Anti-submarine aviation day. Russian Navy Aviation Day

On this moment The basis of Russian patrol and anti-submarine aircraft are the Il-38 and Tu-142 aircraft. There are and are being implemented projects for the repair and modernization of such equipment, making it possible to extend its service life with a noticeable increase in combat potential. At the same time, work is already underway to create a promising anti-submarine aircraft, which in the future will replace existing equipment. The other day, new information appeared about such a project, which to some extent complements the existing picture.

A few days ago, the press service of the Ilyushin Aviation Complex sent out a new press release talking about current work in the field military aviation. It is alleged that the aircraft manufacturing organization is currently proactively studying the possibility of creating a new anti-submarine aircraft. Preliminary study of such a project involves, among other things, the choice of approach to its development and subsequent construction.

According to a press release, Ilyushin specialists are considering the possibility of creating a new anti-submarine aircraft based on one of the existing machines own development. At the same time, an alternative version of the project is being developed; it is planned to create a completely new aerial platform that has no direct connection with existing projects.

Bye we're talking about only about the search for optimal ways to develop the anti-submarine direction, as well as about the choice of design approach. Most of The technical details of the project have not yet been determined. In addition, there is no order yet from the Ministry of Defense, in accordance with which the development of a full-fledged project will have to begin. As a result, it is currently too early to even talk about approximate dates for the appearance of a promising aircraft.

However, the current situation in the field of naval aviation still allows defense industry work at an optimal pace and without haste. Such a situation will make it possible to work out and determine the best design of an anti-submarine aircraft and, upon receipt of an official order, to organize its construction within the established time frame.

It must be recalled that the renewal of the fleet of anti-submarine aircraft in last years repeatedly became the topic of new messages. Thus, back in mid-2015, the naval aviation command of the Russian Navy spoke about the planned replacement of some types of equipment for the future. Then it was a question of replacing obsolete Il-20 and Il-38 aircraft with a promising model with the required characteristics and capabilities.

According to reports in 2015, by the beginning of 2016 it was planned to select a new aircraft to equip naval aviation in the future. It was planned to spend the next few years developing the necessary projects, as well as building and testing prototypes. By 2020, a promising platform equipped with one or another equipment to solve different tasks, was supposed to go into operation. It was believed that the new aircraft could replace all existing patrol vehicles.

For some time, new reports about the development of anti-submarine patrol aircraft have not appeared. Only at the beginning of 2018, the United Aircraft Corporation spoke about some ongoing work and the successes achieved. As it turned out, UAC enterprises at that time were completing work on creating a new generation anti-submarine aircraft. In the foreseeable future, an official order is expected from the military department, which will allow the implementation of new stages of an important program.

Let us remind you that currently the basis of anti-submarine aviation of the navy is the Il-38 and Tu-142 patrol aircraft. These machines are very old and have long ceased to fully respond modern requirements. As a result, repair and modernization work is planned or carried out, thanks to which existing machines not only improve their condition, but receive new capabilities. Part of the naval aviation fleet has already undergone modernization, while other aircraft have yet to receive new equipment.

At the end of the last decade, the industry received an order to modernize the equipment of combat units under the Il-38N Novella project. In the first few years, by 2015, five cars were rebuilt according to this project. Then several more underwent renovations and renovations. According to current plans, the modernization of the obsolete Il-38 will continue until the mid-twenties; About 30 aircraft will pass it. Last summer, the head of naval aviation of the Russian Navy, Major General Igor Kozhin, said that 60% of the existing Il-38s had already undergone modernization.

As part of the project with the letter “N”, the Il-38 aircraft receives a new sighting and search system “Novella-P-38”, built on the basis of modern components. A fourfold increase in efficiency when searching for submarines is declared in comparison with the old Berkut-38 complex. Some new features have also been obtained and a number of characteristics have been improved. After modernization, the aircraft retains the ability to carry and use torpedoes or depth charges with a maximum combat load of up to 5 tons.

Several years ago, the military department decided to continue operating patrol aircraft of the Tu-142 family, for which they had to be modernized. In 2015, official reports appeared about the upcoming repair of such equipment. All Tu-142MR and Tu-142M3 aircraft had to undergo procedures for restoring technical readiness with simultaneous replacement of equipment. At the same time, they should have received updated designations Tu-142MRM and Tu-142M3M, respectively.

According to known data, modernization projects for the Tu-142 family of equipment included the use of new communication and control equipment. In particular, it was planned to maintain devices for communication with submarines, but at the same time expand their capabilities. The new equipment was supposed to provide communication with modern ballistic and cruise missiles fleet. With the help of such a function it was planned to issue target designation to already launched missiles.

The Tu-142MRM and Tu-142M3M projects do not provide for a radical restructuring of the aircraft, and therefore no more than five years were allotted for their implementation. According to 2015 data, by the end of the current decade, three dozen updated aircraft with new functions could return to service.

Current modernization projects will be completed in 2020-25 and will keep the existing equipment in service for a long time. However, Naval Air Command and industry are already planning to replace existing aircraft with a completely new machine. According to recent reports, work on such a project is ongoing, but the timing of its completion is still unknown. Preliminary development of the aircraft is carried out on a proactive basis, which imposes certain restrictions on it.

A few days ago, the Ilyushin Aviation Complex revealed the approaches under consideration to creating new technology. According to official data, the possibility of building a future anti-submarine aircraft on one of the existing platforms or developing a completely new machine is being studied. This information does not reveal the details of the project, but can still be the basis for forecasts and estimates.

MOSCOW, December 18 - RIA Novosti, Andrey Kots. A trio of Il-38 anti-submarine aircraft, accompanied by the roar of turboprop engines, takes off from the runway of the Nikolaevka airfield and goes towards the sea. The goal is to track down and destroy a mock enemy submarine, according to the legend of the exercises, hidden not far from the coastline. "Ilyushins" fan out over the water surface and scatter sonar buoys. Not even half an hour passes before one of them “hears” the noise of the propellers. The planes turn around, take a combat course and prepare more serious “arguments” - bombs and homing torpedoes. Over the weekend, anti-submarine aviation forces held exercises in Primorye. The Il-38 crews successfully detected and destroyed a hypothetical underwater target. At the same time, Tu-142 aircraft, MiG-31 fighter-interceptors and Ka-27 carrier-based helicopters were involved in the maneuvers. Read about how to track a submarine from the air in the RIA Novosti article.

Sea frontier

It is almost impossible to accidentally detect a submarine moving at low speed at great depths. It's easier to stumble upon a needle in a haystack or a cat in a dark room. The main weapon of submarines is stealth. Therefore, an impressive and diverse force is involved in tracking them down, which painstakingly comb the search area, mile after mile. Anti-submarine aviation is just one of the “cells” of a dense “network” that sailors place on the submarine cruisers of a potential enemy.

For the Pacific Fleet, defending the long coastline of the Russian Far East, such “fishing” is commonplace. Somewhere here, 10 of the 18 Ohio-class strategic nuclear-powered ships of the US Navy plow the depths, carrying about a third of the entire American nuclear arsenal in their missile silos. Control over their movements is one of the most important tasks of the Pacific Fleet (as well as other fleets). In addition, anti-submarine forces “drive away” enemy submarines from their “strategists”.

