This year the topographic service of Russia celebrated its 200th anniversary. Today, in the century information technologies, it is unthinkable to imagine the Armed Forces without top service. Moreover, its importance is growing more and more, due to the continuous development of weapons, modern command and control systems, geographic information systems. The Army Topographic Service of the XXI century uses digital technologies, space, cartographic, geodetic complexes and other modern equipment.
In the Eastern Military District, the problems of topogeodetic and navigational support of troops are solved by the topographic service, headed by Lieutenant Colonel Anatoly TYURIN. In a conversation with our correspondent, he talks about the tasks of military topographers and the promising areas of their activity, due to the technical innovations of our turbulent technogenic century.
OUR REFERENCE
In Russia, the development of cartographic work was facilitated by the campaigns of Yermak, Moskovitin, Poyarkov, Dezhnev, who made descriptions and drawings of open lands. In turn, summary drawings were drawn up from their descriptions in the provincial offices. This is how the "Drawing of Siberia" (1629), "Drawing of the Oboyan lands" (1659), "Drawing of the Ukrainian and Cherkasy cities", etc. were executed.
The first Russian geographic atlas "Drawing Book of Siberia", consisting of 23 maps, was compiled in 1701 by the geographer S. Remezov. By its merits, it became at one time an outstanding cartographic work. Serious attention to collecting accurate geographic information Peter I drew about the state and the mapping of territories, which was necessary primarily for military purposes. With the organization of a regular army in Russia, it became necessary to provide its combat activities with map materials. In 1701, in the battles near Narva, Peter I introduced the post of general quartermaster, and in 1711 a quartermaster unit was formed in the army to resolve operational issues, including providing the troops with maps.
In the Pushkarskaya (1712) and Petersburg (1719) engineering schools, created later, students were taught geodesy and topography, and after graduation they could take pictures of the area. The first topographic survey in Russia was carried out in 1715 by the geodesist Fyodor Molchanov on an expedition exploring the land route from Siberia to India.
In 1745, a major cartographic work was published under the title "Atlas of Russia, consisting of nineteen special maps representing the All-Russian Empire with border lands, compiled according to the rules of geographical and newest observations with a general map attached to this great empire through the efforts and labors of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg 1745 ". In the second half of the 18th century, the military department became more and more involved in the publication of maps.
As a specially appointed commission reported to Catherine II, the experience Seven Years War (1756-1763) showed that "... during the last and previous campaigns, in the absence of special officers to remove the location, reconnaissance about the enemy and about the routes the troops were supposed to pass, difficulties and confusion were often encountered." This commission in January 1763 presented its proposals for the reorganization of the army and the quartermaster unit. The latter was proposed to be arranged on new grounds and called the General Staff. In May 1763 it began to function. Apart from other duties, he was entrusted with the conduct of cartographic works. When the General Staff was formed in 1763, a group of surveyors and topographers of 40 people was included in its composition in order to create maps for the army.
In 1797, with the aim of concentrating all published maps, their storage, as well as the development and improvement of their production, the Depot of Maps was established under the Cabinet of His Imperial Majesty, which since 1810 was transferred to the War Ministry. In 1812, the Card Depot was renamed the Military Topographic Depot (VTD). From this date, the military topographic service leads its history.
Until the end of the war against Napoleon, filming and compilation work progressed extremely slowly, and the activities of the VTD during the war were mainly limited to the reprint of some maps used by the troops. The secondment of officers from the Quartermaster Unit and the Corps of Engineers for filming was extremely limited, since they were employed in support of military operations. At the end of the war, topographic surveys on the territory of the empire resumed.
The experience of the Patriotic War of 1812 showed that it was necessary to supply the troops with more accurate topographic maps than were available. The creation of such maps required the organization of new surveys based on geodetic control points. Trigonometric surveys for this purpose on large territory began in Russia in 1816.
In 1822, Alexander I approved the "Regulations on the Corps of Topographers". This act laid the foundation for the organization that later became the Corps of Military Topographers.
The successor to the Corps of Military Topographers of the Russian Army was the Military Topographic Service (MTS) of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army. By 1918, the number of the corps reached 1212 people. In the same year V. Barinov first performed aerial photography near Tver.
After the Great Patriotic War, the MTC of the Red Army was renamed into the Topographic Service of the Armed Forces of the USSR, and then into the Topographic Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Anatoly Anatolyevich TYURIN was born on November 9, 1978 in Kovylkino. Graduated from the Military Engineering University in 2000 (branch in St. Petersburg). From 2000 to 2007, he served in the North Caucasus Military District as a senior cartographer of a unit, commander of a service company, chief of the brigade's topographic service, and chief of a division's topographic service.
From 2007 to 2009 he was a student of the Combined Arms Academy of the RF Armed Forces. In 2009 2011. Chief of Staff, Deputy Detachment Commander in the Eastern Military District.
Since April 2011, chief of the topographic service of the headquarters of the Air Defense Forces.
Awarded with medals "For Military Valor" II degree and "For Distinction in Military Service" of two degrees.
Married. He is raising three children.
Anatoly Anatolyevich, what are the main tasks assigned to the top service of the district today?
The topological service of our district implements the decisions made by the chiefs of the General Staff and the military topographic directorate, provides the troops in topogeodetic and navigation terms.
In contrast to previous years, currently topographic maps of our territory are printed by civil organizations. The fact is that the former cartographic factories, including those of our district, have now become open joint stock companies, and now they print military maps for defense orders.
As for the current cartographic part, it is intended for the publication and compilation of separate nomenclatures of topographic and special maps, which, for example, are urgently needed in the interests of the district. Then the map material is taken in electronic form and a topographic map is published. This can happen if, for example, an exacerbation of the situation is suddenly expected in some area, a threat arises, or if some topographic maps have simply run out, and it is difficult and long to reclaim them from the center.
In terms of navigation, the troops today are provided with satellite navigation equipment with portable and transportable GPS / GLONASS devices. The topographic service monitors the signals so that the enemy does not introduce an "amendment", as it was during the Georgian-Ossetian conflict.
If possible, please, about this in more detail.
There we used the same devices, but somewhere, for example, we did not take GLONASS, because the constellation of these satellites was smaller than the GPS constellation. As a result, the troops could not accurately determine their coordinates, for example, to bind their positions and therefore used a constellation of GPS satellites. And the Americans introduced a small interference into the signal, and the coordinates turned out to be incorrect.
That is why, in the event of any threat, our service is charged with monitoring: we must establish control and detect such a signal in time, if it went to warn the troops. IN South Ossetia unfortunately, this was not done. Therefore, as they say, we learn from our own mistakes, from our own experience. After the signal is caught, our task is to immediately bring the information to the troops, so that they don't use GPS, but use either topographic maps or only the GLONASS group.
By the way, we are monitoring the anchoring of launching positions in the interests of the Rocket Forces and artillery. In general, in terms of combat designation, we have a very wide range of tasks. In a few words, this can be called topogeodetic support of the district troops.
What other problems are directly in your field of vision?
At the moment, our main concern is topogeodetic support of the interspecific grouping of troops. As you know, after the reform, a three-tier management system was created. It includes ground forces, aviation and navy. And our main task is to provide as qualitatively as possible in topogeodetic terms this interspecific grouping of troops within the zone of responsibility of the Eastern Military District.
The problem is that we are still at the stage of reform. We have to create a Center for Geospatial Information and Navigation this year. It will include parts of the topographic service, which are now deployed in the district. By the decision of the commander of the district troops, the center will be located on the northern outskirts of Khabarovsk.
The transfer of warehouses of topographic maps to MTO centers is also to come.
What about the financing of the top service?
The situation has changed markedly since last year, when funding for the topographic service improved significantly compared to previous years. In the previous period, it was very scarce and did not meet the needs. This year the provision is even more favorable.
