The war in Chechnya in the eyes of the commander of a tank platoon
How it all began for me
I'll start first, omit all the details of how I got to the Chechen Republic, I will only write that I was sent on a business trip of 239 guards. tank regiment of the 15th Guards. tank Division (Chebarkul), in which he held the position of commander of a tank platoon, respectively, for a similar position in the tank battalion of the 276th motorized rifle regiment. That was in early 1996. We left for the Old New Year, in my opinion, on the Chelyabinsk – Mineralnye Vody train. Well, of course, we thumped all the way ... From Minvod by train to Mozdok, we stayed in Mozdok for 3 days (there was no weather), - this was the first time I felt what a tent was without insulation and a stove. Finally, either on the 18th, or the 19th of January, with a Mi-26 transport helicopter with a group of fighters, apparently following to replenish 205 MSBr (I don’t remember exactly), they flew to Khankala. Fighters landed in the North. Our group of officers and warrant officers consisted of twenty people, including the political commander of the 239th guards. of the tank regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Kozlov, who was moving to a similar position in the 276th SME, but not all went to the 276th, some in the 324th SME, also Ural.
It was said in Khankala that there would be no helicopter until the morning, and it would be good to spend the night here, that the “directional person” (the person who replenishes, meets the officers following the replacement, who is assigned to the group headquarters) turned out to be my classmate, or rather, I have an SCA school. Oleg Kaskov (later Hero of Russia) sheltered me, led me somehow to the headquarters of the group, to the room of the “trend-makers”. At the school (Chelyabinsk VTKU) we had good relations with him, often rested together on 3-4 courses.
On the spot
Tank with masket, I'm on it in unloading (made of floating vest) with a gun. Tank №434, sometimes went on it in the column, a good tank (the soul lay to him, as to the number 431). The tank drive gear is Smertin, a great mech-water tank, it’s a pity that it’s not in the photo On the spotlight "Moon" is not installed cover, but in fact it was on the sign "Ghostbusters"
At the stern of the tank with the inscription "Barnaul S", a checkpoint on the road "Avtury-New Life". I went to the convoy on this tank, and since the crew was Barnaul (but the whole company was from Barnaul), and I was acting as a commander, Kostya Deryugin (regular tank commander No. XXUMX) wrote “Barnaul S” (C means, probably, commander). Kostya, to my left, in the foreground, is the commander of a tank battalion (squatting in a light cap) lieutenant colonel Menshikov. Approximately mid-May 431
Tent officers 2-y tank company. We are drinking! To my right is the squadron of the 2 th TR Sanya Alexandrov (Alex), the same year as me (1995), but only studied in another company CHVTKU (in 6). More to the right - the commander of a tank platoon 166-th MSBr, 1994 GV. ChVTKU, last name, unfortunately, I do not remember. The location of 276-th SME, Kurchaloy, approximately July 1996.
Against the background of the tank 2-th company with the inscriptions "Jolly Roger" and "South Ural". "Southern Urals" - because many were from the Chebarkul division (most officers and warrant officers), and "Roger" ... well, part of the tanks of the 3 (my) company carried the flag of the Jolly Roger. They took a black insulation from the tents and sewed on it a skull with bones cut from a sheet. The location of the 276-th SME, approximately the end of June 1996.
In a fur hat on a tank tower. A replacement of the soldiers had just taken place, which later had an effect in Grozny. Location of the 276-th SME, July 1996
In the cabin "Ural" in dark glasses. Checkpoint near Kurchaloy, came to check his. May 1996
In the dugout, surrounded by his subordinates, the photo was taken after replacing the fighters. The location of the 276-th SME, end of July 1996.
On the morning of the Mi-8 helicopter, I arrived at the location of the 276-th SME, it was then stationed in the n. Avtury and Kurchaloy, roughly between them. They distributed the tank company into the 3 for the post of commander of the 1 tank platoon. The commander of the TR was captain Valery Chernov, who arrived from the Chelyabinsk VTKU from the post of commander of a cadet platoon, I commanded an 1 platoon, lt. Oleg Kaskov (on a business trip in Khankala) - the second. Lieutenant Vlad [........], also a graduate of our school, but a year older, commanded the 3-m tank platoon. By the time I arrived, Vlad, Oleg and the comrades Valera Chernov had been in Chechnya for about a month 1-1,5 and had not fought yet. Vlad was an aircraft carrier with a regiment supply column (I later replaced him in this role). We were the first to arrive on 6 months officially, before the rotation was through 3 a month, but it happened that 4 and 5 were even sticking up.
I replaced Seregu Bityukov, he was also a platoon commander of cadets at ChVTKU, a senior lieutenant. I remember, I gave me the unloading and additional shops to the AK and asked: "Do you know how to get a tank off the hook?" I say: “I can” (they showed me on an internship at Elani). "So," he says, "sensible." He gave me another key for the OFS fuse, and then a personal sleeve for the FCT. He is generally a competent guy, he showed me everything, he explained everything, we rode on a tank along all the checkpoints of the regiment (within location), I quickly navigated to the regiment. By the way, at one of his AK stores, it was written: “To the Beloved Dzhoharka from Seryoga Bityukov”.
Matrimony
Tanks in the battalion - T-72B1. Approximately half of them were quite old cars from the first Grozny. In the 1-th tank company, many without on-board screens, the company commander Oleg (unfortunately, I don’t remember the name). In the 2 th TR, where Alexander Samoilenko was the commander, there are about half old and new tanks. The 3 rd TR was fully equipped with fresh machines from the 1985 storage base of the year of manufacture. About a month before my appearance they were driven into the regiment, there were no special problems with spares - well, I was lucky. I don’t remember the exact number of cars in the battalion, something about 25. The regiment was incomplete, there were 2 SMEs (BMP-1), TB (T-72B1), ADN (2C1), ZDN (several Shilok), and of the company.
After about two weeks, the operation began, which later became known as Novogroznenskaya. From our company were required in the consolidated detachment 276-th SME 2 officer - the company commander and platoon commander. Valery Chernov and I, as well as the 4 tank, including the Komrot tank, the 2 platoon (mine), and the 3 tank platoon with which mine trawl went. I was assigned to the GPP (the head marching outpost), a tank with a trawl (a sentinel) was ahead, then another 2 tank and BMP, then the main forces of the raid squad (I don’t remember the exact composition, around 20 BMP and 10 tanks, IMR- 2, BTS, KrAZ tankers, ammunition vehicles).
They moved during the day, occupied circular defenses for the night, set security. Approximate route: Kurchaloy - Mairtup - Bachyyurt. At the approach to the village Mairtup exploded on a land mine BMP 166-th MSBr. Their column was moving towards our column, I did not get to the site of the blast about 200 meters. I saw the blast cap and ordered the patrol tank to stop, then I saw armored vehicles on the outskirts of Zelenka, reported and gave a green rocket, which meant “my troops”, receiving the same response, continued movement. I saw a blown-up car, it lay on its torn-off tower, in the bottom of the hole about 3 sq. M almost from side to side. Fighters lay around, they were assisted. The guys broke badly, one had his eyes knocked out (they had already been bandaged), and an automatic machine was tied to his leg as a tire, he was shaking badly, the place around was a mixture of dirt, oil, blood, cartridges and some kind of garbage.
