Victor NAZEMNOV
Nazemnov Viktor Petrovich (born in 1935), retired major general, head of the personnel department of the district political administration in 1978-1982. In the Soviet Army since 1954. Graduated from the Engels military anti-aircraft artillery school, the Military-Political Academy named after V.I. IN AND. Lenin. In the Moscow Air Defense District since 1968, he worked in the following positions: deputy regiment commander for political affairs, head of the political department of an anti-aircraft missile regiment, art. instructor, head of the personnel department, inspector of the department of organizational and party work of the political department, head of the political department of the 16th air defense corps. He graduated from the service as head of the political department of units and institutions of the country's Air Defense Forces. Awarded with the order "For service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" III degree, many medals of the USSR.
MEMORIES OF JOINT SERVICE
The year 1971 was drawing to a close. The month of November is the time to sum up the results for the current one and prepare for the new academic year. And this: planning for the winter period of training, preparation of educational material base, for officers and warrant officers, drawing up plans for personal training. This continues everyday life combat unit: combat duty, guard and internal service and much more.
I, the head of the political department of the anti-aircraft missile regiment, had enough worries. November days are short. From dark to dark at work. Although it started at 8 am and ended at 8 pm, which was considered the norm, there was still not enough time because of the turnover, and the "introductory" ones took a lot of time.
Our unit was deployed in the place where during the Great Patriotic War, located a fighter aviation regiment. Some stone buildings remained from the aviators. They now housed a dining room, a two-story barracks, and storage facilities. Various services, the headquarters, the political department were housed in buildings of the "DSCh" type, usual for the air defense troops, which were jokingly deciphered as slatted boards. I had to heat a lot, but the heat quickly evaporated. Therefore, the stoker was not the last person in ensuring the life of the military unit.
The next November day was no different from the previous ones, except for the fact that winter was in a hurry, and at the end of November it was already snowing. In nature, it immediately became somehow more spacious and stricter. Our field, which separated the village of the woodworking plant from the regiment, also sprinkled it with snow. On its outskirts there were several houses in which the regiment commander, Major Bazanov Veniamin Grigorievich, some staff officers and my family lived. Some 10 minutes - and you're at work. You can have time to run for lunch. The rest of the officers and warrant officers lived in the former aviation village, cottage-type houses, each of which had a small vegetable garden.
True, the buildings were dilapidated and required constant repair. The bachelors received housing in a 2-storey DOS, thoroughly blown by all the winds. They were delivered to the military town by headquarters or regular buses from the village of Savelovo. In those years, the Volga, on the banks of which the regiment was located, separated the ancient Russian city of Kimry from the station and the village of Savelovo. The bridge was built later. And then there was only a ferry crossing. In winter, an ice road was laid. We got to Moscow by train with a change in the city of Dmitrov and came to the Savelovsky railway station. The journey took about 4 hours.
People got used to it and adapted. Fresh air, the pine forest in which the headquarters was located, and the neighborhood with the Volga adorned life and created an optimistic mood and a desire to serve in this place among officers, warrant officers and members of their families. Some officers, having become avid fishermen during their service, contrived even at lunchtime, and two hours for lunch was quite enough, and even fishing in the area of \u200b\u200bthe dock, where the Volga had a deep bay.
The November morning did not bode well for anything unusual. After a short run and breakfast, I went to the political department and, together with the officers, started planning work for six months. Deputy Major Vladimir Ivanovich Muravyov, propagandist Major Sergey Petrovich Koltsov and Komsomol assistant Senior Lieutenant Viktor Grigorievich Moskalev were engaged in drawing up personal training plans.
At about 11 the bell rang. The checkpoint officer reported on the arrival of a colonel in aviation uniform. We were periodically visited by officers from the district, not only in artillery uniform.
I ran out of the headquarters and saw a brave colonel striding vigorously towards me. As expected, having introduced himself, he heard in response: "Colonel Shashkov."
Frankly, I was surprised and alarmed. In the army, many knew the head of the personnel department of the district's political administration, a strict, demanding, I would even say, picky and scrupulous person. For these qualities he was called "the iron chancellor" and did not really ask for communication with him. For his high professionalism and scrupulousness in personnel work, he enjoyed the full confidence of Colonel-General Nikolai Vasilyevich Petukhov, a member of the military council - head of the district's political administration. Later I learned that N.N. Shashkov "passed" the test by N.V. Petukhova during the war in the DPRK. So there were grounds for my tense state. Yes, and the arrival of such a "circle" alone could not be a simple walking trip.
The colonel had a swift, light gait and a tenacious, narrow-minded gaze of blue eyes. He walked through a slight frost, and a blush played on the cheeks of a carefully shaved face. With all his appearance, he evoked sympathy and trust.
Nikolai Nikolaevich, as he asked to call himself, told me that these places were familiar to him since the war, when he served here as a young aircraft mechanic in a fighter aviation regiment. Then he was entrusted with the maintenance of the aircraft of the regiment commander, Colonel P.N. Dvirnika. He actively participated in public work, being the secretary of the Komsomol organization of the command and control level and, as a member of the Komsomol bureau of the regiment, received many assignments from his namesake Nikolai Karelin. Then the service repeatedly crossed their paths until they brought them under the same "banners" in the district.
Nikolai Nikolayevich first asked what I was doing today, looked at how long-term planning was going, gave some practical advice, taking into account the experience of his work as a political officer of the C-25 zrp, and then asked to walk with him around the town. At the end of the walk, he suggested that I go about my business, and give him the opportunity to walk around the former airfield and aircraft parking areas. Since that time, about three decades have passed, and everything is overgrown with bushes and trees. Snow covered the fallen leaves and walked easily, freely. I noticed that he was not dressed for such a walk, but the colonel joked. We agreed that we would meet for lunch. It took no more than half an hour when my wife called me from home, informing us that we had a guest.
It turns out that Nikolai Nikolaevich was interested not only in my business, but also in family matters. The guest asked his wife: "What are you doing?" - and heard: "I'm making wine." He chuckled, but said nothing. Like, what else to do for the wife of the political officer in addition to her musical education. Passing from the threshold, I carefully looked through the books and magazines that lay on the bedside table. I drew attention to the general order in the apartment, did not disregard any shelves with books or a piano. He looked into both rooms. After checking my "rear", by lunchtime he returned to headquarters.
During lunch, he joked amiably, but at the same time asked inquisitive questions about the state of affairs in the regiment, listened to the description of the command and political personnel. It was clear from the questions that he already had good information about the regiment's staff and was only confirming some of his conclusions. By way of explanation, he only said that he wanted to be convinced of the correctness of my reassignment from the C-25 regiment to the C-200 regiment.
In the conversation, I confirmed that it is more interesting to work in the political department than as a political officer in a unit. On that and parted.
One and a half years in the previous position taught me a lot. At the training camp in the building, my colleagues used to joke: "How are you doing in the Pogorelovsky theater?" Indeed, they had to "burn" often. Whether it had to do with the surname of the commander, Colonel V.M. Pogorelov, or the effectiveness of educational work was weak. The first years after the academy were very "fruitful" for accidents and preconditions for them. Some young officers and conscripts dashingly rode their motorcycles while drunk, often crashing. The commander considered tightening control and all kinds of restrictions as a panacea for all ills. He did not trust anyone, was afraid of everything and reinsured himself. Even his deputies were under suspicion. He did not enjoy love and respect. The first question asked to me when we met after arriving from the academy - “Who is in Moscow?” Showed that I would not be an exception here either. My answer: "The Central Committee of the CPSU, Glavpur and the political administration of the type and district ..." - he clearly did not satisfy. He remained unconvinced: no one is appointed to a regiment without a "hand".
In the process of work, I often mentally left during the student years. I was reminded of our friendly New Year's rally. Under the new 1968 - the year of release from the VPA them. IN AND. Lenin, the initiative group issued humorous wishes to each student of the course. So, Major A.P. One of the best listeners in the circle, who came from the Far East, was told: "The East is waiting. You were needed there. Hurry, Major Zakruzhny."
Fate and the chiefs ordered that we both arrived at the 10th corps: he - near Zelenograd on the "near" ring, I - near Dmitrov on the "far". When he was the first to receive an offer for the post of chief of the political department of the 200th regiment in Borki, he took it as a punishment and stunned the head of the subordinate, General I.P. Mikhalevich's question: "For what?" I, guided from my lieutenant's time by the advice of the chief of intelligence, the wise captain A.Ya. Izraylit "never refuse offers for more difficult work," went to the village of Borki, and Zakruzhny went to the political department of the army. I have never regretted and only thanked fate for such turns in my life. In addition, the remoteness from the political department of the corps and the more capacious rights and duties of the head of the political department immediately attracted me.
The "short leash" principle was widely used in the army at the time. If necessary and without it, the chiefs, using branched wire communications, arranged so-called "circulars", similar to conference calls on the railway. The chief, sitting in his office, surrounded by his apparatus, simultaneously conducts a conversation with all officials directly subordinate to him, gives them instructions, listens to reports, and often arranges harassment, distributes rewards and punishments. This form of instructing, pumping, mistrust and guardianship has always irritated and depressed me. Sometimes it came to a curiosity. One day before the New Year, while holding another circular, Ivan Prokopyevich Mikhalevich, who was respected and even loved by the troops for his restless but democratic character, first asked the regimental political officers: “You all probably already know that tomorrow is New Year? - and then continued: - In this regard, do not forget that we have a dry law and on the "lights" maintain the appropriate order. " Then came the presentation of what the political departments had prepared for him.
I must say that the 200-kilometer distance from Dolgoprudny and General Mikhalevich freed me from the circulars and added independence in my work. Only sometimes "swallows" flew here - news from the hull. As it was once, when I received on tissue paper (it allowed me to make more copies on a typewriter) a strict instruction signed by the deputy head of the political department, Colonel M.E. Gulyaev "on the inadmissibility of irresponsibility and exceptional personal non-execution with a warning about future punishment." To my question by phone, I received an explanation: "The political department has no complaints against you yet, and the paper was sent, like others, for prevention."
Of course, long distances from Moscow did not always help. So, my arrival in the political department did not go unnoticed by the political department of the Army. In the very first month of my stay, my deputy and the party registration instructor "organized" for me a recovery from General V.A. Grishantsov, for replacing the special seal mastic with plain ink. Several forms of party documents were damaged. What you deserve is what you get ...
Soon I realized that it was not in vain that an aviation colonel came from Moscow. And I, having returned to the regiment from the station, devoted myself entirely to current affairs, taking into account the beginning of the educational, and then the calendar 1972. In March, I received a message about a new turn in my life. I was appointed as a senior instructor in the personnel department in Moscow. And my restructuring began as a personnel officer. He studied all the clerical subtleties, because without rough work in the staff it is impossible. He learned to carefully, scrupulously carry out all operations of personnel office work. And when I was mastering the work on a typewriter (we haven’t heard of computers yet), one employee said: “Study, study, you will see how V.V.Kondakov will become a general”. Well, how I looked into the water ... Much later, when I went through a 4-year exhausting hardware training, Nikolai Nikolaevich in moments of revelation told me: "Do not repeat my mistakes, be more decisive in making decisions, do not stick to Moscow, go great posts. "
Indeed, life goes in a circle. In March 1962, from the political department of the 20th Air Defense Corps (Perm), I was assigned to the Komsomol Department of the Political Administration of the Ural Military District (Sverdlovsk). And here again, a month in March, ten years later, I arrived at a new duty station in the political administration, but this time in the Moscow Air Defense District. A famous historical place is Kirov, 33 (now Myasnitskaya), and next to it, in the courtyard, there is the Stalin's house during the Great Patriotic War (then to this day) - the reception of the Minister of Defense. With emotional trepidation, I crossed the threshold of the headquarters building and considered the day when I was issued a permanent pass as a great holiday.
I was introduced to the department. All his employees were still out of reach for me, as HR professionals. By that time, I only knew that proposals and documents were being prepared here that would determine the fate of officers for appointment, promotion, conferring military ranks, and sending them to study. I did not even hear about other aspects of activity then.
Now very close were: a seasoned personnel officer - deputy head of the department Mikhail Grigorievich Arseniev, who was in charge of the replacement and political composition of radio engineering units - Pyotr Andreevich Saushkin, sent to the external corps (Yaroslavsky and Rzhevsky) and all aviation personnel - Vladimir Nikolaevich Vorobiev, who was in charge of mobilization work and units regional subordination - Vladimir Alexandrovich Vypov, My predecessor Viktor Fedorovich Glushenkov, promoted from the 1st Army, led the cadres of the political staff of the Army. Having vigorously mastered the position in the department, he deservedly received an appointment to the department of organizational work as an inspector for air defense systems. The department had two civilian employees. Great docks in their business. This is a personnel accounting instructor who, on her own "initiative", combined work on a typewriter, I.A. Klebanov. Not a very good epithet for a woman, but it is so - a courageous woman, a stoic. Head of accounting, retired Lieutenant Colonel P.E. Churkin. These people deserve a special mention of them.
Irina Aleksandrovna, thanks to her irrepressible energy and exceptional memory, was almost as good as N.N. Shashkov. In addition, if you ask her well, which was usually done by all the officers of the department, Irina Aleksandrovna could execute any personnel document with lightning speed, and with the highest design quality and a 100% guarantee of literacy.
P.E. Churkin served as secretary of the military council at Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin. There were legends among the veterans of the political administration about his expressions, which turned into anecdotes. A very delicate person, of the old school of upbringing, as a rule, restrained and patient, when clarifications were required on the staff, he could instantly become enraged and utter impudence. This hidden spring worked only when someone infringed, in his opinion, on the honor and dignity of his favorite football team, for which he supported all his life. It is no coincidence that he had the nickname "Torpedo", which he was proud of. But all conversations on this topic were usually harmless and Pyotr Yegorovich "did not start." However, meeting before the next party meeting with N.V. Petukhov, Churkin did not tolerate attacks on the team even from him. The boss apparently liked to tease the fan - the fan, who, in a rage, went over to insults the eminent general.
Each officer of the department was an extraordinary personality and had interesting characteristics.
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Vypov, having served in the district units and the political department that unites them, having passed the "Garin school" (Colonel Yakov Ivanovich Garin, an active participant in the Great Patriotic War, a well-known head of the political agency in the Air Defense Forces), knew how to get out of the most difficult situations, knew well and supported friendly relations with officers and employees of the headquarters, departments and services of the district. Like a fish in water, I felt confident in the agencies of the rear and the military. They appreciated it there. At the final stage of his service, having passed the personnel apparatus of Glavpur, he received an invitation and worked for a long time in the military trade department of the district. One can talk a lot about Vypov and give more than one interesting case. But the way he knew how to tell and amuse any team, others were not given. You just had to be born for this. Suffice it to say without exaggeration that he, being at a feast, without stopping or repeating himself, could all evening, tell funny anecdotes one after another. During my joint service I cannot remember a day when Vypov was gloomy and unfriendly. He had an extraordinary gift for positive communication with people. I am very grateful to him at the school, which I went through with him in the process of joint work, especially since he gave me his own, very specific direction - mobilization work. Having put things in order in the documents, in the personnel record for wartime, he with a clear conscience began to work as deputy head of the department after M.G. Arsenyev.
By the way, about this veteran. A personnel officer of the old school, a straightforward, frank person, not very tough, even liberal, for which he often got it from his boss. There were jokes about some episodes of his service in the department. Once Glavpur was checking the work of the department. And in those days, in the set of inspectors there was always a "duty" question to any boss: "How do you know your subordinates? Name their birthdays." Mikhail Grigorievich, who on occasion did not deny himself the opportunity to celebrate the next rank or birthday of an employee with a glass, felt a trick in the question. This was the period of the campaign against drunkenness and alcoholism. Therefore, he began to ardently persuade the examiner that prohibition and birthdays are not celebrated in the department. Although, what a sin to conceal? And the personnel officers outside the service did not deny themselves the opportunity to relax.
A few words about V.N. Vorobyov, with whom we sat at the tables opposite. At first, he did not have sympathy and trust for me. The reason was in me. Because I, despite his seniority (7 years difference) did not miss the opportunity to "hook" him. And he did not allow this even to those who were equal in position and age, he could maintain an unfriendly mood for these intrigues of mine for a long time. At the evening, where the awarding of the rank of "colonel" to me was celebrated, he said: "Victor, I never expected that you would invite me to this evening."
Decades have passed. For each of us, the service went its own way. Recently, we, former political administrators, accompanied Vladimir Nikolaevich to last way... And a year before, on the occasion of his 75th birthday, congratulating him at the hospital, I described in rhyme his whole life, from a technician to the political officer of the main faculty of the General Staff Academy. For a long time before that, he headed the party committee of Glavpur. But my first steps in the personnel department took place with its active and positive critical influence. I can say with full responsibility that he contributed to the rapid establishment of me in a new, unusual and difficult position.
More than thirty years have passed since that March spring, and a true joke, proven more than once by life, is well remembered. They said that personnel work was hard labor, but sweet. We made sure that she was a convict every day, but we never felt the sweetness.
Our boss Nikolai Nikolaevich, I think, was not the only one who told me when he offered to work in the department that dedication is required from a personnel officer, like no one else.
He himself, above all, was a confirmation of this. And when we came to work, even in the early hours, the boss was already in the office in clouds of smoke. Staying up late, they left work, and Shashkov was still working. It was not clear whether there was a family, a personal life. And only later, having met and became close, becoming real like-minded people, we realized that Nikolai Nikolaevich lived and served in the name of his cause and his work.
But that was later. And then, after the presentation in the department, there was an acquaintance with the entire management team. Having registered for the party in the political department of the headquarters of Ivan Vladimirovich Makerov, a former pilot, head of the political department of the aviation division, and then the Gorky air defense corps, I did not even dream and would consider it a big impudence to think that, certified for the political department of the air defense corps from the post of head of the personnel department of the political department , I will still choose something. In those days, if I had revealed to someone that my ardent desire to work in the troops overpowered the offer to become an instructor in the department of administrative bodies of the Central Committee of the CPSU, I would have been ridiculed or simply not believed. And with General Makerov, we discussed personnel problems more than once, but did not think that I would follow in his footsteps and go through a large school in the 16th Air Defense Corps, having worked for almost 7 years as a chief, I would get another military rank "major general".