Are the district troops receiving new equipment and equipment for the topographic service?
Yes, the Volynets PCTS navigation systems (mobile digital topographic system) are being delivered. Each complex consists of three universal modules, one printing and one life support module based on the "Ural". Its main purpose is to solve problems of topographic and geodetic support using digital technologies for transmitting, processing and storing information about the terrain, as well as publishing special maps and photographic documents in the field. There are KUNGs for processing digital information, for creating spatial 3D models of terrain, for printing maps.
We are also receiving a mobile navigation geodetic complex (PNGK) based on KamAZ. It is designed to quickly determine the planned coordinates and heights of terrain points in motion and at stops. It can be used in the advance preparation of the theater of operations in topogeodetic respect and during the conduct of hostilities with operational navigation and geodetic support of troops. Inside it is a portable satellite navigation equipment. It can be said that this is a machine-binding machine of the most modern level. PNGK can plot a course and carry out topogeodetic referencing.
Organizationally, your service includes a topogeodetic detachment, which is deployed in Blagoveshchensk. How high is the professional level of the officers, sergeants and soldiers who serve in it?
A detachment is a part of the district subordination, which is designed to perform tasks aimed at meeting the needs of troops and departments deployed in the territory of the Eastern Military District, in the means of topographic and geodetic information, as well as in the interests of developing the military infrastructure. The detachment is fully capable of performing its tasks as intended. Our professional training is at the proper level. But if the officers are excellently trained, then with the arrival of modern technology in the troops, there is a need for additional training of contract soldiers and conscripts, which is what the unit commanders do.
And what military school today prepares officers for your service and are there enough young officers to serve in the Eastern Military District?
To date, only the topographic faculty has remained on the basis of the Military Space Academy. A.F. Mozhaisky. Recently, several young officers have arrived at the Blagoveshchensk detachment, and three more people have come to the topographic units of the district's associations. In principle, we are provided with personnel.
You have served in the North Caucasian Military District for several years and have been in “hot spots”. What did you have to do there? Which of the experience gained, in your opinion, should be brought into the practice of daily activities at Far East?
I began my officer service in the Krasnodar Territory, in the topogeodetic detachment, which, as the forces and means of the head of the district top service, took part in the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus. We were on business trips in the Chechen Republic, in the Botlikh region of Dagestan and other regions. The specialists of our detachment were involved in various tasks: they worked for reconnaissance, helping to decipher aerial photographs, and built terrain models.
In particular, one military operation was planned in the fall of 2000, and I was tasked with preparing a model of the terrain. The dimensions of the model were 4x6 meters. The then Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Igor Sergeyev, who arrived there, praised the layout as "excellent". The officers of the operational department, scouts put the situation on it, and the interaction of the united grouping of troops and forces was also organized on it. There, in addition to the motorized rifle division, in the interests of which we acted, we also involved internal troops Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, and divisions of the Ministry of Emergencies.
Then I commanded a service company for three years in a topogeodetic detachment, after which I was appointed head of a topographic service separate brigade in Maykop. Its battalions, in particular, were part of the CIS collective peacekeeping force in the region.
The peacekeepers divided the two conflicting sides. The conflict zone was divided into two parts: north and south. The northern zone is the Gallic region of Abkhazia, the southern zone is the Zugdidi region of Georgia. The Inguri River divided these zones. And already at that time (2004-2005), when I went there on business trips, it was clear how American specialists trained Georgian units.
What was the purpose of your business trips?
Topogeodetic support of troops in the conflict zone. I also visited the territory of Georgia in our peacekeeping battalion, located in Zugdidi. When our troops were rotating and I, as part of the brigade's command, controlled this process, I witnessed how the Georgian provocateurs blocked the bridge over the Inguri, not giving our troops a passage. In this case, we did not enter into a conflict, but wade across the river.
Now I will answer your question, which would be useful from my experience. For example, in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, many cities and towns have changed their names. And our maps did not correspond to the true situation. Therefore, we promptly corrected them, crossed out old names and entered new ones. Naturally, as far as our territory is concerned, this information is constantly updated in accordance with the guidelines.
And when I was appointed chief of the division's top service, I was engaged in topographic and geodetic support of the OGV (s) of the united group of forces that took part in the counter-terrorist operation on the territory of the Chechen Republic. I came to the conclusion that the existing norms for providing troops with topographic maps are not always suitable. The grouping can be less or more in terms of the number of personnel, so the support must be carried out after the fact. After all, we provide in the conditions of hostilities not only the troops of the district, but also the units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB, which stand up to us for rations.
How successfully are the assigned tasks performed by the service subordinate to you?
Here we can recall the results of last year, when it was noted that we have fulfilled all the tasks assigned to us by the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces with high quality and in full. Much has been done. In particular, our service has updated the topographic maps of Vladivostok with the surrounding areas. We have done this job with very good quality.
We are quite successfully fulfilling our duties this year. The tasks are not easy, as mentioned above, but all the work is going according to plan. For the better, I want to note the specialists of the topogeodetic detachment of its commander, Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Vladimirovich Taranenko and the head of the topographic department of the detachment, Major Yevgeny Mikhailovich Bystrov.
In conclusion, I would like to note that the forms and methods of armed struggle change unrecognizably over time, but the issues of topogeodetic support of all types and methods of this struggle have always been and remain invariably in demand. What we are doing.
The conversation was conductedVladimir PYLAEV
Corruption, low rates of rearmament, inconsistency of reforms, lack of qualified personnel - the military topography in Russia approached its 200th anniversary with the same list of problems as the entire Russian army.
A sharp decrease in the volume of funding for the army in the early 90s and the subsequent cuts in personnel had a strong impact on the ability of the military topographic service to carry out current work, and on plans for re-equipment. The first to suffer was the most labor-intensive and, accordingly, financially costly part of the work of topographers - updating the maps.
Irreversible aging processes
According to Soviet instructions, maps of the most important inhabited areas should be updated at intervals of six to eight years. Others - 10-15 years. The enormous size of the country did not allow it to maintain these standards even in Soviet times. Only maps of border areas were regularly updated Soviet Union... Strict requirements were imposed on the quality of their renewal. Control, in addition to the topographic units of the military district, carried out the work, was carried out by the Military Topographic Directorate of the General Staff and the headquarters of the border districts that were part of the KGB of the USSR. The areas of basing and possible hostilities of the foreign contingents of the Soviet army were also carefully mapped: Groups soviet troops in Germany, Central (Czechoslovakia), Northern (Poland) and Southern (Hungary) groups of forces. The quality of these cards is still highly regarded by professionals.
"Now anyone can buy, though already outdated, but officially still secret Soviet topographic maps via the Internet."
The maps of the interior regions of the country were updated at intervals, at best, once every 10 years. In Soviet times, they included the entire territory of the European part of Russia, except for the Kaliningrad region and the border section from the Gulf of Finland to the Barents Sea, and the entire North Caucasus, including, for example, the territory of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR. As for hard-to-reach remote areas, the updating of large-scale topographic maps for them was carried out only by separate orders of the General Staff. At the same time, according to experts, the annual aging of a topographic map at a scale of 1: 50,000 is up to three percent, and its discrepancy to the terrain in 10-15 years can reach 40 percent. Lack of funding in the 90s led to the fact that the planned map renewal was suspended.
The crisis of military topography clearly manifested itself a few years after the collapse of the USSR - during the war in Chechnya.
Tourist scheme for military operations
To the beginning chechen war 1994-1996, the troops had a map of the territory of the republic on a scale of 1: 50,000 - the main working map for tactical officers. It was compiled as a result of a map update carried out in the period 1982-1984. The next update was planned for 1992-1994. For obvious reasons (the general financial crisis and the transfer of the Chechen Republic under the control of the separatists), it was not carried out.
