Pleykast with the day of radio engineering troops. Congratulations on the Day of Radio Engineering Troops. The task of the radio technical troops

One of the holidays revered among military professionals is the Day radio technical troops Air Force Russian Federation. It is celebrated annually on December 15th.

The task of the radio technical troops

Perhaps not all readers know that the radio technical troops at one time separated from the Russian ones. Their main purpose is considered to be the conduct of reconnaissance radar operations, thanks to which the air force management units receive timely information about the identified air enemy. In addition, data on the constant air situation is necessary to solve regular problems not only in war time, but also when the security of the state is not threatened.

The strategic information that the Air Force headquarters receives from the reconnaissance radar forces is then forwarded, as necessary, to the aviation military units,

History of origin

It turns out that radio engineering troops have a rich history. This one is quite young, as it was formed a little over half a century ago. In 1952, it was already functioning in almost the same form in which it is presented today. Although the ancestors of military radio equipment are the so-called “observation posts”. They were formed during the First World War in the process of organizing defensive measures around Petrograd. Then the task of the newly created posts was to timely warn the army about the proximity of an air enemy. A few years later, the posts were combined into a military body, forming the VNOS service (aerial surveillance, warning and communications).

Radio engineering during the Second World War

In the coming years, the posts were equipped with the simplest optical equipment, and in 1940, VNOS received radar stations RUS-2. Within two years, the radars were modernized, which made it possible to henceforth use devices with improved and enhanced characteristics. Radiotechnical Troops of the Great Patriotic War, using the first stations, they were able to detect fascist aircraft at a distance of up to 40 kilometers.

In fact, the use of such radars was the only reconnaissance method in the airspace when searching for the enemy. Realizing the level of danger for fighters and bombers from the operation of radar devices, enemy pilots set themselves the mandatory task of destroying them. Thus, timely detection aircraft potential enemy has become the number one point in solving important state-level tasks to ensure the country's security.

Confirmation of the date December 15

As a holiday, the Day of Radio Engineering Troops of the Russian Federation began in 1951. Then, on December 15, the Council of Ministers of the USSR ordered the Ministry of War to form a new functional military body that would deal with the issues of detecting the enemy in border airspace and alerting military headquarters and civilians.

The Air Force's radio engineering troops went through an important stage of development in the mid-twentieth century. The 60s were marked by large deliveries of radar equipment, military units were formed of this kind troops. In addition, the emphasis was on opening new heights to help ensure control over the Soviet sky.

Development of the radio-technical military sphere at the end of the twentieth century

Modern military experts note that the 80s were the most significant for the history of radio engineering troops. This period is characterized by significant significant changes in the equipment of troops. One by one they were delivered the most powerful complexes and radar detection stations.

In addition, many new generation devices have been partially or completely switched to automatic operation. TO at this stage development, radio engineering troops had systems for combining with air defense troops. Scale and high level automated processes for managing, processing and providing information data allowed the radio technical troops to take precedence among the Armed Forces.

The importance of radio technical troops in ensuring the defense capability of Russia

The radar field on the territory of the former, created in that period, allows us to this day to implement a program of continuous tracking and tracking of airplanes, helicopters and other aircraft.

It turns out that the radio engineering troops contributed to unique story space industry, namely, participated in the organization and contributed to the safe landing of domestic ships. By the way, the landing of the first Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin did not take place without the help of radio engineers. It is also known that military personnel of this type of troops participated in peacekeeping missions of countries Central Asia(China, North Korea, Vietnam), Angola, Egypt, Syria, Afghanistan, Cuba and many other countries.

The Russian radio technical troops, which include regiments of the same name, are subordinate to the main command of the Air Force. In the absence of hostilities, all units and strongholds of this type of troops do not leave their places of deployment and continue to protect the state border zone, or rather its airspace, from illegal invasion.

Educational radio engineering institution in Vladimir

It is also important that the radio technical troops of the Russian Air Force need the proper level material support, since radar reconnaissance activities require equipment with expensive modern equipment and highly qualified training of military specialists for the further operation of such equipment.

On the territory of Russia there is a specialized training institution in the city of Vladimir, called the Center for Training Specialists of Radio Engineering Troops of the Air Force. Graduates of this institution, having received diplomas in the specialties “radar station technician”, “technician of a separate radar company”, etc., can enlist in the radio engineering troops.

