Day of the military topographer. With a map on the front
By its roots story military topography goes to pre-revolutionary Russia. In 1797, his own Imperial Majesty Depot of Cards was created, renamed 1812 in the Military Topographical Depot, in the subordination of which the Topografov Corps functioned since 1822. After the revolution, the military topographic service retained many military specialists, in particular, the first head of the Corps of Military Topographers Corps was the colonel of the imperial army Andrejs Auzans. One of the most glorious and complex pages in the history of the military topographic service was the Great Patriotic War. Military topographers have prepared more than 900 million sheets of topographic maps for the needs of the fighting army. Many topographers and surveyors died in battles, being on the most advanced edge of the front as part of active armies.
During the second half of the twentieth century, the military topographic service in the Soviet Union was constantly strengthened and improved. Special attention was paid to the training of military topographers. Unlike many other services and types of troops, the military topographic service was lucky with the educational institution - the military topographic school in Leningrad preserved continuity with respect to the pre-revolutionary Topografov School (1822-1866) and the Military Topographic Junker School (1867-XNUM) In the 1917 year, due to the large-scale development of military affairs, the Leningrad Military Topographical School was transformed into the Leningrad Higher Military Topographical School. This unique educational institution was able to "survive" even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but in 1968, it was transformed into the faculty of the AF Aerospace Military Space Academy. Mozhaisky.
Difficult years for the domestic military topographic service began in 1991, with the collapse of the Soviet state and the end of the existence of the powerful Soviet Army. In the first half of 1990, a clear anti-war line prevailed in the country, which was also manifested in the state’s inattention to the problems of the army and military service. Naturally, the crisis also affected the military topographic service. Many real masters of their craft, professionals with a capital letter, were forced to go "civilian." But, nevertheless, for many officers, ensigns, sergeants and soldiers the service continued. The consequences of not paying attention to the needs of the military topographic service had to be cleared up shortly after the collapse of the Union - in 1994-1996, when the First Chechen War went on. And they had to scare them down with the blood of Russian soldiers and officers.
Since topographic maps have not been updated for a long time, many of them did not reflect the real changes that occurred during this time on the ground. Professionals - topographers say that maps of busy areas - urban and rural settlements - need to be updated at least once every three to four years, at least once every five years, at least. After all, during this time, a variety of changes are taking place - some buildings and structures are being built, some are being torn down, the transport infrastructure may change. Therefore, during the Chechen campaign, in which military topographers who were part of a group of Russian troops participated, many maps had to be corrected on the ground. While the troops were fighting, topographers studied the terrain and made changes to the maps, and then immediately transferred the "fresh" sheets to the commanders and officers of the warring units and subunits.
By the way, this problem was faced by the Russian troops operating in 2008 in the combat zone in Georgia and South Ossetia. Here, during the post-Soviet period, many localities changed their names, which seriously complicated the tasks of the Russian military. Therefore, as in Chechnya, topographers had to promptly correct old maps and transfer them to the units.
Modern conflicts require the use of increasingly high-precision weapons, and this, in turn, increases the requirements for the quality of topographic and geodetic information with which the military topographic service supplies the troops. Even during the fighting in Chechnya, for the first time, analog topographic maps were used, which made it possible to significantly ease the task of using a number of units. Of particular interest to three-dimensional terrain models, as topographers later emphasized, were helicopter pilots and border guard commanders.
By the end of 1990's The country's leadership nevertheless realized that even in a changed world political situation, Russia could not exist without a strong army. Moreover, the “overseas partners” did not intend to abandon their aggressive policy - they launched an attack on Yugoslavia, and proceeded with the further expansion of NATO to the east. At the same time, the risks of local conflicts increased, including against terrorist groups that intensified on the southern borders of the country and on the territory of the republics of the North Caucasus. Therefore, the state has embarked on a gradual strengthening of the armed forces. This also applied to the military topographic service. Military topographers prepared much better for the beginning of the second campaign in Chechnya than for the first. It was possible to make new special maps, update the supply of troops with topographic maps, including electronic ones, which made it possible to more accurately determine the coordinates of targets, the location of terrorists and their bases.
Throughout all 1990-s, from 1992 to 2002, the Lieutenant-General, Candidate of Technical Sciences Vitaly Vladimirovich Khvostov (in the photo) was the most experienced topographer who graduated from the Leningrad Military Topographical School and headed the Military Topographical Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Military Engineering Academy, who had experience of participation in hostilities in Afghanistan. In 1980-s, Khvostov supervised the topographic service of the Turkestan military district, which gave him invaluable experience. It was during those years when Vitaly Khvostov led the Topographic Service of the RF Armed Forces that military topographers took part in the first and second Chechen campaigns.
