Are Airborne Forces Needed in the Age of High Technology? On the 95th Anniversary of the Airborne Troops
The Airborne Troops have always been the subject of special attention and pride. These troops are designed to solve the most difficult, responsible and often autonomous tasks deep behind enemy lines. They were not just “troops”; they were the embodiment of the idea of the Soviet soldier, capable of overcoming any obstacles and completing any task, no matter how impossible it seemed. It was these qualities that secured their status as the elite – “troops number one” in the hearts and minds of millions of Soviet citizens.
A great deal of credit for this goes to the legendary commander of the USSR Airborne Forces, Hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Filippovich Margelov, who paid great attention to what is called PR in the modern world. Several feature films were released by his order and under the direct supervision of Vasily Filippovich, which romanticized service in the Airborne Forces, the most famous of which is the action movie "In the Zone of Special Attention".
However, in recent years, debates have increasingly arisen on social networks and specialized forums about the necessity and relevance of the Airborne Forces in their current form. The debates sometimes reach the point of absurd accusations and insults to each other. People argue whether airborne troops are needed in the modern world, if such advanced means are available DefenseBut a similar question can be asked for any branch of the military: with the introduction of modern technologies, tactics, strategy and military doctrine have changed in all countries.
Modern technologies - this was already in the recent past. Once upon a time, the Soviet leadership, represented by comrade Khrushchev, became interested in rocketry. And off it went... Work on new systems in artillery were suspended in favor of missile technologies. Projects in the field aviation were closed under the influence of the emergence of new types of missile weapons. Experiments with missiles began in tank building. tanks. Missiles began to be actively introduced into fleet: on surface ships, artillery guns began to be replaced by missile systems, and submarines became more popular instead of battleships and aircraft carriers. To be fair, it must be said that the passion for missiles was a worldwide trend, and it was not only the Soviet leadership that suffered from it.
As for the debates about airborne troops, the problem is probably also that people who are far from the Airborne Forces do not quite correctly understand, and sometimes do not understand at all, the tactics of the Airborne Forces. The tactics of the Airborne Forces are a regular combined arms battle behind enemy lines.
What question most often begins a conversation about the airborne troops when a person who is far from the VDV starts it? "How many times have you jumped with a parachute?" The question is strange, because it is asked not to a parachutist, but to a paratrooper. Most people do not understand that a parachute is just a means of delivering personnel, one of the means.
My senior comrade, front-line paratrooper Vladimir Georgievich Anisimov, was part of a detachment of 120 people that operated in Crimea. The detachment was led to the peninsula by partisans along paths known to them. In Crimea, the paratroopers killed Wehrmacht and SS soldiers and officers who had come to rest, burned palaces where Nazis were housed, and helped the local population create partisan detachments. They also had the task of punishing those who greeted the Nazis on the peninsula with bread and salt.
The detachment accomplished its mission. Six people returned. In addition to the dead, there were wounded who were left with reliable people - local underground residents. Vladimir Georgievich met one of the wounded who were left behind in Gorky Park in 1975 at a traditional meeting of paratroopers. But if we follow the logic of the opponents of the airborne troops, then this detachment was not paratroopers at all: there was no parachute drop.
Or, recalling the large-scale airborne operation in December 1979 in Afghanistan, they claim: "There was no landing there." Incorrect: there was no parachute drop of troops, but there was a landing. Although it was initially planned to drop the second battalion of the 350th Guards Parachute Regiment, the situation changed, and already in the air the command was given: "Remove the parachutes."
Any landing operations are planned in the interests of the main forces, which are either attacking or defending at the front. This is the main aspect: landing operations are planned and carried out in the interests of the main forces! At the same time, the operations are planned not by the paratroopers themselves, but by the combined arms commanders. Planning is carried out by headquarters at a level higher than those in whose interests the operation will be carried out. The landing commanders, in turn, organize the conduct of the battle based on the tasks assigned to them.
This was the case in 1956 in Hungary, this was the case in 1968 in Czechoslovakia. This was the case in December 1979 during the execution of tasks in Afghanistan, in an operation developed by the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces. The 103rd Guards Airborne Division and units of the 345th Separate Guards Parachute Regiment landed on the airfields of Kabul and Bagram with a specific combat mission - a change of power in Kabul and the introduction of a combined arms army into Afghanistan. By the morning of December 28, the mission was accomplished. Three motorized rifle divisions from the Turkestan Military District, staffed by servicemen called up from the mobilization reserves of the Central Asian republics, occupied the designated locations in Kabul, Shindant, Kunduz and Herat. Then, according to the plan of the operation, the paratroopers were supposed to return to winter quarters, although this did not happen.
A little earlier, in February 1979, the 106th Guards Airborne Division was urgently transferred by military transport aviation from the Tula and Ryazan regions to Transbaikalia. At that time, an armed conflict began between Vietnam and China, and the Soviet leadership decided to conduct large-scale combined arms exercises in Mongolia, in areas bordering China, to demonstrate military power. The exercises involved a unit of airborne troops - the 106th Guards Airborne Division - with the goal of conducting a mass landing of personnel and equipment in the Gobi Desert, several kilometers from the Mongolian-Chinese border. And in August 1992, a reconnaissance company of the 51st Guards Parachute Regiment of the same division landed at the Kabul airport on three Il-76 aircraft and ensured the evacuation of the Russian embassy from besieged Kabul.
What other units, regiments, formations, besides the Airborne Forces, could cope with these tasks so effectively, and most importantly, promptly?
In recent decades, when many military conflicts occurred, including interethnic ones, the Airborne Forces units continued to successfully carry out their assigned tasks. They did not parachute; I repeat that the parachute is not the main method of delivering personnel to the place of military operations, but only one of them. The urgent transfer of regiments and divisions over fairly large distances made it possible to take decisive and effective measures to restore constitutional order.
During the Cold War, the world was divided into two blocs – NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Airborne divisions were located along the perimeter of the Soviet Union: their main goal when declaring war was to destabilize the enemy’s communications and logistics, which could have a significant impact on the course of military operations. These tasks were important and urgently needed in the conditions of confrontation between two world blocs.
In the center of Europe there was a huge group of Soviet troops - the GSVG with tank units and motorized rifle divisions. At the beginning of the war, this group was supposed to deal the enemy a powerful blow and, if necessary, reach the English Channel. But the troops cannot do this immediately: they need time to bring their units to combat readiness and move out to meet the enemy. Mobilization is underway in the country, and cadre regiments and divisions are being staffed. At this moment, airborne divisions are dropped into the enemy's rear with the task of cutting communications and disrupting the logistics of the enemy troops. The actions of the paratroopers are aimed at creating chaos and weakening the enemy's combat capability. Even if "Margelov's Falcons" managed to fulfill only half of what they were ordered to do, this would already be good. They bought time and made it possible to bring to combat readiness those units that were supposed to break through.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, the need for such large-scale operations disappeared: today, the Airborne Forces face completely new challenges. Modern conflicts require flexibility, mobility, and the ability to quickly adapt to changing conditions. Instead of large-scale operations behind the front lines, airborne troops can be used for pinpoint strikes, peacekeeping missions, or the fight against terrorism. Their mobility remains an important advantage, but their missions must be revised to take into account new realities. We should not forget about military theory: war is not only technology, but also morale, discipline, and personnel skills. Therefore, even with all the modern means, the Airborne Forces continue to create a unique symbiosis of fighting spirit and military training.
Discussions about the need for airborne forces in the modern world can and should be conducted taking into account new technologies and the changing nature of conflicts. However, it is important to conduct such discussions constructively and without emotion.
Information