“The main striking force of the Pacific Fleet is underwater strategic missile carriers, which are an important part of our nuclear triad,” a military expert told RIA Novosti, Chief Editor magazine "Arsenal of the Fatherland" Viktor Murakhovsky. — The fleet includes three Project 667BDR Kalmars and two new Project 955 Borei. They are part of the 25th submarine division. The main task of the Pacific Fleet is to provide submarine cruisers with the opportunity to reach combat deployment areas if necessary. And for this we need to unconditionally dominate the Sea of ​​Okhotsk region."

General labor

Today, all Russian fleets have 46 Il-38 anti-submarine aircraft and eight improved Il-38N. By 2020, 28 basic vehicles must undergo modernization. These aircraft are designed to independently or jointly with anti-submarine ships search for and destroy enemy submarines, for maritime reconnaissance, search and rescue operations, and laying minefields. In addition, the Northern and Pacific fleets each have a squadron of long-range "anti-submarine" Tu-142 - the naval version strategic bombers Tu-95. Each "submarine hunter" carries on board an entire arsenal that allows it to track down and destroy a target.

"All these aircraft are very mobile, they can reach high speeds and a short time overcome long distances,” Admiral Vladimir Komoyedov, former commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, told RIA Novosti. — In principle, the crew can notice a boat moving at shallow depths visually. In addition, special buoys for various purposes are used - infrared, hydroacoustic, passive, active, autonomous, for working at different depths, etc. That is, the aircraft crew is prepared to meet any purpose."

According to Vladimir Komoyedov, anti-submarine aircraft do not work “on call.” There are no situations where random fishermen call the fleet headquarters and say: “We just saw a periscope. Send someone to check.” All work on anti-submarine defense is planned and carried out regularly. Marine aircraft are given squares, which they “seed” with buoys at certain intervals.

“Imagine that you are sitting at a table. The table is a patrol area. And anti-submarine aircraft methodically scatter buoys over it,” explains Komoyedov. “There may or may not be enemy boats in this area. But you definitely need to check. patrols involve not only aircraft, but also surface forces of a naval search and strike group, helicopters with sonars and even satellites. We have devices capable of viewing the water column to a certain depth from orbit. Thus, the underwater threat is countered by disparate forces, but under a single command. The group commander has his own headquarters, which "conducts" searches on the map. He has contact with ships and aircraft. Patrols take place regularly. We call this work maintaining a favorable operational regime in the fleet's areas of responsibility."

"Eyes" of the fleet

The algorithm of action of anti-submarine aircraft is quite simple. Having dropped buoys in its area, the board begins to walk in circles, taking readings from the equipment. As soon as the "beacon" is activated, indicating the presence of an unidentified submarine, the crew transmits data about its location to an anti-submarine ship or its submarine. At the same time, he continues to monitor other buoys in order to calculate the approximate course of the submarine as they go off. This process is reminiscent of the game “Battleship”: if you managed to “wound” the enemy, then it is already approximately clear where to “shoot” in order to “finish him off”.

In addition, an anti-submarine aircraft can itself attack an underwater target. Il-38 and Tu-142 carry a wide range of weapons on board: AT-1 and AT-2 anti-submarine torpedoes, APR-1, APR-2 and APR-3 missiles, anti-submarine bombs, sea mines and much more. The modernized Il-38N is equipped with a new sighting and navigation system, which significantly increases the accuracy of weapons. The first anti-submarine aircraft dropped bombs literally by sight.

"Still the main task anti-submarine aviation - to detect a target and let others know about it,” explains Vladimir Komoyedov. “No one can handle a submarine better than another submarine.” This is also understood in the USA. They have deployed the SOSUS stationary hydroacoustic submarine detection system in the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Americans can “hear” our submarine without leaving their office. However, this method is not the most reliable. That's why they continue to walk close to our shores in the old fashioned way. And while they do this, our anti-submarine aircraft will not be left without work."

I prepared a juicy post from photographs of flights taken from the anti-submarine Il-38 last summer. These are aircraft from the 7050th Kirkenes Red Banner Air Base, military unit 49324, Severomorsk-1.

1. Taking off on a mission as a couple. The plane is lifted into the sky by Ivchenko AI-20M turboprop engines, with more than four thousand hp each. each, and four-bladed AB-64 propellers

2. The forward part of the fuselage, in which the crew is located, is sealed. The combat vehicle has a crew of 7 people: commander, assistant commander (co-pilot), navigator-navigator, flight engineer, flight radio operator, navigator-radar operator and aircraft receiver operator. In the middle part of the fuselage there are thermally insulated bomb bays

3. Under the cockpit there is a fairing for the Berkut PPS radar, which is designed to search for surface targets, radar orientation and work with buoy transponder beacons. The tail boom is the fairing of the magnetosensitive unit of the APM-73 "Bor-1S" magnetometer (on some sides - MMS-114 "Ladoga", previously - APM-60 "Orsha"). A trail of exhaust gases along the side of the rear fuselage was left by the TG-16M turbogenerator, which provides engine starting and emergency power.

3.1 . The same board in the parking lot:

4 . When flying over the sea at low altitudes, salt deposits occur on the canopy glasses, making it difficult to see, so after some time had passed since the start of operation of the Il-38, the pilots asked to equip the canopy with an alcohol glass washing system. The system was quickly developed and installed. The alcohol used for washing was also successfully used as a base for “cognac”.

5 . Coastline, Kildin Island. A former military airfield is visible. Mentioned it in the description of airfields on the Kola Peninsula.

It was used quite intensively as a jump airfield during the Second World War. Aircraft such as the P-40 Kittyhawk, Hawker Hurricane, Po-2 and others were based here. A couple of the most interesting German aerial photographs of this airfield during the war.

5.1 . June 1943

5.2 February 1944

6 . Let's continue. The eastern tip of Kildin Island in July 2011:

7 . Well recognized at the entrance to the Kola Bay, the high and steep shores of the northern part of Kildin Island

8 . The earth is left behind, the search for a hypothetical underwater enemy begins

9 . One of the peculiarities of the work of naval pilots is the absence of a visible horizon, even in good weather. Gagarin wrote about his difficult flights over the sea off the coast of the Kola Peninsula

10 .

11 . After some time, the position of the conditional underwater target is successfully revealed and the boat floats to the surface

12 . A trail begins from the point of ascent to the surface.

13 . Flight and tracking

14 . Do you see the gopher?

15 . And he is:

16 . Having mastered the above short course training for an anti-submarine pilot, you will be able to find a submarine here yourself. Larger by click

17 . Approach, descent along glide path. Below is the fork in the road from Murmansk to Polyarny and Retinskoye. The Kola Bay is ahead

18 . On the roadstead of Severomorsk, they describe the circulation in each other’s wake: small anti-submarine ship of Project 1124M MPK-59 “Snezhnogorsk”, small rocket ship Project 1234.1 "Iceberg", base minesweeper of Project 1265 BT-152 "Kotelnich". To the right and below is the diesel submarine Project 877. Rehearsal for the Navy Day parade

19 . Large landing ships of Project 775 approached the bearings closer to the berths. After a few seconds, the Morse code of DPRM and BPRM will ring in the cockpit - 5 km left to the end of the runway

The Il-38's opponent is most often called the Lockheed P-3 Orion anti-submarine patrol aircraft. Both are built on the basis of turboprop airliners of the same age: the Il-18 and Lockheed L-188 Electra (the Il-18 took off six months earlier). In 1959, the prototype Lockheed P-3 Orion took off for the first time. Two years later he flew onto the wing of the Il-38.