This picture is clearly imprinted in the brain, because these were the first battle losses I saw, I guess, from that moment on, I understood that war is a gesture ...
The first battle
The first fire contact occurred at n. Bachyyurt, a little higher than the village. We entrenched in the MTS or some farm, dug trenches. Thanks to the sappers - they helped: I never threw back a shovel for the entire raid. With us were the WRI (engineering vehicle) and the BTS, they dug trenches for tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, however, there were partly trenches there, apparently, from previous battles. They were checked by sappers for mines.
In general, they just got up, and engineering work continued, as in a 100-150 meter, a smoke shell or an 120-mm mortar mine exploded from a stronghold. I remember that the battalion commander asked the art corrector if he caused the fire, he said no. A team "to the battle!" Followed, and everyone took their places. As it turned out, in time - two gaps in the arrangement of the consolidated detachment immediately followed. There was no loss, and everyone was shooting somewhere together, including my tank. I don’t know ... I didn’t see the target, I don’t remember who targeted, but they said that they saw flashes over the hill. It was determined where, and fucked 2 times with OFS in the tree crown from a distance of about 1200 meters. Both shells exploded in the crowns of trees, chose the thickest ... in short, they no longer shot at us. The next day, the mullah and someone from the Bachiurt administration came and asked not to shoot at the village and something else. As far as I understood, it was not possible to agree, because the Bachiurt – Novogroznenskoe road, which was in 300 meters (maybe a little more) from the reference point (my tank and the tank of my platoon stood front to the road), a crowd of mostly women came out and chanted something type "withdrawal of troops."
I don’t know, it makes sense to describe all these psychological measures, it’s just, in my opinion, they detained us, and maybe there was simply no order. Although the road was shooting at night, naturally, no one shot at the crowd. In the evening they disappeared, in the afternoon we set up a checkpoint on the road. To be honest, I don’t remember when they fired at us a second time - before or after the arrival of the mullah, but this happened, I think, the next day. A group of officers — I, Valera Chernov, the commander of the ISB, someone else — stood behind the parapet (on the perimeter, circular defense), I suddenly realized that we were under fire.
We were fired upon by a militant group of about 15-20 people. Rifle fire weapons from the side of the road, they opened a little to the left of the section of fire, from a small height, which dominated the strong point. We reacted pretty quickly, I remember that I ran to my tank. While running, I wondered if the "mass" was on, and what place to occupy. There was no projectile in the barrel, and I could not open fire from the gun quickly, so I decided to take up my regular place, dived into the hatch, unzipped the LSD, and unrolled it. The machine gun was cocked. He took aim (saw flashes of shots) and pressed the trigger. No shots followed. Once again, silence again. It seemed to me then that I was doing everything unpardonably slow ... I grabbed the machine gun, which was lying on the armor, and opened fire, and released a “spark”. I tried again to deal with the "Rock", I remember, put in one cartridge, and he shot a single, then put in a tape, and he earned. I still do not know what happened to the NSWT ... Then I checked it several times, he no longer refused, maybe he shouldn’t cock in advance?
In short, while I was picking up, the gunner and the driver were in attendance (they were engaged in arranging the dugout), they launched a tank, opened fire from a cannon and a coaxial machine gun. In my opinion, as soon as the tanks opened fire, the militants immediately retreated, and I am not sure whether we got someone or not. We shot up the ridge of the hill from the bottom up, though right after the hill (on the back slope) there was a “green light”, and its top was visible. I advised the gunner to hit Zelenka, he put some shells quite well (Sanya Ebel). In general, then went intelligence (reconnaissance unit SMB), said that the 15-20 man was leaving, and someone or something was being dragged, as far as I understood, was identified by the tracks.
The second tank of my platoon opened fire simultaneously with mine; it was to the right. The main mistake was that they didn’t assign the fire weapons on duty, everyone was busy arranging ... There was no loss on our part, the battle lasted for about 20 minutes, I didn’t notice the time, and you don’t find your way around the internal clock.
Moving on
About a day through 3, we received an order to move further in the direction of the settlement. Aleroi and Tsentoroy (although I later learned that Tsentoroy is not called that at all, I don’t remember another name, so I’ll call it Tsentoroy). These two settlements were almost a single whole. We crossed the Bachiurt – Novogroznenskoe road, leaving a checkpoint on the farm, so Bachiurt was on the right flank, and Novogroznenskoe was somewhere on the left (there was no direct visibility). There was a strong fog, the first information about the enemy appeared on the air, someone reported that several people had crossed the road along which we were moving. Thus began the truly longest day of my life ...
I acted in the GPZ, and it must be fog and my lack of experience (6-7 months after school and less than a month in the area of hostilities) played a role. I made a mistake and rose to the height from which the Centor was viewed, but Aleroya was not visible. I was summoned by the SME battalion commander; by the way, they themselves did not immediately realize that they were mistaken.
In short, we found out that we didn’t get up there, we had to move to the next height, about 1300 meters. To do this, it was necessary to descend into the hollow between the heights, and the place we took up before was occupied by some unit of the explosive, I understand, even in the summer of 1995 of the year. Trenches for armored vehicles were, BTS dug out a few more, the infantry, too, began to dig. I walked from KSHMKI to the tank and stared at the map, at this moment fire was opened at us, as it seemed to me then, from all sides. Before the tank was about 50 meters, and I jerked ... I remember that I ran almost on all fours, I remember the fountains from the bullets in front of my face, but I did not remember how I was in the tank. Immediately to understand where the fire is coming from, I could not in the fog, apparently, the place was shot. He ordered the gunner to shoot at a nearby altitude (just for the one that we were supposed to take). Almost immediately reported to the commander of another tank: "I see the spirit." I say: “Urine! Do not report! ”He was on the other side of the all-round defense, I could not give target designation to him, and there was a company commander there.
Their tanks were located approximately in 70 meters from each other and turned aft towards me, and the 1 Company’s tank was higher up the slope almost parallel to my tank, only slightly advanced. Below was a tank with a trawl perpendicular to my tank and another 9 BMP-1, KSHM, BTS, and a pair of MT-LB mortar and medical men, 131 man l / s with the crews: all along the perimeter.
The fire on us was conducted from small arms, grenade launchers, mortars. The ATGM did not see the launches on the first day, apparently they were not allowed due to poor visibility. Almost immediately, the "three hundred" appeared (heard from the connection), then I heard that the BMP was on. Immediately behind the stern of my tank was a BMP, in 10-15 meters, she did not have time to dig up the trench. He unfolded the commander's turret and saw that the BMP was burning, flames were rising from the back doors. My mechanic squad (Sergei Buza) says to me: “Commander, can we close the Bechu from the fire?” I said: “Come on, it’s not clear how to cover the enemy from fire - there was fire from three sides”. In general, covered up, for a long time to explain ...