Industry development

On this moment budget Russian state Every year, the need to equip and purchase high-quality advanced radio equipment for this type of Air Force troops is provided. Also, in order to maintain a satisfactory condition military radio electronics The management of the departments organizes its periodic repairs. By the way, thanks to the constant modernization of equipment in this area, in 2015 about a third of all weapons consist of innovative radio engineering devices. But according to Air Force leaders, this is far from the limit. It is planned that by 2020 this figure will double.

It is not surprising that on December 15 in Russia congratulations on the Day of Radio Engineering Troops are heard from everywhere. We wish the workers in this field all the best, because representatives of military affairs deserve recognition and respect no less than military personnel airborne troops, against air defense or border patrol.

Air Force Radio Engineering Day is celebrated on December 15. The date of the celebration coincides with the day of the creation of radio technical troops in Russia - the resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers on their formation was signed on December 15, 1951. Radio technical troops boast high-tech equipment and the latest technology, allowing for continuous support air technology anywhere in the country.

Military personnel of the radio technical troops celebrate their professional holiday in service, being in a state of constant combat readiness. It cannot be otherwise - after all, the security of the country and every citizen depends on them.

Guard the heavenly roads
Not many people get the honor.
Every year we celebrate in December
Celebration of our glorious RTV.

Again and again we will congratulate
You, and the commanders and soldiers.
You must protect your native sky
The Motherland trusted me, guys.

Let the holiday light up
All units and units.
We want to wish you peace,
Joy, love, health, happiness!

Radio engineers, congratulations to you!
Let only success await you in your service,
And also career advancement,
Know no troubles, no worries, no obstacles!

We wish you to be in excellent shape forever,
Great energy, vigor, strength!
May your health always be normal,
May every day bring you joy!

Congratulating you, I will say
I am lyrical words.
We can't live without troops
Radio engineering.

To everyone who serves here
I wish you well.
On duty, in the civilian sphere
Live without being discouraged.

The country is sleeping peacefully until
The troops are in the ranks of radio technicians.
Provocateurs will not enter the country,
Radars are patrolling.

Let the enemy not violate airspace,
And our state prospers.
AND Friendly family Will meet you at home,
Honor and respect among colleagues and acquaintances.

Do you work for RTV? I congratulate you
And I sincerely wish to the defender of the Fatherland
Be healthy, resilient, brave,
Well, with technology - skillful.

Catch all signals without interruption,
So that our homeland sleeps peacefully.
Let it over you, my dear soldier,
Only peaceful waves always fly!

Air Force Radio Engineering Troops,
This is pride, this is glory, and technological progress,
So that there is peace and tranquility in our blue sky,
Russian falcons are on duty day and night!
Let spies and provocateurs not hope for a miracle,
The radars will find them in an instant!
And to you, serving these troops, our congratulations,
May good luck and good luck accompany you in business,
Let trouble and sorrow pass you by,
Joy to you ocean, love and happiness to you sea!

The holiday of the radio technical troops has arrived.
I wish you new meetings, smiles, strength.
Let wonderful holiday will bring you success.
May you become the luckiest and luckiest of all!

Let, like a long radio wave,
Happiness, laughter and joy will come to you.
Gather all your close friends quickly.
Celebrate your holiday brighter and more fun!

Notify about the imminent approach of the enemy
Radio engineering glorious troops.
They are on constant combat duty,
Keeping peace in heaven and on earth.

Locators are their keen eyes.
The ears serve as tracking stations.
The enemy cannot deceive them.
And we are proud of them, without a doubt!

Various reconnaissance and tracking devices,
The airspace is protected from invasion.
Any time of the day, any time of the year,
Everything is under control - no matter the weather.

Military electronics and the craftsmanship of the guys,
Air borders can be confidently trusted.
Honor and respect - to all specialists,
Let the sky be peaceful, let the sky be clear!

In the world of complex modern technologies
There is videoconferencing - it’s the twenty-first century!
Yes, there is a lot of the latest high-precision technology,
But technology today is controlled by humans.

To detect an enemy aircraft,
And provide reliable information -
Technical intelligence posts are operating,
Tracking stations, radars.

Congratulations: 28 in verse, 5 in prose.

On December 15, the Russian Armed Forces celebrate the formation day of the radio technical troops of the Air Force (Air Force). On this day in 1951, by decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, an early detection service for enemy aircraft was created.