The Orions' combat service began in 1962. When the Il-38 was adopted by the USSR in 1969, a more modern modernized version of the Orion, the P-3C, which is today the main patrol and anti-submarine aircraft of the US Navy, had already begun to enter service with the US Navy. Since then, Orion's equipment has been constantly upgraded. Starting in 2013, the US Navy plans to begin gradually replacing the Orions with Boeing P-8 Poseidon anti-submarine patrol aircraft, developed on the basis of the Boeing 737NG. India plans to purchase Poseidons.

Il-38 over the aircraft carrier USS Midway (CV 41), 1979

The commissioning of the Il-38 aircraft was delayed by the fine-tuning of the search and targeting system. Work on the equipment proceeded with significant difficulties, since the institute responsible for the development of the Berkut teaching staff had never done anything like this before - it specialized in the field of radio engineering.

In the report on the test results of the Il-38 there is an entry that speaks of the degree of innovation of the product: “Development of the Il-38 aircraft with the Berkut automated search and sighting system using digital computer“was the first experience of our industry in creating modern aviation anti-submarine systems that significantly increase the effectiveness of domestic anti-submarine aviation in the fight against missile-carrying submarines.”

While the Orion systems were updated and supplemented throughout the entire time, the Il-38 equipment was practically not modernized, despite the fact that the Il-38M project with a new PPS was prepared.

Il-38 against the background of the BOD Marshal Timoshenko, 1985 On the stern helipad ship helicopter Ka-25

Only in the early 90s, some Il-38 aircraft received a noticeable update of individual devices and systems. In 2001, the modernized Il-38 took to the skies with a fundamentally new PPS “Novella” (export name: “Sea Serpent”). Under this program, during the 2000s, 5 Indian Il-38s, designated SD, were modified.

Russian naval aviation received its first modernized Il-38N literally at the beginning of this month, but for a number of reasons it has not yet entered service.

Since entering service, Il-38 aircraft of the Russian and USSR Navy have received more than 200 detections of foreign submarines.

The birth of aviation in Russia became possible thanks to the initiative of military sailors. It was the sailors who were the first to see in aircraft an important means of increasing the power of the navy and put a lot of effort and money into training aviation personnel, acquiring aircraft and organizing domestic aircraft production.

The world's first proposal, in which the interaction of a ship and an aircraft was predetermined, was also born in the Russian Navy. Its author was the captain of the corps of naval engineers, Lev Makarovich Matsievich. Back on October 23, 1909, in his first memo to the Main Naval Headquarters, he predicted the future of naval aviation and proposed starting the construction of an aircraft carrier, a seaplane and a catapult for launching it from the deck of a ship. It is no coincidence that in Russia the process of movement of aircraft is called aeronautics, aviation is called the air fleet, the sky is called the fifth ocean, and heavy aircraft are called ships.

Hydroaviation in Russia began to emerge in 1911. At first, seaplanes were purchased abroad, but soon Russian engineers V.A. Lebedev and D.P. Grigorovich created several models of flying boats, which allowed the Russian Military Department in 1912-1914. on the basis of domestic seaplanes to form the first aviation units in the Baltic and Black Sea fleets. At the same time, the flying boat designed by Grigorovich M-5 was superior in its flight characteristics to foreign models of similar types.

At first, naval aviation was used mainly for reconnaissance purposes, that is, as a means of supporting the combat activities of the fleet. However, the experience of using aviation in the very first months of the outbreak of the First World War showed that the combat capabilities of aircraft went far beyond reconnaissance. They began to be used for bombing and shelling from the air of objects at fleet bases and ports, enemy ships and vessels at sea.

IN Russian Navy Grigorovich's M-9 seaplanes, which had machine guns and were capable of carrying bombs, were based on the first aircraft-carrying ship "Orlitsa". On July 4, 1916, four aircraft from the Orlitsa conducted an air battle over the Baltic Sea with four German aircraft, which ended in victory for the Russian naval pilots. Two of the Kaiser's airplanes were shot down, and the other two fled. Our pilots returned to their aircraft without losses.

This day - July 4, 1916 - the day of the first victory in an air battle over the sea by naval pilots on domestic seaplanes based on the first domestic aircraft carrier, is rightfully considered the Birthday of naval aviation.

By the middle of 1917, a turning point for Russia, the prerequisites appeared in the Russian Navy for the transformation of aviation into one of the main forces of the fleet, which served as the basis for the establishment of a special body in the Maritime Department - the Directorate of Naval Aviation and Aeronautics.

After the October Revolution, the Soviet military leadership, during the armed struggle against the interventionists and White Guards on the fronts adjacent to the sea, in regions with lakes and along large rivers, could not do without hydroaviation. The creation of new naval aviation formations began.

April 27, 1918 became the birthday of the Baltic Fleet aviation. Then the Special Purpose Air Brigade was formed within it.

March 3, 1921 is considered the birthday of the aviation of the USSR Black Sea Fleet. On this day, the formation of the Headquarters of the Air Fleet of the Black and Azov Seas was completed. On April 4, 1932, the Pacific Fleet aviation was born, and on August 18, 1936, aviation Northern Fleet.

History shows that in the 20s and 30s, when naval aviation was organizationally part of the Red Army Air Force, the country's top leadership and the leadership of the People's Commissariat of Defense assigned aviation tasks to support ground forces, cover troops and rear facilities from attacks from the air, as well as to combat enemy aerial reconnaissance. In accordance with this, the development and construction of aircraft and their weapons was carried out, training programs for pilots in aviation educational institutions. The operational-tactical training of leading military personnel and all combat training military aviation. In this case, naval aviation was assigned a secondary role, so the fleet of naval aviation in these years was replenished only with seaplanes, intended mainly for conducting aerial reconnaissance at sea. Flight personnel for it were trained only at the Yeisk school of naval pilots and flight instructors.

Grigorovich's M-9 flying boat

The 1930s saw the triumph of aviation, design ideas and, above all, naval pilots who showed outstanding examples of flying skill, courage, bravery and heroism.

They were repeatedly involved in special and government tasks. Polar aviation was staffed by naval pilots, which played a huge role in the development of the Northern Sea Route, the importance of which for our country can hardly be overestimated.

The pilots especially showed themselves when rescuing the Chelyuskinites in 1934. Their courage and heroism, willingness to take risks in the name of saving the lives of people in trouble, became a convincing basis for the establishment in our country highest degree state distinction - the title of Hero Soviet Union. The gold star of Hero number one was awarded to naval pilot Anatoly Vasilyevich Lyapidevsky. At the same time, naval pilots I. Doronin, S. Levanevsky and V. Molokov were awarded this title.

The country was full of great construction projects. The state took measures to strengthen the country's defense capability. The Navy received new warships, including those capable of taking seaplanes on board. But this was far from enough.

The situation changed dramatically for the better with the formation of the People's Commissariat of the Navy, when naval aviation became part of it organizationally. By this time, the views on naval aviation as one of the main branches of the fleet forces were finally established. The first to be appointed to the position of Chief of Aviation of the USSR Navy was Corporal Semyon Fedorovich Zhavoronkov, who received the profession of a military pilot at a relatively mature age (34 years old) and successfully commanded Navy aviation until 1947. In 1944, he was promoted to air marshal.

The Aviation Flight Test Institute played a positive role in the further development of naval aviation. Its specialists developed tactical and technical requirements for equipment and weapons of naval aviation, tested prototypes and modernized models of aviation equipment, and also provided retraining for management flight personnel.

Fleets began to receive heavy aircraft of the same type as those in service with the Red Army Air Force on a large scale, such as TB-1, TB-3 and DB-3, specially converted for the use of mine-torpedo weapons - a traditional naval weapon for destroying the underwater part of ships and vessels at sea. .