FROM detailed plans settlements, the situation was even worse. The plan of the city of Grozny on a scale of 1: 5000, available in the General Staff, was drawn up in 1979. It lacked many key facilities built later, including the State Bank building, the complex of buildings of the Chechen Pedagogical Institute, the road junction on Oktyabrskaya Square (Minutka), etc. During the assault, a fierce struggle broke out over these facilities. As a result, the most relevant cartographic material at the disposal of the Russian troops for the city of Grozny was the tourist map of the city, published in 1987.
Of course, the high losses incurred by the federal group during the storming of the city are explained by a variety of reasons, primarily a general underestimation of the enemy's forces, poor combat training of Russian troops, and mistakes in planning an operation. However, some of the losses could have been avoided if the troops had modern maps. As the territory of the republic came under the control of the federal forces, military topographers updated maps on a scale of 1: 50,000 of the territory of the Chechen Republic. It was completed by mid-1996. Thanks to this work, during the second Chechen war of 1999–2009, the troops had significantly fewer complaints about the quality of maps.
Topographers go to civilian life
In addition to the planned updates of maps, the technical re-equipment of the topographic service was also curtailed. The geoinformation systems developed for the needs of the military, although they passed tests, did not appear in service in the 90s. The same fate befell automated topographic complexes.
Collage by Andrey Sedykh
The most ambitious project is that the GLONASS system, originally created for military needs, was officially put into operation on September 24, 1993 with an orbital constellation of 12 satellites. In December 1995, the satellite constellation was deployed to the full complement of 24 vehicles. However, in addition to the lack of funding, the technical shortage of Soviet satellites also affected - a low resource. By 2001, the number of operational satellites was reduced to six and the system was no longer able to function effectively. In fact, GLONASS was to be deployed anew. The introduction of satellite navigation devices in the troops was no longer discussed - there were no funds to establish their mass production and purchase by the army. The personnel problem became the main problem for the topographic service.
The low level of wages caused a rapid outflow of highly qualified specialists to the civil sphere. By the end of the 90s, the military topographic service in Russia had practically lost its ability to provide the army with modern cartographic information.
In contrast to military civilian cartography in Russia, all these years have developed quite successfully due to the growing market demand for cartographic products. The emergence of private ownership of real estate caused an increase in the need for large-scale cadastral plans of settlements. The development of cellular networks entailed the need to digitize and partially update maps at a scale of 1: 100,000 for the entire more or less inhabited territory of the country to plan the development of a network of base stations.
"Portable" market capture
Due to the stagnation of the GLONASS program, the Russian market was captured by portable navigation devices based on the American GPS system. To create navigational maps for them, in 2005–2011, maps of a scale of 1:25 000 of all settlements were digitized, and road graphs were drawn up for almost the entire road network of the country. The demand for the creation of other types of modern cartographic products - digital orthophotomaps, three-dimensional terrain models, etc. has also increased. According to the market demands, technical re-equipment of civilian companies has taken place. First, geographic information systems (GIS), such as Panorama, originally developed for the military, were adapted for civilian needs. Over the 90–2000s, GIS "Panorama" has undergone significant evolution without any government investments and today is practically not inferior in capabilities to the best Western-developed GIS ERDAS. Geodetic companies have received modern equipment: high-precision satellite geodetic instruments Javad GNSS, phototheodolites, laser rangefinders, electronic tacheometers, laser scanning devices, high-resolution digital aerial cameras, hyperspectral cameras, thermal imagers, etc. Civil companies were able to purchase high-resolution space images from Western suppliers. The technical equipment of the military topographic service of the Armed Forces remained at the level of the 80s at best.
This led to the fact that the capabilities of civilian private cartographic companies in terms of creating modern digital maps and three-dimensional terrain models significantly bypassed the capabilities of the military topographic service. This state of affairs raised the question of direction further development military topography.
Purely Russian version
The development of military topography could take several paths. Or, at the cost of significant financial costs, the military topographic service is restored to its Soviet level, that is, with thousands of employed military personnel performing the entire range of topographic and cartographic support of the Armed Forces. Or the development proceeds according to the principles adopted in the armies of Western countries, when the military department orders maps from civilian private companies and their regular updates. In this case, the military topographic divisions of the army are engaged in work only directly with military information. It includes plotting tactical and operational information on maps, topogeodetic binding of artillery and missile forces, topogeodetic preparation of troop bases, and preparation of special maps. As a result, a third, purely Russian option was chosen - the production of cartographic products for power structures will concentrate in its hands a specially created state corporation.
The leadership of the Ministry of Defense, apparently, did not have any expressed position on the issue of cartographic support. The position of the officials of the Federal Agency for Geodesy and Cartography (Roskartografiya), which became part of Federal Service state registration, cadastre and cartography. This structure, leading its history from the Main Directorate of State Surveying and Cartography of the NKVD of the USSR, issues licenses for cartographic activities. Despite the fact that private companies currently have all the capabilities to provide the army with high-quality cards at an affordable price, government agencies have managed, using their leverage, to keep the production of cards for the Armed Forces in their hands.
The first leverage was the secrecy of topographic maps.
In secret to the whole world
Until now, any topographic map with a scale of 1: 50,000 and larger is secret. The company working with these cards is obliged (in addition to a license from Roskartografia) to obtain an FSB license to work with documents that constitute state secrets. To obtain it, the company must have the first department that controls access to the cards. The loss of a map with a scale of 1: 50,000 and larger is a crime under Article 284 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Loss of documents containing state secrets", punishment for this is up to three years in prison (in Soviet times, a similar article provided for up to seven years in prison). There are a number of precedents in modern Russia when this article was applied. At the same time, topographic maps of the entire territory of the USSR were kept in the headquarters of military districts located outside Russia, for example, the Carpathian and Kiev. After 1991, the leadership of Ukraine and Belarus did not need to maintain secrecy on the maps of the territories that had become foreign, and topographic maps of the entire territory of Russia appeared on the free market abroad. Now anyone can purchase even outdated, but officially still secret Soviet topographic maps via the Internet.
An even more amusing situation has developed with high-resolution space images. In our country, any space image with a resolution of more than 10 meters was considered secret. In order to use it in Russia, the company, having purchased such a picture from a Western (!) Supplier, had to order a procedure for its "declassification" from the FSB. The absurdity of the current state of affairs became obvious to everyone with the launch of the Google Maps project in February 2005. Color images with a resolution of up to several meters of previously top secret objects such as the submarine base Zapadnaya Litsa have appeared in the public domain. It is worth noting that in all Western countries, not areal, but object secrecy is used: the free distribution of large-scale topographic maps and images of strictly defined objects - military bases, training grounds, ship parking areas, areas of hostilities - is prohibited. For some time in the professional environment the option of canceling the secrecy for topographic maps of a scale of 1: 50,000 and larger was discussed. However, officials insisted on keeping all topographic maps secret. This allowed them to keep in their hands the financial flow generated by the issuance of licenses for cartographic activities and work with classified documents. Of course, over the years of their existence, private companies working in the field of cartography have found a lot of ways to bypass these restrictions, but in general, the preservation of the institution of secrecy remains the main factor holding back the development of private cartography.
Harness the flow of funds
The second lever was the administrative resource - the officials managed to convince the country's leadership that the maps supplied by private companies to the market are not accurate enough, and the transfer of the production of topographic maps to private hands threatens the country's security. A typical example is the situation with navigation charts for the GLONASS global navigation system. In early April 2010, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin held a meeting on the issue of cartographic support for GLONASS, where he attacked the cartographic industry with criticism. The prime minister demanded that the members of the government figure out why the creation of digital maps is so slow. At the same time, the authors of the report for Putin lost sight of the fact that the creation of navigation maps for users of GPS receivers of the country's territory is proceeding quite successfully. By now, the network of road graphs covers almost the entire territory of the country, there are only problems with the saturation of navigation maps with point information. However, the desire of government agencies to ride the flow of funds allocated by the government for the creation of navigational charts ultimately won out.
