Local conflicts in recent years have shown that the Air Force will need heavier weapons with more power and armor.
“Since the Afghan and Chechen expeditions, the issue of arming the paratroopers has long been delayed. Almost all combat equipment of the landing troops focused on the possibility of parachuting, in which weight played a role to the detriment of armor and caliber. The airborne combat vehicle weighs about seven tons, and the infantry fighting vehicle is twice that, over thirteen tons, which makes the BMP more protected in combat. The Air Force’s maximum caliber of artillery equipment is limited to 122 mm, while army artillery has 152 mm caliber guns, which are longer range and effective, ”the former commander of the Air Force, Colonel General Georgy Shpak, said. Gazeta.ru.
The general recalled that during the war in Afghanistan (1979-1989), the landing units – the 103rd division and the 345th regiment – used land-based BMP-1 and BMP-2, armored personnel carriers BTR-80. The paratroopers were given T-64 tanks, Grad multiple rocket launchers, self-propelled guns Gvozdika, Akatsia and Pion. This weapon made it possible to effectively support military operations in the mountains and in the desert, to provide powerful fire support.
After the end of the Afghan campaign, the Air Force again returned to the use of military equipment and allowed it to be used for landing, but lost power.
“In fact, the transformations in the Air Force began a few years ago, the landing troops take off more, paratroopers are used only during exercises. The Air Force is fully reinforced with heavy weapons, tanks are no longer exotic, they are large-caliber artillery. Being fully powered is comparable in numbers to land divisions, but it is the potential of airborne divisions that are lost in terms of technology. The method of parachuting will recede into the background and will be the prerogative of special forces for reconnaissance and sabotage operations, military expert Vladislav Shurygin told socialbites.ca.
Now the Air Force has two airborne and two air assault divisions, four airborne assault brigades, a separate special forces brigade, and a number of auxiliary and training units.
“Military transport aviation aircraft capable of landing Air Force paratroopers. some amount. There are about 120 Il-76s in the VKS (about a hundred more are under protection). If we recall the 2021 exercises in Crimea, where about 2.5 thousand people were parachuted and paratroopers made huge jumps from the plane, 40-45 military transport planes participated in them. If all Il-76s are mounted in an air group, it will be sufficient to take down two air regiments with a standard set of weapons and military equipment. Subsequent landing may be problematic with the return of the aircraft to the main airfields, due to the impact of enemy aircraft and air defense systems on the battlefield. In most cases, the landing parachute is generally no longer needed. This is now an extra topic, ”says Sergey Belousov, a member of the Military Experts Colleague.
The expert pointed out that parachute jumps are extremely rare in the USA’s most famous 82nd Airborne Division. Prominent – American soldiers participated in the landing in Afghanistan in 2018. But this was not an operational-tactical operation, but the actions of a reconnaissance group of several dozen people. In most cases, American paratroopers act as reinforced assault infantry units.
General Shpak, in turn, believes that “it would be advisable to leave one air regiment per division in the Air Force.”
“In the case of using parachute landing if necessary in a combat situation.
The rest of the units need to be “weighted” with equipment, add their own military transport aviation as planned, expand the composition of the helicopter squadrons, which will meet the requirements for rapid response and the status of the commander’s reserve. chef.
I will add from myself – at the same time, parachute training must be maintained for all military personnel of the Air Force, without exception, without which the landing is not a landing. ”