Just got up in the trench, as the ammunition from the BMP was detonated. The explosion was so strong that one of the doors slammed the company’s tank into the barrels (they were empty), the tower and the upper hull sheet were crushed and thrown a few meters away, the sides slightly diverged. Yes, and we got with the gunner - the whole day was nauseous. The hatches were ajar (hanging on torsions), stood on the stopper. Then the MT-LB mortar gunners with mines caught fire, he was pushed by the BTS from a height, in that place there was a rather steep descent of 200 meters, he reached the bottom, got burned, raised and extinguished.
Around the middle of the day, the fog began to dissipate, a pair of Mi-24 helicopters flew in, passed over us, and as soon as they were above the positions of the spirits, they opened quite strong fire from small arms and grenade launchers (helicopters were at low altitude). They immediately soared up, walked away, turned around and fired a volley of NURSs in height. As far as I remember, they made one call and left, in general. The weather did not contribute to the application aviation, thanks to them for working under such conditions. With artillery support, too, it was not very, the fact is that our regimental artillery 2C1 reached only to the settlement of Centora, and then at the limit, did not reach the positions of the militants at altitude at all. Then he learned that the artillery division had to be advanced 3 km from the location of the regiment, covering it with roadblocks. Gradually revealed the main positions of the enemy. They covered us in a half-ring: the main positions passed along the height at which we had to stand. This height with the near edge approached us at 500 meters, with the distant edge at 1300 meters (the main network of trenches on the return slope) is the right flank and front (from the direction of movement of our detachment). In addition, the mortar behind the school in Tsentoroy, also on the right, is slightly behind. On the left flank there is an embankment road and a forest behind it, about 400-500 meters, in the same place, slightly behind, a concrete fence and 2 large tanks behind it. It seemed to me then that this day would never end ...
Overloaded shells from non-mechanized styling in the automatic loader. I changed the gunner Sanya Ebel - he dislocated the shoulder joint, but I do not remember at what point. In short, I tried to set right in the tank, putting my hand on the frame of the ejection of the pallet, failed. He climbed out and lay down on the stern, the benefit of the fire a little weak. Minutes through 10 (all this is conditional, I did not feel the time) - sits on the place of the commander. I told him - well, what? He says - she herself stood up. I was very lucky with the staff, and I am grateful to God that I, the young lieutenant, had the opportunity to command and fight with such people. I thank them so much for courage and bravery, for understanding me as a commander, thanks to those people who prepared them for military operations in Chechnya (SibVO). They shot and drove perfectly, there was almost complete interchangeability in the carriages, even the waterways shot and were able to turn on the SLA, they all had the same call, so there was no disagreement. I think this is one of the reasons for the absence of losses in these battles, if not the main one ... But I got distracted ...
We are fighting ...
I do not remember all the circumstances of the first day. The battle then flared up with a new force, then subsided, and so on until the evening. It began to get dark, delivered ammunition on two MT-LBs with military escort, replenished the ammunition and put shells on the parapet of the trench. I remember that I unloaded the shells (not all, of course) from the tank with the trawl that came with the supply column, there was my friend (Edward Kolesnikov (living in a hostel together) Edk Kolesnikov (ICTU 1994 GV) - the commander of the platoon 1-th TR. Edik gave a few sips of braga from his flask, and, until it was completely dark, they went back to Bachiurt.
Again the fire intensified, apparently, they detected movement. It lasted until it was completely dark. I changed the gunner, turned on the 1-49 TPL lamp, during the day, visibility is not very good, and at night - the maximum 200-300 meters. So, they were shooting for the prevention of PKT, the spirits, too. I remember that the dream dreamed in green color (I fell asleep right behind the scope), I woke up because someone had dug into the hatch. The crew of the burnt BMP settled with us on the transmission, asked not to sleep. I was replaced by a gunner. They knocked several times, asked to start a tank: cold ... We exchanged with the 438 tank (commander Pavel Zakharov) - then he observes, then we. That's how the first day ended. He described it in such detail, because it was essentially my first serious fight.
Further four days merged with me just in a series of events. Mortar fire intensified, the first launches of the ATGM began, fire was fired from the AGS, the gunner cut off the spirit from the PCT. I banged the two OFS: they themselves “clicked out” - there was fog in the morning, then, suddenly, visibility improved to about 1500 m. They were standing, looking down somewhere, and I shook it.
ATGM launches were on the tank of the first company, but inaccurate. I don’t know the reason, there were several launches, the rockets got into the parapet, then flew over the tower - this is on the second day. Losses were, in my opinion, "three hundred." The biggest loss was the third day. Our mortar crew was destroyed - a direct hit of 120-mm mortar mines in the caponier. Bottom line: five “cargo-200” along with a squad platoon, several more people were injured, one died on the way to Khankala. An ensign, a signalman from KSHMKI, was sitting on the armor (why?), Two VOG-17 grenades (from AGS) exploded on the ribbed sheet of MTO, a fragment fell into his eye. Before the evacuation, I managed to talk to him. He asked what was wrong with his eye (the medic warned me not to speak), I tell him, they say, it’s not visible, the bandage. He asked for revenge. He and I went to Chechnya on the train in the same compartment, booze. Serge's name, last name, unfortunately, I do not remember. I think revenge ...
In addition, on the same day my mortar worked very tightly in my tank. The gaps lay close, had to maneuver. Thanks to the company company (Valera Chernov), suggested where to get up. In addition, there were again several launches of an anti-tank missile, again on the tank of the 1 of the company and again by (I think he had to change the position). Militants must be given their due, especially their mortar fighters - they shot accurately, which, however, cannot be said about the ATGM operator.
True, I could not detect it. By wire determined approximate direction. Of course, if they were 9М113, then at a distance of 3500-4000 it could be detected only at the moment of launch. I think it was on the third day that the turning point occurred, we managed to squeeze the spirits to long positions - 1300 meters, squeeze the ends of the horseshoe, which they covered us. However, the left flank had already been cleared by the end of the first day, only on the first day were they trying to get close in white camouflage suits.
On the fourth day (or by the end of the third), three 2C3 (“Acacia”) units from Khankala were pulled up, and they quite accurately opened fire. I immediately felt the difference between the calibers 122 and 152 mm - the efficiency is several times higher (in my opinion), I even think that the spirits departed for that very reason. Found at a distance of 3600 meters of three militants, descended the slope (went into the mountains) from Novogroznensky, took a lead, rather intuitively. It seemed that he had covered, to evaluate the results from such a range in the 1А40 sight quite difficult, looked like dashes. On the same day, there were several more launches (3-4) of the ATGM and, finally, hit the tank of the 1-th company on the left side of the turret directly into the guides of the “Cloud” system. The result is that the guides are broken, the head of the night sight is broken, the gunner and the commander are contused, but nothing more. There is not even a trace of the cumulative jet! It turns out, ATGM hit, no jet? When they say that in a war there is nothing, they don't lie ...