Radio technical troops (RTV) are a branch of the Russian Air Force, part of the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation.

Radio technical troops radar information about the air situation. They conduct radar reconnaissance and provide radar information to combat crews of higher command posts (CP) and command posts of formations, military units and aviation units, anti-aircraft missile forces And electronic warfare.

IN Peaceful time all deployed units and command posts of formations and units of the RTV are on combat duty for air defense, perform security tasks state border in the airspace.

Radio technical troops are a relatively young branch of the military. They were formed in their current form in January 1952. However, the roots of RTV go much deeper into history. Already during the First World War, the question arose about timely warning of troops and the population about the approach of enemy aircraft. It was at that time, during the organization of the air defense of Petrograd and Tsarskoye Selo, that “sky observation posts” appeared, subsequently united into the air surveillance, warning and communications service (VNOS).

Until the end of the 1930s, VNOS posts were equipped with the simplest optical instruments. In 1938, the world's first radar station, RUS-1, was created (the first aircraft radar detector), which received its baptism of fire in the war with Finland in 1939-1940. In the fall of 1939, designers created a more advanced station "RUS-2" ("Redut"), which was widely used during the Great Patriotic War to detect enemy aircraft.

IN post-war years the need and importance of information about the air enemy, the beginning of his possible attack, control and prevention of reconnaissance activities in the country's airspace has constantly increased. In this regard, on December 15, 1951, the Council of Ministers of the USSR issued a decree “On the creation of an early detection service for enemy aircraft”, on the basis of which, on the basis of the VNOS units of the Air Defense (Air Defense) of the country and the radar service of the Air Defense Fighter Aviation, the Radio Technical Troops were formed as a branch of the military .

The period from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s was characterized by the rapid development of radio engineering troops. In those years, massive deliveries of radar equipment were carried out, and troop groups were deployed. From the mid-1960s to the end of the 1970s, the development of commanding heights and introduction into the troops continued new technology, first of all, automated control systems.

The 1980s in the history of RTV development are characterized by qualitative changes in arms and military equipment. The troops began to receive more powerful radar systems and radar stations, incorporating the best achievements of Soviet scientists in the field of radio engineering and computer science. The massive supply of automation equipment made it possible to create automated radar systems on the scale of formations and associations of the Air Defense Forces.

Radar field created on the territory Soviet Union, made it possible to carry out continuous tracking of aircraft at almost any point.

The process of collapse of the Soviet Union and the events that followed it significantly weakened the Troops air defense. Due to the disbandment of a large number of radio engineering units, a continuous radar field over the territory of the state disappeared. Was significantly weakened and general system air defense of the country.

On January 14, 1994, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, the Federal System of Reconnaissance and Airspace Control (FSR and KVP) was created, which provided for the unification of radar systems and equipment of the Air Defense Forces, the Department of Air Transport, the Air Force (Air Force) and Navy(Navy) through an automation system.

In 1998, the Air Defense Forces and the Air Force merged into one branch of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - Air Force. The units that solved related tasks were united, and on the basis of the radio engineering troops, a one system radar reconnaissance and radar support.

The Air Force radio engineering troops have a rich history of ensuring the landing of domestic spacecraft, including the landing of the first cosmonaut of the Earth - Yuri Gagarin, the Soviet spaceship reusable "Buran".

RTV military personnel performed international duty in China and North Korea, Vietnam and Egypt, Syria and Angola, Cuba and Afghanistan and a number of other countries.

The RTV of the Air Force consists of radio technical regiments (RTR), which are part of the Air Force association, the aerospace defense brigade (ASD), as well as other units and organizations directly subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force.

The Radio-Technical Troops (RTV) are armed with radio-technical equipment (RTS) and automation equipment complexes (ASS), designed to conduct radar reconnaissance of enemy air and provide radar information about the air situation, within the radar field, to the control bodies of the Air Force and other types and branches of the military. of the Armed Forces, to command and control points for combat means of aviation, air defense and electronic warfare (EW) when they solve peacetime and wartime tasks.

Currently, the radio technical troops of the Air Force solve the problems of controlling the skies of Russia and protecting its state border in the airspace. In 2014, the Air Force radio technical troops monitored the flight of more than 380 thousand aircraft over Russia.