The result of the efforts of the officials was the appearance of the decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated March 12, 2012 No. 296 on the formation of the open joint stock company Roskartografiya with a 100% stake in the state. The OJSC is being created on the basis of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Moscow Air Geodetic Enterprise” by adding 32 other enterprises of the cartographic and geodetic industry, including airborne geodetic enterprises, an experimental optical-mechanical plant, and cartographic factories. The declared priority area of \u200b\u200bactivity of JSC Roskartografiya is the implementation of geodetic and cartographic activities in the interests of the state authorities of the Russian Federation, as well as in order to ensure the defense capability and security of the state. Apparently, the new structure monopolizes the production of cartographic products in the interests of power structures and, above all, the Armed Forces.
Geographic information systems of a new generation
As for the actual Military Topographic Service, in the course of the army reform it was transformed into the Topographic Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Its structure includes the Military Topographic Directorate of the General Staff, topographic services of four military districts and topographic services of the combat arms. Since the middle of the last decade, the rearmament of the topographic service has been proceeding at a slow pace. The paramount issue is equipping the service with modern geoinformation systems.
GIS of a new generation are multifunctional software systems with which you can create digital multilayer maps of any scale, work with raster and vector images, convert maps from one format to another, create databases. They support both Western WGS84 and Russian (SK-42 and SK-95) coordinate systems. Currently, the main for the topographic service is the GIS "Integration" developed by JSC "NIITP". At the same time, the GIS of the "Map" series developed by ZAO KB "Panorama" was more popular in the civil cartography market. Once the GIS "Map" was a civilian derivative of the GIS "Integration", however, over the years of its existence in market conditions and competition with Western GIS, it has undergone a great evolution and surpassed the military branch in functionality. In 2009, the Ministry of Defense was adopted by the GIS "Karta 2005" by ZAO KB "Panorama", and in 2011 its modified version - "Karta 2011" was certified. It should be noted that the variety of geoinformation systems used by the Armed Forces (for example, the Department of Navigation and Oceanography of the RF Ministry of Defense has adopted the GIS "Neva") is an obvious drawback, since it complicates the training of personnel in their use.
GLONASS recovery
The commissioning of the GLONASS global navigation system should be of great importance for the topographic service. In August 2001, in order to restore the functioning of GLONASS, the federal target program "Global Navigation System" was adopted, according to which it was planned to provide full coverage of the territory of Russia with navigation signals already at the beginning of 2008, and the entire globe by the beginning of 2010. The deployment of the system ran into a number of technical and organizational difficulties, but as a result of the "five-day war" its funding was increased.
By the end of 2010, the number of satellites was increased to 26 and the system began to function steadily. Compared to the American GPS system, GLONASS has a low resource spacecraft and less positioning accuracy. The third generation of GLONASS "Glonass-K" satellites, developed by JSC "Information Satellite Systems" named after Academician MF Reshetnev, is called upon to eliminate these shortcomings. They differ from satellites of the previous series with a guaranteed active life of 10 years, reduced weight and the installation of the equipment of the international rescue system for people in distress COSPAS-Sarsat. The first such satellite was launched on February 26, 2011. The overall successful deployment of the orbital group is overshadowed by the slow pace of deployment of navigation devices in the troops. The mass production of portable receivers has not yet begun. Probably, a more or less massive supply of tablet computers to the troops should be expected after the commissioning of a plant for their production, the construction of which is being carried out in Zelenograd by the Rusnano corporation.
An important stage in the technical re-equipment of the topographic service was the creation in January 2012 in the Southern Military District (the city of Korenovsk, Krasnodar Territory) of the first Russian army Center for Geospatial Information and Navigation. It was formed on the basis of several parts of the topographic service of the Southern Military District based on the analysis of the experience of the "five-day war" of 2008. The tasks of the center include all-round topographic and geodetic and cartographic support of troops, monitoring the state of the radio navigation field of GLONASS satellite navigation systems. It is equipped with all the key technical innovations of military topography - the Violit-M geoinformation modeling systems, the Volynets mobile digital topographic system, and the Tompak mobile navigation and geodetic complex. The center in Korenovsk is experimental, and the Ministry of Defense plans to use the experience of its operation when creating similar centers in other military districts. However, when recruiting and equipping them, two key problems of the Russian army - personnel and corruption - will inevitably affect.
The fruits and victims of military reform
In the course of the reform of military education, the St. Petersburg Higher Military Topographic Command School, which had trained military surveyors and topographers for a century and a half, was first transformed into a branch of the Military Engineering University with two faculties - geodetic and topographic. In 2006, the university was demoted to the level of the faculty of topogeodetic support and cartography of the A.F. Mozhaisky Military Space Academy. It is worth noting that the need of the Ministry of Defense for specialists was less than the number of graduates and the school trained more specialists for civilian cartography than for military one. In this regard, downgrading his status looks logical.
Much more questions are raised by the fate of another victim of the military reform - the 27th Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, a specialized research institute of military topography. First, the Ministry of Defense decided to withdraw the institute from Moscow to the Moscow region, and to sell the vacated buildings and territory on the market, ostensibly to purchase apartments for officers. Many qualified employees of the research institute did not want to move from the capital, resigned from the institute and quickly found jobs in civilian companies. A little later, an order of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation of May 24, 2010 followed, according to which, as a result of the reorganization of the 29th Scientific Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, it entered as a structural unit (research center) into the 27th Central Scientific Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
As a result of the measures taken, the unique research institute with a seventy-year history was essentially reduced to the level of a department. It is not yet clear what consequences these transformations will have for the military topographic service, but it is obvious that the service is clearly not coping with the issue of providing itself with high-quality specialists. Private companies of civil cartography and the recently formed OJSC Roskartografiya have great financial opportunities to attract them.
The growth in funding for military topography inevitably led to an increase in the abuse of this funding. In May 2010, the Moscow Garrison Military Court sentenced high-ranking employees of the 29th Research Institute of the Russian Defense Ministry - its chief, Major General Nikolai Konon, the head of the financial planning department, Lieutenant Colonel Valery Govorkov, and the head of one of the institute's departments, Colonel Rifat Mukhudinov. They were found guilty under the article “Fraud committed on an especially large scale”. From 2003 to 2006, Konon and his subordinates signed 15 fictitious contracts for the performance of work in the interests of the institute with a total value of over five million rubles. But in fact, this work was carried out by the staff of the institute. In addition, General Konon from 2003 to 2007 gave instructions on the transfer of funds to the accounts of one-day firms. More than 18 million rubles were stolen in four years. Until now, Konon is one of the few russian generalsconvicted of corruption.
Thus, when answering the question whether the military topographic service can become a modern high-tech structure, of course, one must count on the success of the army reform as a whole. Still, the root of all today's problems of Russia's military topography is in matters of personnel and financial resource management.
On February 8, Russia celebrates the Day of the Military Topographer - a professional holiday of military and civil servants, without whom it is difficult to imagine a full-fledged conduct of hostilities, reconnaissance, and command and control of troops. Surveyors and surveyors are called "the eyes of the army." Their service is less dangerous than the service of scouts or paratroopers, but the army needs no less. A lot depends on the results of the service of military topographers - the effective actions of the army, and, accordingly, the number of losses, and the equipment of positions and fortifications. Over the centuries, military topographers and surveyors have made and are making a huge contribution to strengthening the defense capability of our country.