Soon, mine-torpedo aviation emerged from bomber aviation and was organized into an independent branch of naval aviation.

With the transfer of aviation educational institutions to the fleet, the system of training naval aviation personnel became more advanced and focused. The School of Naval Pilots and Flying Officers in Yeisk and the School of Naval Pilots of the Polar Aviation Directorate of the Main Northern Sea Route in Nikolaev were transformed into Naval Aviation Schools, and Military school aviation technicians in Perm - to the Naval Aviation Technical School. Over the first three years, the number of cadets in these educational institutions increased several times.

To train naval aviation command personnel, a command and aviation department was established at the Naval Academy, and year-long advanced training courses for fleet aviation management personnel were opened.

Aviation design bureaus and enterprises focused on the production of equipment and weapons for naval aviation also began to work purposefully. All this could not help but contribute to the fact that naval aviation by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War has grown significantly in quantitative and qualitative terms; this subsequently affected the effectiveness of its use in combat operations.

However, uncertainty organizational structure reflected in the nature of the views of its operational-tactical application. For a long time it was believed that air combat at sea would be carried out primarily by operational formations (air corps) of the Red Army Air Force. In accordance with this, the interaction of fleets and air corps was worked out in operational training, and naval aviation was entrusted with providing the fleet with aerial reconnaissance and air defense for the basing of the fleet and ships at sea.

In practice this did not happen. Neither front-line aviation nor long-range aviation, formed in 1942, took a significant part in any fleet operation, and naval aviation became one of the main striking forces of the fleet.

From the first days of the war, due to the current situation on the coastal fronts, naval aviation was used to strike the battle formations of the advancing enemy. And this task became the main one for a long time, although naval aviation was not prepared for its solution in the pre-war years.

Apparently, this history lesson should be fully taken into account in the combat training of naval aviation in our peacetime.

The book convincingly shows that the most effective were fighting naval aviation against enemy ships and vessels at sea, which is fully consistent with its main combat purpose.

The sections of the book devoted to the combat operations of naval aviation during the Great Patriotic War are filled with facts about the exploits of naval aviators. The first among naval pilots in this war to achieve success was the fighter squadron of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force, attached to the Danube Flotilla, under the command of Captain A.I. Korobitsyn.

In the Baltic, the account of downed enemy aircraft was opened by the deputy squadron commander, Captain A.K. Antonenko, and in the Northern Fleet, by the air squadron commander, Senior Lieutenant B.F. Safonov.

The Baltic pilots under the command of Colonel E.N. Preobrazhensky, who carried out the first strike on Berlin on the night of August 7-8, 1941, gained worldwide fame.

During the Great Patriotic War, naval aviation carried out more than 350 thousand combat sorties and destroyed more than 5.5 thousand enemy aircraft in the air and at airfields. As a result of the actions of naval aviation, Nazi Germany and its satellites lost 407 warships and 371 transports with troops and cargo, which constitutes two-thirds of the total enemy losses from the impact of naval forces.

The Motherland highly appreciated the combat activities of naval aviation. 57 state awards adorned the banners of regiments and divisions, 260 naval aviators were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and five of them - B.F. Safonov, A.E. Mazurenko, V.I. Rakov, N.G. Stepanyan and N.V. Chelnokov - twice.

Among the naval pilots there are heroes who repeated the feat of Alexei Maresyev. In the Baltic it is L. G. Belousov, in the Black Sea - I. S. Lyubimov, in the Northern Fleet - 3. A. Sorokin.

The combat experience gained during the war formed the basis for the development of plans and directions further development naval aviation, improving the principles and methods of its application in naval warfare. This work also talks about this. The post-war development of naval aviation was characterized by the specialization of created aircraft and weapons systems, the transition to jet technology with great opportunities in terms of speed and range of influence. Airplanes and helicopters were equipped with effective search and destruction means, radio-electronic equipment; Most flight control processes and weapons use are automated.

It should be borne in mind that this work was led by the most experienced aviation military leaders, who personally experienced the bitterness of failures and the joy of victories during the war years, and who deeply knew the needs and capabilities of the fleets. Among them were the famous aviation military leaders E. N. Preobrazhensky, I. I. Borzov, M. I. Samokhin, N. A. Naumov, A. A. Mironenko, G. A. Kuznetsov, S. A. Gulyaev, V. I. Voronov and others. Their ideas, plans and undertakings in the development of naval aviation found understanding and full support among the top leadership of the navy, headed by N. G. Kuznetsov and then S. G. Gorshkov.

In the fleets, the problems of countering the forces of a potential enemy operating secretly from under water came to the fore. Therefore, already in the 50s, the Be-6 long-range seaplane designed by G. M. Beriev was created and delivered to the unit. To combat submarines, the aircraft had radio sonar buoys and magnetometers as means of searching for an underwater enemy, and depth charges and torpedoes for destruction. The basic Mi-4 helicopters and the first-born of naval helicopter aviation, the Ka-15 naval helicopter designed by N. I. Kamov, were equipped with anti-submarine weapons.

During their flight operation, extensive research was carried out and the foundations were laid for the tactics and combat use of anti-submarine aircraft, which soon switched to more advanced anti-submarine systems such as Be-12, Ka-25, Ka-27, Mi-14, Il-38 and Tu-142 of various types. modifications.

Development missile systems with aircraft cruise missiles significantly increased the combat capabilities of strike aviation of fleets in the fight against naval groups of a potential enemy at sea.

In the early 60s, anti-submarine and naval missile-carrying aviation took shape organizationally into independent branches of naval aviation. At the same time, the transformation of reconnaissance aviation of the fleets was also taking place.

The high seas fleets - the Northern and Pacific - received long-range reconnaissance aircraft Tu-95rts with automated system target designation of missile weapons of the naval strike forces, including missile submarines performing combat service at sea. This also allowed naval aviation to reach remote areas of the World Ocean to monitor the naval forces of a potential enemy and provide timely warning of the threat of their impact on our forces and facilities.

In the Baltic and Black Sea, reconnaissance began to be carried out by supersonic reconnaissance aircraft Tu-22r.

The combat capabilities of the USSR naval aviation expanded significantly due to the inclusion of the anti-submarine cruisers "Moscow" and "Leningrad" into the navy. It was from this time that naval aviation was officially established as a new branch of aviation in the navy.

The anti-submarine cruiser "Moscow" with Ka-25 helicopters on board made its first trip to combat service in the Mediterranean Sea from September 19 to November 5, 1968. In subsequent years, the anti-submarine cruisers "Moscow" and "Leningrad" repeatedly carried out combat service in various areas of the World Ocean.

According to the conclusion of the then Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union S.G. Gorshkov, helicopters became integral part modern surface ships for various purposes, they gave them a completely new combat quality. A fundamentally new direction in the development of naval aviation was opened by the creation of aircraft vertical take-off and the landing and construction of aircraft-carrying cruisers of the "Kyiv" type.

The first aviation regiment of Yak-38 naval attack aircraft was formed on Black Sea Fleet. Its first commander was F. G. Matkovsky. He was the first to lead an aviation group and trained pilots to fly from a ship on a long voyage of the aircraft-carrying cruiser "Kyiv".

In the Northern Fleet, V.N. Ratnenko became the first commander of the air regiment of naval attack aircraft. V. M. Svitochev was the first to command a regiment of naval attack aircraft in the Pacific Fleet.