The main directions of development of the Air Force radio engineering troops are improving the technical equipment of military units and subunits through measures to extend the service life and modernize existing equipment and weapons, and develop a new fleet of weapons.

RTV, as part of the state defense order, began to receive promising radar equipment and automation systems, such as "Fundament", including in a mobile version, and the "Sky" radar various modifications, "Podlet", an all-altitude detector, which has no analogues in the world, has long detection ranges, has the ability to work, including against ballistic targets, has high accuracy detection of any types of targets.

Radio technical troops specialists are undergoing retraining on new types of equipment in training center training of RTV specialists, and are also trained at equipment manufacturing plants.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

Day of the Resolute and Brave Troops,
Today our people, country, celebrates
Day of the Russian Air Force - good and skillful guys,
Radiotechnical - necessary troops!

We wish you victories, good luck and success,
And on this day - more laughter,
Our guys, take a rest today,
We are proud of you, know that!

There are professions in which you cannot make mistakes.
Every miss is a loss of human lives.
Day after day we must fight tirelessly
For peace on earth through peace in heaven.

This profession has a complicated name,
As well as long and unpronounceable.
Being a radio engineer is an honor
And in the Air Force, it’s a difficult, but beloved occupation.

Congratulations on the Day of Radio Engineering Troops of the Russian Air Force! I wish everyone involved and aspiring to join our ranks - determination, excellent work skills, both theoretical and practical! Don’t let any difficulties or surprises scare you, because we are a huge force! Let the signal always be clear, the line free, working equipment and new equipment clear! Health, strength and energy!

Today they will celebrate their birthday
Russian radio technical troops,
They will notice all violators
Those who are close and those from far away.

They guard the airspace,
They know who flew out and where.
All their equipment is reliable,
So that the intruder does not harm us.

We congratulate the valiant military,
Carry out your service faithfully, as always.
I wish you extraordinary luck in life,
And happiness in your personal life, gentlemen.

Yours exact science saves us from the enemy.
Our peace is your merit, the country is grateful to you.
We wish you good luck, peaceful days and many years to come.
May hard work bring many victories.

Radars are always ready.
Our country is proud of its young troops.
The latest technology and cool specialists,
The air borders are guarded by fighters.

Today is your holiday! The service is not easy:
Luck and a steady hand are important here.
Easy exploration for you in clear skies,
New knowledge, strength, clarity in the eyes.

Glory and honor to radio engineers!
They are terrible for enemies.
They have a great way of eating
Prevent war.

The guys are capable of detecting the enemy
On the way to us.
Enemy! Do not contradict the right -
Otherwise you will suffer yourself.

Let's congratulate these guys together,
That they take good care of us.
If the opponents fly up,
They will run away quickly.

I wish you attention and accuracy,
So that the signal is always clear.
We are very much on guard strong squad -
Let any impudent person remember.

I congratulate you today,
Glorious radio fighters.
And I wish that everyone
One of you has always been healthy.

To bring only good luck
Your radio wave.
And all the problems were solved,
What fate brought.

Guarding our peace
You conduct reconnaissance every day,
The enemy will not hide in the air,
Will not be able to cross regional boundaries.

We congratulate you today,
We wish you not to lose heart,
And further, reliably protecting us,
We wish you to enjoy life to your fullest.

May the service bring you only joy,
Work always makes me happy
Colleagues appreciate, respect,
The enemy will never break through your defenses.

Radar, systems and fields...
There are no flights without you!
You know where the air is, where the water and land are...
And even how planes fly!

Don't let the radars let you down;
The work will be easy and short.
Let your keenest eye be the most accurate,
Let your heart not be filled with anxiety!

Combat duty is not an empty interest,
You, guardians of peace, RTV BBC!
Everyone who is on the flight crew is for protection from harm,
Warm greetings are sent to you, air signalmen.

Those who are peaceful and faithful are waiting home for lunch,
Cutlets will be prepared for you, beloved men,
And who, with secret malice, suddenly launches rockets
The sky scouts have a fitting answer.

“Two soldiers from the construction battalion are replacing an excavator. And one of the airborne forces will replace them twice. And one of the air defense forces replaces at least someone” (the wisdom of an unknown philosopher from the air defense forces).