On the fifth day, nothing much happened: we were shooting, they were shooting, there was no more launching of an ATGM, although the tank remained in the same place. A few mines flew in, it seems the AGS was working, it seems there were no more losses. In the evening, an MNR with a tank platoon - 10 BMP-2 and three T-72B1 with reinforcement devices came from Novogroznensky: two “Cornflower”, something else from the 131 (Maikop) brigade. Began to hammer: artillery, "Cornflowers", 120-mm mortars, from guns 2А42 (pleased against the background of "Thunder"). The whole sixth day they dug, in the morning they still snapped from the gunner, then, probably, they left. The height took MSR 131-th brigade.
On the seventh day, VV-shniki arrived on two BTR-80 - such clean, equipped ones. Valera Chernov says to me: “Come!” - I come up, he is talking to an armored troop-carrier with a military colonel. The lieutenant colonel says to me: “Mine will now go to Tsentoroy, cover it from a height, only myself. Your company told me about you. ” I think: “What did Valera get there?” I say: “Why in Tsentoroy?” He says seriously: “You need to comb through, see if there are any militants. Do not let me down". And there, our infantry has probably been rubbing for a day, mattresses and blankets pulling away.
It became ridiculous, drove the tank, sat down at the gunner, turned on the system, got in touch. They drove there with an armored troop-carrier with a landing force, and my aim was sweated, so much so that nothing is visible at all. The lieutenant colonel asks me, but I cannot answer, I have a fit of laughter, I don’t even know why. Somehow he took himself in hand, switched to our frequency, I say to Kostia Deryugin (tank number 431): “Put the tank next to mine”.
In short, they, without dismounting, drove through the village, along the main street, and came back. They thanked and left. In the evening we listen to the interval wave through the radio station, tune the receiver to our own frequency, the transceiver to the frequency of the interval wave (by the way, observation: if you tune the receiver, it picks up worse than the transceiver, later, when I worked as an aircraft controller in the regiment's supply convoy, I noticed that if you were working with turntables from the transceiver, and from the receiver from the column, then as soon as the column stretches, then the head vehicles are no longer heard). So: in the news they say that today the internal troops, after heavy fighting, have occupied the settlement of Tsentoroi. I have nothing against VV and I understand that now they are dragging the main strap in the North Caucasus, but then ... maybe someone else received awards for this? But this is on their conscience.
And about the sight - I think what happened? He unscrewed the drying cartridge, told the gunner to dry the silica gel, looked at the sight head, it turns out that a fragment or a bullet hit the bottom and broke the glass, but it was clear that it was pretty good, just apparently lost its airtightness.
In addition, he was spotted by fragments of the windshield of the CT scanner and there was a bullet dent in one of the guides of the “Cloud” system. There were no other damage on the tank, only after the BMP-1 ammunition detonation (described above) was detonated, the whole tank was some kind of “smoked”, in small debris (pieces of battery plates, bullets ejected from the sleeves, something else) . In addition, on the second or third day of the fighting, I lost AK-74C: he fell off his armor, and we drove over it. I had to throw it into the spare parts kit, and give the bolt to the infantry - some of them had a broken ledge on the bolt.
The operation ended approximately in 2-3 weeks, stood on this place for several more days, then moved to Bachiurt, there they stood for several days at the dominant height. It seems like Shmanali Bachyyurt, though, rather, they agreed with the administration or the elders: they passed several automatic machines. Then the same thing in Mairtup, then in Kurchaloy. Somewhere in early April, the raid squad returned to the base camp of the regiment.
Conclusions
Since we lived in tanks for about 2 months, let me give some recommendations.
1) If this is a cold season, and the heater of the fighting compartment, to put it mildly, “does not match”, at least on T-72 tanks, you can make a “gut” of tarpaulin. Simply cut off a long strip (approximately 3 m long) and sew it with a wire so as to form a “pipe” with a diameter of approximately 60-70, see. Attach one end to the louver and fasten the other end to the commander's hatch and fix the wire, so that you could quickly fold. It effectively warms up the combat compartment and even the control compartment. You can use both on the march and on the spot (you warm up and close the hatches), for a while it is quite comfortable.
2) It is most convenient to sleep in the driver's seat, although, it was quite convenient for me and in the seat of the commander. For this, it is necessary to remove the cannon fence (I both took it off and did not put it anymore) and all the fastenings of non-mechanized styling, the seat of the commander. Mattress standard army put on polik, the edges of the mattress to bend around the edges (right, left) - of course there is little space, but I was able to lie down full-length on the stomach, feet to the PCT. My dimensions: height 170 cm, weight 65 kg.
3) For combat use. Sometimes it is necessary to have both fragmentation projectiles and high-explosive shells in the ammunition, you can switch a part to a mine in advance and record it as BCS (cumulative). Only you need to remember that after loading it is necessary to switch the ballistics back to OFS, if there are no BCSs. However, we did not take them, drove one BOPS in the AZ and one in the ZIP all the time, just in case, it was rumored that the spirits had a tank, but no one had seen it.
4) On surveillance devices. All the time there was not enough visibility, I wanted to get out and see. If during operations in the mountains it is more or less tolerated, then in movement and in the city it becomes almost critical. If you have the skills, of course, you can observe, but I think that the commander needs a panoramic sight with an adequate night channel.
By night light T-72B1. They do not stand up to criticism, we can state only what they are. It was the presence of night sights, in my opinion, that stopped the enemy from active operations at night. This also applies to the gunner’s sight and the commander’s surveillance device. The nightlight of the power supply system can be assessed satisfactorily, at least the tank can be driven. For all the time I did not find a single target at night, although I watched it quite often and for a long time.
5) By armament. PKT machine gun reliable, just need time to clean. There were no refusals and delays during the whole period of stay in the Chechen Republic. There were in the school the cliffs of the cartridge case and the failure of the electric pulses, but this, I think, was connected with the state of the machine guns themselves. In my opinion, PCT is effective up to the range of 600 m, up to a maximum of 800 m, it is better to continue working from a cannon (this is in combat conditions). By the way, all the militants destroyed from the PCT were located at ranges to 500 m.
The gun is quite accurate, reliable, the OFS power is sufficient, but the high initial speed and flatness of the trajectory often made it impossible to destroy the target behind the parapet. The fighters very often (and this is not just my observation) carried out the parapet ten meters ahead, that is, you either get into the parapet or higher. The system of remote blasting of the projectile would solve the problem (on the T-90 this is implemented as the “Ainet” system, but I don’t know how effective it is). And so it was necessary to shoot either the crown of the tree (if there is near the positions of the militants), or to the pylon of the power lines (but this is necessary to get there).
The NSVT machine gun is quite reliable, although one failure was (described above), accurate when firing in short bursts. Need a bullet-proof shield, as in the latest versions of the American "Abrams". It seems to me that it is more efficient than remotely operated ZPU, like on T-80 and T-90, but this is my personal opinion.
PS In general, war is bad, but for any officer, sergeant, soldier, this is an invaluable experience, all the more depressing is the fact that due to giving a “new look” most of the officers with combat experience leave the army. Who will teach people?