Ahead of subsequent events, I will briefly dwell on the Gorky period of service. The independent high and responsible position of the head of the political department of the Air Defense Corps became a great test for me. A large team of officers and employees of the corps administration, almost two dozen units of various types of troops and appointments forced us to learn a lot and put maximum effort into business. It took a lot of time to work in fighter aviation regiments and support units, especially in Pravdinsk. The regiment constantly mastered the latest types of MiGs. Military tests were also held here, and equipment was fine-tuned in the process of its development. The factory workers from Gorky considered the regiment their workshop and factory laboratory. Analyzing the state of party political work, I simultaneously delved into all the subtleties of the life of the garrison units. I was present at flights and their analysis, classes, tactical exercises, various events of the educational process. Together with the commander, Colonel G.V. Gogolev and the head of the political department A.V. Potemins "chose" bottlenecks in training and education. There were no difficulties in working with people. People responded with confidence and did not skimp on support to my desire to enter deeper into the life of aviators, to provide them with the necessary assistance in solving the tasks at hand. Through the Pravdinsky airfield there was a direct connection with the top. Big bosses didn't like to come by train and, as a rule, flew in by plane. Therefore, meetings and seeing off in the garrison took a lot of time from the corps leadership.
For six and a half years in my position, I worked with V.A. Artemiev, V.I. Ozhigin and V.V. Kostenko, who were in the position of corps commander.
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Artemiev, who grew up to lieutenant general and was later appointed deputy chief of the Kalinin (now Tver) Air Defense Forces, made an indelible impression on me. A man of deep analytical mind, great will and strong character was born for the army.
Highly erudite, cultured and educated. Capable by nature, he learned everything without much effort, at the same time he was distinguished by extraordinary diligence. Delicate and subtle in handling. Having great power, he never used it to the detriment of people, did not single them out according to their official position. He always helped everyone who needed it. At first glance, stern and gloomy, with thick frowning eyebrows, but in fact he is extremely sincere and benevolent.
With his attentive and tenacious gaze, he penetrated deeply into the human essence and rarely made mistakes in people. It was easy to work with him, interesting, there was something to learn. He did not get lost in any difficult situation, and in combat work he could concentrate to the limit. He enjoyed authority and respect both in the corps and in all the upper echelons. Everyone consulted with him, including senior officials. I thought he had a great future. But an accident in a company car, in which he suffered serious injuries, interfered with his service. After recovery, Vladimir Alexandrovich resigned from the staff. Everyone who knew him, served with him, are grateful to fate for bringing them together in life.
Viktor Ivanovich Ozhigin, who replaced V.A. Artemyev, continued the relay race of military affairs of the commanders of the 16th corps. With his hard work, energy, anxiety, he attracted the personnel to the high-quality performance of the tasks at hand. His initiative and meticulousness knew no bounds. He did not lose the achievements of his predecessor, either in military affairs or in working with people. Skillfully relying on his deputies, Pavel Andreevich Gorchakov, chief of staff Eduard Nikolaevich Yasinsky, he successfully led the subordinate troops. We all worked with passion, built relationships on full revelation. Nobody escaped responsibility.
Political departments did not shirk the loads, tried to work, keeping up with life. I am grateful to all of them for their study, help and sharing the hardships of our work with people.
My previous experience in regimental service helped me to work more successfully in corps units. As you know, it is easier to teach by example, and then people believe more. The unsubstantiated "do as you are told" method has always been the most vicious. It was perfectly mastered by people who did not have military practice, who "slipped" without difficulty into various staff positions. That is why, not only me, but everyone who worked under the command of the young major V.G. Bazanov, they believed him and willingly went to various initiatives to improve combat readiness, be it the construction of a storage facility for missiles No. 61 or increasing the effectiveness of combat control at the command post. He, like V.A. Artemyev, the strong points in the work were strict control, consistency and high exactingness. In their ability to sort everything out on the shelves, to comprehend logically, to find decisive arguments, I have never met them equal. Therefore, having met V.G. Bazanov with the rank of lieutenant general and the position of assistant commander for armaments, I was not surprised.
During the formation of the regiment Veniamin Grigorievich found business contact, had friendly relations with A.I. Aseev, who went through the Great Patriotic War, because of which he never managed to get higher education, but rose to the rank of "colonel", and replaced him at the headquarters of the regiment, a capable engineer M.N. Prokofiev, who later headed the armament service of the 1st Army. All of us at that time, including V.G. Bazanov, difficulties arose only in the fact that Mike Nikolaevich became uncontrollable only when at his leisure he had the opportunity to perform operetta arias. His voice allowed him, and he had enough endurance. If he was not stopped, he could sing until the listeners' nerves could not stand it. And yet, I regret not having made any recordings of his improvisations.
But in those days, sometimes we all had no time for songs. The first trip to Balkhash to perform live firing. Everything worked: both people and equipment. Excellent mark. Already out of joy, they wanted to violate the "dry law" of the landfill. But here is not a very kind messenger, which the captain from the special department often spoke to: "There is a fire in the regiment. The entire fleet of combat vehicles burned down." But that's what the commander is for, so as not to get lost in a difficult situation: "Thanks for the information," he replied, "we'll come, we'll figure it out. In the meantime, we'll carry out the next tasks as nothing happened."
In search of reasons and guilty parties, many "guests" have been. As now, I remember the arrival in Borki of a complex group of officers - inspectors from the headquarters and the political department. The regiment's staff had not yet quite come to their senses from the incident in the vehicle fleet and the formidable order in this regard, when an unexpected regular check appeared. It is no secret that the troops usually knew about all the planned checks from the "top". The "hotline" telephone in the district worked properly. And then suddenly, unexpectedly, so many people.
Having worked for more than one day, and not finding "crime", political managers: lecturer A.N. Shumakov, senior instructor of the Komsomol department A.A. Chaika and the impregnable inspector A.P. Markov (who received the nickname "Okhlopkov" for his outward resemblance) admitted that he intended to go to another place. But the instructor N.V. At the end of the lesson, Petukhov unexpectedly asked: "And whose car park burned down while they were at the range?" They answered him. He retargeted: "So go to Bazanov and Nazemnov."
The ward troops, powerless to influence such a "planning" in any way, could only joke, they say, there is no order in this "poultry house", meaning the combination of several names at once (Petukhov, Vorobiev, Chaika and Kuryatov). The stream of memories is endless. I am sure that even in a separate book they cannot all be contained. And all this is people, people ...
Returning to the beginning of my service in Moscow, I remember. When I entered the position, no one refused me help and advice. Among my mentors there was a kind-hearted man, whose bright image I will preserve until the end of my life. This is Viktor Alexandrovich Fedorov. Political worker with a capital letter. And in joy and sadness, he was always there. In that tense initial period, he was the first to lend a helping hand and lead me to the inspector's room, as they called the largest room on the third floor, where 6 officers sat. Behind everyone's back was a great life in political work. Without edification, like an older brother to a younger one, he spoke about life and service in the political administration, reassured, they say, "it is not gods who burn pots," and promised constant help and support. And he always confirmed these words while he was alive. How much I remember trips under his leadership, as a nachorga, and with his participation, V.A. Fedorov served as a beacon for everyone on the tangled paths of papermaking. He freely handled a fountain pen and paper, was not shy in front of them, he knew how to find the necessary, capacious and intelligent word, from which the song of the whole report or speech came.
The great experience of organizing party work, deep penetration into human psychology allowed him to successfully work as head of the political department of the Army, the political department of the district, the personnel officer in Glavpur, and, finally, as the secretary of the party commission in the district. About his wisdom, both rudeness and intrigues of various military officials split. He was not afraid of the authority of eminent chiefs in uniforms of generals and was above their ambitions, serving only people and business. Having retired and being engaged in public affairs, he continued to cement our veteran partnership and was a generator of various ideas. This book of memoirs is a tribute to his tirelessness, for he was the first and more than once to take the initiative to prepare and publish veteran memoirs.
I confess that only such people allow you to find balance in difficult times. And this happened to me once. For the first time I was instructed to prepare a departure plan for a group of command officers. It seems that the matter is not difficult. Then I had to draw up many different plans. But then, in my youth, for some reason I began to deal with the turnover of personnel work and did not calculate the time. The command was sounded for instructions, but there was no plan. And then a beater attacked me. The burden of responsibility seemed to me so unbearable that I began to tremble, a semblance of a fever, and did not let go for several minutes. Do not turn up with the help of colleagues, I do not know how it would end for me. I have not experienced such a state either before or after.
But life entered the working channel. As expected, having drawn up a plan for entering the post, I tried to quickly implement it. There was also a plan for professional and ideological-theoretical training. Not to mention the fact that each instructor kept a voluminous personnel book, where, like in today's computer, you could find a lot. For each political worker, comments were made, characteristics of characteristics, including marital status and bad habits, plus observations. An objective characteristic was formed from this.
Although very rare, there were errors in the appointment. Not all bosses restrained the pressure of protectionists of different levels, who wanted to attach their "candidates" closer to the capital without taking into account their abilities and capabilities. This was, in my opinion, the biggest difficulty in the work of the personnel officers of the political department. Not news, each chief tried to take with him those who distinguished themselves in front of him at their former duty station, be it the Urals or the North. When N.V. Petukhova and N.N. Shashkov was raised and promoted deserving district political workers and fewer outsiders. There was a great movement of personnel. They did not grow old, did not stay too long.
I recall the stern conversation in the political department of the Air Defense Forces when I was appointed head of the personnel department. They demanded to stop the "vicious" practice of relying only on district cadres and not to obstruct bosses who want to nominate their own trusted people. I took into account the requirement, but what N.N. Shashkov, remained a guide to action - first of all, "move" their own, district cadres.
And more about mistakes. A dark stain remained in the memory of the red tape with letters and complaints and, in the end, the dismissal from the army of his classmate from the academy, Leonid Bedritsky. The mistake was long-standing, when he was selected to be a company political officer in RTV even before the academy. The man did not possess the necessary qualities, having served to the head of the political department of the base, he was preparing for the next rank of "colonel", but did not want to establish business relations with the unit commander. Neither talk nor persuasion worked. Was fired.
Under N.N. Shashkov instructors were given complete freedom in proposing candidates for nomination. Practiced short meetings in the department, when all together proposed candidates from their directions for some vacant large position. For a deeper and more detailed study, visits were made to the duty stations in units and subunits. So it was with me. Trusting the instructors, the chief and deputy rarely went out for this purpose. The management of the department fully trusted the heads of departments, especially if they were selecting officers for their teams. So, from the 1st Army in our department were successively appointed: Viktor Vasilievich Pere-voznikov, Anatoly Ivanovich Zhukov and Yuri Mikhailovich Kulagin. Preference was given to those who graduated from the VPA them. IN AND. Lenin and "passed" the regiment. Viktor Grigorievich Nikulin was considered in the department as a professional personnel officer. After all, behind his back is the work of the head of the personnel department of the political departments of the 10th and 1st Armies, where he passed personnel science in practice from the very beginning. He did not make new discoveries for himself in the department, as I did. While still in Balashikha, he already advised us on army candidates for nomination. Even then, after retiring, he constantly served as a "lifesaver" to everyone who could not find any information on the personnel of the Air Defense Forces. An honest and selfless person, he always responded and came to help for any reason. He was a gentle educator of his children, numerous granddaughters and grandchildren.
His sudden death shocked all veterans. On his last journey, he was accompanied by many colleagues whom he united with his kindness and disinterested care. Throughout his 74-year-old life, he had only friends and good comrades. Saying goodbye to him, none of those present remained indifferent. The leitmotif of the mourning mood were the following words:
He is a glorious son of his era
With the title XX century.
Suddenly gone on a long way
Such a person necessary for everyone.
But we all know, not without a trace
He left the Earth at the hour of death.
Left a visible victorious path
During his lifetime, Victor was among us.
Lives in students and children
And lives in the children of their children,
Thus continuing on the planet
The flight of good and reason.
Various difficulties arose. I remember how Nikolai Nikolayevich once gave me an assignment in the morning: "By lunchtime there should be an introduction for this candidate for promotion to the division." Lack of experience and the characteristics of the candidate did not allow me to turn around. By lunchtime, except for the hackneyed general, standard phrases, I did not give out anything. Looking in before lunch, the boss asked briefly: "Well, how?" I replied that it wasn’t working, he’s a very difficult candidate.
Then Shashkov quipped: "Don't think that you are so smart. If there was something to write, I would have done it myself."
Nikolai Nikolaevich was a good teacher and knew how to handle human "material". He saw perfectly well that for the first six months I persistently forced myself to reorganize from complete military independence to a staff and clerical situation. There was a real breakdown. From the outside, probably, it was more visible. A few decades later, at a veteran meeting, the former head of the secret unit, Elena Pavlovna Ivanenko, told me: “It was noticeable how you were tormented ...” I think Shashkov also realized this. But he didn't show it. Once he asked me: “How is getting used to a new position?” I frankly replied that I do not eat, do not sleep, even lost weight, my wife notices. He chuckled and said: "It doesn't bother me much. The main thing is that the work is more successful." Perhaps this is cruel. But I thought then and then that his method was correct. If I had not overcome myself, it is difficult to say what would have come of me.
Shashkov grew up from a plow, in the literal sense. As a country boy, he walked several kilometers through the forest and field to complete the seven-year period. And only at the age of 27, having gone through the school of life, first as an aircraft mechanic during the war, and then in hostilities in the DPRK, from a junior technical specialist to an employee of the division's political department, he received his secondary education. Combining service and study at the school for working youth, he managed to finish 10 classes with a silver medal. And then at the academy to master full course of Aviation Faculty with a gold medal. Having received only one grade in Russian in secondary school, and in the academy in aerodynamics and aircraft navigation (out of 38 tests and exams), he worked on himself all his life, read and wrote a lot. Journalists admired how Shashkov writes articles to the newspaper. The presentation of the material went from scratch. Apart from pen and paper, there are no handy tools at hand. In the editorial office of the newspaper "On the combat post" they said: "If the material is from Shashkov, then you can immediately add it to the set. There are no corrections." And I am grateful to Nikolai Nikolaevich for the fact that he taught me, I think and not only me, not to be shy in front of a sheet of blank paper, not to be afraid to freely express my thoughts. But this state did not come immediately.
Shashkov did not make a secret of his rigidity and did not hide behind a screen: he “tore” three skins from himself. He was merciless to himself. Mighty by nature, strong peasant build and health, he even endured diseases on his feet, worked with a temperature, without delaying business. For some reason, he reminded me of Marshal G.K. Zhukov in his human data: both by his simple origin, and by his grip, a strong practical mind, appearance, extraordinary diligence, rigidity in the name of the cause and good nature, love for people-workers. Later I became convinced that such a, one might say, despotic mood emanated from him and at home.
His wife, the great hard worker Nina Leontievna, his support and support in life, pulled the whole family cart on her weak shoulders: two sons and old parents. Having started working at almost 15 years old, she managed to successfully solve problems in pedagogical collectives and at home. After retiring, she continued to work in the school system for another 8 years. Awarded with a medal for selfless labor during the Great Patriotic War, jubilee signs, becoming the "Honored Teacher of the Republic", she modestly kept silent about them, noting her husband's awards. It is she who, first of all, is credited with raising and educating two sons, Sergei and Pavel. And he and the other, having received a higher education, entered the high road of life and, together with the grandchildren of Nikolai Nikolaevich, continue to establish the Shashkov family on it.
Almost all personnel officers left the department for big work with a certain "quality mark". In order not to be unfounded, I will name some of the names. In Glavpur, V.N. Vorobiev, V.A. Vypov, F.I. Gubarev, V.V. Perevoznikov, Yu.M. Kulagin, L.F. Kotov, V.N. Sokolov and others. Training in the department gave the officers the opportunity to find themselves in any field of activity, in different areas. So, V.V. Perevoznikov worked in various responsible positions, recent times worked in the administration of the Federation Council of Russia, L.F. Kotov - in the apparatus of the government of the Moscow region, V.N. Sokolov - in the Control and Accounts Chamber of Moscow. These examples could be continued.
Having passed my military service age cycle and being retired, I regularly meet with my colleagues, including former political leaders. In our veteran organization of the political administration, there are more than a hundred people. It is eagerly entered not only by former officers management, but also our colleagues in the district from command, engineering and technical positions. In the council of veterans, many initiators of veteran affairs have changed. Who asked to take a break from work, and who, however sad it is, have already parted with us forever. But the process goes on, a new shift comes.
General A.S. Ivanov, tested by a long joint service and difficult veteran troubles, remains the permanent chairman, although he has repeatedly asked to be re-elected. It was his restless nature and persistence that led many respected officers and generals of the district to work on these memories. As V.I. Lenin, the best way to celebrate a holiday is to take stock of what has been done. Whatever the festivities took place in August for the 50th anniversary of the Air Defense Ministry, the souls of veterans are warmed by the opportunity to tell their children and grandchildren about the service in the capital district, to leave in history the memory of the best years of life. Members of the Council of Veterans, as before, in their previous service, are ready for help and cooperation. A considerable age does not interfere with being active bayonets of M.D. Bondarenko, F.I. Gubarev, I.N. Egorov, Yu.A. Zakharenkov, A.I. Kirinyuk, D.F. Kovalchuk, I.L. Kolede, G.A. Naumov, V. Ya. Ulyanov, A.A. Chaika, I. Ya. Chuprakov, G.S. Shevchenko. Until the very last day, not sparing their efforts, V.N. Vorobiev, B.P. Miroshnichenko and V.G. Nikulin.
I am especially pleased that such people as Nikolai Nikolaevich Shashkov clearly live in the memory and recollections of our veterans. While preparing the article, I met with the retired general I.B. Kovyrin. Fate led him for a long time together with N.N. Shashkov by some service roads.
On the recommendation of the young political officer of the regiment, I.B. Kovyrina. As a technician, he has seen this picture more than once. A significant number of officers were on duty at the station, which served as a command post. During the day, the personnel were at their workplaces, and life went on according to the established rules of carrying out combat duty. In the evening, the excitement subsided, and then the bachelors, and at the station most of them were young officers, sat down at the table and "painted the bullet" (played preference). The zampolit regiment, preparing for dismissal, has long given up on such trifles. Visiting the station, he himself often occupied an empty space and "cut" into cards until he was beaten. But then he quit.
Major N.N. Shashkov. On his first arrival, he found the game in full swing. Entering the room, he paused, waiting for the command: "Comrades, officers!", Went up to the table with preference operators and strictly warned that this would not be allowed in the future. When summing up the results for the month, he reported to the regiment officers about such a waste of official time and received support from the commander.
For the sake of objectivity, I must say that the bachelors went "underground" and continued their hobby in the officer's hostel, while leaving individual lieutenants without a monthly pay. At this point, the secretary of the Komsomol committee joined this process. Having entered into an alliance, the officers-activists began to improve the game of preference and, having achieved mastery, "untwisted" the main attacker for lieutenant salaries. This is how the young officers' financial crisis was resolved.