The aircraft-carrying cruisers "Kyiv", "Minsk" and "Novorossiysk" repeatedly carried out combat service in various areas of the World Ocean, and the ship's aviators - pilots, engineers and technicians - showed courage, skill and high moral and psychological qualities.

Particular attention in the book is paid to the naval fighter aviation of the fleet. Such aviation was created on the basis of fourth-generation fighters such as the Su-27 and MiG-29, recognized today as the best modern fighters in the world. The first aircraft carrier ship created in our country is capable of supporting the deployment and combat operations of ski-jump takeoff and arresting landing fighters.

The birth and development of naval fighter aviation is largely due to one of the leading test pilots, Viktor Georgievich Pugachev. One of the first enthusiasts in the development of a new type of naval aviation was Timur Avtandilovich Apakidze. About his courage and professional skills evidenced by the fact that back in 1991 he was awarded an Honorary Diploma and a prize from the International Aviation Safety Foundation for decisive and competent actions in emergency situation in flight. While rescuing the experimental aircraft, T. A. Apakidze left the uncontrollable falling vehicle at the last second. Soon after the accident, he took a new risk and was the first of the pilots of combat aviation units in our country to land on the deck of the cruiser “Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov” on the first Russian naval fighter Su-27k without transportation on a twin. It was September 29, 1991 in the Black Sea Fleet.

During the flight design tests of the Su-27k aircraft, the first leading group of pilots of the Northern Fleet Air Force was successfully prepared for flights and combat operations from the deck of the ship. Thus, in 1994, a new elite of military pilots was born in Russian naval aviation - the elite of deck pilots.

Which were armed with special small-caliber anti-submarine bombs. History also records cases when discovered enemy submarines attacked aircraft of other branches of the Navy Air Force - fighters and bombers. However, all this was rather random in nature, not being a systematic fight against submarines. There were no search equipment on the planes, and the means of destruction remained far from perfect.

In the 1940-1960s. The construction of submarines experienced rapid growth. This was explained, first of all, by their serious military successes during the Second World War. In addition, submarines were much cheaper than surface ships. The submarines' armament was also constantly being improved, and with the advent of cruise and ballistic missiles on board, it became possible to covertly strike from under water many tens and hundreds of kilometers from targets.

IN Western countries Measures to create anti-submarine aircraft were taken back in the early 1940s. At first, conventional coastal command aircraft armed with anti-submarine bombs were used for this purpose. They attacked visually detected submarines on the surface and, sometimes, under the periscope, with bombs and machine guns. Later, these aircraft began to be equipped with special radar and hydroacoustic systems for searching for submarines on the surface and underwater. By the end of World War II, all the main countries of the anti-Hitler coalition had full-fledged patrol and anti-submarine aviation units, equipped with the most modern aircraft at that time, search and destruction equipment.

In the Soviet Union, the understanding of the need to create a new type of force came to the leadership of the Navy only in the mid-1950s. But here, too, they took the path of least resistance - at first, naval reconnaissance regiments armed with Catalina and Be-6 flying boats were reorganized into anti-submarine units.

Creation of the first helicopters designed by Mil and Kamov in the mid-1950s. highlighted a new area of ​​their application - as an anti-submarine weapon for the coastal and ship-based fleet. But many more years passed before anti-submarine aviation loudly declared itself as the most important component of Navy Aviation.

Naval anti-submarine aviation of the Baltic Fleet

Anti-submarine aviation in the Baltic appeared at the end of the Great Patriotic War, when in the summer of 1944 the 29th separate air defense squadron was formed. It was armed with the Be-4 and PBN-1 Nomad flying boats. This unit, although it was included in the 15th ORAP, was, in fact, completely independent. It was entrusted with a fairly wide range of tasks: aerial reconnaissance, searching for enemy submarines, anti-submarine defense of our ships and vessels, rescuing the crews of aircraft shot down over the sea. But, despite its “anti-submarine” name, it was no different from its colleagues from reconnaissance units.

In April 1945, the 29th UAE PLO was disbanded, and on its basis three new squadrons were formed: the 15th, 16th, 17th OSAE PLO. But already in May 1946, the first two of them were used to form the 69th OMRAP, and the 17th OSAE was renamed the 17th OMDRAE. From that time on, for the next 10 years, the anti-submarine aviation of the Baltic Fleet ceased to exist.

In mid-1955, the first helicopter units (507th and 509th UAEV) were formed in the Baltic. Mi-4 helicopters are being supplied to them. In September 1957, the 225th UAE naval Ka-15 helicopters were added to them. These squadrons began to solve ASW missions in the interests of the Baltic Fleet in the near zone.

In September 1958, on the basis of these squadrons, two helicopter regiments were formed: 413th I437-YOAPV. They existed until the end of 1961, when they were reorganized into one 745th separate short-range anti-submarine helicopter regiment, based at the aer. Donskoe. Since 1965, the regiment has been armed with Mi-4 and Ka-25 helicopters, in 1970 they were supplemented by Mi-6 and Mi-8 transport helicopters, and in 1975 - Mi-14.

Somewhat earlier - in August 1960, the 17th OMDRAE was reorganized into the 17th separate long-range anti-submarine aviation squadron, which was armed with Be-6 aircraft. In 1970, the squadron was rearmed with Be-12 anti-submarine amphibians. In 1971, the 17th ODPLEA, together with the 759th OMTAP, was reorganized into the 49th OPLAE DD based at the air. Scythe.

This state of affairs continued until 1972, when, on the basis of the 846th Guards. OMTAP Aviation BF was formed

846th Guards OPLAP, one of whose squadrons began re-equipping with new long-range anti-submarine aircraft Il-38. Since October 1975, this regiment was disbanded, and on its basis a new anti-submarine aviation unit was created - the 145th OPLAE DD, based at the air force. Skulte. Since that time, the Baltic anti-submarine aviation has entered the “ocean expanse”. Besides Baltic Sea, its aircraft carried out combat missions in the North, Mediterranean, Red Sea and Indian Ocean. Ship-based helicopters explored, in addition to the Baltic, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

For almost the entire next 20 years, the composition of the anti-submarine aviation forces of the Baltic Fleet did not change: the 745th OPLAE, the 49th OPLAE and the 145th OPLAE. By this time, only the helicopter regiment had been re-equipped with modern Ka-27 and Ka-29tb helicopters.

After 1992, the 145th OPLAE was disbanded, and its Il-38 aircraft were transferred to the 77th OPLAE, the 317th OSAP of the Pacific Fleet Air Force and the 240th Guards. Naval Air Force OSAP.

Since September 1996, the 49th OTAE and the 397th OTAE of the Baltic Fleet Air Force formed the new 316th OSAP, based at the aer. Khrab-rovo (Kaliningrad). But two years later, the anti-submarine squadron was disbanded (the last surviving Be-12 aircraft could still be seen in a semi-disassembled state at the Khrabrovo airport in May 2011).

In 1994, the 745th OKPLVE was folded into the 396th OKPLVE and existed in this form until December 2009. As part of the transition of the RF Armed Forces to a “promising appearance”, the 396th OKPLVE at the air. Donskoye and 125th OVE at the aer. Chkalovsk, together with support units, were reorganized into 7054th Guards Novgorod-Klaipeda Red Banner Aviation Base named after. I.I.Borzova, having received honorary titles and awards from almost all disbanded aviation units of the Baltic Fleet Air Force and Air Defense. In fact, of the “old” anti-submarine units in the Baltic since 2010, only the helicopter squadron on the Ka-27pl and Ka-27ps remained, which solves problems anti-submarine defense, transportation and search and rescue operations.

