Military Space Forces of Russia: description, structure and composition

The Russian Air Force starts its history on August 12, 1912 - then the staff of the aeronautical unit was created by the order of the General Staff. And already when the First World War (1914-1918) was going on, aviation became a necessary means of aerial reconnaissance and fire support of ground troops from the air. It is possible to say with full certainty that Russia's military-space forces have a fairly rich and extensive history.

Bitter lessons

The pre-war time and the first year (1942) of the Patriotic War on a bitter example showed how tragic for the country's defense capability could be the lack of a central command of the Air Force units.

It was at this time that the country's air forces were fragmented. Moreover, in such a way that it was possible to control the air forces as commanders of military districts, as well as commanders, and commanders of army corps.

As a result of the lack of centralized leadership over the country's air forces, the German-fascist Luftwaffe troops, who incidentally were directly subordinated to the German Air Force's Reichsmarschall German Göring, inflicted heavy damage on the Soviet Air Force.

The result was bitter for the Soviet army. 72% of the Air Force from the border districts were destroyed. Having won supremacy in the air, the Luftwaffe troops secured an offensive on the fronts of the land forces of the Wehrmacht.

Such hard lessons of the first period of the war served as the basis for the introduction by the Supreme Headquarters Supreme Headquarters (1942), the concentrated control of the Air Force. The air armies were again formed on the basis of the Air Force military districts.

All these measures led to the fact that by the summer of 1943 Soviet aviation had gained a dominant position in the air.

A new era

At the moment, the Russian Air Force is experiencing a new time in its development. We can say that we all live in an era of change, when the army of Russia is rapidly renewed. The military-space forces officially began operating on August 1, 2015 as a new form of the Armed Forces of Russia .

Military-space troops in 2010 alone, the warning system forces recorded more than thirty launches of foreign ballistic missiles.

In the same year, 2010, the structure of Russian VCS could include about 110 spacecraft. And 80% of them were space vehicles, both military and dual-purpose.

The plans of the VCS leadership, also for several years, update the key elements of the entire orbital grouping. This will increase the productivity of the entire space system. Thus, the Military Space Forces of the Russian Federation were able to solve various tasks.

Destruction of military aviation in the USSR

But, given the current experience in the management of the VCS, we must remember that in the 1960s the first secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Nikita Khrushchev, in fact, destroyed the bomber aviation.

The reason for such defeat was the myth that missiles can completely replace the existence of aviation as a kind of troops.

The result of this initiative was that a significant fleet of aircraft, consisting of fighters, ground attack planes, bombers, was simply sent to scrap, despite the fact that they were fully operational and able to carry out combat duty.

The tasks that the VCS can solve

Modern Military-space forces of Russia are able to solve various tasks:

• Protection against attack by means of the enemy's military reconnaissance aircraft and repulsion of aggression;
• Strikes against enemy facilities and troops, both conventional and with nuclear weapons;
• Air support during the conduct of military operations by other types of troops;
• Ensuring the destruction not only of ballistic missiles of a probable enemy, but also of their warheads;
• Detection and warning of the missile attack of senior management at the start of ballistic missiles.

VCS constantly monitor space objects and identify threats to Russia's interests, both in space and from outer space. They launch spacecraft into orbit, while controlling satellites of both military and dual use. Satellite systems and facilities for launching satellites and controlling them are maintained in constant readiness.

Efforts to rebuild the air force

Today's Air Force, like the pre-war forties, passed the same stage of decentralization of the front-line aviation management. The USSR Ministry of Defense in 1980 issued a directive, according to which, instead of air armies, the Air Force began to form military districts. And the process went so far as to solve strategic tasks required special permission to attract the air force of any of the military districts!

It was a full eight years, while there was a stubborn struggle to restore the principle of centralized control of the Russian Air Force. That, in turn, at times increased maneuverability in the transfer for operational purposes of the Air Force units from one direction to another.

The structure of the Russian military aerospace industry at the moment looks like this in such a way that aviation, air defense forces, missile defense, as well as space forces were united under a unified principle. The commander-in-chief was Colonel-General Viktor Bondarev. As a result of this, a new type of troops arose, the Air and Space Forces.

Revival of the Air Force

If we talk about the modern Air Force of Russia, this is a completely different level of aviation. To begin with, it should be noted that by the decree of the President (dated 16.08.1997) the air defense forces and the Air Force have been reorganized and merged into the Air Force. This decision helped to increase the impact of the use of aviation and air defense forces and improved interaction with the Land Force and the Navy.