"NN Shashkov did not like to talk a lot about himself," I.B. Kovyrin recalled, "yes, many did not know that he had devoted his previous years of service to aviation. He quickly mastered the specifics of the C-25 air defense system and did not experience any communication problems. I spent a long time in my office in the evenings. Officers and their family members often came to the light. He listened to everyone attentively and helped resolve conflict situations. Completing his observations, now a veteran, IB Kovyrin confirms that " Nikolai Nikolayevich remained in the memory as a person exclusively devoted to the work to which he devoted his whole life, highly organized, with clean hands and a bright head. "
Another veteran, pilot, participant of the Great Patriotic War, Vasily Petrovich Akimov, cannot but recall the joint service with N. Shashkov. Their fate has a lot in common.
Early, at the behest of their hearts, they were in the ranks of the aviation. Nikolai Nikolaevich in August 1942 read the funeral about the death of his older brother Ivan, and in December he already took the military oath and studied at the Yanovsk military school of aviation mechanics. Then he prepared aircraft for combat missions at the airfield (village of Borki), participated in hostilities in the DPRK in the Kozhedub fighter aviation division, where in the regiment on the Komsomol under the leadership of the pilot and nachpodiv N.V. Petukhov was tested by deeds.
V.P. Akimov meets N.N. Shashkov, taking from him a position in the IAP (station Vorotynsk, 18 km from Kaluga). Since then, they have already maintained good friendships until the end of the service. Later, while working as an aviation inspector in the political department, N.N. Shashkov sees how selflessly, one for the entire political department (then everyone was in school) the propagandist V.P. Akimov. Himself a "plowman" and a workaholic, he cannot but help a worthy officer. All the time he keeps track of his career path and helps him in the well-deserved growth. About V.P. Akimov for the next post was sincerely grieved by the head of the political department Iap Ancheev Igor Nikolaevich. He regretted the departure of such an excellent political worker and intelligent propagandist. And the service brought V.P. Akimov to the political department of the Nikulinskaya school of junior aviation specialists. Here Vasily Petrovich was attracted not by the swans in the pool, but by the voluminous, intense work with young sergeants and soldiers. The school, moreover, carried an additional load with a large number of all kinds of gatherings and classes for the leadership of the district. There was where to turn around. He didn't stay too long. He was promoted to the propaganda and agitation department of the district political department. He ennobled and strengthened the instructor staff of propagandists. The bright memory of Nikolai Shashkov lives in his heart. To my question: "What are your memories of the joint service with Nikolai Nikolaevich?" - answered briefly: "I learned a lot from him and, above all, responsibility, great diligence and respect for people."
Man can leave many monuments on earth, but all of them are subject to the influence of nature and time. And only selfless deeds in the name of their country, their people, good deeds for the good of people continue to live in their hearts and memory.
Only human memory is incorruptible.
Based on the book
"District Veterans Remember"
To the 50th anniversary of the Moscow Air Defense District
Moscow
Academic prospect
2005 year
At school, I was a dead, thin and sickly mama's son. I almost did not go to physical education classes, since childhood I was registered at the dispensary. It's a shame to remember, but I ran last, or the penultimate in the class, pulled up once, and this despite the fact that we had the best physical education teacher at school № 4 (Pervomaisky, Kharkov region) - Boris Vasilyevich Voloshkin. Sometimes I tried to start doing extra work, but alas, I was missing for a long time, especially when it came to races of five and eight kilometers.
After school I worked for almost a year at the Pervomaisky bakery, and in the summer of 1987 I entered the Leningrad Agricultural Institute (hereinafter LSHI). I was to join the army in the spring of 1988, and I thought with horror about its approach. My dad has a bright head, he didn't like physical education, he didn't put his hand to my physical education, he could free me from the army, but he said that it would be useful for me to serve.
Seeing off took place in the dormitory number 1 of the Leningrad Agricultural Institute, my roommates Serega Petrosyan and Alik Kurbanov, as well as their friends - almost all Armenians by nationality cooked the royal dishes: barbecue, kebab, dolma. Mom was very surprised by all this, she hoped that she would have to stand at the stove all day, but when she entered the room in the morning, the guys sent her to rest. Seeing off passed merrily, until the early morning we walked around Pushkin (where the Leningrad Agricultural Institute is located). Mom collected a few things for me, while she bought me one of the cheapest, showing it to me, she said that I would still lose it.
On the morning of June 24, 1988, a bus took me along with other conscripts to Leningrad to Obukhovskoy Oborony Avenue in the recreation center of the Pigment plant. After a couple of hours we were assigned to teams and allowed to walk until 4 pm. There were thirty people in my team No. 895, I and three other guys went into a store where we bought two bottles of Stolichnaya vodka and settled down to have a drink and a snack at the Volodarsky Bridge. Ships sailed along the Neva, and we were extremely pleased to enjoy the last days of freedom on this sunny day. In the evening our team was sent to the station for the train to Moscow, the brave mustachioed captain did not say where they were taking us. We rode in a common carriage, there were terribly many people, slept on the third shelf. In Moscow, it became known that they were taking us to Samarkand, and it would take three days to go there.
In Moscow a whole day passed, which seemed like an eternity. Kazansky railway station was dirty, the only thing that distracted me was the match of the European Championship between the USSR and Holland. Ours lost, the people in the waiting room swore, drank beer, vodka. Almost at midnight we boarded a train to Samarkand. The car is shared, smelly, choked up, my seat is really better than on the train to Moscow, food is on the top shelf. On the second day of the journey, a terrible heat sets in, the car is filled with faces of unknown nationalities, garbage is everywhere, they go to the toilet without closing the door, sometimes right on the floor.
All three days of the journey we drank beer and vodka, despite the protests of the captain accompanying us. Out of the whole team, he is especially angry with me and another guy, promising some kind of "green town". In Kazakhstan, railways are affected. stations, they are two reinforced concrete slabs and one trailer, and around the sands, on which numerous crowds of camels roam. At one of the stations I saw a bottle of milk near a Kazakh woman, I felt a terrible desire, it turned out that it was not cow's milk, but kumis. He spat and gave it to the only Uzbek in our team. The second day of the journey is terribly long, in the evening a man in a dressing gown entered the carriage, offering everyone to buy sherbet from him. In the absence of tea, of course, I don't want it. Then he decided to give us an excursion into history. Vaughn says, you see the ruins, the great shah lived there, he had a hundred wives, he ate sherbet every day, and he stood for each one. In response, he was rude, meaning that we were going to the army, and not to the girls on a date. However, he was not offended and went to another carriage.
In Uzbekistan, at night the train stood at Chardzhou station for a long time, perhaps this is the only station that I will remember for a lifetime from this journey. Here my last savings were almost taken away from me, while threatening with a knife. It's good that other guys also came out and all together we rebuffed the young Uzbeks. Then a policeman came, dealt with our captain, and he once again made me understand that apart from the "green town" nothing will shine for me.
Finally, on the morning of June 28, 1988, we arrive in Samarkand. Already at the station, while the captain went to find out about the transport, local residents surrounded us, and they bought from us clothes, caps, belts, everything that we no longer need. The captain came, swears, says that we will get there by trolleybus. We drove for a long time, everything was fried. Finally, a long, tall metal fence, this is the communications training team.
We were taken straight to the bathhouse, here we took off our clothes, washed, we were examined by a doctor, and given a new uniform. Having changed, we look at ourselves in the mirrors, not without horror. The form is very beautiful and comfortable, the jacket is cotton. like paratroopers, ankle boots with laces, but everything hangs on us, everything is out of size, panama, for example 60, boots instead of 44 - 45. They took us to the educational building, where they sat us down at the desks. The commanders came for us in turn training units... We took them all apart, we stayed with one guy in an empty classroom, only an hour later a senior lieutenant, who looked more like a chieftain of robbers, came behind us, a bully with a huge mustache, a holster with a pistol hanging like a cowboy, with him was a senior warrant officer at first glance of a completely ordinary look ... They put us in an old "Izh" and took us to the "green town", the captain's promises are beginning to come true.
All the way we were silent in the back seat, only once said thank you, when for a short time we made a stop at a barrel of kvass and "starley" treated us. We drove out of the city, everything is deserted, the colors are faded, the sun is unbearable. The windows are open in the car, but the heat is still felt. We approach some kind of concrete fence, a soldier stands at the corner and waves a towel, the "starley" swears and presses on the gas. About three hundred meters away, another soldier is standing by the fence and is also waving a towel, it turned out that these are signalmen, set up by sergeants, in case the company commander returns. "Starley" swears already in the barracks, it turned out he is the commander of a separate company to which we were brought. Upon his departure, the sergeants watched television, which without his knowledge is not permitted.
The place where the company is located turned out to be a training ground. We are part of a communications brigade, the territory is surrounded by a concrete fence, inside there are several brick buildings and a fairly large number of trees and bushes, and behind the fence there are sands, canyons and a camel's thorn. That is why our place is called "green town". Our fate is sad, more than half of us leave for Afghanistan upon graduation. Next to our training company is a communications brigade, a tank regiment and an airborne regiment, as well as a dump of Soviet military equipment destroyed by the Mujahideen.
Sergeant Chernetsov, with a condescending smile, examines our personal belongings, something is thrown out immediately, spoons, mugs are taken to the dining room. They assigned me to the fifth platoon, commanded so far that the commander of the second squad, junior sergeant Lebedev, the commander of the first squad, sergeant Rudevich, went somewhere on a business trip, went for another replenishment, the platoon commander was also there. The first days there was no replenishment yet, everything was somehow calm, the barracks was half empty, there were no classes. The first outfits at the checkpoint, educational building, and orderlies seemed too light, and only the outfit for the dining room caused disgust. Morning exercises consisted of running in some shorts to Victory Park, where young trees were recently planted, taking buckets and pouring three or four buckets under each tree. The heat was much more annoying, sometimes it reached 48 degrees in the shade.
Even in the early days, they explained to us that we need to wash our feet well, wash our socks, we cannot drink tap water (there is no sewage system in Samarkand, therefore dysentery is a very common disease here). Still, there are clever people who do not wash their socks, their feet get sick with fungus, the stench is terrible. Instead of water, every morning we fill our 1.5 liter plastic flasks with hot tea (for 900 liters of water, 15 kg of camel thorn and 100 g of green tea). The remains are brought to the barracks, where they are poured into decanters (they were on trays on each bedside table, along with four glasses). Those who could not resist and drank water from the tap spent several days in torment, and the first night in endless running to the toilet. The toilet was located two hundred meters from the barracks, and not everyone managed to reach it, and such a soldier did in his pants. You wake up in the morning, and someone is already sitting to dry, since all this happened quickly, in the morning in two hours, at lunchtime in 30 - 40 minutes. Soon, only a few could not stand it and tried to drink raw water (mostly guys from the Baltic states), it's a shame, but suddenly you can't get there.
One positive thing that I liked right away was an afternoon nap. This is a necessity here, because very quickly after 12 o'clock you can get a sunstroke, before 15 o'clock it was the most terrible time. We were fed disgustingly, that was what could always be eaten - potatoes, buckwheat porridge, boiled eggs, bread, butter, fruit, tea and compote. At first, there is always a feeling of hunger, especially among people from the Baltic states. I remember how one Estonian Paul Kivamaa, every day after lunch, went to the shop of a tank regiment and bought himself five or six cakes. It is not known where he managed to hide the money, perhaps at his fellow countryman, almost demobilized, head of the pigsty of the communications brigade. By the way, he soon completely stopped practicing and moved to live in a pigsty, he was prepared to be the successor to this place.
On the very first day when I found out the address of the unit, my head was already spinning, it was here a year ago that my classmate Edik Desyatnik served, to whom I wrote letters here. It happens the same. And my sergeant Rudevich served with him in the same platoon. Rudevich showed up one evening when I entered the outfit for the academic building. A sergeant unfamiliar to me, in full dress, with bitches and a contented, impudent smile, is climbing the stairs. After my report, he hit me in the chest with his fist and asked which platoon I was in, another blow and he said how lucky I was, since I was in his platoon. One more blow and I already believe in it. This happened in early July, the company was already fully staffed, and they began to prepare us for taking the oath.
Every day drill, we read the text of the oath one hundred and twenty-five times. Hot. On July 17, we take the oath, though not in dress uniform, because it has not yet been sewn on us. By order of Rudevich, everyone was photographed with a machine gun and the text of the cover, although in other platoons this was optional. I was glad of this order, now I am happy to look at myself, the young "siskin". On the day of taking the oath, we were very well fed, for the only time ever. We slept from 14 o'clock to 19-30, cinema in the evening. The shop arrived, we bought cakes and sweets. The parents of two soldiers, an Uzbek Sherali Otokhanov and a Muscovite Misha Kutotelov, came to take the oath, his father worked in construction in Uzbekistan. They brought a lot of sweets, cookies, Java cigarettes to the Muscovite, so the holiday turned out to be quite good.
It all ended the next day. Classes, screams, running around, bustle, weapons, uniforms. All jogging, or drill. The very first marches made me understand that you can't stop here, you run gritted your teeth, since it is simply impossible to open your mouth from the sand and dust. And this is how the soldier poet described these impressions:
Heat and wind and sand
And two pounds of boots -
Your first march in your life
I won't forget for a long time
Salty sweat runs from my face
Everything in me is tired
And there is no end to kilometers
And there is still little air.
Laziness, laziness, excessive sleep,
The smoke of the first cigarette ...
My first march in my life
He will remember this to me.
And I remember with shame
As tormented by weakness
I could hardly keep pace
Breathing into other people's backs ...
I had to start shaving, although I have only fluff. Again, the edging on the head must also be shaved. The salary is 8 rubles 63 kopecks, more than half for shoe cream, hemming material, pens, envelopes, paper. I love Saturday very much - a filmmaker comes, places the camera on the street next to the barracks, the whole company sits staring at old films, and I go out to the training ground, dig a hole in the warm sand and look at the big bear. After all, she was visible from the balcony of my house in Pervomaysky. This is how I communicated with my parents.
Screams and mats are getting stronger every day, classes, competitions between platoons. Working on a volleyball court seems like heaven. It is stuffy in the classrooms, I want to sleep, but we learn the rules. Despite the fact that there is a tropospheric radio station in the classrooms, which we have to study, we did not even turn it on for two months. "Boys", "pipettes", "lanceups", as soon as we were not called. All this is for our good, because we seem to be future squad leaders. If something was done badly during the day, at night the sergeant puts on sports shoes and drives our platoon out to run along the canyons and crawl along camel thorns. On such days, the "lights out" command is a nightmare. It can be followed by a "rise", or "crocodile pose", this is when the legs and arms rest against the edges of the bed, and you hang over it. Twenty times like this, it soon becomes fun, not sad.
I'm surprised that I don't go to the medical unit, I don't have a headache, and I even like military training classes. Most of the cadets have got fungus on their feet, now, before the lights out, we bring polished boots and washed socks in front of the sergeant. Speaking of boots, which I had in size 45 and gave me some inconvenience due to the larger size. One night they changed them to old ones, but size 44. It is understandable, the demobilization was preparing to leave home. They will find old shoes in the warehouse, and at night they replace them in the training unit, where everything is new. Panamas also began to steal, so it happened to me. While I was sitting in the toilet, someone took it off my head and ran, I shouted after him that she was size 60, but would that stop anyone? The sergeant-major gave me an old panama 55 size, all faded, smeared with glue, with imposed scars. The sergeants just didn’t get off me forcing the Panama hat to wash and remove all its demobilized "beauty".
On July 20, we saw a tornado in the distance, the sergeants said that once it also passed 10-15 kilometers from us, and our parade ground was covered with rubbish. And on September 14, I saw a violent storm in the desert. Not only was there nothing to be seen, but the wind that blew from the mountains was very cold. The downpour on September 21 was also a completely unusual event for me. It was in the evening, at first the sky was overcast, then small drops of rain came, and then it "fell" with all its might, the whole company poured out onto the street and stood in the rain, despite the thunderstorm. Just as suddenly, the sky brightened and the sunset unfolded in all its beauty in front of us. Bright red in the east, ultramarine blue in the west, and lilac from the north and south. The smell was the same as in our house.
I often write letters home, to my grandmother, class teacher, many friends and classmates (Edik Desyatnik, Oleg Katargin, Gene Skakun, Alik, Sasha Poleshchuk), and of course to girls, most of all I wrote to my institute friend Rositsa Gelkova (Bulgarian) and Angela Rzhevskaya (from Cossack Lopani, whom he met in the eighth grade in a tourist camp). I wrote especially a lot of them during the period when I was left to guard the classroom with the full dress.
For several days, due to renovations in the kitchen, food is prepared in the field kitchens, the food is amazing, with a smoke. On July 28, for the first time in the canyons, we train in full combat gear. "We attack", "retreat", "occupy the lines." Interestingly enough, they shoot at us from machine guns with blank cartridges, then hand-to-hand combat. I got great pleasure, because I loved "war games" since childhood. Tea was brought to the landfill, and I got even more pleasure from it. Later, on command, we put on gas masks, we run towards an unknown site. Some of us pulled out the valves, and we are driven into a room into which tear gas was launched. So whoever took off the gas mask valves walked with red eyes, their face itched.
For dessert after lunch and dinner, they began to give grapes, peaches, apples, which greatly brightens up the stay in the dining room. From the beginning of August, special training began - the study of the radio station, as well as shooting, marches, even more running around the canyons. The sergeant assures me that the days in "training" will seem to me better days army service. Relations with him have improved somewhat, since he is not the last soldier, I try to be even better. On September 11, I am applying for a resignation, although I was released back in mid-August, but I wanted it for my birthday. I asked my parents to send a translation of 10-15 rubles, I want to call them at home, at the same time indulge myself with goodies.
On August 29, for the first time, we went to harvesting gardens - here we grow onions, mainly for foreign divisions. I liked harvesting the onions terribly, firstly, I remembered my grandfather with his garden, they fed lunch right in the field, very tasty, they brought watermelons, melons, tomatoes in unlimited quantities. Later, we often went to such harvests, sometimes we managed to feast on excellent grapes, straight from the vine. Once we passed the lake, the water in it was like in a pool, clean, transparent, with a bluish tint. On the way back, they persuaded the sergeants to swim. However, no one was able to enter the water further than waist-deep, terribly cold. It turns out that the lake is formed by springs and water from the mountains, which are not far from us. In September and early October, practically until the very exams, we went to harvest tomatoes, grapes, and quince.
