“At one time, aviation was castrated”: military experts explained the need for reform

The Russian Armed Forces will significantly increase their aviation power. This was stated by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at the final board of the military department. He announced the formation of three air divisions, one aviation and eight bomber aviation regiments, six brigades of army helicopter aviation. Each combined-arms army will now have a mixed air division and an army aviation brigade – 80-100 helicopters. The decisions made by MK were commented on by military experts.

Former head of the Federal Directorate of Aviation and Space Search and Rescue, Honored Military Pilot of the Russian Federation, Major General Vladimir Popov:

– The aviation component should have been increased long ago. At one time, it was castrated to such an extent that we could already cover only one operational direction. And then slightly.

When conducting combat operations by combined arms armies or divisions, the necessary air support was clearly not enough. It turned out that we had to throw almost the entire army aviation to cover only one strategic direction. And we have much more such directions even in each district. So the need to increase air units is long overdue.

Decisions have been made that will make it possible to significantly strengthen our Armed Forces thanks to aviation. When we fought in Afghanistan, we had almost as many air regiments working for just one army as there are today in all the Armed Forces, not counting, of course, military transport and long-range aviation.

Already in Syria, it became obvious that there was a shortage of aviation forces and assets. We had to send aviation specialists there on a rotational basis several times. It was a forced measure – there was a shortage of them. Especially among technical specialists.

After all, we even have practically no aircraft storage bases left. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, when they began to reduce the Armed Forces, these bases were intensively destroyed, handing over aircraft for scrap. Now all this needs to be restored.

Military expert, editor of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine Alexei Leonkov:

– Conclusions about the need to strengthen aviation power are made based on the intermediate results of a special military operation. There were questions about coherence and interaction in the performance of combat missions. These actions should be organized as it was in Soviet times. And you don’t have to give up a successful experience.

Army aviation has always been a support for the Ground Forces. Why is it called the army. That is, the tasks were set for her not by the Air Force command, but by ground commanders. They called in attack or transport helicopters to solve the necessary tasks on the battlefield. And not the way it was done later, when the ground forces had to ask the Air Force Command to provide them with helicopters every time.

All this was far from what it once was in Afghanistan, when ground troops with helicopter pilots showed miracles of interaction and mutual understanding. They very quickly learned to interact there. “Crocodiles”, as the Mi-24 was called, sowed terror in the ranks of the Mujahideen. As soon as our “turntable” appeared, they threw down their weapons and tried to hide somewhere.

Army aviation showed the greatest efficiency there. She was a universal tool for landmen, not only covering them from the air, but also providing landing, taking the wounded and doing many other things. Now we are returning to this combat experience, which is absolutely correct: army aviation must be located within the formations of combined arms armies.

If we talk about fighter and bomber aircraft, then for sure there should be much more of these units. Our Air Force, of course, has a lot of universal aircraft such as the Su-27 and their analogues. Yes, they can carry bombs and air-to-ground missiles, but they are still more fighters than bombers.

And when we talk about bomber aircraft, then here we must also mean attack aircraft. Much more of them are needed, because the main combat operations of aviation, as combat experience has shown, are support for operations on the ground, attacking fortified areas. And there is someone to win air supremacy.

And this is not only a question of today’s operation, but also a look into the future, since NATO’s plans are connected with the military confrontation with Russia. And these plans can go into a hot phase. We must be ready for this from all sides.