Every second Sunday in April was celebrated in a special way in all units of the country's radio engineering air defense forces. For. Why was the second Sunday of April dedicated to this day? And the jester knows him. I don't know.

On this day, soldiers and officers dressed in dress uniform clothes. True, this was only the case in training, in which I began my heroic journey in the air defense forces. In combat units they did not wear parades for lack of them. This, by the way, was very surprising. Because every soldier is entitled to a parade. But somehow it turned out that the parades always disappeared and evaporated, and only the grandfathers had them, carefully protecting them from evil glances, hiding them in distant pockets and carefully trimming them with braid and other rubbish in anticipation of demobilization.

I got into RTV Air Defense in strict accordance with my civilian specialty, which I should have received at the institute if I had graduated from it. But since it was difficult to graduate from college in one year of study, and the Ministry of Defense categorically refused to provide me with a second year of study, I left. To pass. And I got into training to receive the specialty “Automatic Control System Operator”. Neither more nor less.

Generally speaking, if I actually managed to serve in this specialty, it would be quite interesting. Because, in theory, I would have to serve in the “computer cabin”, which is part of the control complex of the RTV air defense battalion. There was actually a computer in this cabin. Or rather, even two - one reserve. True, they looked completely different from what a home personal computer looks like. The computers in my cabin consisted of several metal cabinets with colored lights and buttons. In the combat unit, the colored demobilization bulbs were unscrewed to be used in making a model of an interceptor fighter taking off. The fighter took off from a piece of runway made of transparent plexiglass. And the lights were on both sides of the runway, just like at a real airfield. Overall beautiful. But it violated the defense capability of the state, because without these light bulbs (or rather, their colored transparent caps), it was difficult to determine what was happening with the computer. As a result, the commander once made a statement that if all the light bulbs were not in their places, then no one would leave for demobilization. It worked.

By the way, about light bulbs. Have you ever seen night work airfield where interceptor fighters are based? This, let me tell you, is very beautiful. During the day, this airfield is a rather dull picture of a combination of a concrete strip, next to which there are half-buried hangars and all this is surrounded by several rows of thorns. But at night... At night it all lights up with multi-colored lights, and the interceptors themselves, now taking off and now landing on the runway, present a rather futuristic picture. Just a sight for sore eyes, in short.

But there was one hitch. In the Chita radio engineering brigade, to which I was assigned for anti-Soviet activities, the automated control system was not used. There was a battalion complex itself, but it was, how to put it, rather for formality. And all the work went on the old fashioned way. That is, the complex turned on every morning and turned off in the evening. And no one carried out any combat duty on it. He was, so to speak, for reserve. Only sometimes, due to combat alerts, all the officers came running, sat down at their automated stations and pretended to be there. There were, however, not so few combat alarms. Because nearby - on the other side of the Soviet-Chinese border - was the Chinese military airfield Qiqihar. And as soon as something took off there, we immediately sounded the combat alarm. To the credit of the Chinese, they did not fly very often, otherwise they could have hanged themselves. For combat alert- this is not educational for you. Everything is real there.

Since the complex combat control In fact, there is no RT battalion in our battalion useful function didn’t fulfill it; automated control systems operators in the battalion weren’t really needed. But in the battalion I was acute shortage for tablet operators, radio operators and coders. They didn’t try to make me a tablet operator, because in our battalion it was something like a family contract for the Uzbeks. It was too late to make me a radio operator, since a radio operator needs to be trained for several months. The specialty of a coder remained. The encoder at RTV Air Defense had nothing to do with programming. The encoder at the command post is a soldier who sits at the command post next to the officer on duty and, using a special secret code pad, deciphers or encrypts all the information that passes through the officer on duty. For example, a subordinate company sent a radio message about a change in the plane’s course. This message comes in the form of a column of numbers. Which the radio operator receives, writes down on a piece of paper and brings it to the encoder at a trot. The encoder must take a cipher pad and use it to decipher this sequence of numbers into meaningful text. Which already goes to the officer.

On the one hand, work - don’t hit someone lying down. On the other hand, sitting all day long with the officer on duty, stupidly watching as tablet operators rush around like monkeys in front of you, marking airplane courses on transparent tablets, somehow it’s not very good. Being an automated control system operator and sitting in a computer cabin covered with a concrete dome is much more relaxed and enjoyable.