One day I saw real donkeys for the first time, real in the sense that those I saw in zoos are not at all similar to those seen in Samarkand. Grandfather came to one of the soldiers, they said from a neighboring area, brought him several chuvaly of all kinds, cakes with meat were enough for lunch for our entire company. We paid attention to the donkeys when they began to emit a terrible roar, apparently for a long time they had not "sensed" the owner. At this moment we were preparing to line up for lunch, the whole company poured out through the gate, we looked at these animals from afar, as they tried to gnaw or kick. Only one Uzbek approached them, saying that while saying in his own language, the donkeys calmed down, and he stroked and pulled them by the ears. The stench from them was terrible, and in the end one of the donkeys piled a large pile of dung.
As before, I enjoy all the activities in the "war". All this is extremely exciting. On August 31, we jumped from a huge canyon, it doesn't matter that everywhere you can feel sand on the body, but the flight itself is pleasant. The night alarm upset me. After all, our company consisted of more than a hundred cadets, the weapons room is one, very cramped. On alarm, we lined up near the barracks in half an hour, it's a shame. The next day they drove us even harder, but only this did not affect the result. We had a lot of brakes, and I was horrified to think if we were actually sent to Afghanistan, or a war would start.
One of the cadets who slowed down the entire platoon was Roman Pulyaevsky, a native of Kaluga. A small, hunched, sickly young man, wearing glasses with a big minus of myopia, he graduated from school with a gold medal, but why he ended up in the army, we all did not understand. It was difficult for him to do any exercises, drill, work at a radio station. They laughed at him, called him names, by the end of the "training" he became a decent nutcase, tried to jump out the window, and what awaited him in the new part is completely unknown.
The main irritants of the whole company were precisely the cadets from my platoon: Kazakh Marat Ospanov, a native of Tashkent, Alexander Kim, and a native of Donetsk, Sergei Shevchuk. This trio terrorized everyone, even the sergeants sometimes could not cope with them. And only after they beat Vladimir Perfiliev, when the threat of disbat arose, they calmed down and became quiet, but with a hidden resentment at everyone. Only once did Sergey Shevchuk and his compatriot from Yenakiyevo Sergey Karlash indulge in a prank on a miner's day. They convinced Sergeant Rudevich that on that day they could not help getting drunk, promised that they would drink together, and bring cups for the sergeants. They got drunk to such a state that in the morning they did not get up for the morning calibration, well there were no officers yet. In class, they slept, and so that they were not visible, we filled them with new greatcoats, folded in the classroom two days before.
Unexpectedly, I discovered the opportunity to make tea, at first modestly for myself and two friends, and then the sergeant found out about it. I thought it would be a disaster, because we made a boiler from two blades, and boiled water in a half-liter jar, which I found out very dangerous only after this boiler once exploded and sprayed my forehead with boiling water, so I went for two days with a bandage on my head. The sergeant, however, not only did not scold us, but also encouraged us, and the guys on leave bought a china teapot and a boiler. And now, in my radio station class, I made tea from time to time. By the end of September my friend Tolik Tricky and I already had a whole warehouse with sugar, tea leaves, condensed milk, jams and sweets. All this was stored in the fan unit of the radio station. I remember how in October I was looking forward to a parcel with normal tea and instant coffee.
Gradually, other cadets and even sergeants of other platoons were imbued with my tea drinking. I remember Sardar Mammadov, an Azerbaijani from Nakhichevan, who brought me homemade lemon for tea, which was just an incredible event for two days. How the guys brought tea, sugar, candy from the dismissal. Gradually, rumors about my teahouse reached the new company commander, who we passed under the nickname "Chapay". He had a mustache like Chapaev's and crooked legs like a cavalryman, one day he came to our classroom and raked our entire teahouse into his office. A week later, however, everything was bought anew, only now we had to be more careful during our tea parties.
On September 9, I was instructed to fill out several 9/11 leave tickets for cadets in my platoon, including mine. Already on September 8, I received two parcels for my birthday and a postal order, for which I had to go to Samarkand to the communication training brigade. In the parcel, the parents sent, in addition to sweets, cookies and condensed milk, socks, handkerchiefs, notebooks, envelopes and other little things. It all smelled awful like home.
On September 11 he went on leave. Together with our comrades, we did not wait for a car or a bus on the road, but went straight through the sands. In forty minutes we entered the suburb. He struck me with the clay walls of the fences of private houses, as tall as a fortress, with bars on the windows, and a lot of grapes. We took the bus to the center of Samarkand. First of all, we went to the market, for me it was a complete surprise that we were treated to melons, watermelons, peaches, flat cakes. Tortillas with meat cost three per ruble, but we were given four. Right there at the market we washed the fruits and refreshed ourselves with pleasure. We walked a little and came out to the city park, around it there were several summer cafes with large cauldrons, where Uzbeks cooked pilaf. As a birthday boy, I decided to treat my comrades with pilaf. For 5 rubles we were given a huge tray with pilaf, a salad of cucumbers and tomatoes, a large porcelain teapot with boiling water and a small one with green tea brew. On another tray, they brought us watermelon and melon cut into pieces. An hour later, we barely got up from the table. Walking around Samarkand, we entered book Shop, where I was shocked by the abundance of books in Russian, which in our Ukraine, and even in Leningrad, were considered a deficit.
On this day, we also got to the old part of Samarkand, one of the Uzbeks took us to the Shakhi-Zinda necropolis. After Leningrad, it is difficult to surprise me with anything, but it opened up to my eyes, it was so unique and unseen before that I blinked my eyes for a long time with delight. Eleven mausoleums, many of which had azure (blue) domes, high portals covered with majolica, patterned vaults. We climbed a huge majestic staircase and entered the twilight of ancient buildings. They say that in Samarkand there are no more such monuments surpassing Shakhi-Zinda in elegance and variety of forms.
I saw an absolutely amazing panorama of Samarkand from the dilapidated Bibi Khanym mosque, built by Timur in 1404 after a victorious campaign in India. It is interesting that even during Timur's life, it began to collapse, stars are visible under its destroyed domes, it was not for nothing that it was called the "Milky Way". Under its majestic and high walls, we felt like little insects.
The last place we got on that day was the Guri-Emir mausoleum. Here Timur, his sons, the astronomer Ulugbek and others are buried. Most of us experienced strong excitement, awe before the names that are known to the whole world. It is so quiet and peaceful here, with little people that you feel fear for being in a completely different world, in other centuries. We walked in silence through the halls, between massive, high vaults, mosaics rippled in our eyes, a close fainting state was broken only by the cold inside the mausoleum.
Home that day I did not get through, surprisingly there was only a connection with Tashkent and Moscow, the boy who called Moscow waited for the connection for 30 minutes, so I did not talk to my parents. After fifteen hours we returned to the city park, and with pleasure stood on the site where the local band played. And at 17 o'clock we sat in a cafe, drank strong natural coffee, ate ice cream, smoked local Blue Domes cigarettes, and an hour later left the city.
And on September 15th they began to take us seriously. Work began at night, the officers said that this was all due to the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. Now the need to send us to Afghanistan disappeared, they said that they would send us only at their own request. Therefore, we need to make real signalers out of us. Our radio stations, located not in cars, but in a building, could not withstand daytime temperatures, so training on the R-410 took place at night. During the day we assembled and disassembled our antennas. I must say that tropospheric radio stations look very impressive, the diameter of one antenna is 7.5 or 5.5 meters. And the antenna height reached 24 meters. True, they did not really explain to us why our army needed such thugs, it was only clear that with a nuclear explosion the quality of our communications improved, and it was impossible to intercept its narrow beam.
Another tank regiment and an airborne regiment came out to us in the neighborhood. Now they staggered endlessly around our town, shooting was often heard from the direction of their deployment. While we were practicing the attack at the range, a bully T-72 unexpectedly drove to our rear from the depths of the canyon, so the "Shuravi" decided to joke at us, the panic was very serious, but to be honest, I was really scared, because they Afgan tankers and paratroopers out of boredom drank a lot of cups (fortified wine made from grape pulp) and used drugs. Once, at the training ground, we saw a training battle, in which two groups of tankmen and paratroopers met, it was a terrible picture, accompanied by the roar of tank engines, creepy mats, columns of dust. We stood spellbound, I realized that we were completely children against them.
On September 21, I was appointed an instructor in our platoon, since I mastered the radio station the fastest, and the standard for setting it up was one of the best in the company. At night I sat in the classroom, and the cadets of my platoon came to me in turn. Having worked out the allotted minutes, he went to bed, and another came instead. Until lunchtime, I was supposed to sleep, and these days I dreamed about the house, my parents, my bakery, classmates, Pushkin, Leningrad. After lunch, as usual, we drank tea in the classroom, and in the evening a fellow countryman, Igor Cherkashin, arrived from the communications brigade. Before the army, he lived in the village. Oktyabrskoe, Kharkiv region. Parents sent him a parcel, and in it lard with garlic, they ate from the heart.
By the way, Igor turned out to be a great original, with his complexion, he managed to run AWOL several times to the city, met a girl in Samarkand and married her. And he did this because he did not want to leave to serve in another place. His father-in-law was quite rich, had a "Niva", a good house and apartment, I don't know what happened next, but Igor was quite happy. After a week's vacation, he went AWOL to his young wife, and then, as luck would have it, an operative duty officer from the communications brigade arrived, checking the presence of personnel, he decided to wait for Igor. He got it hard, firstly, some of the most disgusting outfits in the kitchen, secondly, drill in the OVZK and a gas mask on the parade ground, and thirdly, rubbing the "take off" (a strip in the barracks between two carpet paths). I remember how now, the whole platoon did not sleep until one in the morning, waited for Igor to work everything out to laugh and find out how the young wife was there and what was better. He entered, puffing, wet with sweat, only waved his hand at our laughter, muttered something under his breath, but the next day he went AWOL again.
It became very cold at night, a strong wind "Afghan" is blowing from the south, in the morning it is even colder, and we already go out to exercise in the form of number three, and sometimes fully dressed. On October 7 we received an overcoat, I got a very good one, sewn right for me, incredibly long. This was helped by the foreman of the company, who unexpectedly showed interest in me. To others he just threw what he had, and he took me into his storeroom, picked it up for a long time and told me that a long overcoat is very good, it will not be cold, and if you have to run in it, you have to sew hooks on the floors of the overcoat, and fasten them at belts. I remember we were really looking forward to October 15, when it would already be possible to put on our greatcoats, as the cold intensified day by day, and the sun did not linger in the sky for very long.
On October 10, they began preparing for the exams, they began to take it on November 10, and finished on November 24. I went through physical training without difficulty, again I had to compete with a machine gun, an HVAC, a gas mask, the drill soldier and statutes got sick, mainly from endless training. The exams were taken by officers from Moscow. The most successful was the specialty exam, I passed the standard for work at the station at the "excellent" level for officers. Already on October 14, after endless marches, shooting and overcoming obstacles, I could not even write a single normal letter.
The last rest before the exam were celebrations on November 7-8. For two days in a row they stared at the TV, walked in full dress, which was very uncomfortable. Unexpectedly after lunch we were asked to help peel potatoes for dinner, the platoon missed any job so much that they peeled it in one hour. The nature in Samarkand has become just awful, the trees are bare, the sky is ultramarine, everything else is just yellow-brown.
On one of these days, we passed the last exam. They raised us at five in the morning on alarm, and we ran about eight kilometers with all our equipment, drowning in the sand, cursing the cold weather and the authorities. Soon we stopped at a ravine overgrown with bushes, here an order was read to us that the French troops had captured the bridge, and we had to recapture it. We prepared for the attack, we run to the place where this bridge is located. The new team, the enemy used OV, we put on gas masks, and run for another kilometer. Someone is trying to rip off the valves, but the officers stop us and say that the valves must be returned to their place, the gases will actually be used. The bridge is engulfed in flames and black smoke from burning tire covers, as soon as the first platoon caught up with the bridge line, deafening shots from machine guns and machine guns rang out, bursting bursts of packages. As soon as we began to get used to the shots, a Ural drove next to the roar with machine gunners shooting at us from three meters away, followed by an APC. The noise was a success for the dembels, and I was even deaf. We took the bridge, and they set us a new task - to turn around in a chain and take the enemy trench line. We turned around, the officers are trying to level our line, but this fails, and the Moscow officers are turning us to the starting lines. The second time it turned out nothing, but then we were frightened by tanks and armored personnel carriers moving towards us. It turned out that this is an old equipment knocked out in Afghanistan, fixed on cables and moving with the help of electric winches. Frightened not so much by their appearance, but by the noise that the pile of rusty iron makes.
Received a specialist badge after exams Class III, and also secretly learned that I was being assigned to the Western Direction, i.e. it could be abroad. On November 27, the sending of cadets of our company to the troops began. Five decided to go to Afghanistan, most of them in the middle zone, almost twenty people in the western direction, but only two of our company will go abroad to Poland, me and Zhenya Kudryashov. On December 5, 1988, we left our training ground and went in the back of a Ural car to the communications brigade of Samarkand to be sent to another unit. "Ural" really did not arrive immediately, so 4 km. We in full dress made a march towards Samarkand.
In Samarkand, in the evening we took a train to Ashgabat, again for 1.5 days in a dirty common carriage on the third shelf. Again we drove through Chardzhou, and also passed the cities of Mary and the city of Tejent. In the Turkestan Military District, there was a saying: "There are three holes in the KturkVO - Tejent, Kushka and Mary." They said that no one wants to get there to serve. In Tejent we are on the railway. stations bought melons and watermelons. The captain who accompanied us said that here they are the most delicious. He himself is Uzbek, and he served in the same garrison in Poland, where I will get. He bought several dozen melons. The huge pale yellow to brown melons were delicious. One melon weighed more than ten kilograms, and cost about two rubles. Watermelons no more than 1.5 rubles. The rest of the way was spent in endless trips to the toilet.
On December 6, we arrived in Ashgabat, and settled in the steppe, around us there were naked ugly mountains, the field camp was dirty, there were several groups of soldiers waiting for the time to be sent abroad. We lived in tents, the cold was terrible, one stove-stove did not save us at night, so the time spent in the camp is not the best memories. The Turkmens themselves treated us from the point of view of a successful business. Our camp was fenced in with barbed wire, we were not allowed to leave its territory, but our rations tasted so disgusting that we had to buy food from the Turkmen. They sold everything to us for one ruble, they did not know the other price. So cost one small flat cake roughly baked without meat, a bottle of lemonade, a pack of Bulgarian cigarettes, a pack of cookies. Finally, after lunch on December 8, we flew on a military transport plane to Kiev. We landed at night and took us to spend the night on KAMAZ trucks in military unitwhere warm wooden barracks and the remnants of dinner awaited us. The next evening we took off on a Tu-154 plane to Poland. It was an ordinary civilian plane, it immediately filled with our disgusting soldier smell, after all these several days in field camps, without a bath, without changing clothes, it was terrible. The flight attendant girls stoically endured it and, with charming smiles, served us mineral water and lemonade.
Our plane landed at a military airfield in Legnica, where the headquarters of the Western Group of Forces was located. We expected a quick distribution in parts. However, when asked by the doctor about illnesses in the places where we served, one of the soldiers spoke about frequent diarrhea due to poor water quality. They took us to the medical unit, took smears and waited for the results until lunchtime. The captain cursed, because, because of one idiot, not only forty privates were picking in the ass, but also him.
It soon became clear that we were not sick at all, we were assigned to the garrisons, and now seven of us were going to the GAZ-66 to the communications brigade near the village of Keneshitsa. The road was long, and shaking in some places where the cobblestones were preserved. All the way I looked at agricultural fields, clean, without weeds. Unusually groomed roads, a large number of small small tractors, without a roof, with huge trailers, loaded to the brim with hay, or bags. Smiling Poles, farms with many different birds, houses on top are somewhat shabby, but two-story, large in size, on foundations of wild stone. At one of the stops, the captain bought us two packs of cigarettes, called "Club", which is like our cheap cigarettes "Smoke". They brought us to the garrison again in the evening, the operative on duty sent us to dinner and took us to battalions. I liked the dining room, large, light, delicious Polish, white bread, mashed potatoes, fried fish, good tea and an unusually tasty butter.
I spent the night in the first company of my 846th Separate Tropospheric Battalion of the Supreme High Command. I was certainly not touched, but what I heard, I was not very happy. Someone walked all over the floor, someone was brought up, there were many empty beds in the room where I slept, and here young soldiers of the 1st company “handed over” driving.
In the morning I woke up terribly tired, most of the young soldiers of the first company looked the same. Charging was also carried out with great difficulty, mainly because of the long and wide bars, which I could not go through immediately without skill. My failure did not bother the sergeants of the 1st company, since I was not yet their subordinate, but others got it, they tried several times to pass the "road of life", but all to no avail. Breakfast impressed me with delicious porridge and tea, but everything was again in no mood, I expected a quick distribution, and then worse. Zhenya Kudryashov, all this time he was with me and we only exchanged glances, but did not discuss our future.
After breakfast, the company was formed, everyone was assigned to work, we were sent with one old serviceman to sweep the company yard. Despite the fact that it was already December, no one saw snow here.
Chopyk Evgeniy - Ivano-Frankivsk
Radionov Vasily - Zhytomyr
Lyashuk Vasily
Zhulanov Vladmir
Duka Vasily
Grishin Vyacheslav
For the service I received 59 letters from my parents, 46 letters from my grandmother, as well as 82 letters from friends from the institute, classmates, class teacher Lidia Alekseevna Galitskaya and others. Of these, 18 letters from Rzhevskaya Angela.
Of the letters I sent, I know only those that I wrote home, tk. my mom kept them. I wrote 67 letters from Samarkand, and 41 from Poland.
Was in outfits: orderly for the company - 6; company duty officer - 9; fleet attendants - 15; on duty at the checkpoint - 9; on patrol - 1; in the dining room - 15; guard - 11; bathhouse attendant - 2; on duty at the club - 1; in the cafe "Friendship" - 1.
I watched 37 films and read 12 books.
On April 19, 1988, all three squadrons of our regiment flew to the Troitskoye airfield, in Kalmykia, to our permanent base. Our mediocre rear managers, as always, “prepared everything”. When I came to the "flight module", I saw a structure made of plywood, very reminiscent of a large cowshed. Even to enter it, it was necessary to step over the water pipe, in which water never appeared. Along the walls were disassembled iron beds and soldier's bedside tables with stools, all very much second-hand.
I had to quickly establish construction with my own hands. The "cowshed" was divided into large rooms, according to squadrons, partitions were erected from building materials found on the spot, doors were hung, bunks were assembled. Our technical staff did the same. The barracks for the soldiers were more or less normal. The next day, we worked on the construction of squadron headquarters and flight preparation classes, which were also "cowsheds", only smaller in size. In general, there was a complete impression that no one was waiting for us here.