Anti-submarine aviation of the Black Sea Fleet

Even at the inception of Naval Aviation, the Black Sea Fleet command correctly assessed its prospects in the fight against submarines. So, at the beginning of 1914, realizing the inevitability of the impending war, Admiral A.A. Ebergard, among the tasks assigned to the Fleet Aviation, named the following: “discovering enemy submarines, indicating their place to our fleet and attacking them by throwing bombs.”

Already at the height of the First World War, in July 1916, near Sevastopol, successful tests of an anti-submarine bomb designed by naval pilot Art. Lieutenant L.I. Boshnyak. Thus, the Black Sea can, to a certain extent, be considered the cradle of anti-submarine aviation.

But, as in the Baltic, for over 40 subsequent years, the search and destruction of enemy submarines was mainly carried out by reconnaissance aircraft units. In fact, from the first days of the Great Patriotic War, MBR-2, GST and MTB-1 aircraft of the 119th MRAP, 60th, 80th, 82nd and 83rd OMREA, to which the 18th was added in the fall of 1941 OMRAE, relocated from the Baltic, began searching for Romanian, Turkish, German and Italian submarines, which the Black Sea Fleet command imagined were off the Soviet coast.

In March 1952, the 220th separate detachment of Ka-10 helicopters was formed in Sevastopol. Few could have imagined then that such aircrafts will soon become a threat to submarines. Two years later, on the basis of the detachment, the 1222nd separate aviation squadron of basic helicopters was formed, re-equipped in 1955 with the Ka-15. At the beginning of 1958, it was supplemented by the 307th separate aviation squadron of naval helicopters, and already in April of the same year, on the basis of these aviation units, the 872nd separate aviation regiment of helicopters was formed. Donuzlav.

By the mid-1950s. To search and destroy submarines, Be-6 aircraft of the 977th OMDRAP (formerly 18th OMDRAP), as well as Mi-4m and Ka-15 helicopters of the 872nd OAPV, were used.

But truly anti-submarine aviation units appeared only at the end of 1960 - beginning of 1961. Thus, the 270th OMDRAE of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force, formed in Donuzlav on the basis of the 2nd AE of the 977th OMDRAP and armed with Be-10 jet boats, was in November 1960, it was reorganized into the 270th ODPLEA. At the same time, the 853rd OVP was reorganized into the 303rd OVE PLO.

In September 1961, the 872nd OAPV was renamed the 872nd OPLVP DB, with a relocation to the air. Kacha, and the 303rd OVE PLO is turning to its staffing. At the same time, the 270th OPLAE AD was reorganized into the 318th separate long-range anti-submarine aviation regiment.

In 1965, anti-submarine aviation units received new Be-12 amphibious aircraft and Ka-25 helicopters, which significantly expanded their search and strike capabilities.

In September 1969, on the basis of the 872nd OKPLVP, another helicopter regiment was formed in the Black Sea Fleet Aviation - the 78th OKPLVP. This was due to the expansion of the range of tasks of the USSR Navy regarding its presence in the ocean zone and the commissioning of new anti-submarine cruisers “Moscow” and “Leningrad”, on which entire helicopter units could be based.

Almost until the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991, the composition of the anti-submarine aviation forces of the Black Sea Fleet did not change (318th OPLAP, 78th OPLVP and 872nd OPLVP). Since 1973, it received the Ka-27pl and Ka-27ps helicopters, whose search and strike capabilities were superior to the aging Ka-25. In 1978, shore-based helicopters Mi-14pl, Mi-14ps and Mi-14bt were added to them.

Considering the size of the Black Sea theater of operations, the Navy Air Force command did not equip the Black Sea Fleet Aviation with Il-38 anti-submarine aircraft, not to mention the Tu-142. Therefore, the composition of its aircraft fleet until the early 2000s. almost unchanged: Be-12, Ka-27, Ka-25 and Mi-14.

In June 1991, the Black Sea Fleet Air Force was replenished with another anti-submarine unit, and in a very unusual way. Then the 841st Guards Naval Aviation Regiment of fighter-bombers, on the MiG-23m, based at the aer. Meria in Georgia, was reorganized in the 841st Guards. OPLVP on Mi-14pl, Mi-14ps helicopters.

The confrontation between Ukraine and Russia regarding the division of property of the former USSR Black Sea Fleet could not but affect the composition and condition of the Black Sea Aviation, in general, and its anti-submarine units, in particular. According to the agreement between the governments of the two countries dated May 27, 1998, the following anti-submarine aircraft and helicopters were transferred to the Ukrainian side, among many other assets of the USSR Black Sea Fleet: 10 Be-12pl, 18 Ka-25pl and 20 Mi-14pl.

As a result of this transfer of aircraft, since mid-1995, anti-submarine aviation has undergone significant changes: the 78th OKPLVP in Donuzlav was disbanded, the 841st Guards. OPLVP - reorganized into the 863rd OPLVE, which was relocated from Meriya to Anapa, and instead of the 318th OPLAP, the 327th OPLEV was formed in Kach. In September 1996, the 327th OPLAE and the 917th OTAP of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force were reorganized into a new mixed aviation regiment, which received the number and awards of the previously disbanded 318th OPLAE (Konstantsky, Krasnoznamenny). The new regiment, in which one squadron was armed with Be-12 aircraft, and the second with An-26 transport aircraft, was based at the air force. Kacha and performed various tasks of anti-submarine support for naval forces, as well as transportation of personnel and cargo.

In September 1997, the 872nd OKPLVP in Kutch was reorganized into the 61st OKPLVE, but already in May 1998, this squadron, together with the 863rd ORPLVE, was turned to form the new 25th OKPLVP. His squadrons were based at the airfields of Kacha and Anapa.

Over the next 10 years, there was a lull in the organizational structure of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force and its anti-submarine forces. This is explained by the strict framework of the Russian-Ukrainian agreement on the status of the Russian Black Sea Fleet (the Russian side cannot unilaterally change the composition and location of its units).

In mid-2009, during the ongoing campaign for the transition of the RF Armed Forces to a new “promising look”, the 318th OSAP and the 25th OKPLVP were turned to the formation of the 7059th Konstanz Red Banner Aviation Base of the MAChF. But in the near future, Be-12 aircraft will be forced to retire (in other fleets they have long been written off and disposed of), and the tasks of searching and destroying submarines will be carried out only by Ka-27 helicopters.

Anti-submarine aviation of the Northern Fleet

From the first days of the Great Patriotic War, North Sea aviation had to solve the problem of searching and destroying enemy submarines. Since there were no specialized anti-submarine units in its composition, aircraft MBR-2, GST and the 118th MRAP and 49th OMRAE were widely used for this purpose. Unlike the Baltic and Black Sea, in the North the underwater threat to Soviet shipping was more than real. According to the Northern Fleet command, there were six submarines in the German Navy in the Northern Theater of Operations (1). As of July 1, 1942, their number was estimated at 14-16 units (17). Enemy submarines operated in the Barents, White and Kara Seas. Their victims were transport ships and ships, as well as coastal facilities on the coast. This situation forced the command of the Northern Fleet Air Force to take measures to build up the group of anti-submarine aviation forces. Thus, in the fall of 1942, the 22nd MRAP was transferred from the Caspian Sea to the White Sea, using MBR-2 aircraft, and in the spring of 1944, on its basis, as well as a number of other aviation units of the Northern Fleet Air Force and BelVF, the 44th, 53rd 1st and 54th mixed aviation regiments. They each included one squadron of MBR-2 flying boats, and in the summer of 1944, in addition to them, they began to receive American planes PBN-1 "Nomad". These units bore the brunt of anti-submarine warfare.