I'll start first, omit all the details of how I got to the Chechen Republic, I will only write that I was sent on a business trip of 239 guards. tank regiment of the 15th Guards. tank Division (Chebarkul), in which he held the position of commander of a tank platoon, respectively, for a similar position in the tank battalion of the 276th motorized rifle regiment. That was in early 1996. We left for the Old New Year, in my opinion, on the Chelyabinsk – Mineralnye Vody train. Well, of course, we thumped all the way ... From Minvod by train to Mozdok, we stayed in Mozdok for 3 days (there was no weather), - this was the first time I felt what a tent was without insulation and a stove. Finally, either on the 18th, or the 19th of January, with a Mi-26 transport helicopter with a group of fighters, apparently following to replenish 205 MSBr (I don’t remember exactly), they flew to Khankala. Fighters landed in the North. Our group of officers and warrant officers consisted of twenty people, including the political commander of the 239th guards. of the tank regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Kozlov, who was moving to a similar position in the 276th SME, but not all went to the 276th, some in the 324th SME, also Ural.
It was said in Khankala that there would be no helicopter until the morning, and it would be good to spend the night here, that the “directional person” (the person who replenishes, meets the officers following the replacement, who is assigned to the group headquarters) turned out to be my classmate, or rather, I have an SCA school. Oleg Kaskov (later Hero of Russia) sheltered me, led me somehow to the headquarters of the group, to the room of the “trend-makers”. At the school (Chelyabinsk VTKU) we had good relations with him, often rested together on 3-4 courses.
On the spot
Tank with masket, I'm on it in unloading (made of floating vest) with a gun. Tank №434, sometimes went on it in the column, a good tank (the soul lay to him, as to the number 431). The tank drive gear is Smertin, a great mech-water tank, it’s a pity that it’s not in the photo On the spotlight "Moon" is not installed cover, but in fact it was on the sign "Ghostbusters"
At the stern of the tank with the inscription "Barnaul S", a checkpoint on the road "Avtury-New Life". I went to the convoy on this tank, and since the crew was Barnaul (but the whole company was from Barnaul), and I was acting as a commander, Kostya Deryugin (regular tank commander No. XXUMX) wrote “Barnaul S” (C means, probably, commander). Kostya, to my left, in the foreground, is the commander of a tank battalion (squatting in a light cap) lieutenant colonel Menshikov. Approximately mid-May 431
Tent officers 2-y tank company. We are drinking! To my right is the squadron of the 2 th TR Sanya Alexandrov (Alex), the same year as me (1995), but only studied in another company CHVTKU (in 6). More to the right - the commander of a tank platoon 166-th MSBr, 1994 GV. ChVTKU, last name, unfortunately, I do not remember. The location of 276-th SME, Kurchaloy, approximately July 1996.
Against the background of the tank 2-th company with the inscriptions "Jolly Roger" and "South Ural". "Southern Urals" - because many were from the Chebarkul division (most officers and warrant officers), and "Roger" ... well, part of the tanks of the 3 (my) company carried the flag of the Jolly Roger. They took a black insulation from the tents and sewed on it a skull with bones cut from a sheet. The location of the 276-th SME, approximately the end of June 1996.
In a fur hat on a tank tower. A replacement of the soldiers had just taken place, which later had an effect in Grozny. Location of the 276-th SME, July 1996
In the cabin "Ural" in dark glasses. Checkpoint near Kurchaloy, came to check his. May 1996
In the dugout, surrounded by his subordinates, the photo was taken after replacing the fighters. The location of the 276-th SME, end of July 1996.
On the morning of the Mi-8 helicopter, I arrived at the location of the 276-th SME, it was then stationed in the n. Avtury and Kurchaloy, roughly between them. They distributed the tank company into the 3 for the post of commander of the 1 tank platoon. The commander of the TR was captain Valery Chernov, who arrived from the Chelyabinsk VTKU from the post of commander of a cadet platoon, I commanded an 1 platoon, lt. Oleg Kaskov (on a business trip in Khankala) - the second. Lieutenant Vlad [........], also a graduate of our school, but a year older, commanded the 3-m tank platoon. By the time I arrived, Vlad, Oleg and the comrades Valera Chernov had been in Chechnya for about a month 1-1,5 and had not fought yet. Vlad was an aircraft carrier with a regiment supply column (I later replaced him in this role). We were the first to arrive on 6 months officially, before the rotation was through 3 a month, but it happened that 4 and 5 were even sticking up.
I replaced Seregu Bityukov, he was also a platoon commander of cadets at ChVTKU, a senior lieutenant. I remember, I gave me the unloading and additional shops to the AK and asked: "Do you know how to get a tank off the hook?" I say: “I can” (they showed me on an internship at Elani). "So," he says, "sensible." He gave me another key for the OFS fuse, and then a personal sleeve for the FCT. He is generally a competent guy, he showed me everything, he explained everything, we rode on a tank along all the checkpoints of the regiment (within location), I quickly navigated to the regiment. By the way, at one of his AK stores, it was written: “To the Beloved Dzhoharka from Seryoga Bityukov”.
Matrimony
Tanks in the battalion - T-72B1. Approximately half of them were quite old cars from the first Grozny. In the 1-th tank company, many without on-board screens, the company commander Oleg (unfortunately, I don’t remember the name). In the 2 th TR, where Alexander Samoilenko was the commander, there are about half old and new tanks. The 3 rd TR was fully equipped with fresh machines from the 1985 storage base of the year of manufacture. About a month before my appearance they were driven into the regiment, there were no special problems with spares - well, I was lucky. I don’t remember the exact number of cars in the battalion, something about 25. The regiment was incomplete, there were 2 SMEs (BMP-1), TB (T-72B1), ADN (2C1), ZDN (several Shilok), and of the company.
After about two weeks, the operation began, which later became known as Novogroznenskaya. From our company were required in the consolidated detachment 276-th SME 2 officer - the company commander and platoon commander. Valery Chernov and I, as well as the 4 tank, including the Komrot tank, the 2 platoon (mine), and the 3 tank platoon with which mine trawl went. I was assigned to the GPP (the head marching outpost), a tank with a trawl (a sentinel) was ahead, then another 2 tank and BMP, then the main forces of the raid squad (I don’t remember the exact composition, around 20 BMP and 10 tanks, IMR- 2, BTS, KrAZ tankers, ammunition vehicles).
They moved during the day, occupied circular defenses for the night, set security. Approximate route: Kurchaloy - Mairtup - Bachyyurt. At the approach to the village Mairtup exploded on a land mine BMP 166-th MSBr. Their column was moving towards our column, I did not get to the site of the blast about 200 meters. I saw the blast cap and ordered the patrol tank to stop, then I saw armored vehicles on the outskirts of Zelenka, reported and gave a green rocket, which meant “my troops”, receiving the same response, continued movement. I saw a blown-up car, it lay on its torn-off tower, in the bottom of the hole about 3 sq. M almost from side to side. Fighters lay around, they were assisted. The guys broke badly, one had his eyes knocked out (they had already been bandaged), and an automatic machine was tied to his leg as a tire, he was shaking badly, the place around was a mixture of dirt, oil, blood, cartridges and some kind of garbage.