The airfield itself was built by cutting off the top of a huge hill. The land was of a red hue, around the sad Kalmyk steppes with stunted grass, there were almost no water bodies, there were no trees at all. From the air, everything was monotonous - gray, a kind of "lunar landscape". The water was only imported, not suitable for drinking due to the very high salt content. Next to us were the barracks of military builders, who for some reason were left here. They had no discipline at all.
The DOS promised to us earlier seemed to have been built on the outskirts of Elista, but they were immediately settled by local residents. And all this seemed to be the way it should be ... Criminals were always exiled to such places, and now we are in their position. But still it was necessary to live, serve, fly. Regular flights began on April 23rd, "the wheel spun".
Only the third squadron on the L-39 flew with the cadets. They "cut" the most unpretentious - Cubans. They did not pay much attention to the Spartan living conditions, to the common "latrines", to the almost complete absence of any entertainment. It would be unthinkable to send cadets from Arab countries here. They would go on strike in a few days, and rightly so.
In late April and early May, the steppe around us for a short time turned into a blossoming miracle. Seas of multicolored tulips, silvery feather grass, steppe grasses tried their best to show their beauty in the short time that nature allowed them to. Soon the heat and lack of water will turn the steppe into a kind of "lunar landscape".
The main and, perhaps, the only advantage of this place was a large and free airspace, and also that it did not have to be shared with anyone. But there was also a lot that did not depend on us. The air temperature in summer was almost always kept under forty degrees in the shade. Frequent dust storms, a huge number of flies, constant lack of water. It was possible to sleep only by constructing from a sheet and wire some kind of a coffin lid above the bed. Air conditioners were given to the common room for pilots, so that at least they could sleep normally. The food in the dining room was mediocre.
On Saturday afternoons, the Il-76 flew in and some of the personnel went to their families in Krasnodar and Primorsko-Akhtarsk on Sunday. Those who stayed had two options for rest. The first and main thing is to get drunk on the spot, if there was anything to drink. The second one was to get to Elista on the “relocatories”, and there they waited for the “blessings of civilization” in the form of movies, beer, local women. At this time, the whole country, under the leadership of Gorbachev, pretended to be fighting drunkenness. Buying liquor was not an easy task at all. Nobody even thought about any organization of recreation for the personnel. Representatives of the school leadership were extremely rare. They tried not to stay with us, they were very uncomfortable here.
In August, on the day of aviation, an "air show" was staged at the airfield with the invitation of a large number of residents of Elista and Troitsky. Our commander, Ivashenko, allowed us to prepare "something simple" on our combat aircraft. At first, I still tried to suggest something original, but the commander, looking at me with understanding eyes, invariably repeated the same phrase: "Yuri Petrovich, they will not understand us," transparently hinting at the superiors. Alas, he was absolutely right. Nevertheless, our pair of MiGs, consisting of Nuts and Siskets, were the "highlight" of the program.
By the beginning of October, the regiment had successfully achieved all its tasks. It was impossible to stay here for the winter and we again flew to Primorsko-Akhtarsk. Soon we had an emergency. Our regiment commander, Pyotr Mikhailovich Ivashenko, and three local warrant officers drowned while hunting. They walked along the reeds in the estuary, suddenly a strong wind rose and began to drive water from the sea. Its level quickly rose above the wading boots and the hunters were found as they walked, one after another. The low temperature of the water immobilized them and they, having lost consciousness, fell face down into the water.
Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Konstantinovich Isakov became the regiment commander. I knew him only from the best side, he did not have any shortcomings inherent in most commanders. He tried to promote me to the position of deputy. regiment commander, not paying attention to my "bachelor" status. And it seems that no one was against it, all the interviews went well, but the order for the appointment was not followed. So our country finally lost, in my person, a talented "commander".
On March 10, 1989 we flew to Kalmykia. Now we already knew what awaited us there, so we were "fully armed". Having quickly restored the partially plundered "apartments" and, having carried out the necessary preparations, we began flights on the fifteenth.
A few years ago, since my appointment as deputy. commander of the AE, I tried to introduce my experience of teaching cadets to the masses. But all my efforts stumbled upon a certain "conservatism" of the flight instructors. Nobody was “eager” to change something, and in response to my calls to give their suggestions for improving the teaching methodology, everyone was modestly silent. When I became squadron commander, I had a certain power that allowed me to move from persuasion to action. But the opportunity to test everything in practice appeared only this year, when cadets from Hungary were given to the squadron.
Ninety-five percent of the time allotted for flight preparation was always spent on "writing". This useless work did not give almost any real efficiency, because it was designed "for the prosecutor." If something happened: accidents, catastrophes, gross errors in piloting and the like, then the flight documentation was always "arrested". It was based on the results of its verification that the main conclusions were drawn about the causes of flight accidents. Therefore, the main thing was not preparation for flights, but its reflection on paper.
I could not cancel the "scribbling", it was not in my power. A simple analysis of the causes of accidents in schools clearly showed that approximately 80% of them occur during approach and landing. Quite a lot of troubles are also caused by illiterate actions in the event of an emergency situation in flight.
The essence of the technique was, like everything "ingenious", simple. We needed universal schemes for switching attention in real time, both when flying in a circle, and in the event of any emergency situation in the air. In addition, when showing the correction of deviations on landing, it was necessary to show such large "alignments" and "soaring" that no cadet would be able to tolerate in independent flights. Seeing how everything is easily corrected with the correct control of the aircraft, no one will allow panic actions, which usually led to rough landings and even accidents.
I began by polishing the methods and literally making all the squadron pilots, starting with the flight commanders, pass me off tests. Almost no one passed the first time, and these requirements of mine were accepted, to put it mildly, without enthusiasm. I personally took each pilot to show and correct landing deviations. In each flight group, a folding runway layout was made. Trainings "on foot-in-flight" were carried out "in nature", in conditions "as close as possible to combat", in real time. Without exception, all the cadets, before completing a test flight for admission to an independent flight, passed me the same tests.
It is known that after repeated, at least three hundred, monotonous and correct repetitions of any actions, everything is fixed in the subconscious at the level of reflexes.
The correctness of any theory is determined by practice. All our cadets flew independently, flew steadily, and successfully completed the program. I do not remember a single rough landing and any problems when performing flights by types of flight training.
In August, on Aviation Day, we again organized an air show. There were several times more people than last year. This time our couple, me and the Siskets, first passed over the very heads of the audience, and then performed a more complex program than a year ago. The people were delighted.
The canteen started working much better, as they began to send chefs and waitresses from other regiments to us, for a month, on a business trip. The school commanders even sent us some air conditioners to make our life easier. But the patience of the flight and technical staff has already run out. For the fifth year we were constantly moved from place to place, wives and children saw their fathers, four or five months a year. And the end of our "ordeals" was not in sight. We gathered a general meeting of officers and decided to send several people to Moscow to present our problems there. The regiment's leadership was opposed, but could not convince anyone.
In October, we successfully completed all the tasks assigned to us and left the Kalmyk steppes for good, flying to Primorsko-Akhtarsk. Our second squadron became the best in the school at the end of the year. This was the last success of the regiment, as soon a decision came from Moscow to disband our unit.
The main part of our squadron was transferred with me to the "Kushchevsky" regiment. There she was soon disbanded (the best squadron of the school!). We have always "been able" to value people ... My experience of teaching cadets turned out to be of no use to anyone ...
We were lucky in only one thing. At this time, a new house was being commissioned and all my pilots and technicians soon received apartments. There was no position for me, so I flew for personal improvement and became a "regular" pilot for flying over aircraft after repairs, and also ferried aircraft from other airfields.
In the middle of the summer of the nineties, I had an attack of urolithiasis, a kidney stone came off, a consequence of the quality of Kalmyk water. A hospital in Rostov-on-Don, then a hospital in Moscow. My health fully recovered, but I didn't fly anymore. Feeling my uselessness and the complete absence of any further prospects, I wrote a report with a request to dismiss me "for staff reduction." It was readily signed. Since March 1991 I have been "at the disposal of the Commander of the North Caucasian Military District".
The only joy in this sad time was the arrival of Gena Stern's regiment. A cheerful company gathered in my apartment, consisting of Stern, me and Sergey Shnyagin. Records of some songs and flight "tales" are still preserved.
In August 1991, there was a "putsch" and after a while the country fell into the abyss of "market relations". Soon several scoundrels, not knowing what they were doing, guided solely by personal ambitions, signed the "Belovezhskaya Agreements" and the USSR ceased to exist. On December 8, the order for my dismissal came. I "rented" a large garage from Sasha Bobov. With difficulty, but took out several tens of kilograms of meat for barbecue and two boxes of vodka. He invited about thirty pilots and arranged a "dump." My former pilots, Rechinsky and Tarasov, helped me to prepare everything, and were the main producers of kebabs. There is still a cassette with voices from that farewell evening. Some of the pilots are no longer alive.
“Gone” - Lyosha Gorbulin, Kolya Kasyanov, Sasha Pevtsov, Sergey Shnyagin. Quite recently, Aleksandrov Sasha, Vilkov Volodya, Grunin Yura, Elbakyan Viti passed away, and these are only those whom I learned about ... The oldest of them was not even fifty-five years old. We can say about each of them that they were all real pilots. Fortunately, almost all of them still have their continuation - children.
“... someone sparingly and clearly counted out the hours for us,
Our life is as short as a concrete strip,
And on it, who crashed, who took off forever,
Well, I landed, that's the trouble ... "
V. Vysotsky
Afterword
So many wonderful people have served by my side. The format of the presentation does not allow me to remember all of them, I beg your pardon. This "piece" shows a tiny piece of a very complex and interesting life of pilot-instructors and cadets. I hardly wrote about our technical staff, about these real aviation workers. It was very difficult for them, but the overwhelming majority of these officers and warrant officers deserves every respect for their selfless work. Thank you, without your hands we could not fly.
Well, pilots, with rare exceptions, forever remain the color of our Russian nation for me, regardless of their nationality. I am proud that for over twenty years we have flown, served and lived the same life with these wonderful people. I love you!
year 2009. August. Yu.P. Orekhov
Application. The tale of "Ivanushka" ...
In a certain Kingdom, in a certain State, Ivanushka lived, either the Tsarevich, or the Fool ... As long as he could remember himself, he always dreamed of only one thing - to live in a transcendental country and have a friend - a magic winged horse with a fiery red tail. Soon the fairy tale will tell, but it will not be done soon ... RosIvanushka grew up. It's time to hit the road, look for your magic horse in a distant, transcendental country.
Saying goodbye to his family, and throwing the knapsack over his shoulders, Ivanushka set off on a long journey. The path to the dream was difficult. He lay through hot sands, muddy swamps, dense forests and high mountains, but Ivanushka overcame everything and came to the transcendental country where cheerful and courageous people lived and lived, too, like him, who came from different Kingdoms-States.
I found Ivanushka there and his magic winged horse with a fiery red tail. They fell in love with each other at first sight and forever became the most loyal friends. Together with the winged horse, Ivanushka ascended above the highest mountains, flew among snow-white clouds, swept faster than the wind over the seas and forests ...
The winged horse never let him down, brought him out of any troubles and was not afraid of Ivanushka while they were together. When the earth was damp and gloomy, Ivanushka knew that his faithful friend was always ready to raise him to the sun and the stars. Time flew by unnoticed in the transcendental country ...
For a long time, or for a short time ... But then, somewhere above, the wheel of fate turned with a grinding noise and it was time to part with the winged horse and leave the transcendental country forever. Ivanushka hugged his faithful friend by the wondrous swan's neck, whispered affectionate words for the last time, said goodbye and went downstairs to where he began his journey.
It was forever engraved in his memory: a sad winged horse stood and stared after him, motionless, like a statue ...
Ivanushka descended lower and lower, the air became denser, it became more and more difficult to breathe. He brought nothing with him from the transcendental country, neither gold nor silver. He did not bring Vasilisa the Beautiful either ... Only the memory of his winged friend and of the cheerful and courageous inhabitants of this country remained with Ivanushka.
Good people lived where he returned, but almost all of them believed that the best friend was not some incomprehensible winged horse, but a well-fed bull with a heavy scruff of neck and a golden chain, or a fat hog with a thick layer of bacon.
Over the years spent by Ivanushka in a transcendental country, he became the Tsarevich, and here he began to feel like a Fool who did not understand the simplest everyday truths ...
There lived Ivanushka ...
Explanation of terms and abbreviations
(for readers unfamiliar with aviation terms):
- AE - aviation squadron.
- ARK - automatic radio compass.
- BPRS - near drive radio station. Typically located one kilometer from the runway.
- used - used.
- V.ch - military unit.
- Fuels and lubricants - fuels - lubricants.
- DPRS - long-range driving radio station. Usually located four kilometers from the runway.
- Runway (concrete) - runway. The usual standard: width - forty-five meters, length two thousand five hundred meters.
- VSKP (take-out) - a remote control tower, on it, usually, a PRP is located.
- VO - military district.
- Air Force - Air Force.
- VOTP - air-fire and tactical training.
- DOS - the house of the officers.
- DOSAAF is a voluntary society for the assistance of the army, aviation to the fleet.
- IAS - Aviation Engineering Service.
- K.Z. - flight commander.
- KUR - heading angle of the radio station (the angle between the direction of the aircraft flight and the direction to the DPRS).
- KDP - control tower (it usually houses the main part of the flight management and support group).
- KULP - flight training course.
- OK - objective control (flight parameters recorders).
- PRP - Assistant Flight Director.
- PMU - simple meteorological conditions.
- PFO - psychophysiological selection.
- RUD - engine control lever.
- RSP - radar landing system. Usually located near the center of the runway.
- RD - taxiway.
- RLP - radar sight.
- RS - unguided rockets.
- Sparka is a dual-control aircraft.
- SMU - difficult weather conditions.
- SKVO - North Caucasian Military District.
- SPU - aircraft intercom.
- CZ - central filling station, (the place where aircraft are prepared for flights between flights).
Victor L. Konstantinov, Valery D. Romanenko / Kiev, Andrey V. Khaustov / "AiV" *
Tu-22R 199th separate guards long-range reconnaissance aviation regiment
For the great help in the work on the publication, the authors and editors express their sincere gratitude to the Heroes Soviet Union honored test pilots of the USSR Vasily Petrovich Borisov and Mark Lazarevich Gallai, honored test pilot of the USSR Alexei Yakovlevich Nikonov. The publication was prepared with the assistance of the editorial staff of the Voisko Ukrati magazine.
* Viktor Leonidovich Konstantinov, retired major general, one of the most experienced long-range aviation pilots, who mastered the Tu-4, Tu-16, Tu-95, Tu-22 and Tu-22M / M-2 / M-3 bombers. He commanded the Guards Long-Range Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment in Nizhyn, was deputy division commander, led the 43rd Center combat use and retraining of flight personnel (PPI and PLC) of long-range aviation in Diaghilev.
Valeriy Dmitrievich Romanenko is a correspondent of the central printed organ of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the magazine "Vysko Ukrami", a well-known researcher of the history of aviation, the author of many publications.
Andrey Vyacheslavovich Khaustov is an aviation design engineer, author of a number of publications on the history of aviation.
By the mid-50s. the tactical and technical characteristics of long-range jet bombers - both Soviet and NATO - made it possible to keep a huge space from the Pyrenees to the Urals "under the canopy of a nuclear mushroom". The use of these aircraft assumed a breakthrough to the target at high altitude and speed. However, the emergence of new fighters required the creation of even faster machines. The development of supersonic bombers began in the USA, USSR and France. In the late 50s - early 60s. were put into mass production: in the USA - B-58 Hustler, in the USSR - Tu-22 and in France - Mirage-IV. But by that time, the development of air defense systems had taken another step forward, and for bombers, high speed and flight altitude finally ceased to be a saving shield. The creation of tactical and intercontinental missiles with nuclear warheads, it seemed, generally deprived the bombers of further prospects. Already by the middle of the 60s. the Americans wrote off all the B-58s, and France kept its strategic Mirages in service, rather out of considerations of national prestige, relying on missile submarines. In the Soviet Union, they took a different path: Tu-22s were produced for almost a decade and are still in service, 38 years after the first flight.
Evolution as a way to achieve the goal
The first projects of Soviet supersonic long-range bombers appeared in the early 50s. Their developers were the competing design bureaus of A.N. Tupolev and V.M. Myasishchev. The latter, less “burdened” with experience and traditions, relied on the maximum technical originality. The main approach of the Tupolev design school was pragmatism. Perhaps the aircraft of this company did not look as avant-garde as Myasishcheva, however, Tupolev's trump card was the reality of the declared characteristics and faster refinement of prototypes. There is a well-known phrase of Andrey Nikolaevich: "If an airplane is designed at 70% of zero, it will certainly be unsuccessful." It is not surprising that, starting to create a supersonic bomber, the designers made the most of the developments on the Tu-16 already launched into the series.
"Product 105" is the first prototype of the Tu-22. 1958 g.
The project of its supersonic version, which received the designation "product 103", resembled the original car, equipped with four turbojet engines VD-5 or VD-7 (developed by OKB V.A. Dobrynin). The engines were placed one above the other along the sides of the fuselage. The “cheap” solution, alas, gave a “cheap” result - the calculations showed the futility of the project. More drastic measures were required.
The new project, the head of which was appointed SM Yeger, received the designation "product 105". On August 10, 1954, a decree of the USSR Council of Ministers and the Central Committee of the CPSU was issued, which legalized the development of a long-range supersonic bomber, and the first general appearance of the machine appeared in November of the same year. In contrast to "product 103", the aircraft was equipped with a 52 ° swept wing and two VD-5F engines placed in the fuselage like a front-line supersonic bomber "product 98" *. At the end of the same year, TsAGI conducted a purge of aerodynamic models and issued recommendations for changing the configuration of the aircraft. The designers moved the engines by placing them in nacelles at the root of the vertical tail. Optimizing the appearance of the car lasted almost a year. At the end of 1955, the final layout appeared, detailed design and production of the first units of the "one hundred and fifth" prototype were launched.
Its fuselage had a circular cross-section with a bomb bay behind the wing center section. At the root, it had a thick profile, allowing the main landing gear to be removed into the wing perpendicular to the direction of flight. The adopted layout of the power plant made it possible to make the shape of the air intakes the most optimal, minimizing inlet losses. In the absence of any technical means to ensure stable operation at supersonic sound, their maximum operating number M was 1.5. The high position of the engines reduced the likelihood of foreign objects entering them. This layout also had many disadvantages. First of all, the weight of the airframe increased due to the need to strengthen the tail section of the fuselage and lengthen the nose section for alignment reasons. A significant operational center of gravity required the adoption of a number of measures to ensure the longitudinal stability of the bomber in all flight modes. One of the key decisions was the optimal sectioning of fuel tanks and ensuring the required sequence of their use. The lengthening of the bow had a negative impact on the characteristics of directional stability. In addition, the considerable height of the engines above the ground made them difficult to maintain.