The roots of military topography go back to pre-revolutionary Russia. In 1797, His Imperial Majesty's own Map Depot was created, renamed in 1812 into the Military Topographic Depot, under which the Corps of Topographers functioned since 1822. After the revolution, the military topographic service retained many military specialists, in particular, the first head of the Corps of Military Topographers of the Red Army was Colonel of the Imperial Army Andrejs Auzans. One of the most glorious and difficult pages in the history of military topographic service was the Great Patriotic War. Military topographers prepared more than 900 million sheets of topographic maps for the needs of the fighting army. Many topographers and surveyors died in battles, being at the most advanced edge of the front as part of active armies.
During the second half of the twentieth century, the military topographic service in the Soviet Union was constantly strengthened and improved. Special attention was paid to the issues of professional training of military topographers. Unlike many other services and branches of the military, the military topographic service was lucky with an educational institution - the military topographic school in Leningrad retained continuity in relation to the pre-revolutionary School of topographers (1822-1866) and the Military topographic cadet school (1867-1917). In 1968, in connection with the large-scale development of military affairs, the Leningrad Military Topographical School was transformed into the Leningrad Higher Military Topographic School. This is unique educational institution was able to “survive” after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but in 2011 it was transformed into a faculty of the A.F. Mozhaisky.
The difficult years for the national military topographic service began in 1991, with the collapse of the Soviet state and the end of the existence of a powerful Soviet army... In the first half of the 1990s, a distinct anti-war line prevailed in the country, which was manifested in the state's inattention to the problems of the army and military service... Naturally, the crisis also affected the military topographic service. Many true masters of their craft, professionals with a capital letter, were forced to leave for civilian life. But, nevertheless, for many officers, warrant officers, sergeants and soldiers, the service continued. The consequences of an inattentive attitude to the needs of the military topographic service had to be sorted out soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union - in 1994-1996, when the First Chechen War was underway. And it was terrible to disentangle it - with the blood of Russian soldiers and officers.
Insofar as long time topographic maps were not updated, many of them did not reflect the real changes that have occurred during this time on the ground. Professionals - topographers say that maps of busy areas - urban and rural settlements - need to be updated at least once every three to four years, in extreme cases - once every five years, at least. Indeed, during this time, a variety of changes take place - some buildings and structures are being built, some are demolished, the transport infrastructure may change. Therefore, during the Chechen campaign, in which military topographers who were part of the group of Russian troops also participated, many maps had to be corrected on the ground. While the troops were fighting, topographers studied the terrain and made changes to the maps, and then immediately handed over "fresh" sheets to the commanders and officers of the belligerent units and subunits.
By the way, faced this problem and russian troopsoperating in 2008 in the combat zone in Georgia and South Ossetia. Here, in the post-Soviet period, many settlements have changed their names, which seriously complicated the tasks of the Russian military. Therefore, topographers, as in Chechnya, had to promptly correct old maps and transfer them to the units.
Modern conflicts require the use of more and more high-precision, and this, in turn, increases the requirements for the quality of topographic and geodetic information with which the military topographic service supplies the troops. Even during the hostilities in Chechnya, analog topographic maps began to be used for the first time, which made it possible to significantly facilitate the tasks of using a number of units. Helicopter pilots and unit commanders showed particular interest in 3D terrain models, as the surveyors later emphasized. border service.
By the end of the 1990s. the country's leadership nevertheless realized that even in the changed world political situation without strong army Russia will not be able to exist. Moreover, the "overseas partners" were not going to abandon their aggressive policy - they launched an attack on Yugoslavia and started further NATO expansion to the east. At the same time, the risks of local conflicts increased, including against terrorist groups that have become active on the southern borders of the country and on the territory of the republics of the North Caucasus. Therefore, the state took a course towards the gradual strengthening of the armed forces. 
This also applied to the military topographic service. By the beginning of the second campaign in Chechnya, military topographers were much better prepared than for the first. It was possible to produce new special maps, to update the provision of troops with topographic maps, including electronic ones, which made it possible to more accurately determine the coordinates of targets, the location of terrorists and their bases.
Throughout the 1990s, from 1992 to 2002, the Military Topographic Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was headed by Lieutenant General, Candidate of Technical Sciences Vitaly Vladimirovich Khvostov (pictured), an experienced topographer who graduated from the Leningrad Military Topographic School and Military Engineering Academy with experience of participation in hostilities in Afghanistan. In the 1980s, Khvostov was in charge of the topographic service of the Turkestan Military District, which gave him invaluable experience. It was during the years when Vitaly Khvostov was in charge of the Topographic Service of the RF Armed Forces that military topographers had to take part in the first and second Chechen campaigns.
In 2002, a new chief of the VTU General Staff was appointed - Lieutenant General, Doctor of Military Sciences Valery Nikolaevich Filatov. Like his predecessor, General Khvostov, General Filatov was a professional military topographer - he graduated with honors from the Leningrad Higher Military Topographic School, then the Military Engineering Academy and higher courses for the training of senior personnel in the field of defense and security of the Russian Federation at the Military Academy of the General Staff. In 1996-1998. he headed the geodetic faculty of the V.V. Kuibyshev, and then in 1998-2002 was deputy chief of the Military Topographic Directorate of the General Staff. Under the leadership of General Filatov, a large-scale improvement of the country's military topographic service continued, topographers and surveyors received new equipment, and topographic and geodetic information was updated. 
In 2008-2010. The topographic service of the RF Armed Forces was headed by Major General Stanislav Aleksandrovich Ryltsov - a graduate of the Omsk Higher Combined Arms command school, who served in the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff, and then appointed chief of the VTU.
In 2010, he was replaced as head of the department by Rear Admiral Sergei Viktorovich Kozlov, a career naval officer, graduate of the navigational faculty of the M.V. Frunze. 
From 1981 to 2010, for almost thirty years, Sergei Viktorovich Kozlov served in Navy USSR and the Russian Federation, having gone from an engineer of the electronic navigation service to the chief navigator of the Navy. In 2006-2010. Sergey Kozlov was in charge of the Department of Navigation and Oceanography of the Ministry of Defense - the hydrographic service of the Navy, and in 2010 he headed the Military Topographic Directorate.
In 2015, a new head of the Military Topographic Directorate of the General Staff - Topographic Service of the RF Armed Forces was appointed. Colonel Alexander Nikolaevich Zaliznyuk, who heads the service at the present time, became him. A graduate of the Leningrad Higher Military Topographic School and the Geodetic Faculty of the Military Engineering Academy of V.V. Kuibyshev, Colonel Zaliznyuk went through all the hierarchy levels in the topographic service, rising from the photogrammetric department of the aerial topographic detachment of the Moscow Military District to the chief engineer of the Military Topographic Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. 
Recently, the state has been trying to solve the problems facing the military topographic service. You have to do a lot. In the "dashing nineties" many cartographic factories were forced to switch to the production of goods for general consumption. Chronic underfunding affected the quality of the equipment of the topographic service. Now, at least, funding has begun to grow, which means that it is possible to update and improve the material and technical part, pay officers and contract soldiers decent salaries. IN last years space geodesy is actively developing, the capabilities of which make it possible to significantly improve the topographic and geodetic support of troops. Thanks to space geodesy, it is possible to launch rockets with greater accuracy, and ammunition is saved during exercises. Digital information received by means of satellite imagery is processed, electronic topographic maps are compiled.
For obvious reasons, military topographers today pay special attention to the southern borders of Russia. It is here that the risk of local armed conflicts and terrorist acts is highest. In connection with the need to solve the problems of topographic support of troops in the South of Russia, in 2012, the 543rd Center for Geospatial Information and Navigation was created. Among its tasks, a special place is occupied by the practical study of the area with the help of special equipment. In 2014, the Crimean Peninsula returned to the Russian Federation, which means that military topographers have more work to update the maps of Crimea, which from 1991 to 2014 was under the control of Ukraine. In January 2018, military topographers received a new mobile digital topographic system (PCTS) "Volynets", which allows you to correct and supplement existing maps already in the field. In an interview with reporters, the head of the press service of the Southern Military District, Colonel Vadim Astafyev, said that the new complex allows you to scan the area and convert the information received into maps, as well as create 3D terrain models, which is very important in modern conditions of warfare.