This picture is clearly imprinted in the brain, because these were the first battle losses I saw, I guess, from that moment on, I understood that war is a gesture ...
The first battle
The first fire contact occurred at n. Bachyyurt, a little higher than the village. We entrenched in the MTS or some farm, dug trenches. Thanks to the sappers - they helped: I never threw back a shovel for the entire raid. With us were the WRI (engineering vehicle) and the BTS, they dug trenches for tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, however, there were partly trenches there, apparently, from previous battles. They were checked by sappers for mines.
In general, they just got up, and engineering work continued, as in a 100-150 meter, a smoke shell or an 120-mm mortar mine exploded from a stronghold. I remember that the battalion commander asked the art corrector if he caused the fire, he said no. A team "to the battle!" Followed, and everyone took their places. As it turned out, in time - two gaps in the arrangement of the consolidated detachment immediately followed. There was no loss, and everyone was shooting somewhere together, including my tank. I don’t know ... I didn’t see the target, I don’t remember who targeted, but they said that they saw flashes over the hill. It was determined where, and fucked 2 times with OFS in the tree crown from a distance of about 1200 meters. Both shells exploded in the crowns of trees, chose the thickest ... in short, they no longer shot at us. The next day, the mullah and someone from the Bachiurt administration came and asked not to shoot at the village and something else. As far as I understood, it was not possible to agree, because the Bachiurt – Novogroznenskoe road, which was in 300 meters (maybe a little more) from the reference point (my tank and the tank of my platoon stood front to the road), a crowd of mostly women came out and chanted something type "withdrawal of troops."
I don’t know, it makes sense to describe all these psychological measures, it’s just, in my opinion, they detained us, and maybe there was simply no order. Although the road was shooting at night, naturally, no one shot at the crowd. In the evening they disappeared, in the afternoon we set up a checkpoint on the road. To be honest, I don’t remember when they fired at us a second time - before or after the arrival of the mullah, but this happened, I think, the next day. A group of officers — I, Valera Chernov, the commander of the ISB, someone else — stood behind the parapet (on the perimeter, circular defense), I suddenly realized that we were under fire.
We were fired upon by a militant group of about 15-20 people. Rifle fire weapons from the side of the road, they opened a little to the left of the section of fire, from a small height, which dominated the strong point. We reacted pretty quickly, I remember that I ran to my tank. While running, I wondered if the "mass" was on, and what place to occupy. There was no projectile in the barrel, and I could not open fire from the gun quickly, so I decided to take up my regular place, dived into the hatch, unzipped the LSD, and unrolled it. The machine gun was cocked. He took aim (saw flashes of shots) and pressed the trigger. No shots followed. Once again, silence again. It seemed to me then that I was doing everything unpardonably slow ... I grabbed the machine gun, which was lying on the armor, and opened fire, and released a “spark”. I tried again to deal with the "Rock", I remember, put in one cartridge, and he shot a single, then put in a tape, and he earned. I still do not know what happened to the NSWT ... Then I checked it several times, he no longer refused, maybe he shouldn’t cock in advance?
In short, while I was picking up, the gunner and the driver were in attendance (they were engaged in arranging the dugout), they launched a tank, opened fire from a cannon and a coaxial machine gun. In my opinion, as soon as the tanks opened fire, the militants immediately retreated, and I am not sure whether we got someone or not. We shot up the ridge of the hill from the bottom up, though right after the hill (on the back slope) there was a “green light”, and its top was visible. I advised the gunner to hit Zelenka, he put some shells quite well (Sanya Ebel). In general, then went intelligence (reconnaissance unit SMB), said that the 15-20 man was leaving, and someone or something was being dragged, as far as I understood, was identified by the tracks.
The second tank of my platoon opened fire simultaneously with mine; it was to the right. The main mistake was that they didn’t assign the fire weapons on duty, everyone was busy arranging ... There was no loss on our part, the battle lasted for about 20 minutes, I didn’t notice the time, and you don’t find your way around the internal clock.
Moving on
About a day through 3, we received an order to move further in the direction of the settlement. Aleroi and Tsentoroy (although I later learned that Tsentoroy is not called that at all, I don’t remember another name, so I’ll call it Tsentoroy). These two settlements were almost a single whole. We crossed the Bachiurt – Novogroznenskoe road, leaving a checkpoint on the farm, so Bachiurt was on the right flank, and Novogroznenskoe was somewhere on the left (there was no direct visibility). There was a strong fog, the first information about the enemy appeared on the air, someone reported that several people had crossed the road along which we were moving. Thus began the truly longest day of my life ...
I acted in the GPZ, and it must be fog and my lack of experience (6-7 months after school and less than a month in the area of hostilities) played a role. I made a mistake and rose to the height from which the Centor was viewed, but Aleroya was not visible. I was summoned by the SME battalion commander; by the way, they themselves did not immediately realize that they were mistaken.
In short, we found out that we didn’t get up there, we had to move to the next height, about 1300 meters. To do this, it was necessary to descend into the hollow between the heights, and the place we took up before was occupied by some unit of the explosive, I understand, even in the summer of 1995 of the year. Trenches for armored vehicles were, BTS dug out a few more, the infantry, too, began to dig. I walked from KSHMKI to the tank and stared at the map, at this moment fire was opened at us, as it seemed to me then, from all sides. Before the tank was about 50 meters, and I jerked ... I remember that I ran almost on all fours, I remember the fountains from the bullets in front of my face, but I did not remember how I was in the tank. Immediately to understand where the fire is coming from, I could not in the fog, apparently, the place was shot. He ordered the gunner to shoot at a nearby altitude (just for the one that we were supposed to take). Almost immediately reported to the commander of another tank: "I see the spirit." I say: “Urine! Do not report! ”He was on the other side of the all-round defense, I could not give target designation to him, and there was a company commander there.
Their tanks were located approximately in 70 meters from each other and turned aft towards me, and the 1 Company’s tank was higher up the slope almost parallel to my tank, only slightly advanced. Below was a tank with a trawl perpendicular to my tank and another 9 BMP-1, KSHM, BTS, and a pair of MT-LB mortar and medical men, 131 man l / s with the crews: all along the perimeter.
The fire on us was conducted from small arms, grenade launchers, mortars. The ATGM did not see the launches on the first day, apparently they were not allowed due to poor visibility. Almost immediately, the "three hundred" appeared (heard from the connection), then I heard that the BMP was on. Immediately behind the stern of my tank was a BMP, in 10-15 meters, she did not have time to dig up the trench. He unfolded the commander's turret and saw that the BMP was burning, flames were rising from the back doors. My mechanic squad (Sergei Buza) says to me: “Commander, can we close the Bechu from the fire?” I said: “Come on, it’s not clear how to cover the enemy from fire - there was fire from three sides”. In general, covered up, for a long time to explain ...