By the way, according to combat regulations, this same battalion control system provided for three crews. In case of use of weapons of mass destruction. That is, the enemy threw nuclear bomb- everything around was fatally radioactive. But this is not the reason why the work of RTV air defense should stop. Because the interference from the explosion passes much faster than it decreases lethal dose radiation. Therefore, the first crew takes duty. He fights valiantly for the allotted time, so he dies from radiation. After which the second calculation begins. Well, by the time the third calculation is carried out, it seems that the radiation dose should have already decreased to an acceptable level in order to die within six months or a year. Everything is thought out, in short.

In general, in RTV air defense everything is thought out to the smallest detail. For example, despite modern views rangefinders and altimeters; according to combat regulations, in the event of a combat alert, a special soldier was assigned to the audiovisual observation post. The soldier was given bincols. His task was to look at the sky through binoculars and listen to sounds with his ears. And report. Well, like, you saw or heard a plane - report it. Very wise. For the valiant soldiers behind the “glasses” (emphasis on the first O) may miss. Probably this full-time position in the event of a combat alert has remained since the Second World War. And since no one canceled it, such an observer was regularly posted.

The old-timers loved to joke about the new additions. This happens always and everywhere. In the canteens, experienced cooks force new recruits from the calcinary technical school to blow pasta, old sea wolves demand that the newbies clean the sting of the anchors with files, and young fighters are sent to the RTV Air Defense to disperse the interference. Like this? Well, this means you have to run in front of the locator and a mop or broom mounted on a stick, “disperse the interference” from the picking antenna. Such a cute joke. Especially when you consider that the emitter up close is not the most useful thing for the body.

And of course the air defense of the country in general and their component- RTV - along with border guards, missilemen and submariners, they carried out combat duty in peacetime. What imposed. However, it didn’t really bother me. For example, during my service, one of our battalions missed an AN-24, which the villain co-pilot stole to China. Why he took him there is a mystery. For the Chinese put the villain in their Chinese prison. well and personnel companies and battalions were fucked in all the cracks. These, however, are no longer the Chinese, but our command. You may ask: how can you miss an airplane whose slightest change in trajectory is visible on the radar screen? I'll try to explain. The diagram is not detailed, but gives a rough idea.

As I already said, our brigade worked according to the scheme developed under Tsar Gorokh. This scheme provides the following. Somewhere in the wilderness on an artificial hill there is a locator (radar). Nearby, on exactly the same elevation, there is an altimeter. These two devices provide information about the exact position of any target in the three-dimensional world. The locator gives X-Y coordinates, altimeter - Z (target height). Information about this is displayed on special round (or rectangular) screens - “glasses”. The soldiers who sit behind them take coordinates using a grid. So far so good.

Next, these coordinates must be transmitted to a higher point - to the battalion command post. This was usually done according to the so-called. radio relay communication channels or, simply, using a walkie-talkie. The company radio operator transmitted the target coordinates to the battalion radio operator. The battalion radio operator received the coordinates and (with the help of an encoder) reported them to the duty officer at the command post. The battalion duty officer transmitted these coordinates to the air defense battalion, to the intelligence agency and to the higher command post (brigade). The diagram is beautiful. If something has deviated somewhere, then within a very short time it should be known to both the anti-aircraft gunners, the interceptors, and the higher command - the command of the air defense corps. This command must already decide what to do next - shoot down the target, intercept it, or simply monitor it. Everything is wonderful.

But here’s the question: what if some radio operator transmits not the real coordinates, but some other ones? In this case, in some part of the chain there will be misrepresentation about where the target is currently located. Question: why on earth would a radio operator transmit false coordinates if he is not a saboteur or a spy? I'll try to answer this question as well.

Just imagine an RTV air defense battalion. Who served in ground forces, by the word “battalion” he means a crowd of people, something like half a thousand people in number. In the training school, by the way, where I studied for the first six months of my service, the training battalion was just such a crowd. It was with great amazement that I learned that a real RTV battalion consists of several dozen people. And the company, also known as the “point”, consists of a dozen people and a couple of officers. These are the realities. For unknown reasons, the RTV troops in large quantities they round up the children of sheep shepherds and similar romantic natures, who speak Russian with difficulty, and categorically refuse to delve into the intricacies of radars and walkie-talkies, preferring to keep watch in the kitchen and pigsties. There are always not enough people. And you have to be on combat duty around the clock.