By the end of 1944, the front had rolled far to the West, and the underwater threat gradually faded away. In this regard, by the fall of 1945, the 44th and 54th SAPS were disbanded, and the 53rd SAPS was reorganized into a naval long-range reconnaissance regiment.

The revival of anti-submarine aviation as a branch of the Navy in the North began in the mid-1950s, when the 403rd OMDRAP (formerly the 118th OMDRAP) received Be-6 aircraft with the Baku radiohydroacoustic system. At the same time, the first helicopter unit was formed - the 2053rd UAEV, armed with the Mi-4m.

By 1958, the 309th UAE KB was formed, using Ka-15 helicopters, and in the same year it, together with the 2053rd UAE KB, was transformed into the 830th separate aviation regiment of helicopters.

At the end of 1960, the 403rd OMDRAP was reorganized into the 403rd separate long-range anti-submarine aviation regiment, and the 830th OAPV became known as the 830th OPLVP BD.

In 1967, the 830th Helicopter Regiment began mastering the new Ka-25 shipborne helicopters. In the same year, new long-range anti-submarine aircraft Il-38 entered service with the Northern Fleet Air Force, from which they formed a new aviation unit - the 24th OPLAP DD. This regiment became the first in the Naval Aviation armed with this aircraft equipment. With the entry into service of the Il-38, the search and strike capabilities of the North Sea anti-submarine aviation have expanded significantly.

In 1968, the 403rd OPLAP DD received new Be-12 amphibious aircraft to replace the Be-6.

In the second half of 1969 at the air. In Kipelovo, a new anti-submarine air regiment is being formed - the 76th OPLAP DD. This was the first unit of the Tu-142 strategic anti-submarine aircraft in the Navy Aviation. Thus, the Northern Fleet became a kind of testing ground where new aviation equipment was tested and new tactical techniques for searching and destroying submarines were developed.

In 1970-1977 Il-38 aircraft of the 24th OPLAP DD carried out flights to the BS in the Mediterranean, Red Sea and the Indian Ocean from airfields in Egypt and Somalia, and in 1981 -1988. - from airfields in Libya and Ethiopia.

In November 1982 at the air. In Kipelovo, another aviation unit was formed using Tu-142-277 OPLAE aircraft.

In 1976, the basic Mi-4m helicopters entered service with the helicopter regiment to replace the Mi-4m. 14.

In 1979, the Ka-25 helicopter began to be replaced by new ship-based anti-submarine helicopters, the Ka-27.

At the end of 1980, the 830th OKPLVP was divided into two regiments - the 830th OKPLVP itself and the new 38th OKPLVP. This was due, on the one hand, to the receipt of significant quantities of new helicopters from industry, and on the other hand, to the introduction of new single- and group-based aircraft-carrying ships into the Northern Fleet.

Since 1983, Tu-142 aircraft of the Northern Fleet Air Force began regular flights to Cuba. This made it possible to expand the search area for potential enemy submarines to the equatorial part of the Atlantic Ocean.

At the end of 1983, the 35th Anti-Submarine Aviation Division was formed as part of the Northern Fleet Air Force, which included the 76th OPLAP and the 277th OPLAP (soon deployed into the 135th APLAP). The division became the first and only anti-submarine unit of the Navy Air Force. Subsequent plans of the Navy Air Force command included the formation of two helicopter regiments in the North and two helicopter regiments in the Pacific Ocean into a helicopter division, but these plans were not destined to come true.

In March 1991, a new type of aviation formation was formed in the North - the 57th mixed naval aviation division, which, in addition to the 38th and 830th OKIAP, included the 279th OKIAP flying Su-27k aircraft. The division's regiments were intended to be based on board the heavy aircraft-carrying cruisers Admiral Kuznetsov and Admiral Gorshkov. This was, perhaps, the last creative step by the leadership of the Navy in the field of military development of Naval Aviation. December 1991 was coming...

For almost two more years, the anti-submarine aviation of the Northern Fleet was able to maintain its position in the Navy system, but in 1993, irreversible processes began.

At the end of 1993, the 38th OKPLVP and the 830th OKPLVP were again folded into one regiment - the 830th OKPLVP. Two aircraft anti-submarine regiments also underwent “reformation”: the 24th OPLAP and the 403rd OPLAP were reorganized into the new 403rd OPLAP, flying Il-38 aircraft (in fact, the “young” regiment was given an honorary name and order from the “old” one) regiment, and the Be-12 aircraft were written off and scrapped).

At the end of 1994, the management of the 35th SSBN and the 135th SSBN were disbanded. On air. Only the 76th OPLAP remained in Kipelovo (the 392nd ODRAP, based there, on Tu-95rts aircraft, was relocated to the Veretye ​​airport in the Pskov region at the end of 1989).

In 1998, the 57th SCAD was disbanded, and the 830th regiment again became separate, and the 403rd OPLAP was reorganized, together with the 912th OTAP of the Northern Fleet Air Force, into the 403rd separate mixed aviation regiment, in which one AE was anti-submarine, and the other was transport.

For some time, the composition of the Northern Fleet anti-submarine aviation forces remained unchanged: a squadron of Il-38 aircraft, as part of the 403rd OSAP, was at the air force. Severomorsk-1, a regiment of Tu-142mk aircraft - at the airport. Kipelovo, and a regiment of shipborne Ka-27 helicopters - at the air. Severomorsk-1. Although the tasks for it have not decreased, the intensity of flights to the BS has decreased significantly compared to the early 1980s...

In June 2002, the 76th OPLAP was folded into the 73rd OPLAP at the air. Kipelovo. This event only stated the fact that the Northern Fleet Aviation was no longer able to maintain an entire regiment of Tu-142 aircraft, which were expensive to operate and maintain. All the standard aircraft remaining from the two regiments were slowly written off and cut up for metal.

The next “reform” of Naval Aviation (and anti-submarine aviation, including) began after a meeting of the Military Board of the RF Ministry of Defense, which took place in October 2008. As part of it, it was envisaged to reorganize the flight and rear units at one airfield into aviation bases. In the MA Northern Fleet (as the Northern Fleet Air Force began to be called in April 2009), the 7050th AvB was formed at the air force. Severomorsk-1, for the formation of which the 403rd and 830th air regiments, and the 7051st AvB were called upon to form. Olenya and Kipelovo, the formation of which was directed by the 924th Guards. OMRAP and 73rd OPLAE. At that time, the 279th OKIAP was not included in the air bases. They existed in this form until mid-2011, when the MRA was transferred to the Long-Range Aviation of the Russian Air Force and Air Defense, and the remaining units of the Northern Fleet MA began to be reorganized into one aviation base.

Currently, anti-submarine missions in the North are carried out by units within the air bases of Tu-142mk anti-submarine aircraft in far zone, Il-38 aircraft - in the middle zone, and Ka-27pl helicopters - in the near zone and from single- and group-based aircraft carriers.

Anti-submarine aviation of the Pacific Fleet

Until the mid-1950s, as in other navies, anti-submarine missions in the Pacific Ocean were carried out by reconnaissance aviation units. During the Great Patriotic War and during the war with Japan, the 16th, 115th and 117th reconnaissance regiments of the Pacific Fleet Air Force, STOF and AmVF, as well as a number of individual squadrons and units, were involved in this. They were armed with MBR-2 and PBN-1 Nomad aircraft. Most of these units were disbanded in 1945-1948, and those that survived ceased to exist in 1960.

