paratroopers conscript service. There were three of them left out of the six selected - half of them suddenly had poor health... The guys actively, with souls, took part in all preparatory work: when installing a parachute system, equipping engines with powder bombs, mooring the PRS to a combat vehicle.

Deputy Chairman of the Scientific and Technical Committee Vitaly Pariysky boarded the plane (it coincided that the same AN-12B with the same crew as during the first experiment with the Centaur arrived for landing), he controlled our landing in the Kazbek- D", and then communicated between the crew and the ground through the pilots.

It didn’t take long to fly; after declaring two minutes of readiness, the crew switched to direct communication with the ground. And again a coincidence - the communication was again prepared by Colonel B.G. Zhukov, and, as during the landing in the Centaur, it turned out to be one-way. Only this time the “reactaurs” heard “ground”, but they were not heard... Zhukov briefly, but in detail, during a few seconds of descent, reported to the crew about the operation of the parachute system - everything is fine! The pilot chute removed the complex from the plane - again the “pendulum” - moments of descent on the stabilizing parachute - the main canopy opened, two telescopic probes were deposited at the prescribed length. The moment they touched the ground, the soft landing engines fired: explosion, gases, smoke! Pariysky, who had jumped after the complex, landed nearby.

To conduct the experiment, a landing site was specially chosen where there was more snow. However, the complex was applied to a compacted ice road, so we felt a significant shock overload. At the moment of impact with the ground, the connection started working - just at this time Shcherbakov congratulated me on a safe landing.

The car rushed across the landing site. The crew completed all driving and aimed fire tasks. Having approached the podium, he reported to the commander about the completion of the task. After congratulations, the crew was “captured” by doctors. Our body temperature turned out to be elevated, and so did our blood pressure. Leonid felt nauseous, his head was spinning, all his bones ached, he could not even drink the beaker of alcohol offered by a serious doctor. But within an hour, vital parameters returned to normal. Leonid Ivanovich believes that this landing significantly “damaged” his spine. A few years later he even had surgery on his vertebra. I didn’t feel any deterioration in my health after the experiment.”

The Airborne Forces are armed with the following parachute-jet systems of the following modifications:

parachute-jet system PRSM-915 (for BMD-1);

parachute-jet system;

parachute-jet system PRSM-916 (for BMD-2);

parachute-rocket system PRSM-926 (for 2S9 “NONA”).

For example, here are the characteristics of PRSM-925 (for BTR-D):

flight weight of the vehicle with PRSM-925, 8000–8800 kg;

landing height above the landing site, 500–1500 m;

landing site height above sea level, up to 2500 m;

vertical speed of descent on the main parachute at air temperature near the ground from -50 to +50 degrees, 23 m/s;

charge and air temperature range. 0С from -50 to +50;

nominal landing speed of the machine, 3.5-5.5 m/s;

the maximum (allowable when dropping) wind speed at the ground is up to 10 m/s.

Scheme of landing the BTR-D on the Reaktavr ARS.

Reading time: 4 min

MOSCOW, May 30 - RIA Novosti, Nikolai Protopopov. The height is 800 meters, a multi-ton vehicle rolls out of the plane and is in free fall for several seconds before the parachutes open. Near the ground, the jet engines fire, the suspension slings are dropped, the BMD gently touches the surface and... abruptly moves away, covering the advancing paratroopers with heavy fire. About how the Russian “winged infantry” lands inside equipment and why no army in the world can still repeat this, read in the RIA Novosti material.

Almost astronauts

Landing in a BMD is a dangerous and complex process, each stage of which is described in detail in instructions and regulatory documents. Even experienced military paratroopers undergo special course training. The crew prepares the combat vehicle personally: stows the parachute canopies, installs the components of the complex, does the so-called mooring, checks the functionality of all components and the reliability of the fastenings.

Paratroopers train in special shock-absorbing chairs while still outside the vehicle - they take “waiting” and “ready” poses. It's like astronauts trying on housings.

“When the equipped vehicle is loaded onto the plane, the soldiers take their seats in the seats, fasten their seat belts and wait for the signal to land,” Airborne Forces officer and combat veteran Alexander Sherin tells RIA Novosti. “A few minutes before the drop, the crew receives a command to assume a “ready pose.” “The belts must be tightened, the head and back must be pressed tightly to the chair. In general, only Russia today has the technology for landing people in armored vehicles. The rest do not dare.”

Having separated from the aircraft, the vehicle dives sharply, the crew experiences a state of weightlessness, and when the parachutes open and the BMD assumes a horizontal position, the fighters have the feeling of rolling down a mountain. All this is described in detail in the instructions.

The paratroopers understand that the BMD has finally landed by the strong overloads and dull impact on the ground. The squibs fire immediately and the wind pulls the parachutes to the side. The crew gets out of their seats, takes their places and begins to carry out the assigned task.