In 2002, a new chief of the VTU General Staff was appointed - Lieutenant-General Valery N. Filatov, Doctor of Military Sciences. Like his predecessor, General Khvostov, General Filatov was a professional military topographer - he graduated with honors from the Leningrad Higher Military Topographical School, then the Military Engineering Academy and the highest courses for training senior personnel in the field of defense and security of the Russian Federation at the Military Academy of the General Staff. In 1996-1998 He headed the geodesic faculty of the Military Engineering Academy named after V.V. Kuibyshev, and then in 1998-2002 was the deputy chief of the Military Topographical Directorate of the General Staff. Under the direction of General Filatov, the large-scale improvement of the country's military-topographic service continued, topographers and surveyors received new equipment, and the topographic and geodetic information was updated.
In 2008-2010 The topographic service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was led by Major-General Stanislav Aleksandrovich Ryltsov, a graduate of the Omsk Higher All-Arms Command School, who served in the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff and then appointed head of the WTU.
In 2010, Sergey Viktorovich Kozlov, a personnel naval officer, a graduate of the Navigation Faculty of the Higher Naval School named after M.V., replaced him as head of the Directorate of Rear Admiral Sergey Viktorovich Kozlov. Frunze. From 1981 to 2010, almost thirty years, Sergey Viktorovich Kozlov served in the Naval navy The USSR and the Russian Federation, having gone from an engineer of the electronic navigation service to the chief navigator of the Navy. In 2006-2010 Sergey Kozlov led the Navigation and Oceanography Directorate of the Ministry of Defense - the Navy's hydrographic service, and in 2010 he headed the Military Topographic Directorate.
In 2015, a new chief of the Military Topographical Directorate of the General Staff, the Topographic Service of the RF Armed Forces, was appointed. They became Colonel Alexander Nikolaevich Zaliznyuk, who now heads the service. A graduate of the Leningrad Higher Military Topographic School and the Faculty of Geodesy of the Military Engineering Academy named after V.V. Kuibyshev, Colonel Zaliznyuk, passed all hierarchical steps in the topographic service, rising from the photogrammetric department of the aero-topographical section of the Moscow Military District to chief engineer of the Military Topographical Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Recently, the state has been trying to solve the problems facing the military topographic service. We have to do a lot. In the "dashing nineties" many cartographic factories were forced to switch to the production of products for general consumption. Chronic underfunding affected the quality of the equipment of the topographic service. Now, at least, financing has begun to grow, which means that it is possible to update and improve the material and technical part, to pay decent salaries to officers and contract servicemen. In recent years, space geodesy has been actively developed, the possibilities of which allow us to significantly improve the topographic and geodetic support of troops. Thanks to space geodesy, rockets can be launched with greater accuracy, and ammunition is saved during exercises. The digital information received by means of space shooting is processed, electronic topographic maps are made.
Special attention, for obvious reasons, military topographers today pay the southern borders of Russia. It is here that the risk of local armed conflicts and terrorist actions is highest. Due to the need to solve the problems of topographic support of troops in the South of Russia, in 2012, the 543 Center for Geospatial Information and Navigation was established. Among his tasks, a special place is occupied by the practical study of the terrain with the help of special equipment. In 2014, the Crimean peninsula returned to the Russian Federation, which means that military topographers added work to update the maps of the Crimea, which was under the control of Ukraine from 1991 to 2014. In January, 2018, the military topographers, received a new Volynets mobile digital topographic system (PCTS), which makes it possible to correct and supplement existing maps already in the field. In an interview with journalists, the head of the press service of the Southern Military District, Colonel Vadim Astafyev said that the new complex allows you to scan the terrain and convert the information into maps, as well as create 3D terrain models, which is very important in modern conditions of warfare.
Although progress in science and technology today greatly simplifies the work of military topographers, nevertheless, even today, service specialists have to act on the ground, including in areas with complex mountainous landscapes. The fighting in Syria has shown that, despite the latest technology, not in all cases, the commanders of units can count on electronic cards. Traditional maps come to the rescue, which are also being improved and modified - for example, they are now created with the help of special markers that are not subject to the effects of water, but are made on silk, which allows you to safely carry such cards in your pockets without fear of damaging them.
The Syrian campaign also actively uses three-dimensional maps that were tested during the hostilities in Chechnya. For example, three-dimensional maps of Aleppo and Palmyra were used, which significantly increased the effectiveness of the Syrian army's actions to destroy terrorists. It’s hard to imagine missile launches, flights of our military aviation with attacks on enemy positions, without topographic support.
Thus, the profession of a military topographer remains very important and in demand today; it is impossible to imagine the armed forces without military topographers. “Military Review” congratulates all active military topographers and service veterans, civilian personnel on the Day of Military Topographer, wishes good service, the absence of combat and non-combat losses and the continuous improvement of military topography capabilities.
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