Just got up in the trench, as the ammunition from the BMP was detonated. The explosion was so strong that one of the doors slammed the company’s tank into the barrels (they were empty), the tower and the upper hull sheet were crushed and thrown a few meters away, the sides slightly diverged. Yes, and we got with the gunner - the whole day was nauseous. The hatches were ajar (hanging on torsions), stood on the stopper. Then the MT-LB mortar gunners with mines caught fire, he was pushed by the BTS from a height, in that place there was a rather steep descent of 200 meters, he reached the bottom, got burned, raised and extinguished.
Around the middle of the day, the fog began to dissipate, a pair of Mi-24 helicopters flew in, passed over us, and as soon as they were above the positions of the spirits, they opened quite strong fire from small arms and grenade launchers (helicopters were at low altitude). They immediately soared up, walked away, turned around and fired a volley of NURSs in height. As far as I remember, they made one call and left, in general. The weather did not contribute to the application aviation, thanks to them for working under such conditions. With artillery support, too, it was not very, the fact is that our regimental artillery 2C1 reached only to the settlement of Centora, and then at the limit, did not reach the positions of the militants at altitude at all. Then he learned that the artillery division had to be advanced 3 km from the location of the regiment, covering it with roadblocks. Gradually revealed the main positions of the enemy. They covered us in a half-ring: the main positions passed along the height at which we had to stand. This height with the near edge approached us at 500 meters, with the distant edge at 1300 meters (the main network of trenches on the return slope) is the right flank and front (from the direction of movement of our detachment). In addition, the mortar behind the school in Tsentoroy, also on the right, is slightly behind. On the left flank there is an embankment road and a forest behind it, about 400-500 meters, in the same place, slightly behind, a concrete fence and 2 large tanks behind it. It seemed to me then that this day would never end ...
Overloaded shells from non-mechanized styling in the automatic loader. I changed the gunner Sanya Ebel - he dislocated the shoulder joint, but I do not remember at what point. In short, I tried to set right in the tank, putting my hand on the frame of the ejection of the pallet, failed. He climbed out and lay down on the stern, the benefit of the fire a little weak. Minutes through 10 (all this is conditional, I did not feel the time) - sits on the place of the commander. I told him - well, what? He says - she herself stood up. I was very lucky with the staff, and I am grateful to God that I, the young lieutenant, had the opportunity to command and fight with such people. I thank them so much for courage and bravery, for understanding me as a commander, thanks to those people who prepared them for military operations in Chechnya (SibVO). They shot and drove perfectly, there was almost complete interchangeability in the carriages, even the waterways shot and were able to turn on the SLA, they all had the same call, so there was no disagreement. I think this is one of the reasons for the absence of losses in these battles, if not the main one ... But I got distracted ...
We are fighting ...
I do not remember all the circumstances of the first day. The battle then flared up with a new force, then subsided, and so on until the evening. It began to get dark, delivered ammunition on two MT-LBs with military escort, replenished the ammunition and put shells on the parapet of the trench. I remember that I unloaded the shells (not all, of course) from the tank with the trawl that came with the supply column, there was my friend (Edward Kolesnikov (living in a hostel together) Edk Kolesnikov (ICTU 1994 GV) - the commander of the platoon 1-th TR. Edik gave a few sips of braga from his flask, and, until it was completely dark, they went back to Bachiurt.
Again the fire intensified, apparently, they detected movement. It lasted until it was completely dark. I changed the gunner, turned on the 1-49 TPL lamp, during the day, visibility is not very good, and at night - the maximum 200-300 meters. So, they were shooting for the prevention of PKT, the spirits, too. I remember that the dream dreamed in green color (I fell asleep right behind the scope), I woke up because someone had dug into the hatch. The crew of the burnt BMP settled with us on the transmission, asked not to sleep. I was replaced by a gunner. They knocked several times, asked to start a tank: cold ... We exchanged with the 438 tank (commander Pavel Zakharov) - then he observes, then we. That's how the first day ended. He described it in such detail, because it was essentially my first serious fight.
Further four days merged with me just in a series of events. Mortar fire intensified, the first launches of the ATGM began, fire was fired from the AGS, the gunner cut off the spirit from the PCT. I banged the two OFS: they themselves “clicked out” - there was fog in the morning, then, suddenly, visibility improved to about 1500 m. They were standing, looking down somewhere, and I shook it.
ATGM launches were on the tank of the first company, but inaccurate. I don’t know the reason, there were several launches, the rockets got into the parapet, then flew over the tower - this is on the second day. Losses were, in my opinion, "three hundred." The biggest loss was the third day. Our mortar crew was destroyed - a direct hit of 120-mm mortar mines in the caponier. Bottom line: five “cargo-200” along with a squad platoon, several more people were injured, one died on the way to Khankala. An ensign, a signalman from KSHMKI, was sitting on the armor (why?), Two VOG-17 grenades (from AGS) exploded on the ribbed sheet of MTO, a fragment fell into his eye. Before the evacuation, I managed to talk to him. He asked what was wrong with his eye (the medic warned me not to speak), I tell him, they say, it’s not visible, the bandage. He asked for revenge. He and I went to Chechnya on the train in the same compartment, booze. Serge's name, last name, unfortunately, I do not remember. I think revenge ...
In addition, on the same day my mortar worked very tightly in my tank. The gaps lay close, had to maneuver. Thanks to the company company (Valera Chernov), suggested where to get up. In addition, there were again several launches of an anti-tank missile, again on the tank of the 1 of the company and again by (I think he had to change the position). Militants must be given their due, especially their mortar fighters - they shot accurately, which, however, cannot be said about the ATGM operator.
True, I could not detect it. By wire determined approximate direction. Of course, if they were 9М113, then at a distance of 3500-4000 it could be detected only at the moment of launch. I think it was on the third day that the turning point occurred, we managed to squeeze the spirits to long positions - 1300 meters, squeeze the ends of the horseshoe, which they covered us. However, the left flank had already been cleared by the end of the first day, only on the first day were they trying to get close in white camouflage suits.
On the fourth day (or by the end of the third), three 2C3 (“Acacia”) units from Khankala were pulled up, and they quite accurately opened fire. I immediately felt the difference between the calibers 122 and 152 mm - the efficiency is several times higher (in my opinion), I even think that the spirits departed for that very reason. Found at a distance of 3600 meters of three militants, descended the slope (went into the mountains) from Novogroznensky, took a lead, rather intuitively. It seemed that he had covered, to evaluate the results from such a range in the 1А40 sight quite difficult, looked like dashes. On the same day, there were several more launches (3-4) of the ATGM and, finally, hit the tank of the 1-th company on the left side of the turret directly into the guides of the “Cloud” system. The result is that the guides are broken, the head of the night sight is broken, the gunner and the commander are contused, but nothing more. There is not even a trace of the cumulative jet! It turns out, ATGM hit, no jet? When they say that in a war there is nothing, they don't lie ...