Also, the modern Russian air forces have basically become rocket-propelled vehicles, since the main fighter aircraft are hinged air-to-air missiles with target range of up to tens of kilometers.

But the Russian Space Forces in the new composition are able to hit air targets, using only anti-aircraft missile systems of air defense on approach to 150 km and at altitudes up to 40 km.

History of the flag

The flag of the VKS has, though a small, but its history. On the first version of the flag was the inscription "Military Space Forces".

But already in May 2004 the order of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation established a new flag. The VKS symbol remained, but the inscription disappeared.

The flag of the new Space Forces was restored by the order of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation of 30.05.2004.

On the blue cloth (with the dimensions of the ratio of sides 2: 3) depicts the emblem of the Space Forces. It displays a stylized image of the globe, divided into stripes in the colors of the state flag of the Russian Federation. And in the very center of the panel is placed the emblem of the Space Forces in the form of a stylized missile.

And when in 2015 the troops of the VKS, which united the aviation, the air defense forces, the ABM forces and the capabilities of the space forces, were created, the flag of the Russian Space Forces did not change.

Structure of the Russian Military Space Forces

Technically VKS Russia's Armed Forces are pouring into itself three types of troops :

• Air Force;
• Air Defense Forces and ABM troops;
• Space troops.

From this point of view, the creation of the VCS is an important, but the first step in creating a combat-able type of the Armed Forces of Russia.

There is still much to be done to ensure that the most important strategic facilities, both military and industrial, are under reliable cover from the attack, both from the air and from outer space.

Aircraft fleet

The total number of aircraft VKS consists of the presence of new devices and the modernization of the existing fleet of vehicles.

Aircraft VKS Russia by 2020 will have in its fleet to 2,430-2,500 aircraft and helicopters.

Here you can mention a small list of aircraft already in the aircraft fleet and promising:

• Yak-141 - fighter of vertical take-off and landing;
• Tu-160 "The White Swan";
• Fighter "Berkut" Su-47 (S-37);
• PAK FA T-50:
• Su-37 "Terminator";
• MiG-35;
• Su-34;
• Tu-95MS "Bear";
• Su-25 Grach;
• An-124 Ruslan.

Along with the renewal of the fleet of military vehicles, the infrastructure is also being actively created in the basing areas. Also of great importance in terms of improving combat readiness is the timely maintenance and repair of military equipment.

Space Threats and VCS

According to the Minister of Defense S. Shoigu, VKS will protect Russia from the space threat. For this purpose, the created view of the Armed Forces unites in itself:

• Aviation;
• Troops and units of air defense and missile defense;
• Space troops;
• Means of the RF Armed Forces.

The Minister of Defense explained the necessity of such a reform by the fact that in the new realities of military operations the emphasis is shifting more and more to the space sphere. And without involvement in the fighting in modern conditions, the Space Forces can not be avoided, but they themselves can not exist by themselves.

But it was specially noted that the existing system for managing the forces of aviation and air defense is not subject to change.

The general leadership will continue to be carried out by the General Staff, and the direct leadership, as before, by the Chief Command of the Military Space Agency.

Alternative view

But there are also dissenters. In the opinion of the president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, Doctor of Engineering Sciences. K. Sivkova, the Russian Space Forces were created without taking into account the specifics of the work of the Air Force troops and the troops of the East Kazakhstan region. They are so different that the transfer of control of them into one hand is fundamentally inappropriate.

If to unite, then it is more logical to do this by connecting the space command and the command of the ABM system. In the opinion of the doctor of military sciences, they both solve one common task - the fight against objects that threaten the space sphere.

The use of all the capabilities of space systems by all leading military powers is regarded as an important security factor. Modern armed conflicts begin with aerial reconnaissance and surveillance.

The US armed forces are actively implementing the concept of "total strike" and "total missile defense". At the same time, they envisage in their doctrine the rapid destruction of enemy forces anywhere in the world. At the same time, the damage from retaliation is minimized.

The main stake in this case is made on the prevailing dominance in both airspace and in outer space. For this, once military operations have begun, massive air and space operations are conducted with the destruction of vital enemy facilities.

The air and space forces will replace the Air Force in Russia. For this purpose, such reforms are carried out in the country.

But according to the Minister of Defense, the new Air and Space Forces of the Russian Federation will allow to concentrate all means in the same hands, which will make it possible to formulate a military-technical policy for the further development of troops responsible for air and space security.

All this is done to ensure that all citizens of Russia have always been confident that they will be protected by the army and the Air and Space Forces.