Now put yourself in the place of the battalion commander who command post at least three radio operators are required (one to communicate with each “point”), and in a battalion of radio operators there are only five people. They go on combat duty for a day. And, generally speaking, it is difficult to sleep at this time, except for a few hours at night (alternately). What to do? But there’s nothing you can do here except install radio operators (and, incidentally, tablet operators with encoders), not for a day, but practically permanently. This may seem somewhat absurd. Well, how can you force a person to sleep no more than 2-3 hours a day for a whole month? But the reality is that, it turns out, it is possible. The radio operators of our battalion could sleep in any position. The funniest thing was to watch them during the idiocy called the “Komsomol meeting.” Only half an hour of free time, and the radio operators had just sat down - they were already asleep. They were placed - they leaned against the wall and slept again.

Well, now put yourself in the place of a radio operator on combat duty. What do you think about all the time? About protecting the borders of your beloved homeland? Ha-ha and hee-hee. You only think about how to snatch yourself at least an extra 15 minutes of sleep. Constantly. Only about sleep and nothing else. During the day, it’s basically unrealistic to carve out extra minutes of sleep for yourself - the air environment is too tense. But at night the tension subsides and the air clears. You can at least get some sleep. But there is an ambush - night civilian flights. That is, it seems that all the same, the radio operator should not sleep and sit with headphones on, waiting for information to suddenly come from the company about a change in the plane’s course. What if you think about it?

And if you think carefully, it turns out that the same flight always passes through the same points at the same time. Therefore, if at some point night hour nothing but this flight flies in the area of ​​responsibility, you can, in principle, not expect information from the company, but simply, without listening to the broadcast, at the same time bring the same coordinates to the duty officer as the day before. And no one will know anything anyway, because in theory the coordinates transmitted from the company coincide with what was just assigned to the duty officer. And between these points you can sleep extra expensive minutes.

Well, what if the plane veered off course? For some time, the radio operator still carries the coordinates of the standard course to the duty officer, and the plane is already rushing towards the Chinese border.

It is clear that this is still discovered relatively quickly. It’s impossible to just lose a plane. But while those at the top are figuring out why the plane suddenly made an unimaginable jump in space and ended up not at all where expected, while they make a decision, while they raise the interceptors, the plane flies and flies towards the border all the time. And then he ends up so close to the border that even the interceptors don’t really have time to do anything except shoot him down. But how to shoot down your civilian plane? And even near the border - what if it falls on the other side? By the way, when the AN-24 had already flown to China, the services there behaved in such a way that it seems to me that the Chinese air defense was even more courageous in terms of service than ours.

In general, under approximately these circumstances, on December 19, 1985, an AN-24 aircraft Yakut department civil aviation, tail number 42845, on flight 101/435 on the route Yakutsk-Takhtamygda-Chita-Irkutsk, flew to China.

Now, of course, there is a very different version, which has become established over many months of investigation and subsequent “journalistic investigations.” This version suits everyone. Allegedly, the commander of the AN-24 immediately reported to the ground that the second pilot ordered to change course, they say the valiant air defense immediately responded, and then, they say, when the AN-24 was already in China, both ours and the Chinese fighters began to play with it so that the plane uses up all its fuel and crashes, burying it under the remains " terrible secret» theft. They say both the USSR and China were interested in this. I have never heard a more idiotic version. However, there are many who will believe just such a story. Well, it doesn’t really matter to me. I told this story as it is, as the soldiers of the valiant Chita RTV air defense brigade, which was responsible for this flight in December 1985, knew it. But it is clear that what was known to every soldier and officer of our brigade categorically did not suit the authorities. Because in case of publication real facts valiant defense of air borders, many important people wearing caps would have lost their positions. So…

However, this did not save Grandpa Koldunov (as we kindly called the air defense commander). Just a year and a half after the hijacking of the AN-24, he finally said goodbye to his position due to the incident with the flight of Matthias Rust.

In general, of course, there are a lot of things to remember about the valiant RTV air defense. Both good and bad. But in general, I personally do not regret that I served in these troops in general and in their Trans-Baikal, so to speak, branch, in particular. So, congratulations to everyone who served in the RTV Air Defense. After all, we, dear matryona, still did not defend our Motherland like children. It may have turned out a bit crooked at times. But we do it with all our hearts.