The most important influence on the appearance of the aircraft was that it was not designed for supersonic cruising flight. "Supersonic" was envisaged only in case of a breakthrough of air defense. Following the route at non-afterburner modes and speeds lower than M \u003d 1, allowed to significantly reduce the required fuel mass (at subsonic, the aerodynamic quality of the aircraft was 11 versus 5 at M \u003d 1.5, and the specific fuel consumption in non-afterburner mode was twice as low). At the stage of detailed design, the VD-5F engines were replaced by the VD-7M, which had an afterburner thrust of 16 tf each. At the same time, the installation of other engines was studied, but was not implemented, including: M16-17F, AM-17F, P-4, VD-9F and NK-6.
"Product 105": 30 years have passed since the first takeoff. Bad airfield, 1988
The experimental machine was equipped with mechanical control wiring, boosters and a spring loading mechanism for the steering wheel. In an emergency, at speeds up to 600 km / h, the aircraft could be manually controlled. The crew consisted of three people: commander, navigator and air operator. Crew workplaces were equipped with K-22 ejection seats. Due to the high keel height, the ejection direction was chosen downward. "One hundred and fifth" had the latest electronic equipment at that time. The navigator carried out the search for the target using a panoramic radar "Rubin-1A" located in the forward fuselage. To defend against enemy fighters, the bomber had a DM-20 tail mount with two 23-mm P-23 cannons, guided at the target using a PRS-2 Argon-2 radar sight and a TV TP-1.
Through thorns ...
Due to the large number of design and development work, the construction of the prototype at the experimental plant of the OKB continued until December 1957. At the beginning of 1958, it was towed to the territory of the company's test complex in Zhukovsky. By the summer, the plane was ready, and ground tests began. On the first flight "one hundred and fifth" on June 21, 1958 raised the crew consisting of: Yu.T. Alasheev - commander, IE Gavrilenko - flight operator and KA Shcherbakov - flight radio operator. In total, the plane managed to perform several flights. During the latter, an emergency landing was made with an unreleased front landing gear leg. The vehicle was damaged and was not passed on for testing anymore ** by that time its improved version appeared - "product 105A". Preliminary work on the car began in 1957, construction - in January 1958, and in April a corresponding resolution of the Council of Ministers was issued. The 105A aircraft was noticeably different from its predecessor. Its fuselage was designed with the "area rule" in mind. The thickness of the profile at the root of the wing was reduced, in connection with which it was necessary to return to the method of cleaning the main landing gear legs ^ into special gondolas, tested on the Tu-16. Root beads were made on the leading edge of the wing. One cannon was removed on the tail defensive installation, and the PRS-2 sight was replaced with the PRS-3. In total, two copies of "105A" were built, one of which was for statistical tests.
Model "products 105"
From 1959 D.S. Markov was appointed the leading designer of the aircraft. In the summer of 1959, the flight prototype was ready, and on September 7, 1959, the same crew took the aircraft into the air. Until the end of the year, the experienced bomber performed only 7 flights. Simultaneously with the construction of "105A" at the aircraft plant in Kazan, preparations began for the serial production of the bomber, called the Tu-22. On December 21, the seventh flight was performed on "105A". The program provided for the achievement of a speed corresponding to M \u003d 1.1 - 1.15 at an altitude of 10,000 m. Soon after reaching supersonic, the crew felt a strong blow, and the bomber went into an uncontrolled dive. Alasheev gave the order to leave the car, but he himself, trying to save the plane, remained on board. The flight operator's seat did not go beyond the cut-off of the hatch, and Gavrilenko also died.
* A heavy interceptor Tu-128 was subsequently created on its basis
** Probably, after the repair, the plane was handed over as a visual aid to one of the training units of the USSR Air Force. This version is confirmed by the remains of the "one hundred and fifth" in the school of junior aviation specialists at the Far Eastern airfield Bada, located several thousand kilometers from Moscow.
Aft cannon installation and radar radar of the radio sight
The radio operator Shcherbakov ejected at a speed of 1380 km / h and remained the only surviving member of the crew. The commission investigating the catastrophe concluded that it was caused by the elevator flutter, and recommended the use of the all-moving horizontal tail (CSC). The main variant from the amoleth was to be the Tu-22B bomber ("product Yu"). The elimination of the identified defects delayed its introduction into production, and only in the summer of 1960. the first three serial Tu-22Bs entered testing. They had a centralized control center, which could be controlled by an electromechanical mechanism when the boosters failed, anti-flutter weights were installed at the wing tips, a number of systems and complexes of the machine were improved. The normal bomb load of the aircraft was 3000 kg, the overload load was up to 9000 kg.
On September 2, Tu-22B (serial number 201), piloted by the crew of V.R.Kovalev, V.S. Passportnikov and K.A. Shcherbakov, made a test flight - the first after the crash "105A". Soon after takeoff, the aircraft entered the progressive longitudinal vibration mode, and the crew managed to land it with great difficulty. On subsequent flights, this phenomenon was repeated, and the tests were interrupted. The OKB has carried out improvements to the control system. On November 17, the Tu-22B took off again, and Kovalev noted a significant improvement in stability and controllability. However, soon the pilot noticed a drop in oil pressure in the engine and turned it off. “The heavy vehicle began to lose altitude rapidly. Making sure that he could not reach the airfield, Kovalev sat on his belly in a field near the Pekhorka River. On impact on the frozen ground (there were severe frosts), the cockpit tore off, crawled several meters and froze. All the hatches and vents were jammed from the deformation of the frame, and the crew was captured.
Tail section of Tu-22U
Fairing station SPS-151
Main landing gear
The tail section with the engines caught fire, the pilots saw reflections of the flame in the snow. Kovalev told navigator B.C. Passportnikov on the phone: "You do what you want, but I won't burn alive and will eject." On earth, this is suicide. Fortunately, LII cars came rushing in and the prisoners were freed. The emergency commission got to the bottom of the accident, it turned out to be an oil pipe from the engine to the pressure gauge, which burst exactly on the border between the engine nacelle and the aircraft. "*
The machines of the first series, despite the measures taken, still had a tendency to swing in pitch. According to V.P. Borisov, the leading test pilot at the OKB on Tu-22 from the end of 1960 to 1968, the reason for this phenomenon was the following. With an increase in the flight speed under the action of the high-speed pressure, the wing was twisted, and the angle of attack of its end sections decreased. The resultant lift moved forward, reducing the static stability margin, and the aircraft became "neutral" in pitch. The problem was solved by installing a damper in the longitudinal control system - an automatic vibration damping device by appropriate deviations of the controls. They also installed an automatic balancing machine, which facilitates piloting the bomber in transonic flight modes.
However, the management system still needed improvement. In one of the test flights, Borisov was tasked with determining the sufficiency of the stabilizer booster power for normal control at high speeds. He was instructed at an altitude of 4500 m at an indicated speed of 1050 km / h (which corresponded to M \u003d 0.89) to sharply deflect the CSPO by 3 ° and return it to its original position as quickly as possible. When performing this operation, the aircraft managed to reach 80% of the destructive overload. To prevent this, it was decided to load the steering wheel with a force of 25-27 kgf by installing an automatic additional efforts, which is included in the work with a certain movement of the steering wheel.
* Leonid L. Kerber. With Tupolev in prison and at liberty. Memories of an Engineer. - Shift No. 9, 1991
Fairing station SPS-153
Retractable ventral heel
The developers believed that it was not advisable to connect this machine during turns and turns, since the control wheel costs in such modes are much higher than in straight flight. Borisov questioned this and insisted on a test flight. He recalls: “At a speed of 800 km / h, I energetically took the plane into a turn with a roll of 60 °. At the same time, the vertical overload increased sharply to + 2.8d. To prevent its further growth, the steering wheel was given away from itself. The overload instantly became negative, reaching -1.7d. The helm was again taken over, and the overload increased to + 4d. (Already on the ground, according to the recorders, it turned out that the pilot's actions to prevent the increase in overload occurred 0.3 seconds after the change in the sign of the angular velocity in pitch.) It became clear that a progressive buildup had begun, and the plane would collapse on the next roll. Borisov found the only correct way out by setting the steering wheel to neutral position. The swing quickly stopped. In the future, the additional spring loader did not turn off when performing turns and turns. But this was not enough, and a hydraulic limiter was introduced into the longitudinal control system, which did not allow the steering wheel to be sharply deflected.
In parallel, the roll control channel was being worked out. At high flight speeds, the twisting of the wing tips of the Tu-22 led to the reverse of the ailerons. This forced the introduction of a maximum flight speed limit of M \u003d 1.4. To remove the restriction, the Design Bureau developed a flap aileron. Now the outer sections of the flaps played their main function at subsonic sound, and at supersonic they served as ailerons, while the standard ailerons were blocked. The Tu-22 with aileron-flaps began to be mass-produced since 1965. However, aircraft that did not have this innovation were operated in combat units for quite a long time.
Front landing gear
At the end of the 50s. it became clear that a combat aircraft armed only with free-falling bombs would not be effective enough. Therefore, the Tu-22B, produced in a small series, were never put into service. They were used mainly for testing and training technical personnel. One Tu-22B is now on display at the museum in Monino.
The Kh-22 * supersonic cruise missile made it possible to significantly increase the combat capabilities of the "twenty-second". The development of the carrier for it, which received the designation Tu-22K, began in 1958. In May 1960, its layout appeared, and at the beginning of 1961 the first flight copy was built (serial number 5060045). On July 6, this aircraft with the X-22 mockup under the fuselage took part in the parade over Tushino.
Experienced Tu-22K was tested at GNIKI ** Air Force in Akhtubinsk. There in the 60s. at the same time there were up to three Tu-22s, the main work on which was carried out by the crews of pilots S.L. Timonin, Yu.M. Sukhov and V.I. Kuznetsov (the latter for testing the Tu-22K at high angles of attack received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union). At some stages, other pilots were involved, incl. honored test pilot of the USSR A.Ya. Nikonov. He recalls: “... the tests of the missile carriers were very difficult, both in terms of the aircraft itself and in terms of missile launches. At supersonic, due to uneven heating of the skin, the fuselage was deformed, which led to the movement of the booster control rods. As a result, the steering surfaces deflected, causing large heeling and turning moments. To counter them, for example, the steering wheel had to be turned sometimes 90 °. In such conditions, not only making launches - flying was dangerous!
* Original name K-22. It had the following main parameters: length 11.6 m, span 3 m, launch weight about 6000 kg, warhead weight 1000 kg. Depending on the flight path, the launch range of the X-22 ranged from 150 to 500 km at a flight speed of up to 4000 km / h.
** State Scientific Testing Institute of the Red Banner.
Niche of the front landing gear
In flight Tu-22KD missile carrier
Tu-22R - the most massive version of the "twenty-second"
Tu-22U early production series
Preparing for the departure of the Tu-22UD. The fuel receiver rod has been dismantled on the plane. Nezhin, 19.03.1996
There were also difficulties in the autopilot, on the test program of which test pilot V.F. Cherno-Ivanov and the operator died, only the navigator survived. Another test crew (pilot V. Korchagin, navigator G. Pronin and operator A. Sannikov) crashed after a fire in the air. One engine on their plane caught fire, while the devices did not signal a fire. After the alarming message "Burn!", Received from a pilot from the cosmonaut corps, not far off "spinning aerobatics" on the MiG-15. the commander asked for help from the "ground", tk. the crew could not see the engines due to the design features. From the command post they ordered to descend and pass over the tower, which killed the pilots. Seeing the smoke, the flight director ordered to gain 2000 m and eject, but it was too late - during the transfer to climb, the plane fell.
Although the successful launches of the X-22 took place, the experienced Tu-22K, by the decision of the State Commission, did not withstand the tests. A strange situation arose: a car that has not passed state tests is serially produced and supplied to parts. But the authority of Andrei Nikolaevich was then indisputable, communications are powerful and reliable, and therefore a compromise solution was born: as the main option, to adopt a reconnaissance agent (the latter did not need to launch supersonic missiles), and gradually refine the missile carriers produced. All ordered Tu-22Ks were built and entered the regiments, where they soon began to fight intensively, burying the crews under the rubble. There are known cases of pilots' refusal to serve on these machines. Only repeated improvements (mainly in the control system, in the end, 8 complexes of improvements were made) made it possible to correct the situation. " problems. The debugging of the vehicle was delayed, and although it appeared in units in 1965, it was adopted only in 1967. In total, a little more than 70 such missile carriers were released in Kazan.
Modifications
At the end of 1960, a prototype of the Tu-22U combat trainer was built. The cockpit of the instructor pilot was organized above the dismantled cockpit of the air operator. The stern gun mount was not installed, and its place was closed with a fairing. The volume of the front fuselage fuel tank was reduced. The functions of the operator to ensure the operation of aircraft equipment were distributed between the navigator and the instructor. Tests of the Tu-22U were completed in 1962, and in 1963 these machines began to enter the troops.
In May 1961, a prototype reconnaissance version of the Tu-22R appeared. The aircraft was intended for aerial photo reconnaissance at any time of the day, topographic aerial photography, radio-technical and radar reconnaissance using the Rhombus equipment and the Rubin-1A radar station. Cameras were installed in the bomb compartment in various combinations: AFA-40, AFA-41/20, AFA-42/20, AFA-42/75, AFA-42/100 and NAFA-MK-75. The scout was easily converted into a bomber.
* In 1969 A.Ya. Nikonov transferred from the State Research Institute of Research and Development to the Kazan plant, where he flew around the Tu-22UD twin-packs produced at that time - the last of the serially produced variants. They had an improved control system, and he responds with great warmth about piloting them. All in all, on the Tu-22 Nikonov performed 192 flights (374 flight hours).
According to the old refueling technique, the pilot drove the plane straight into the cone (left). With a new one - he took a position five meters to the right of the cone (right)
Instead of photographic equipment, bomb racks of the required type were mounted, aiming was carried out using the "Rubin-1 A" radar or the OPB-15 sight. For individual protection in case of a breakthrough of air defense, the Tu-22R was equipped with automatic KDS-16 passive radio jammers located in the rear of the gondolas of the main landing gear. In the later series of release, the scouts, like other combat modifications of the Tu-22, were not equipped with a stern rifle mount. In its place, an SPS-151 active radio jamming station (on some SPS-152 or SPS-153 vehicles) was installed, which was closed by a fairing. Later machines differed in the composition of electronic reconnaissance equipment and had additional antennas in the influx of the wing and on the fuselage. Tu-22R could be used as electronic warfare aircraft, for which the installation of the APP-22 assault rifle was provided in the bomb bay. In 1962, scouts began to enter the air regiments.
To cover the combat formations of the Tu-22K in 1961, a specialized electronic warfare aircraft Tu-22P was created. The special equipment was located inside the fuselage and in a suspended container. These aircraft externally differed from the Tu-22R in the aerial fairings behind the cockpit and in the leading edge of the wing inflow. In total, about 30 Tu-22P-1 and P-2 were produced (each Tu-22K regiment had one Tu-22P squadron). During operation, a number of aircraft were modified and Tu-22P-4, Tu-22P-6 and Tu-22P-7 appeared. The options differed in the composition of the equipment, the types of external containers, the number and shape of the antennas.
In 1962, the Council of Ministers issued a decree on the creation of an anti-radar strike complex based on the Kh-22P missile. The missile carriers modified for this program received the designation Tu-22KP. They were equipped with target designation systems "Kurs-N" or "Kurs-NM", the antennas of which were originally located on the right of the nose of the fuselage j or on the rod of the fuel receiver, and later were removed inside the fuselage.
Air refueling boom
Tu-22RD of the 199th OGDRAP refueled in the air from the Tu-16N
Since 1965, more powerful RD-7M2 engines have been installed on the Tu-22. With the new power plant, the maximum speed of the "twenty-second" increased to 1600 km / h, finally reaching the value set in the TTZ. To improve the takeoff characteristics, "four SPRD-63 boosters could be installed on all Tu-22s. With a normal take-off weight, the takeoff run was reduced from 2300 to 1000 m. Tests with boosters took place in the early 60s without any particular problems." Nikonov, "the already" not quiet "plane roared so that those who were nearby had to clasp their heads in their hands and quickly" flow away "as far as possible. Acoustic impressions were complemented by multimeter flames escaping from the accelerators." From the 29th series to Tu- 22, the fuselage fuel tank No. 1 was not installed. Starting from Series 4 aircraft, the main landing gear was installed on an elastic suspension. The landing gear nacelle could now fluctuate within the limits limited by the suspension system. This increased the critical wing flutter speed by 1.5 times and allowed to dismantle anti-flutter weights in the endings.
Tu-22PD takes off. A container with electronic warfare equipment is installed under the fuselage
In 1962, aircraft with serial numbers 801 and 901 were experimentally equipped with air refueling systems. According to Nikonov's recollections, their tests, which included "multiple" contacts "with the Tu-16 in the tanker version, were successful. Since 1965, such systems began to be installed on all manufactured aircraft, and the letter "D" - long-range was added to the designation of machines. This is how the Tu-22RD / KD / KPD / PD / UD appeared.
Air refueling by long-range aviation pilots was considered "aerobatics". This operation was challenging even for experienced pilots. Before its start, the Tu-22, flying at an altitude of 5000-8000 m at a speed of about 600 km / h, was attached to the right behind, 50 m from the Tu-16 tanker. Then he lagged behind, and when the distance between the aircraft increased to 150 m, the pilot began aiming at the refueling cone. In an effort to better perform the maneuver, he often involuntarily excessively increased the thrust of the engines and the speed of approach. The last 8-10 meters the plane flew literally "on the nerves" of the pilot, before whose eyes a dark spot of the cone was rapidly growing. If the commander of the Tu-22 lacked attention and self-control, contact would not work out, and the plane would jump forward. In order not to collide with the tanker, we had to vigorously go to the right and down. Then everything was repeated from the beginning. Inexperienced pilots did not even have enough 400-450 km of the route to refuel, and some could not cope with this task at all.