On the fifth day, nothing much happened: we were shooting, they were shooting, there was no more launching of an ATGM, although the tank remained in the same place. A few mines flew in, it seems the AGS was working, it seems there were no more losses. In the evening, an MNR with a tank platoon - 10 BMP-2 and three T-72B1 with reinforcement devices came from Novogroznensky: two “Cornflower”, something else from the 131 (Maikop) brigade. Began to hammer: artillery, "Cornflowers", 120-mm mortars, from guns 2А42 (pleased against the background of "Thunder"). The whole sixth day they dug, in the morning they still snapped from the gunner, then, probably, they left. The height took MSR 131-th brigade.
On the seventh day, VV-shniki arrived on two BTR-80 - such clean, equipped ones. Valera Chernov says to me: “Come!” - I come up, he is talking to an armored troop-carrier with a military colonel. The lieutenant colonel says to me: “Mine will now go to Tsentoroy, cover it from a height, only myself. Your company told me about you. ” I think: “What did Valera get there?” I say: “Why in Tsentoroy?” He says seriously: “You need to comb through, see if there are any militants. Do not let me down". And there, our infantry has probably been rubbing for a day, mattresses and blankets pulling away.
It became ridiculous, drove the tank, sat down at the gunner, turned on the system, got in touch. They drove there with an armored troop-carrier with a landing force, and my aim was sweated, so much so that nothing is visible at all. The lieutenant colonel asks me, but I cannot answer, I have a fit of laughter, I don’t even know why. Somehow he took himself in hand, switched to our frequency, I say to Kostia Deryugin (tank number 431): “Put the tank next to mine”.
In short, they, without dismounting, drove through the village, along the main street, and came back. They thanked and left. In the evening we listen to the interval wave through the radio station, tune the receiver to our own frequency, the transceiver to the frequency of the interval wave (by the way, observation: if you tune the receiver, it picks up worse than the transceiver, later, when I worked as an aircraft controller in the regiment's supply convoy, I noticed that if you were working with turntables from the transceiver, and from the receiver from the column, then as soon as the column stretches, then the head vehicles are no longer heard). So: in the news they say that today the internal troops, after heavy fighting, have occupied the settlement of Tsentoroi. I have nothing against VV and I understand that now they are dragging the main strap in the North Caucasus, but then ... maybe someone else received awards for this? But this is on their conscience.
And about the sight - I think what happened? He unscrewed the drying cartridge, told the gunner to dry the silica gel, looked at the sight head, it turns out that a fragment or a bullet hit the bottom and broke the glass, but it was clear that it was pretty good, just apparently lost its airtightness.
In addition, he was spotted by fragments of the windshield of the CT scanner and there was a bullet dent in one of the guides of the “Cloud” system. There were no other damage on the tank, only after the BMP-1 ammunition detonation (described above) was detonated, the whole tank was some kind of “smoked”, in small debris (pieces of battery plates, bullets ejected from the sleeves, something else) . In addition, on the second or third day of the fighting, I lost AK-74C: he fell off his armor, and we drove over it. I had to throw it into the spare parts kit, and give the bolt to the infantry - some of them had a broken ledge on the bolt.
The operation ended approximately in 2-3 weeks, stood on this place for several more days, then moved to Bachiurt, there they stood for several days at the dominant height. It seems like Shmanali Bachyyurt, though, rather, they agreed with the administration or the elders: they passed several automatic machines. Then the same thing in Mairtup, then in Kurchaloy. Somewhere in early April, the raid squad returned to the base camp of the regiment.
Conclusions
Since we lived in tanks for about 2 months, let me give some recommendations.
1) If this is a cold season, and the heater of the fighting compartment, to put it mildly, “does not match”, at least on T-72 tanks, you can make a “gut” of tarpaulin. Simply cut off a long strip (approximately 3 m long) and sew it with a wire so as to form a “pipe” with a diameter of approximately 60-70, see. Attach one end to the louver and fasten the other end to the commander's hatch and fix the wire, so that you could quickly fold. It effectively warms up the combat compartment and even the control compartment. You can use both on the march and on the spot (you warm up and close the hatches), for a while it is quite comfortable.
2) It is most convenient to sleep in the driver's seat, although, it was quite convenient for me and in the seat of the commander. For this, it is necessary to remove the cannon fence (I both took it off and did not put it anymore) and all the fastenings of non-mechanized styling, the seat of the commander. Mattress standard army put on polik, the edges of the mattress to bend around the edges (right, left) - of course there is little space, but I was able to lie down full-length on the stomach, feet to the PCT. My dimensions: height 170 cm, weight 65 kg.
3) For combat use. Sometimes it is necessary to have both fragmentation projectiles and high-explosive shells in the ammunition, you can switch a part to a mine in advance and record it as BCS (cumulative). Only you need to remember that after loading it is necessary to switch the ballistics back to OFS, if there are no BCSs. However, we did not take them, drove one BOPS in the AZ and one in the ZIP all the time, just in case, it was rumored that the spirits had a tank, but no one had seen it.
4) On surveillance devices. All the time there was not enough visibility, I wanted to get out and see. If during operations in the mountains it is more or less tolerated, then in movement and in the city it becomes almost critical. If you have the skills, of course, you can observe, but I think that the commander needs a panoramic sight with an adequate night channel.
By night light T-72B1. They do not stand up to criticism, we can state only what they are. It was the presence of night sights, in my opinion, that stopped the enemy from active operations at night. This also applies to the gunner’s sight and the commander’s surveillance device. The nightlight of the power supply system can be assessed satisfactorily, at least the tank can be driven. For all the time I did not find a single target at night, although I watched it quite often and for a long time.
5) By armament. PKT machine gun reliable, just need time to clean. There were no refusals and delays during the whole period of stay in the Chechen Republic. There were in the school the cliffs of the cartridge case and the failure of the electric pulses, but this, I think, was connected with the state of the machine guns themselves. In my opinion, PCT is effective up to the range of 600 m, up to a maximum of 800 m, it is better to continue working from a cannon (this is in combat conditions). By the way, all the militants destroyed from the PCT were located at ranges to 500 m.
The gun is quite accurate, reliable, the OFS power is sufficient, but the high initial speed and flatness of the trajectory often made it impossible to destroy the target behind the parapet. The fighters very often (and this is not just my observation) carried out the parapet ten meters ahead, that is, you either get into the parapet or higher. The system of remote blasting of the projectile would solve the problem (on the T-90 this is implemented as the “Ainet” system, but I don’t know how effective it is). And so it was necessary to shoot either the crown of the tree (if there is near the positions of the militants), or to the pylon of the power lines (but this is necessary to get there).
The NSVT machine gun is quite reliable, although one failure was (described above), accurate when firing in short bursts. Need a bullet-proof shield, as in the latest versions of the American "Abrams". It seems to me that it is more efficient than remotely operated ZPU, like on T-80 and T-90, but this is my personal opinion.
PS In general, war is bad, but for any officer, sergeant, soldier, this is an invaluable experience, all the more depressing is the fact that due to giving a “new look” most of the officers with combat experience leave the army. Who will teach people?
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