Although progress in science and technology today greatly simplifies the work of military topographers, nevertheless, today service specialists have to operate on the ground, including in areas with a difficult mountain landscape. Fighting in Syria showed that despite newest technologies, by no means in all cases unit commanders can rely on electronic cards. Traditional cards come to the rescue, which are also being improved and modified - for example, now they are created using special markers that are not subject to the effects of water, but are made on silk, which allows you to safely carry such cards in your pockets without fear of damaging them.
The Syrian campaign also actively uses three-dimensional maps, tested during the hostilities in Chechnya. For example, three-dimensional maps of Aleppo and Palmyra were used, which significantly increased the effectiveness of the Syrian army's actions to destroy terrorists. It is difficult to imagine missile launches, flights of our military aviation with strikes on enemy positions, without topographic support.
Thus, the profession of a military topographer today remains very important and in demand; it is impossible to imagine the armed forces without military topographers. Voennoye Obozreniye congratulates all active military topographers and veterans of the service, civilian personnel on the Day of the Military Topographer, wishes them a successful service, the absence of combat and non-combat losses and the constant improvement of the capabilities of military topography.
MILITARY TOPOGRAPHY SERVICE(MTC), service in the armed forces, intended for topographic and geodetic support of troops in peacetime and wartime. Available in most armies. Main tasks of the military-technical cooperation: creation of topographic and special maps, production of graphic documents containing the necessary information about pr-ke and terrain, and bringing them to the headquarters and troops; development of geodesics. and gravimetric. networks and providing troops with initial topogeodetic. data; organizational and methodical. topographic guide training troops, conducting scientific. research on topogeodetic issues. provision of troops; development and creation of new samples of topogeodetic. technology; training an officer, military technical cooperation personnel, as well as solving other tasks aimed at increasing the efficiency of the use of weapons. fight. MTC originated with the emergence of massive armies, when for the organization and conduct of military. actions, as well as for command and control, the need arose for plans and maps.
Already in the cop. 18- early. 19th century it became necessary to prepare in advance topographic maps of the areas of probable military operations of troops and to create stocks of such maps of different types. scale. In 1797, the Depot of Maps was created in Russia, renamed in 1812 Voenno-Toiogr. depot, a cut was engaged in the preparation and publication of maps for Russian. army and the development of descriptions for them. In 1822, a military corps was formed. topographers, who were entrusted with the military-topogr. filming in peacetime and performing various. topographic works in the interests of troops in the military. time.
In 1867 military technical cooperation bodies were created in some military. districts, and in 1877 in the armies. In the 1st World War with the advent of new weapons. struggle (tanks, aviation) and the further development of art and it was required to produce topography. binding of battle formations, intersection of landmarks and control points in the location of the pr-ka and their troops, determine the coordinates of targets, and also prepare specials. topographic documents about the terrain and the enemy.
First operations rus... armies showed that the available topographic maps were significantly outdated and did not meet the requirements for them. Topographic reserves created in peacetime. cards were used up in the first months of the war. There was an urgent need for their manufacture during the war, but there were no sufficient forces and means for this.
After the victory of the Great Oct... socialist revolution under Vseros. ch. headquarters in May 1918 was organized by a military topogr. control. To the end. 1918 were formed 2 military topogr. department - in Petrograd and Moscow. In March 1919, VI Lenin signed a decree on the organization of higher geodesy, management at scientific and technical. department of the High Council of Nar.
Farms. This decree laid the foundations for the implementation of all topographic and geodetic surveys. and cartograph. work on unified nationwide, scientifically based plans in the interests of the people. x-va and the defense of the country. In the course of Grayaed. war, military-technical cooperation was further developed.
Organizationally, it took shape most fully by the end. 1921. During the years of peaceful construction, the organization continued to improve. structure of MTS, methods of topogeodetic. provision.
During the Great Patriotic War, the military-technical cooperation successfully performed the tasks of topogeodetic... ensuring combat operations of the Sov. troops. 23 topography units of the military-technical cooperation were awarded orders. The rich experience gained during the Great Fatherland and the war served as the basis for the further development of military-technical cooperation and increasing its combat readiness in the post-war period. MTC Soviet Armed Forces equipped with perfect technique and staffed by highly qualified. personnel, which makes it possible to successfully carry out topogeodetic. providing combat training and combat operations of troops (see. To-pogsodesicheskoe support). Similar tasks are assigned to the MTC and in foreign countries. armies.
So, in the task of topogeodetic. providing land. US Army troops include: providing troops with maps, providing artillery and missiles, geodetic troops. data, manufacturing intelligence. documents about the area (topographic maps, diagrams, descriptions, photo documents). Topogeodetic. security is considered as an integral part of Ing. support (engineer intelligence). Responsibility for topogeodetic. provision in theater of operations in Amer. armed forces entrusted to the obedpn. intelligence. management of the committee of chiefs of staff, which includes cartography. management of the Ministry of Defense with the corresponding topography. parts. A. S. Nikolaev.,.
- AIRCRAFT GROUP - AVIATION GROUP, forces and means of aviation. parts, connections or operations. formations located at airfields (ships) and intended for joint combat operations with formations, ...
- AVIATION SUPPORT - AVIATION SUPPORT (ist), the aggregate of aviation combat operations in the interests of the ground (airborne) troops and the Navy when they are solving combat missions. For example, A. about. entering the breakthrough of the mobile group (t ...
- ROAD TRANSPORTATION SERVICE - MOTOR TRANSPORT SERVICE (military), one of the rear services of the Sov. Armed. Forces. Plans, organizes and carries out military transportation of vehicles. transport in various. links of the rear; supervises the subordinate. parts and p ...
- ALEKSENKO Vladimir Avramovich - ALEKSENKO Vladimir Avramovich (born January 30, 1923, the village of Kievskaya, Krasnodar Territory), twice Hero of the Sov. Union (19 air. And June 29, 1945), lieutenant-general of aviation (1968). Member CPSU since 1943. In the Soviet Army since 19 ...
- ARMY CORPUS - ARMY CORPUS, combined arms operation-tact. connection (association) land. troops constant. or time, composition in arms. the forces of a number of states; in the military. time operates both as part of the army and independently ...
- "ARMY" - "ARMY", article by F. Engels, one of his first works for the "New American Encyclopedia". Written in 1857. The article sets out the main. the position of the Marxist military. thoughts and stories of the military. arts, shapes ...
- INVASION ARMY - INVASION ARMY (ist), part of the armament. forces of the country, prepared for a surprise attack on another country. The assignment of the Armed Forces is in max, in a short time, to defeat the covering troops and part of Ch. forces pr-ka; capture ...
- ARTILLERY SUPPLY - ARTILLERY SUPPLY, 1) widespread, but not received official. recognition of the title of combat artillery; 2) the original name of the 3rd period of the artillery offensive, creature ...
- OPERATING BASE - OPERATING BASE (operational basis), rear area in the zone of operating associations, equipped in military-economic. and operational and technical. relations to ensure the operations carried out by the troops ...
- BASE OF THE TROOPS - BASE OF THE TROOPS, the use by operational formations (formations) of forces and means of logistic support and the territory on which they are deployed to maintain constant combat readiness in the world ...
- BODIN Pavel Ivanovich - BODIN Pavel Ivanovich, lieutenant general (1941). Member CPSU since 1940.8 Sov. Army since 1919. Graduated from the Military. acad. them. M.V. Frunze (1935), Akade ...