Preflight preparation of Tu-22KPD
"Unsinkable" tanker - training target for missile carriers
In the 70s. In the Nezhinsky regiment, under the leadership of V.L. Konstantinov, a new, more effective refueling technique was developed. From the right bearing, the refueled aircraft switched to the wake system, so that its nose took a position next to the cone to the right, about 5 m. The pilot equalized the speed and gradually reduced the lateral distance to 1.5-2 m. Having fixed this position, he radioed to the tanker commander: "I'm going to contact!" By increasing the engine speed, the Tu-22 pilot turned the car into a light left slip and found himself directly in front of the cone. After the "shot" of the boom, refueling began. It was considered a special "chic" to make contact with the cone without extending the bar, using only the throttle.
Latest options
Suspension for Tu-22KD cruise missile Kh-22
Tu-22RDK wing
Engine air intakes
Nacelle of the RD-7M-2 engine
Serial construction of the Tu-22 continued in Kazan until 1969 - more than 250 copies were produced. After the termination of production of the aircraft, a number of modifications arose, obtained by modifications of previously built machines. In 1975, one Tu-22R was converted for simultaneous reconnaissance and bombing. The photographic equipment was removed from the bomb bay, two AFA-42/100 were installed in place of the dismantled fuel tank No. 1, and another one of the same kind was installed in the technical compartment. A container with four short-focus AFA could be suspended under the fuselage. The plane was equipped with a side-looking radar "Rampol", as well as equipment for reconnaissance and mapping in the infrared spectrum. The aircraft did not have a stern rifle installation, it was equipped with the SPS-151 station and ASO-2I blocks. He received the designation Tu-22RM. In 1981-82. a small number of Tu-22RDs were similarly modified into Tu-22RDM.
In the 70s. several Tu-22Rs were equipped with the "Cube" electronic reconnaissance equipment, placed in fairings along the cockpit and wing overflows. The aircraft received the designation Tu-22RK / RDK. One Tu-22R was equipped with an experimental set of radio suppression equipment. However, due to the poor compatibility of the new equipment with the original, this version remained in a single copy.
In the early 70s. at the LII on the Tu-22, the aerial cameras NA-Ya-7 and NA-Ya-8 were tested using the illumination of the area with searchlights, as well as personnel and panoramic AFA "Zone" for color and multispectral shooting. The use of the latter significantly increased the likelihood of recognizing camouflaged targets. There is no information about the use of this equipment on the combatant Tu-22.
In 1975, during an experiment to expand the basing capabilities, the Tu-22 with two SPRD-63 was tested on an unpaved runway. The Air Force Research Institute recognized basing the aircraft on the ground as impossible due to the high loads on the chassis and structure.
Tu-22RDM regiment commander from Zyabrovka. Board number 19 is red. A green dragon is painted on the port side, its belly and mouth are red, the muzzle and smoke are gray, the flame is orange
Tu-22R takes off
However, even before this "verdict" in combat units, there were "aces" who personally "tested" the aircraft on the ground. An example is the landing of a pair of Tu-22R at the beginning of April 1969. The crews of the squadron commander of the Nikitin regiment and of the Polevoy guard, due to the deteriorating weather over Nizhyn, were sent to an alternate airfield in Uzin. Before that, there had been a little snow, "camouflaging" the concrete runway, and the spare unpaved runway was much better distinguished from the air. The visibility was within 4000 m, and the squadron commander, entering the airfield by instruments, suddenly saw that in front of him an open field, and the strip to the left. Deciding that the instruments had failed, he turned to the left. No sooner had the KP gave a go-around command than Nikitin's plane was already rolling on the ground, leaving a track, the landing gear held out, and the Tu-22R, splashed with mud, got out to taxi. Nikitin immediately commanded the follower on the radio: "Trust the instruments!" However, Polevoy exactly repeated the leader's mistake, and two dirty planes appeared in the parking lot. The vehicles successfully passed the "exam", and the crews still had to endure the "delight" of the leadership. The chief of staff of the corps, General Pasichnyk, was especially indignant: “The scouts, ...! You have to find a needle in a haystack, but the strategic strip 3.5 kilometers long and 100 meters wide could not be distinguished from the ground !!! "
Discharge neck of the KDS-16 assault rifle and the ASO-2I cassette in the Tu-22RD chassis
The Tupolev Design Bureau constantly tried to improve the flight characteristics of the aircraft. To achieve high flight speeds, the possibility of using a wing with a thinner profile was studied. Acceptable take-off and landing characteristics should have been provided by a system for blowing the boundary layer from the flaps. Two RD-36-35 engines were supposed to be installed next to the nacelles as gas generators. Until the construction of this aircraft, which received the designation Tu-22RTK, did not come. Later, the RD-35-36 were installed in the niches of the main chassis of one of the serial Tu-22s as lifting ones. Projects for equipping the Tu-22 with the NK-144 and NK-6 engines were not implemented. The possibilities for modernizing the aircraft were exhausted, and a new aircraft was required to achieve higher performance. It was the Tu-22M, which appeared in 1969.
With red stars on their wings
Tu-22 began to enter service in 1962, and the 43rd PPI and long-range aviation PLC in Diaghilev near Ryazan were the first to receive them. In the future, only the 46th Air Army received the "twenty-second" in DA. In the same year, a separate Guards Long-Range Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment (OGDRAP) in Zyabrovka near Gomel and the 15th Long-Range Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment (DRAP) of the Navy in Chkalovsk near Kaliningrad began rearmament from the Tu-16 to the Tu-22R. In July 1964, based in Nizhyn, the 199th OGDRAP under the command of the guards of the regiment A.S. Erokhin, began a theoretical retraining course, and on March 9, 1965, flights on the Tu-22R. At the same time, the naval reconnaissance aviation regiment in Saki received new vehicles. In 1965, deliveries of Tu-22K and Tu-22P began. The aircraft entered the 121st long-range non-bomber aviation regiment in Machulischa near Minsk, the 203rd DBAP in Baranovichi and the 341st DBAP in Ozernoye near Zhitomir. * In the same period, it was planned to deploy the Tu-22K in the Far East. So, the squadron of V.V. Gonchenko of the air regiment from Vozdvizhenka underwent a full training course in Kazan. However, the command decided not to deploy missile carriers of this type in the east of the USSR, and the Vozdvizhenes continued to serve on the Tu-16.
* The numbering of the air regiments and their locations are given at the end of 1991. The information is compiled on the basis of materials from the magazines Lotnictvo, July 1-15, 1992 and Air Forces Monthly, March 1994.
Combat equipment options for Tu-22R
Among the personnel, the new car quickly received the nickname "awl" for its characteristic appearance. Its development was not easy. Takeoff and landing speeds were 100 km / h higher than those of the Tu-16, and the KTS-22 simulators gave only a general idea of \u200b\u200bpiloting, not allowing them to practice takeoff and landing. Sparks often arrived very late. So, in the 199th OGDRAP, they appeared when the regiment was already flying with might and main on a new plane. According to the pilots, the early Tu-22s were very difficult to fly. As Nikonov recalls, “two flights a day without an autopilot was the limit for anyone. It was necessary to hold the steering wheel with two hands - the strength of one was not enough. The landing was quite difficult: all pilots were repeatedly told about the inadmissibility of going out at a speed of less than 290 km / h, otherwise the plane would sharply raise its nose, become a vertical "candle" and fall on its tail. " A newsreel of such a catastrophe was even included in the feature film "Tenderness to the Roaring Beast", which begins with tragic footage filmed in Ozernoye in 1969. Major Varvarichev's crew was killed in the burnt-out Tu-22K.
The chronic disadvantage of the Tu-22 was the tendency to gallop on the run due to the undamped vibrations of the chassis bogie. The resulting significant vibrations sometimes led to the opening of the lock and folding of one of the racks. The aircraft was rotated to the ground, the front strut immediately broke, and the nose of the fuselage crumpled from hitting the ground. If the car was not thrown into an airplane parking lot or airfield buildings, then, as a rule, only the navigator suffered.
Poor ergonomic solutions to workplaces created many problems for the crew. “In an uncomfortable and cramped cab, it was sometimes difficult to reach the right toggle switch. For example, on the first production aircraft, pilots used ropes, hooks and other "arm extensions" in flight. Then the power steering lever was made with a special extension. " (Nikonov). The pilot's seat shifted to the left made it possible to have an acceptable view in the most important direction "left-forward-down", but with a left crosswind, when the pilot parried the plane turning into the wind, the central cover of the canopy blocked the forward view and landing had to be carried out almost on intuition. Therefore, with a crosswind of more than 12 m / s, young and inexperienced pilots were not allowed to fly. There was even such a joke in the regiments: "A good scout, from which the pilot sees only the sky, the navigator - the ground below him and nothing in front, and the air operator looks at the tail, but sees only the wing!" Ironically, this aircraft received the designation Blinder (blind man) in the West.
Tupolev, according to Kerber, attributed the Tu-22 to the number of his unlucky creations. During operation, this aircraft constantly presented "surprises" - one flight accident rarely resembled another. In total, according to Nikonov's calculations. until 1975, at least 70 "twenty-second" of all modifications were broken, with many of these incidents claiming human lives.
Fuselage upper surface
The fan of the turbine generator of the emergency hydraulic system in the released position
Container with short-focus photographic equipment under the fuselage of Tu-22RDM
Flight in formation
A combat review of the Nizhyn guardsmen during the inspection of the regiment by the commander of the USSR DA, Air Marshal F.A. Agaltsov (center). On the far right is the corps commander, General Lt. V.V. Reshetnikov (in the future, the commander of the DA). 1968 year
Landing of Tu-22KD Vityazev regiment (Kh-22 rocket is suspended under the plane). Galloping began, after a few seconds the left landing gear would collapse, and the missile carrier would be seriously damaged. Ozernoye, 01/18/1979
The flight shift is over. Tu-22PD rolled into the parking lot
So, on the night of January 10, 1969. the crew of the guard of Mr. Cheperigin from the Nezhinsky air regiment carried out bombing at the Kalinovka training ground in the eastern Crimea. Having reported on the completion of the mission, the commander headed for Berdyansk, after which the connection with the aircraft was lost. The winter was harsh, the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov was covered with ice, and the search teams that took off in the morning found nothing. The crew was reported missing for almost six months. His fate became clear only after the discovery of the operator's rescue boat, but the reasons for the incident remained unknown. This incident was the first disaster in the regiment since the development of the Tu-22. The next one happened on May 5th. In the afternoon, the crew of Mr. Doronin's Guard started to reconnoitre the weather. During the takeoff run at a speed close to the liftoff, both engines failed. The pilot, trying to slow down, released his parachutes too early, they were cut off, and the Tu-22, filled to capacity, rolled out of the runway. A swampy lowland began 700 m from it. On soft ground, the front strut broke, and the entire bow went underground, crushing the crew ... The reason for the refusal was also not established.
Tu-22 was not originally intended for night formation flights and did not have the appropriate equipment. However, such tasks were included in the combat training program, which was fraught with significant risk. So, on the night of July 25, 1969, after completing the assignment over the airfield of the 199th OGDRAP, two Tu-22Rs collided: the guard, Mr. Feoktistov, rammed the plane of his leading guard under-ka Liskov. The leader's crew ejected safely and after 15 minutes. explained at the command post. Feoktistov ejected without giving a command to the navigator and operator, who, until the collision with the ground, unsuccessfully asked the commander: "When will I jump? ...". Their car crashed into the ground for about 100 mt of the runway. Liskov's damaged plane continued its flight on autopilot for another 52 minutes, performing left turns. Gradually, he shifted to Nezhin and, with an ever-increasing lurch, continued his terrible trick, heading along the main street of the sleeping city towards the railway station. The interceptors raised from Vasilkov did not dare to shoot down the plane over Nizhyn. Above the station, the roll of the uncontrolled car reached a critical value, and it fell into a tailspin and fell into a swamp 500 m from the station.
Flight accidents happened and, it would seem, for incredible reasons, in particular, because of the detonation of their own bombs. So, on the night of April 2, 1976, the crew of the Zaiki Guard carried out bombing at the Karangaysky range 70 km north-east of Kizlyar. When a series of six FOTAB-250-215 was dropped, one bomb exploded in the plane, breaking it in half. During the ejection, the commander and the operator, failing to fix their hands, were injured. The operator landed 30 km from Kizlyar, bandaged his broken arm and in a passing car arrived at the hospital, where the doctor on duty that night was ... his brother. For the pilot, everything also ended well. The navigator died: before bombing, for ease of aiming, he took off his shoulder straps and during the fall of the car he could not immediately put them on, and when he ejected, the height turned out to be too low ... After this incident, special tests of FOTAB-250-215 were carried out in Akhtubinsk, which ended in a similar disaster. The use of such bombs was subsequently prohibited.
Aerial cameras in the Tu-22R cargo hold
Astrosextants BC-63 on the fuselage gargrot
OPB-15A sight window
The crew of the Tu-22RDK takes jobs
In the course of combat training, each crew had to perform at least two supersonic flights annually. As a rule, the plane was in this mode for no more than 10 minutes. Maneuvers were performed, including rolls up to 60 °, missile launches and bombing. Usually, the shock wave from an aircraft flying at high altitude does not pose a danger to people and buildings, however, in the early 70s. there was an incident that literally "made a splash". At an altitude of 11,000 m, Nezhinsky Tu-22R flew at supersonic speed over the city of Sumy. Unfortunately, the state of the atmosphere that evening turned out to be abnormal, and the shock wave retained its destructive force to the ground. It was not only the windows in residential buildings that flew out, but even the thick windows of a department store and restaurant in the city center.
At the ground, supersonic flights were not performed due to strength limitations. However, the crew combat training program included low-altitude flights at high subsonic speeds. Having no system of following the terrain and strict control of the Tu-22 literally "exhausted" the pilot in such modes. Naturally, there were flight accidents. So, on April 12, 1978, during a flight at an ultra-low altitude over the Belarusian Polesskoye training ground, the aircraft of the guard of Konstantin Mikhalev fell behind the leader. When trying to catch up with the commander's car, the pilot lost control and his Tu-22R crashed into the ground.
It was possible to bring the Tu-22 combat complex to the beginning of the 70s. The aircraft's reliability increased significantly, and the pilots who had mastered the aircraft well, comparing it with the Tu-22M, said: "If something happened, I would go to battle in the Tu-22."
The regiments equipped with "twenty-second" had quite definite tasks. Tu-22Ks were intended to attack NATO military facilities in Europe and aircraft carrier groups of the US 6th Fleet. In the latter case, it was assumed that, having passed over the territory of the socialist countries, the planes would go to the Balkans and further to the Mediterranean. The crews worked out such tasks at the training ground in the northeastern part of the Caspian Sea, "making holes" in the sides of the ships that had served.
The task of the Tu-22R was to conduct reconnaissance of air defense systems, control systems and other military installations of a potential enemy deployed on land, as well as to track warships and sea convoys. The Nizhyn regiment conducted strategic reconnaissance in the Central European, southwestern and southern directions (respectively, Germany-Austria-Greece-Bosphorus-Sea of \u200b\u200bMarmara and Black Sea-Turkey-Iran). The Zyabrovsky regiment worked in the Baltic, the northwestern theater of operations and even went “around the corner” (as the Kola Peninsula is called in the aviator's jargon) to Norway. There was also a training direction - to the east towards the Volga region polygons and to the Caspian Sea region. It was a kind of "mirror image" of the likely routes to the West. Similar tasks were performed by the Tu-22Raviation of the Navy. The reconnaissance flights in peacetime were akin to combat flights, accompanied by a fair amount of risk and frequent encounters with the planes of the "potential enemy". Therefore, already for 20 flights over neutral waters and for performing real reconnaissance, the crew could be presented for government awards.
The most difficult and dangerous operation during operations over the sea in wartime was considered to be the defeat of an aircraft carrier. It was supposed to involve at least four scouts, up to a missile carrier regiment and one or two squadrons of fighters. Tu-22R went first. Their task is to identify the aircraft carrier from all the ships of the aircraft carrier strike group (DUG) and report its exact coordinates to the strike group. When approaching the ships, one pair of Tu-22Rs remained at an altitude for jamming and relaying intelligence information, the second “fell” to a height of 100 m and broke through to the AUG at a visual contact distance of -10-15 km. As soon as an aircraft carrier was discovered, the number of its "square" was communicated to the missile carriers, which made launches from a line of about 300 km. Then the task of the pair that had broken through to the ships was "completely simplified." She needed, firstly, to avoid defeat in the explosion of her missiles, and secondly, to evade enemy missiles (launch range - up to 30 km) and carrier-based fighters (interception line - up to 600 km). The reader can estimate the chances of surviving for himself ...
Maintenance of Tu-22KD. Baranovichi, mid 80s
Suspension of aerial bombs in the converted Tu-22KD (view against the flight)
Tu-22R cargo bay (view against flight). Cluster bomb racks visible
The operation described above in peacetime was reduced to the detection of a group of NATO warships, overflight, photography and tracking. This was often accompanied by rather tough opposition. So, according to the recollections of pilots from Zyabrovka, NATO fighters were attached strictly under the Tu-22R fuselage, closing their ships and interfering with photography, squeezing the scout from the convoy, making dangerous maneuvers in close proximity to him, etc. Tracking individual ships was an easier task. In the Black Sea, scouts "herded" US NAVY ships that appeared there.
One of the typical methods of using the Tu-22R was called a "shot" and was intended to open the air defense system of the country of interest. The plane followed strictly in the direction of the state border, and as it approached, air defense assets were activated: radar for detecting and targeting missiles, communication lines, fighters. Meanwhile, the onboard reconnaissance equipment recorded their parameters. Approximately 20 km from the border, a sharp turn to the opposite course was made - the job was done, now let them "scratch the pricked place."
They got it from the Tu-22R and their own air defense, which they "inspected" quite regularly. One of the checks in the late 80s. simulated a massive "enemy" raid from the south. The entire territory of Ukraine was divided into 16 corridors, where at ultra-low altitude, using the relief of the coastline of the sea and river beds, 16 Tu-22R rushed from neutral waters. The result turned out to be scandalous: some of the aircraft broke through completely unnoticed, some of the discovered ones were not conditionally destroyed, or they could be “hit” too late, already at great depths. As a result, just like after Rust's landing on Red Square, there was a "changing of the guard" in the air defense - this time in the southern districts. Routine tasks for the Tu-22R crews were missions to check the operational camouflage of their troops, command post, missile launchers and other objects. For example, in Ukraine and Belarus they were looking for the SS-20, in the Moscow region - an ICBM launcher on a railroad traction.