The release of airborne combat vehicles during joint exercises of paratroopers of Russia, Belarus and Serbia

First flight

For the first time, an airborne combat vehicle with a crew was dropped in January 1973 at the base of the 106th Guards Airborne Division, stationed near Tula. From the military transport An-12.

“At the command of the navigator, the pilot chute fell out, straightened out, gained strength and began to slowly pull out the Centaur,” recalled the son of the legendary Airborne Forces commander, Hero of Russia Alexander Margelov. “Like a giant pendulum with a swing center around the pilot chute, the car first fell 135 degrees from the horizontal , then began to sway with decreasing amplitude. The brake parachutes opened, then the main parachutes."

According to him, in a state of weightlessness the fighters turned upside down. “What seemed especially unnecessary was a fairly decent-sized nut that “floated up” right between us,” said Margelov. “When landing, we experienced a sharp, rolling blow. The heads in the headsets instantly “knocked out the Morse code” on the headrests, and everything froze. Silence fell. A moment later we ", without saying a word, they began to free themselves from the tethered systems. At all stages of airdropping, landing, movement, and shooting, they remained in full combat readiness and proved that paratroopers can fight with the greatest combat effect."

The release of airborne combat vehicles during exercises at the Raevsky military training ground near Novorossiysk

Time is life

The Airborne Forces did not immediately learn how to land equipment with people. By the beginning of the 1970s, they operated separately - the Ilya in front dropped their armor, and then the fighters landed from other sides. But this scheme has a serious drawback - the crew could land five kilometers from their own car. Finding equipment and bringing it into combat readiness took too much precious time.

This reduced the effectiveness of the landing - the enemy could destroy most troops immediately after landing. An introductory message was received from the commander of the Airborne Forces, Army General Vasily Margelov: to sharply reduce the time it takes to bring equipment into combat readiness after landing. The only solution is to reset the combat vehicles along with the crew.

Flight-tactical exercises of the Airborne Forces in the Pskov region

The scientific and technical committee of the Airborne Forces began developing a special parachute system codenamed “Centaur” in the summer of 1971. After being thrown out of the plane, five domes with an area of ​​760 square meters each automatically opened - and the BMD installed on the platform was lowered to the ground.

To reduce shock overloads, simplified Kazbek-D shock-absorbing cosmonaut seats were installed in the vehicles. Technical tests with mannequins and dogs yielded positive results.

The system worked, but the leadership of the Ministry of Defense believed that the risk was too great. After all, if the parachute system fails, everyone inside the combat vehicle is doomed - the crew will not be able to save themselves in an emergency situation. General Margelov managed to convince the Minister of Defense of the USSR, Marshal Andrei Grechko, of the safety of landing equipment with people on board only after he appointed his son as one of the crew members - a gunner-operator.

At the end of 1972, the Ministry of Defense nevertheless approved the Centaur system. During the first landing near Tula, we managed to reach main goal- The BMD was ready for battle and fired shots within seconds of landing. But the Centaur parachute system was still not very suitable for real combat conditions. Firstly, it weighed more than two tons (with the BMD-1 weighing seven tons). Secondly, transportation and loading of the system onto aircraft required large quantity road transport, personnel, and most importantly, it took a long three to five hours. The Airborne Forces command was not satisfied and low speed reduction of equipment on a multi-dome parachute system.

Exercises of paratroopers of Russia, Serbia and Belarus in Krasnodar region

Jet thrust

Therefore, the designers began to develop a more modern strapdown parachute-rocket system "Reactavr". To smoothly and quickly lower a combat vehicle to the ground, a lightweight dome with an area of ​​only about 540 square meters is used here, the system is mounted and transported directly on the BMD, and the landing speed, reaching 25 meters per second, is damped near the ground almost to zero by jet engines.

Tests of the Reactavr in the winter of 1976 near Pskov at the parachute track of the 76th Guards Airborne Division were successful, and the system was put into service. The project, which significantly increased the effectiveness of the landing force in carrying out combat missions, was continued. By the end of the 1990s for Airborne troops created the PBS-950 "Bakhcha" complex, the main advantage of which is the ability to land a BMD-3 with a full crew.

The Russian Ministry of Defense continues to work on improving parachute systems for landing equipment. This year, the new parachute-strapdown system “Bakhcha-U-PDS”, designed for dropping BMD-4M, BTR-MDM with a crew inside, should enter service with the Airborne Forces.

In foreign armies, systems for landing equipment together with the crew have not yet taken root. According to some reports, the French tried to repeat the Soviet experiment. A criminal sentenced to death penalty. If the tests were successful, he was promised a pardon. But during the landing the volunteer died.

Parachute landing of military equipment of the Ussuri formation of the Airborne Forces during tactical exercises in Primorye