February 8 - 202nd anniversary of the formation of the Military Topographic Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The head of the Military Topographic Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - Head of the Topographic Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation rear Admiral Sergei KOZLOV.
rear Admiral Sergei KOZLOV
- Sergey Viktorovich, what is the main purpose of the Topographic Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation?
Over the entire solid period of its existence, the Topographic Service has not significantly changed its profile and mission. The main task it was and remains the creation of topographic maps and plans, bringing them to the troops. Issues in this area have been resolved for two centuries, this is what the main efforts of military topographers are devoted to.
- Please tell us about the specifics of performing aerial photography, geodetic work, creating topographic maps and plans. What hardware and software tools are used to decipher the survey materials?
Deciphering of Earth remote sensing (ERS) materials obtained using space cartographic systems or aerial photography equipment installed on airplanes in order to create and update topographic maps, as well as create other types of topographic and geodetic information, is performed by specialists from the Topographic Service.
Specialists of research organizations in the 70s-80s of the last century developed domestic high-precision photogrammetric systems, which were used until recently. These are SPA (Analytical Stereo Projector for finalizing the planned-high-altitude basis and obtaining the terrain relief), Ortomat (obtaining ortho-transformed photographic images of high-mountainous terrain) and a number of others.
With the development of digital technologies and the receipt of remote sensing data in digital form, new software and hardware systems and tools have been developed and introduced into production, created both by specialists from the research organization of the Topographic Service, and by Russian organizations - developers of software and hardware.
In 2013, development work was completed, the result of which was the development and adoption of hardware and software systems for supply: Unified automated systems for providing geospatial information (EASOGPI) and the creation and updating of digital information about the terrain (PAK SOCIM). Both systems are parts of the subsystem of topographic and geodetic support of the promising automated control system of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Aerial photography of the terrain is carried out by the relevant Air Force units on aircraft equipped with aerial photography equipment, as well as using space cartographic complexes.
Field geodetic work is traditionally carried out by topographic and geodetic military units and subdivisions of topographic services of military districts, branches of the Armed Forces and branches of the armed forces, and desk work on the creation and updating of topographic maps in analog and digital form is carried out in stationary topographic and geodetic military units staffed by highly qualified specialists with extensive experience prompt production of various types of topographic and geodetic information.
Due to the increased need of our Armed Forces for up-to-date geospatial information, some of the products are created by industrial enterprises within the framework of the state defense order.
- Where are military topographers trained?
Officers for the Topographic Service are currently being graduated by the Faculty of Topographic and Geodetic Support and Cartography of the Military Space Academy. A.F. Mozhaisky. This is a unique military educational institution, the only one in the country, from which, after five years of training, highly professional military specialists in the field of geodesy, topography and cartography graduate.
Topographers receive their higher military education in the capital at the Military Training and Scientific Center of the Ground Forces "Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation".
The training of reserve officers in the specialties of the Topographic Service is carried out by military department at the Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography. University graduates who have successfully completed their military training program and are positively certified by the state commission are awarded the rank of lieutenant in reserve.
Junior specialists, non-commissioned officers are also trained at the Faculty of Topographic and Geodetic Support and Cartography of the V.I. A.F. Mozhaisky. The sphere of military-professional activity of graduates in the specialty "operation of geodetic equipment" is topographic and geodetic support of units and units of the Topographic Service, as well as the corresponding services of the branches of the Armed Forces and combat arms.
- Does the Military Topographic Directorate of the General Staff participate in the implementation of the Federal Target Program "Global Navigation System (2011–2020)"? What exactly does the Federal Target Program assign to the VTU of the General Staff and what is the area of \u200b\u200bresponsibility?
The Russian Ministry of Defense has its own line in the Federal Target Program "Global Navigation System (2011–2020)". At the same time, the role of the VTU General Staff in its implementation consists in geodetic support of the system's functioning. Special work related to this is carried out at the expense of the budget of the military department.
The topographic service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is responsible for the completeness and quality of geodetic support for the GLONASS space navigation system. Since 2003, we have been performing a set of works to ensure the accuracy of the GLONASS system, for which we have a network of ground observation points from which the GLONASS system is monitored.
We have not only the area of \u200b\u200bresponsibility in the ground sector of the GLONASS system. The space sector is also developing. This is a space geodetic system under development, which, together with the ground complex, will provide a significant improvement in the accuracy of the GLONASS system, as well as improve the accuracy of the use of weapons and the use of military equipment.
In the long term, until 2015, with the help of target information received from the space geodetic system devices, it is planned to create a parity of our national global navigation satellite system GLONASS with the GPS system and other created foreign CNS in accuracy characteristics.
- What products, including software, are being developed by the VTU General Staff for geographic information systems?
To solve the problem of using electronic maps and other digital information about the terrain in the military command and control bodies, a military geoinformation system "Operator" was developed, which provided the choice of the most appropriate GIS platform for military use.
In 2013, software systems were developed that ensure the creation of new samples of the GIS "Operator" PC, which received the functionality of network and WEB-Gis technologies used on various software and hardware platforms. This GIS was adopted for the supply of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The joint strategic exercise "West-2013" for the GIS "Operator" became its baptism of fire.
The software product for creating electronic topographic maps in the SXF format of a new generation, which replaced the TYPazh-M open source software, is the GIS Karta-2011.
Since 2005, exercises and trainings at various levels have been conducted using GIS VN (geographic information systems for military purposes). Since the same year, the specialists of the center for geoinformation support are trained to work with VN GIS. In addition, at the faculties of retraining and advanced training of the Military Academy of the General Staff and the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, within the framework of curricula and programs, a practical study of the GIS "Operator" is organized.
- For which ACS creates electronic topographic maps of the VTU General Staff?
State topographic maps, including electronic ones, are created in the Russian Federation in compliance with uniform requirements, in a single format for presenting information - SXF. And these maps are not created for a specific task or ACS, but as a universal source of information about the area and its objects. In this regard, a requirement is put forward for the ACS of the Armed Forces to use these electronic topographic maps (ETC) in its composition.
Currently, the VTU of the General Staff is taking part in a number of R&D projects carried out in order to create modern automated control systems of various levels for the Armed Forces, in particular, the Unified Tactical Control System (ESU TZ).
Close interaction of military topographers, specialists in the development of information and telecommunication technologies and industrial enterprises (developers) outlined the prospects for further improving the presentation, storage and use of digital information about the terrain, including ETC.
At the same time, the experience of planning the use of multi-departmental groupings of troops (forces) in crisis situations in 2011–2013 made it possible to identify the problem of interfacing the ACS of various state structures, including the GIS platforms used and, accordingly, the formats of digital information about the terrain circulating in them , which requires technical regulation of the creation of GIS at the state level.
- Are gyroscopic navigation systems developing? What divisions and how many are equipped with them? Are they used as primary or secondary navigation aids?
Today there is an active development and application of inertial systems. According to the nomenclature of VVTU VTU General Staff for the supply of the Armed Forces in 2004, the mobile navigation and geodetic complex PNGK-1, equipped with a domestic modernized aviation strapdown inertial system, was supplied. It is designed to determine the coordinates of points in real time, is used in conjunction with a geodetic satellite receiver and is used as a backup navigation tool.
The complex is equipped and equipped with geodetic units of topographic and geodetic detachments of district subordination (since 2012 - centers of geospatial information and navigation), control services for aiming and astronomical and geodetic support of the Strategic Missile Forces and the Aerospace Defense Forces, topographic units of army subordination.
Further development of inertial systems is aimed at increasing their accuracy and reducing mass and size characteristics, improving special software information processing.
- In what areas of topographic and geodetic support do we lag behind the armies of foreign countries, in what are we ahead?