The emergence of specialized anti-submarine units within the Pacific Fleet Air Force was associated with the adoption in the mid-1950s. for the naval aviation's arsenal of ship-based and shore-based helicopters Ka-15 and Mi-4.

In August 1955 at the air. South Angular, the first helicopter unit is being formed - the 505th UAE BV, which was armed with the Mi-4M.

In September 1957, the 264th UAE KB was added to it, using Ka-15 helicopters, which was also stationed at the air station. South Corner. In April 1958, both of these helicopter units were turned to form the first helicopter regiment in the Pacific Ocean - the 710th Airborne Regiment.

In September 1957, the 175th UAE BV was formed in Kamchatka, using the Mi-4. This helicopter part is formed

was based on the 175th separate fighter squadron of the Pacific Fleet Air Force and was intended to solve anti-submarine missions on the approaches to Avacha Bay.

In 1958, the 167th separate rescue aviation squadron of the Pacific Fleet Air Force (formerly the 48th OMDRAP), flying Be-6 aircraft and Mi-4 helicopters, was reorganized into the 720th Air Force, based at the air force. Znamenskoye in the Sovetskaya Gavan area.

In January 1960, the 317th OSAP was formed in Kamchatka, which included the 122nd OMDRAE and the 175th OVE PLO. The regiment's location since 1961 has been air. Elizovo. In the same year, the 720th OVP was folded into the 301st OPLVE, which was based on the air. Korsakov (Southern Sakhalin).

In 1961, aircraft anti-submarine units were added to the helicopter anti-submarine units, which were formed on the basis of reconnaissance boat regiments and squadrons. At the same time, the 289th OMDRAP in b. Sukhodol was reorganized into an anti-submarine regiment, and the 122nd OMDRAE was reorganized into b. Yagodnaya in Kamchatka - in the 122nd ODPLEA. These units were armed with Be-6 aircraft equipped with the Baku radiohydroacoustic system.

In mid-1969, the 289th OPLAP DD was rearmed with Be-6 flying boats on the Be-12 amphibian, and at the end of the same year in the Pacific Ocean, soon after the Northern Fleet, the 77th OPLAP DD was formed, using Il-38 aircraft . This made it possible to extend the search zone for foreign submarines to the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and approaches to the Kuril Straits from the ocean side. Both regiments began to be based at the air. Nikolaevka.

In October 1976 at the air. Khorol, the 310th OPLAP DD was formed, which received Tu-142 aircraft. It became the second unit of the Navy Aviation armed with these aircraft, after the 76th OPLAP DD Aviation of the Northern Fleet. Two years later, the regiment was relocated to the airfield. Stone Brook. This location for the regiment was not chosen by chance. From here, Tu-142 aircraft could the shortest possible time(in 1.5 hours) fly to the Pacific Ocean and search there for foreign submarines all the way to the Gulf of Alaska and the Hawaiian Islands. In average maritime zone and on the approaches to Kamchatka, the search for IPL was carried out by Il-38 and Be-12 aircraft of the 77th OPLAP DD. 289th OPLAP DD and 122nd OPLAP DD. In the near sea zone, anti-submarine helicopters Ka-25 (then Ka-27) and Mi-14 of the 710th OKPLVP operated, with aer. Novonezhino, and the 175th OKPLVE, with aer. Elizovo.

In October 1977, the 301st OPLVE at the air. Korsakov was disbanded, but two years later the 568th aviation group of coastal-based helicopters was created in its place.

In July 1979, the Minsk aircraft carrier arrived at the Pacific Fleet, on which, in addition to the Yak-38 attack aircraft, up to 18 Ka-27pl and Ka-27ps helicopters could be based. The entry of this ship into the fleet significantly expanded the capabilities of anti-submarine aircraft in solving specific tasks.

In December 1982 at the air. Cam Ranh (Vietnam) the formation of the 169th Guards was completed. OSAP, which included 4 Tu-142m aircraft from the 310th OPLAP. This allowed for underwater exploration in the East China, South China and Philippine Seas. The regiment also included a helicopter detachment of 2 Mi-14pl and 1 Mi-14ps.

In October 1983 at the air. Novonezhino and air. Korsakov, on the basis of existing helicopter units, two more are formed: the 51st OPLVE and the 55th OPLVE, armed with Mi-14, Mi-8 and Mi-6.

In February 1984, the second heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser, Novorossiysk, became part of the Pacific Fleet. Since that time, the fleet has had two group-based aircraft-carrying ships.

The next five years can be called the period of greatest prosperity for the anti-submarine aviation of the Pacific Fleet. PLA aircraft monitored the situation in the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean - from the Bering Strait, in the north, to the Luzon Strait, in the south.

In 1991, on the basis of the 51st OPLVE squadron, the 207th OKPLVP was formed, which, in addition to shore-based helicopters, also included Ka-27pl and Ka-27ps helicopters, but this was the last creative reorganization in the anti-submarine aviation of the Pacific Fleet. For another two years it continued to remain in the same composition, but interruptions in the supply of fuel and spare parts had already begun to affect it. Soon a landslide reduction began in all fleets, which could not but affect anti-submarine aircraft.

In December 1993, simultaneously with the Northern Fleet, in the Pacific Ocean the 289th OPLAP, on the Be-12, and the 77th OPLAP, on the Il-38, were reorganized into one 289th OPLAP on the air. Nikolaevka, armed with Il-38 aircraft. And here, as in the North, the honorary name “Port Arthur” and the Order of the Red Banner were transferred to the “younger” regiment. At the same time, the 207th OKPLVP at the air force was disbanded. Novonezhino.

In September 1994, the 55th OPLVE was disbanded, and from that time the basing of the Pacific Fleet Aviation on Sakhalin ended.

In 1998, the Be-12 aircraft of the 317th OSAP were written off, and they were replaced by Il-38 aircraft, which were collected from all over Naval Aviation. The process of mastering them by the crews of the regiment was quite lengthy - this was affected by the lack of the required amount of fuel and instructors in the fleet. In the same year, two anti-submarine regiments - the 289th OPLAP at the air. Nikolaevka and the 710th OKPLVP at the air. Novonezhino - were reorganized into one regiment, which, in fact, was already mixed, but by name remained anti-submarine - the 289th OPLAP at the air. Nikolaevka.

In June 2002, the 310th OPLAP and the 568th Guards. OMRAP of the Pacific Fleet Air Force was reorganized into one 568th Guards. OSAP, which was armed with two squadrons of Tu-22MZ missile carriers and one squadron of Tu-142MZ and Tu-142Mr aircraft.

Until the end of 2009, anti-submarine aviation at the Pacific Fleet was represented by a squadron of Il-38 aircraft and a squadron of Ka-27 helicopters, as part of the 317th SAP OKVS, a squadron of Tu-142mz and Tu-142mr aircraft, as part of the 568th Guards. OSAP, a squadron of Il-38 aircraft and a squadron of Ka-27 helicopters, as part of the 289th OPLAP. Subsequently, all these aviation units and subunits were reorganized into MATOF aviation bases. The process of reorganization in the fleet was not completed by mid-2011 and, after the transfer of MRA and IA to the Air Force and Air Defense of the Navy, it is planned to reduce the number of air bases from three to one, but with aviation units based at four airfields. In fact, only coastal and ship-based anti-submarine aircraft will have to remain within the MA Pacific Fleet.