Tu-22PD over the mountains of Afghanistan
Used Tu-22 at the final stage of hostilities in Afghanistan. In October 1988, Tu-22MZ from Poltava and four Tu-22PD from Ozernoye arrived at the Mary-2 airfield. The mission of the electronic warfare aircraft was to provide cover for the Backfires during combat missions to areas adjacent to the border with Pakistan, in particular, to the Khost area. Pakistani F-16s acted in these areas more and more actively, moreover, the possibility of using air defense systems with radar guidance was not excluded. In early December Poltava was replaced by the Tu-22MZ regiment from Orsha. The pilots from Ozernoye continued to cover the bombers until early January 1989, after which they were replaced by the four from Baranovichi. By this time, flights near the Pakistani border were almost not carried out - the main combat work was in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Salang pass. The need for jammers disappeared, and in early February Tu-22PD of the 203rd DBAP left Mary-2.
Preparing to conduct photographic reconnaissance in Afghanistan and Tu-22R from Nizhyn. On November 3, 1988, three vehicles were relocated to Mozdok, but a week later they were returned back without having made a single combat mission.
Surprisingly, the Tu-22R was also used in the national economy. They flew to natural disasters: forest and peat fires, floods, etc. At the same time, the relevant services very quickly received event photomaps.
Tu-22PD of the 341st TBAP, on which the crew of the sub-ka V.V. Melnik performed combat missions to Afghanistan. (Fragments of coloring - on the 2nd page of the cover)
Under the banner of Islam *
Tu-22s were exported only to Iraq and Libya: under the designation Tu-22B, more than 20 Tu-22Rs were delivered, on which reconnaissance equipment was dismantled, as well as several Tu-22Us. The regimes of S. Hussein and M. Gaddafi, who were friends with the USSR, acquired such powerful weapons, planning strikes on Israel, but their pilots had to fight with neighboring Muslim countries.
Arab crews mastered the Tu-22 at the base of the air regiment in Zyabrovka. The Iraqis were the first to arrive. Their training took place in 1973-74. under the leadership of General - Mr. V.S.Shukshin with the participation of the most experienced crews from Nizhyn. According to the instructors, their wards very conscientiously studied everything related to the practical operation of the aircraft, and on the contrary, they treated the theoretical course, to put it mildly, with coolness. There were no problems with the language barrier, because the overwhelming majority of Iraqi aviators received their specialty in the USSR. At the end of the course, they were given the opportunity to select the best aircraft in terms of technical condition for the regiment, on which the group departed home. In 1976, the Libyans also mastered the Tu-22.
The first reliably known fact of the combat use of the Tu-22 dates back to the Tanzanian-Ugandan war of 1978-79. When Ugandan dictator I. Amin began to suffer defeat, he turned to Colonel M. Gaddafi for help. That request respected, as evidenced by the raid of two Tu-22 Libyan Air Force on the Tanzanian city of Mwanza on the night of March 29-30, 1979. Fortunately, there were no civilian casualties.
* Alexander V. Kotlobovsky, a permanent author of A&V, took part in the preparation of this section
Images on the sides of the Tu-22PD (side numbers 51 and 57) of the 203rd DBAP, which took part in the Afghan war
The main battlefield of the Libyan Tu-22 was Chad, where it was civil War between G. Weddey's Prolivian group and H. Habré's regime supported by France and the USA. Tupolev's bombers could reach any point in Chad, and Habré's lack of effective air defense made it possible to carry out these raids with impunity. So, on October 9, 1980, the Tu-22 group struck at the positions of the Habré detachments near the capital of Chad, N'Djamena, providing Ouedday's troops with a temporary victory. A year later, the war broke out again. In July-September 1983, Tu-22 inflicted a series of attacks on the troops of Habré near Fada, Faya-Larzho and Umm-Shaluba.
Military operations in Chad resumed in early 1986. On February 17, the Libyan Tu-22, starting from the Sebha airbase, struck at N'Djamena airport at 7:00. "Twenty-second" dropped three 500-kg bombs on the runway, one of which exploded exactly on the runway, forming a crater 20 m in diameter and 8 m deep. As a result, the airport was closed for 36 hours, and the Tu-22 left with impunity. The French supplying air defense for N'Djamena, justifying the unexpected raid, suggested that the Tu-22 either went through a civil air corridor and was mistaken for a regular airliner, or flew at an ultra-low altitude above the bed of a dry river, gaining altitude (3000-5000 m) directly from goals.
From October 1986 to March 1987, during the offensive of the Libyan army in the north of Chad in the Tibe Plateau, the appearance of the Tu-22 was again noted. In March, Habré's troops seized the initiative and, after stubborn battles, captured the Libyan airbase Wadi Dum, located in Chad. Among the trophies were two Tu-22s. Gaddafi, who took this defeat painfully, ordered an attack on Wadi Dum. Several Tu-22s took part in the action, but the results were negligible. On August 8, the Chadians captured the Libyan Aouzu airbase in the disputed zone between the countries. Gaddafi's troops launched a series of counterattacks, making extensive use of aviation, including the Tu-22, one of which was shot down by a MANPADS missile *. On September 5, the Chadians defeated the Maaten es Sara airbase already on the territory of Libya. In response, Gaddafi ordered a new air raid on the capital of Chad. On September 6, a pair of Tu-22s appeared in the area of \u200b\u200bthe N'Djamena airport. This time, the French 405th anti-aircraft missile regiment was at the height, which shot down one bomber "Hawk" (the crew was killed). The second plane hurriedly dropped its cargo and left. The final chord of the Tu-22's combat career in Chad was the bombing of Wadi Dum, Fada and Faya-Larjo.
Tu-22 Iraqi Air Force at a repair plant in Ryazan. The configuration of the radar fairing interface with the fuselage is typical for the early Tu-22R
Tu-22 of the Libyan Air Force over the Mediterranean Sea. On the plane - old-style identification marks
Gaddafi had "ideological differences" with another African dictator - Sudanese General J. Nimeiri, who helped Habré. As a result, in mid-March 1984 one Tu-22 bombed the city of Omdurman. As a result, five people died and there were numerous wounded. In 1985, a new regime came to power in Sudan. According to Western observers, in March 1986, on the Tu-22 provided by Gaddafi, the Sudanese crews launched a series of bombing strikes on bases and strongholds of the armed opposition in the south. Tu-22 is still in service with the Libyan Air Force. At the beginning of 1995, there were 6 vehicles in service.
* According to other sources, with the help of the captured Soviet air defense system "Cube".
The Tu-22 of the Iraqi Air Force was used from the first days of the war with Iran, which began on September 19, 1980. The radius of the "twenty-second" made it possible to strike at any target on the territory of Iran. They were used both day and night. The discipline of Saddam Hussein's pilots was iron, and one of the Soviet military advisers became an unwitting witness of this. When the crews of Tu-22 were assigned the first real combat missions, one of the pilots expressed his unwillingness to shed the blood of Muslim brothers. Local "special officers" immediately in front of everyone took him to the plane and shot him. The crews had no more doubts ...
The navigator's central console and the OPB-15 sight on the Tu-22KD
Instrument panel of the Tu-22R cockpit
Military and industrial facilities in Tehran and Isfahan became the primary targets for the Twenty-second. Thus, on September 23, the capital's international airport was bombed, while, according to the Iranians, one Tu-22 was shot down. In early October, a group of twenty-two, accompanied by fighters, struck a powerful blow at two car assembly plants located near Tehran airport.
For a short time at the beginning of the conflict, Tu-22s were based at the airfields of Saudi Arabia and North Yemen. Such a redeployment undertaken by Saddam Hussein by agreement with the governments of these countries made it possible to secure expensive bombers from Iranian air raids. Intensive combat work "twenty-second" lasted until the end of 1980. Then, for two years, they were used only sporadically due to the Soviet embargo on the supply of weapons, ammunition and spare parts. It is known that in 1982 several strikes were made on targets deep in Iran, primarily on oil refining complexes and troop concentrations. That year, the Iranians announced the destruction of two Tu-22s. *
Since May 1985, Iraqi aircraft, including Tu-22, again began bombing Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz and other Iranian cities, as well as the oil terminal on Kharg Island. For example, in 16 days from late May to early June, 23 raids were made on Tehran. Iran responded with a missile attack and several air strikes against Baghdad. Thus began the "war of cities", which continued intermittently until the end of the conflict. Iraqi pilots, faced with the strengthened enemy air defense, were able to convince themselves of the good combat survivability of the Tu-22. For example, a case is known when a missile launched from an Iranian "Phantom" destroyed half of a bomber's GO. The crew felt a blow and some deterioration in longitudinal controllability, however, they safely brought the plane to the base. In another case, the bottom of the fuselage was seriously damaged by shrapnel from the Hawk air defense missile system, but this machine also returned home safely.
Air operator console, tube of radar and TV-sights screens of aft rifle installation
Last landing. Engels, 1994
In March 1988, Tu-22s joined the "tanker war". On March 19, their crews managed to set fire to two Iranian supertankers: Avai (displacement 316379 tons) and Sanandai (253837 tons). More than 50 people died.
When in the second half of 1988. the war ended, in the Iraqi Air Force there were only 5 Tu-22s. In January 1991, the US media announced that during Operation Desert Storm, these aircraft were destroyed on the ground by coalition forces. However, according to Flight International magazine, at the beginning of 1995, the Iraqi Air Force had four Tu-22s. The technical condition of these machines was not reported. At the beginning of this year, the Iraqis announced that they had managed to bring their Tu-22s into a combat-ready state.
* Information coming from the media of Iran and Iraq requires a very careful approach. When analyzing the combat reports of that war, one gets the impression that both sides repeatedly inflicted irreparable losses on the air force of their enemy, but continued to fight with no less "success."
Instead of an epilogue
8 late 70s. the gradual replacement of the Tu-22 began in the reconnaissance aviation regiments of the USSR Navy. Chernomorets re-equipped with Tu-22M2. The Baltic Fleet pilots, having transferred the old equipment to Zyabrovka, received Su-24 front-line bombers in return.
Tu-22 46th VA served until the collapse of the USSR. At the beginning of 1992, long-range aviation formations on the territory of Belarus came under the jurisdiction of Russia. In 1994, the air regiments from Zyabrovka, Baranovichi and Machulishchi were disbanded, and the Tu-22 was relocated to Engels. There 63 cars out of 92 arrivals were put on storage. The rest, in accordance with the treaties on the reduction of offensive arms, are gradually transferred for destruction.
Ukraine inherited about 30 missile carriers and 30 Tu-22 * reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that have exhausted their service life are currently being handed over for disposal. The rest continue to be in service. Their crews are manned by real professionals, for example, in the Nizhyn regiment at the time of the formation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, most of the pilots and navigators were first class. Lack of fuel, spare parts and other known difficulties led to a significant decrease in the intensity of flights. Despite this, the aviators manage to maintain a high level of training, which is confirmed by the actions of the Tu-22R crew consisting of: commander of sub-k E.S. Kolupanov (from Ozernoye), navigator - senior navigator of the regiment, sub-k. B. G. Nasrutdinov , aerial operator - Mr. A.F. Kovalev. On May 25, 1995, after completing a mission over the neutral waters of the Black Sea, the engine on their plane failed. According to the navigator's calculations, it was not possible to fly to Nezhin, and the pilot skillfully landed the faulty car at an alternate airfield near Odessa.
In modern Ukraine, Tu-22Rs also perform national economic tasks. In the current situation, air reconnaissance officers were able to earn money, which is now so lacking for the army, by performing photography for mapping, geodesy and land management, monitoring natural disasters.
About 40 years have passed since the first takeoff of the Tu-22. Of the nearly ten types of supersonic bombers that appeared in the world before the mid-60s, only the "twenty-second" is still in service. The supersonic long-liver has every chance of meeting the third millennium in the ranks.
At the finish line ... Base of liquidation of Ukrainian Tu-22, Nizhyn, 1994
Pilots of the Long-Range Aviation of Russia celebrate their professional holiday on December 23. 103 years ago, the first squadron of heavy bombers "Ilya Muromets" was formed. It is noteworthy that on this day 98 years ago, one of the most famous pilots of the country was born, a participant in the Great Patriotic War, commander of long-range aviation from 1969 to 1980, Hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Vasilyevich Reshetnikov. One of the Tu-160 strategic bombers is named after him.
On the eve of the "long-range" holiday and the birthday, the honored military pilot shared with TASS his memories of his service and told what it was like to land with a burning engine, is it possible to eat fat in an intercontinental flight and whether it pulls into the sky with the same strength after so many years.
"Fired up by aviation"
I did not plan to connect my life with the army, I had completely different aspirations. He studied at the workers' faculty, was a member of the Komsomol. But in 1936, we were invited to the medical commission, since there was a recruitment into the aviation. My comrades "poured in" one after another, and I passed the commission without defeat: healthy, fit! And then I caught fire with aviation.
It's like love at first sight and for life. This happens not only in novels, but also in life. All that I was striving for I threw aside - nothing carried me along anymore. With great joy I studied at the flight school. I was in aviation for 50 years and I kept this state of mind until the very last day.
Record on "Mitchell"
My first plane was U-2. The flight was made in 1936 with an instructor. There was no mandrage, but there was a great desire to independently control the car in the air. When I took hold of the handle and felt how the plane was listening to me, the sensations were wonderful.
The last time I flew a Tu-95 bomber was when I was the commander Long-range aviation USSR. We had some kind of gathering at the Belaya airfield near Irkutsk, and I flew there.
Although, in truth, there was also a number - in 2003. When I was 83 years old, an aviation holiday took place in Monino near Moscow. An American B-25 Mitchell aircraft, which I knew well, was brought in from Austria. I persuaded the pilot, and he allowed me to fly.
When I sat down in the cockpit, familiar feelings flooded, my hands remembered absolutely everything. I sat down, grabbed the steering wheel and calmly flew, as if I had not left the plane for a long time. Of course, it would be nice to still fly. But I am not drawn to this. There are enough things to do on the ground, but I don't want to fly for show.
"Grain of salt"
Try to choose from three hundred combat missions, because each one contains a special grain of salt. There were flights that now seem like an impossible combination of luck and skill.
In 1944, over Sevastopol, I was hit by an engine on a long-range Il-4 bomber. I wanted to land at the Novy Bug airfield, where the air defense fighters were located. But these devils flew during the day, and at night they turned everything off. And on a completely black southern night, I simply did not see any landmarks.
I launched rockets, asked for a landing - no one responded with a single light. And you didn't need much - put on one flashlight, I will use it to land and sit down. The plane was in good order, but the damaged engine did not allow to gain altitude, the car was losing it all the time.
Finally the distance to the ground became critical, and I told the navigator to pick up white and red rockets and jump with a parachute. He found a level section of the field and lit it with white rockets. I needed several hundred meters. I did not let go of the chassis and just before landing in the headlight I saw a ravine overgrown with trees. If I sat there, I would have burned there, unable to get out of the cab. I gave full throttle on the second engine, jumped over the ravine and safely sat on my belly.
Hooligans in the air
When I had 300 combat missions, the commander of Long-Range Aviation in 1942-1944, Alexander Golovanov, excommunicated me from flights and ordered me to prepare young pilots for missions. But after that I managed to make seven more sorties, and during one of them I cheated properly.
Together with the navigator of the regiment, Maxim Alekseev, we haven’t been on missions for several months. And so, having agreed, one night we drove up to the airfield to one crew who was going to fly to Šiauliai (a city in the north of Lithuania - approx. TASS). We persuaded them to stay, got into the cockpit, and took off under their index. After a while, regiment commander Alexander Ivanovich Shaposhnikov missed us. Having discovered a substitution, in a rage demanded to return us immediately. The chief of staff barely dissuaded him.
We then bombed a bridge. At low altitude, I went through the fire - the Germans whipped us from all sides, because the bridges were well guarded then. But still, we got into it and badly damaged it. But when we came back, as the commander scolded us ... Without choosing words, he was already shaking. He wanted to punish us in a terrible way, but could not figure out how. In the end, he smashed his fist on the table and ordered: "Don't give them vodka!" We were entitled to 100 grams after the sortie. And when there was the Berlin operation in 1945, Shaposhnikov could not refuse me, and I went to Berlin on my 307th sortie, the last one in that war.
"We fly on a Tu-95 and eat bacon"
I flew Tu-16 a lot, but my favorite plane is Tu-95. It is good for its range. This is a very stable aircraft, its good-quality and comfortable steering wheel grips well, there is an autopilot.
Once I went to the North Pole and back to the Kola Peninsula, without turning on the autopilot, “on my hands”. It wasn't hard. The Tu-95's cockpit is comfortable, warm and spacious; there is a hefty onboard ration in special tubes and packages. The navigator Taras Berkut liked to fly with me, who always took with him a loaf of black bread, butter and lard - everything that medicine categorically forbade us.
Once we are going to the North Pole, suddenly Taras asks: "Commander, will you be fat?" I say: "I will." He takes bread, cuts it, puts squares of bacon on a good slice and hands it to me. And so we fly and eat bacon. God forbid, they would recognize the doctor!
Once on a Tu-95 I even set a world record for flight range. The Americans reported on the eve that the B-29 aircraft flew 14,450 km. We just shook our heads - what kind of record is this? We just fly such distances without any special impressions.
Two crews were trained. We passed through the southern republics, up the Lena, up to Tiksi, rounded the Arctic islands, reached the Kola Peninsula, and then flew a little more, because, to be honest, we had plenty of fuel. We covered 17 150 km, spent more than 22 hours in the air.
Airplane and theater
Love for a woman, like love for the Motherland, never goes away. If this is a good woman, of course. My wife and I on February 23 were exactly 70 years from the date of our wedding. We met in 1946 at mutual acquaintances. I then served at the Uzin airfield, 70 km from Kiev, was a regiment commander. She was very fond of theater, and this coincided with my tastes and aspirations.
Sometimes, in the summer, when the weather was fine, I would board a U-2 and fly to Kiev. Always before landing, I flew in front of her balcony, she came out and waved to me. He landed at the Zhuliany airfield, tied the plane to a spin and set off for the city. We most often went to the Theater of Russian Drama. It was in the summer of 1946, and on February 23, 1947, I took her to the registry office.
I have one son and two grandchildren - Alyoshka and Dimka. One of them has a wonderful Nastenka, my great-granddaughter, and the other has Sonya and Elizabeth.
Best army
The Red Army never discredited itself anywhere. She defeated the German armed forces, ending the Second World War. No one has ever had such an army in history.
Our modern army is the same traditions, they are alive. This is a continuation of everything that happened in the past. Of course, she went through a difficult period, but now she has become powerful and strong. If there is a clash, it will be a completely different war. I mean, of course, the use of nuclear weapons. But no one will allow this. This circumstance will keep the world from collapse. Nuclear weapons are a deterrent and will never be used. But local conflicts are and will always be.
Interviewed by Anna Yudina