The topographic service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation does not lag behind the foreign armies of developed countries in matters of scientific and practical study of the organization of topographic and geodetic support. We have created a system for providing troops with maps, astronomical and geodetic data, photographic documents of the terrain and other means of topographic and geodetic information. The necessary regulatory documents in this area have been developed, there is a developed infrastructure and qualified personnel. The experience of the recent combat use of our Armed Forces has confirmed the efficiency and sufficient effectiveness of this system.
Our capabilities for mapping inaccessible territories are at the global level - thanks to domestic space cartographic complexes and developed technologies for photogrammetric image processing.
The Topographic Service is working to refine the geocentric coordinate system, which is used to calculate the orbits of spacecraft and a number of other important government tasks. At present, in terms of mathematical accuracy, the domestic geocentric system PZ-90.11 is not inferior to the analogous American WGS system (in which the entire GPS complex operates).
- Tell us about the new mobile and stationary means of topographic support in the troops.
The Armed Forces are supplied with new mobile means of topographic and geodetic support. It, at first, the mobile navigation and geodetic complex PNGK-1, designed for the operational solution of tasks of navigation and geodetic support of troops and providing continuous determination of coordinates and heights of terrain points during vehicle movement and at its stops.
Secondly, it is a mobile digital topographic system PTsTS, which is designed to quickly solve the problems of topographic and geodetic support of troops. It carries out the production, updating, storage and delivery of digital and analog information about the terrain to consumers, determination of the coordinates of its location when the vehicle is moving and at stops.
Stationary means are mainly hardware and software systems for creating and updating topogeodetic information based on Earth remote sensing materials, as well as modern astronomical and geodetic instruments.
- Whose coordinate system is the basis for the functioning of GLONASS? When was the "first version" released and, if there was one, what is the difference between the current system and its predecessors, as well as from the existing foreign systems?
The task of geodetic support of GLONASS, entrusted to the VTU of the General Staff, at the first stage of deployment (1990) was solved by the development and implementation of a system of mutually consistent geodetic parameters of the Earth (GZ), including the coordinates of the points of the space geodetic network fields of the Earth and parameters of the common Earth ellipsoid
The developed system "Earth Parameters 1990" (PZ-90) underlies the functioning of GLONASS and is directly related to the operation of the space geodetic complex (CGC) of the second generation GEO-IK. It was created by the forces of the Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense of Russia and one of the topogeodetic military units of central subordination. Compared to the first generation KGC ("Earth Parameters 1977"), the accuracy of the KGS points in the geocentric coordinate system has significantly increased.
The PZ-90.11 system was introduced by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 28, 2012 No. 1463. The geocentric system was given the status of a state one for solving navigation problems and problems of geodetic support for orbital calculations.
The analogs of the general terrestrial geodetic coordinate system PZ-90.11 are the World Geodetic Coordinate System WGS-84 (USA) and the International Terrestrial Reference System (ITRS), fixed by the points of the International Terrestrial Network (ITRF), which implements a constantly updated coordinate system (accounting for continental movements, shifts earth plates, etc.).
When establishing the common terrestrial coordinate systems PZ-90.11, WGS-84 and ITRS, the same theoretical provisions were used, and, by definition, these systems are analogous, but in practice there are slight discrepancies between them. The reason for this is the different in composition and accuracy of the measuring satellite data used in their construction, methodological differences in the mathematical processing of satellite measurements, and a number of other factors.
The peculiarity of our system is that it was obtained independently, autonomously, according to programs developed by our military scientists and practitioners, which is unique and requires all kinds of support, including state support. Processing navigation measurements using foreign programs (gipsi, gamit, epos, bernes) does not contribute to the development domestic science, production and technology, but leads our country into technological and scientific dependence.
- Sergey Viktorovich, what are the scientific and practical goals set by military topographers today?
We have very serious tasks to solve. Here are just a few of them:
- At firsttheoretical substantiation and practical implementation of the integration of topographic and geodetic and navigation support into a unified system of geoinformation support of the RF Armed Forces at various levels of military command;
- Secondly, clarification of the structure and information content of the Bank of digital cartographic information, astronomical, geodetic and gravimetric data of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, development of a technology for automated conversion of analog geodetic information into digital form, integrated representation, compression and problem-oriented processing of space and ground geodetic information required by the troops;
- third, improvement and organization of industrial use of technologies for automated creation of digital terrain models and the Earth's gravitational field;
- fourthly, development of methods for refining gravimetric maps for the territory of Russia, foreign territory and the water area of \u200b\u200bthe World Ocean;
- fifth, determination of geodetic points at training grounds, airfields and special facilities of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, recalculation of coordinates from foreign systems to domestic systems of geodetic coordinates, compilation and publication new card heights of the quasigeoid over the Krasovsky ellipsoid.
In addition, it is planned to develop a hardware-software complex and photogrammetric technologies for creating a high-precision plan-high-altitude basis of the terrain on the continental regions of the globe based on information that is supposed to be obtained using the domestic space cartographic complex of a new generation, the development and implementation of a program for the creation and updating of topographic, special maps, city plans, electronic topographic maps for Russian and foreign territory.
It is necessary to create and agree at all levels of military command of the standard composition of digital cartographic information, further detailing the components of metadata about digital cartographic information in automated network-centric control systems and military GIS.
We must complete the development, agree and approve sectoral guidance documents for the unification of information digital cartographic production: a classifier of cartographic information of digital and electronic plans cities, topographic, geographic and aviation maps, rules for digital description of cartographic information of digital and electronic maps; classifier of reference and technological parameters of digital and electronic maps.
For geographic information systems used in automated military systems, it is required to define and approve the standard composition and metadata of digital cartographic information.
At the automated workstation (built into the equipment) of an individual soldier, it is necessary to create a prototype of a local geospatial and operational-tactical data base.
It is impossible not to mention the development of new breakthrough technologies in terms of image processing obtained using unmanned aerial vehicles. aircraft and based on the results of multispectral and radar surveys, the creation of analog maps from electronic maps on an industrial scale, the publication of topographic maps on synthetic high-strength material, the creation of high-precision digital terrain models for inaccessible continental regions of the globe, the processing of laser and radio interferometric survey materials, a neural network approach to deciphering aerospace materials for remote sensing of the Earth.
As for GLONASS, we will be engaged in methodological support in terms of functioning as intended by its orbital constellation, clarifying the parameters of the domestic geocentric coordinate system, researching military-technical possibilities for participating in projects for the creation and operation of foreign GNSS (GPS, Galileo), developing competitive military navigation equipment of domestic production, providing reception of the GLONASS signal.
Among our tasks are also the creation and maintenance of a radio navigation field for the border regions of Russia, the theoretical substantiation of the system of military navigation maps, which includes the standardization of information content, format, means and methods of communicating to consumers and their acceptance for supply to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
In addition, development is underway:
— regulatory framework and technologies for obtaining navigation and cartographic data created by domestic manufacturers and bringing them into compliance with the national standard for military navigation charts;
- the technical appearance of integrated navigation systems based on strapdown inertial navigation systems with micromechanical gyroscopes and equipment for global navigation satellite systems;
- the technical appearance of miniature navigational and geodetic devices for defense purposes and the justification of the technologies for their functioning, conducting search studies to create mini-robots based on nanotechnologies to collect additional navigational and geodetic information;
- interactive technologies for navigation and cartographic support using broadband data transmission channels and multimedia in the interests of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and other law enforcement agencies, combining GLONASS consumer equipment with sensors operating in the gravitational field.
I will add that the scientific and practical development of the Topographic Service should be accompanied by the improvement of its organizational and staff structures, technical re-equipment of geodetic and cartographic production. Undoubtedly, our development is impossible without the achievement of the highest professionalism by the personnel of military topographers and the most effective navigation and topographic training of personnel of troops and headquarters.