Space map
In the near future in the armed forces of the Russian Federation will appear a new type of troops - aerospace forces (VKS). Vlast has figured out how the new structure will be arranged and why the decision to create it was made only now.
Abbreviation VCS has already met in stories of the Russian army: by decree of President Boris Yeltsin in August 1992, military space forces were established on the basis of the Office of the Chief of the Space Facilities, which was directly under the authority of the Soviet Minister of Defense. Their first commander was Colonel-General Vladimir Ivanov. The situation in the space industry at that time was rather sad: a massive dismissal of personnel, a reduction in the budget for space activities, as a result, a decrease in satellite launches to 74 per year (1971 indicator of the year). In his memoirs, Ivanov calls this number a "record low" (by the way, in 2014, Russia launched 80 spacecraft). The orbital grouping itself consisted of 187 devices, half of which developed the assigned resource.
In November 1992 of the year, in accordance with the order of the Minister of Defense General of the Army Pavel Grachev, a regulation on the Directorate of the Commander of the Space Forces Command came into force, according to which the new body was entrusted with the task of managing the operational equipment of the space zone, as well as creating, using and defining promising areas for the development of space technology. The VNC consisted of the 50 Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense, the Main Test and Control Center and other structures. In 1994, Yeltsin signed a decree establishing the First State Space Center of Russia (Plesetsk) on the basis of the 1278-th Main Center for Testing and Using Space Facilities, which also came under the control of the VCS. Despite claims that the military cosmodrome "solves more than 60% of tasks in the interests of ensuring the country's defense," degradation of military space was evident: the generals, who were used to seeing 1970 launches a year before the end of 80, now only watched 25- 30 starts. The reason for this, according to Ivanov, is “more than a tenfold reduction in funding,” which led to a significant reduction in the orbital grouping of military and dual-use vehicles.
In parallel, the VC had to deal with issues related to the Baikonur cosmodrome, located on the territory of Kazakhstan: the difficult negotiations lasting from 1992 for its further operation resulted in the signing of a lease agreement between Moscow and Astana in 1994. Two years later, in March 1996, the president signed a decree on the establishment of the Second State Test Space Center of the Ministry of Defense near Uglegorsk of the Amur Region, called the Free One. He didn’t earn full value and as a result he was eliminated in 2006. Now, the Vostochny Cosmodrome is being built at the same place.
The main advantage of the videoconferencing was their equidistance from other types and branches of the armed forces, which made it possible to make operational decisions quickly enough. Responsible for the functioning of space systems and complexes of reconnaissance and target designation, communications and combat command and control, navigation, it was the aerospace forces that were able, even with outdated equipment, to provide mobility and readiness of the armed forces. So, according to Ivanov’s recollections, the contribution of space reconnaissance increased the effectiveness of combat arms and types of troops by 10-17% in various directions, and space navigation for troops and forces fleet - by 11-19%. Despite all the difficulties with financing, the orbital group was somehow able to be maintained at the level of 160-170 spacecraft.
In June 1996, Boris Yeltsin first dismisses Defense Minister Pavel Grachev, appointing Igor Rodionov to take his place, and in May 1997 sends him to resign. The head of the Ministry of Defense becomes a native of the Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) Army General Igor Sergeyev. This day, May 22, officers serving in the VKS is still called the “black day of military space”. The fact is that the inclusion of space forces in the Strategic Missile Forces was a priority for the minister from the first day after his appointment: he was convinced that this would lead to an increase in the effectiveness of command and control and would largely save the defense budget.
Subjugating the military space, rocket men hoped to increase funding
Already in July, 1997, Sergeyev managed to convince the president of the need to disband the VKS as an independent unit and (along with the troops of the rocket and space defense that were part of the air defense) to join the RVSN. Not everyone liked this scheme: the opponents of the minister were convinced that Sergeyev was simply trying to strengthen the status of his native troops, which were actually doomed to massive reductions due to the Russian-American strategic offensive arms treaties. Subjugating the military space, rocket engineers hoped to increase funding: based on the local nature of the conflicts of the time, it was believed that the role of space assets, if not greater than the value of strategic missiles, was at least comparable to it. In addition, the Strategic Missile Forces got access to the implementation of commercial launches of foreign satellites using launch vehicles, which also promised considerable profit: only for 1998-2000 years the military received $ 100 million for this.
The hopes of the first and so far the only Marshal of Russia, Igor Sergeyev, did not materialize. It was possible to rectify the situation only a few years later - and only with the help of the Chief of the General Staff of the Army General Anatoly Kvashnin, who entered into a hardware conflict with the Minister. To prove the erroneousness of the decisions taken by Sergeyev meant to strengthen his own positions, and here Kvashnin had strong arguments. So, it was possible to draw attention to the fact that funds redistributed from the space forces to the Strategic Missile Forces were used exclusively to purchase Topol-M strategic missile systems, while military space activities were rapidly declining: in 1997, 14 satellites, and in 1999-m - just 4. The available stock of launch vehicles and spacecraft was completely consumed and was not replenished, as a result of which the Strategic Missile Forces were unable to ensure the creation of advanced precision weapons integrated with space systems (such NATO successfully used during operations in Yugoslavia).
But a stronger argument was that the group of federal troops in Chechnya was not provided with even minimal space intelligence data. The GLONASS project degraded in front of our eyes: in the 2000 year, instead of the 24 satellites put in place, the entire 9 was somehow functioning. There were missile and other failures. For example, with the plan for putting on duty of ten new Topol-M, only four were at the disposal of the Strategic Missile Forces. And although Army General Vladimir Yakovlev, Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Missile Forces, explained the backlog by non-rhythmic financing of the program, this did not relieve the General Staff.
In August, 2000, at a meeting of the Russian Security Council, whose secretary was Colonel-General Sergei Ivanov, decided to remove the space component from the Strategic Missile Forces. 23 March 2001 President Vladimir Putin creates space forces in the armed forces.
The space forces took away everything from the Strategic Missile Forces that was connected with space launches and control of spacecraft in orbit. They also got an anti-missile defense system (missile defense), a missile attack warning system (SPRN) and an outer space monitoring system (SSS). The first commander of the new structure was appointed the former chief of staff of the Strategic Missile Forces, Colonel-General Anatoly Perminov.
Mobile and compact troops, which were an interspecific arm of the armed forces, were practically not criticized: the Russian Aerospace Agency that existed at that time was responsible for creating rocket technology and spacecraft, and in most cases it was the civilians who were to blame for the failures. At the same time, the separation of the space forces into a separate unit was noted in every way: Sergey Ivanov, who had already become Minister of Defense, visited the Don-2003Н multifunctional radar station in 2, which forms the basis of Moscow’s A-135 anti-missile defense system, directly said: “Taken two years ago the decision to create space troops was absolutely correct. "
In 2006, Putin approved the concept of aerospace defense (WKO) of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2016. Since then, the Air Force believed that the aerospace defense system can (and even should) be created under their command. In 2008, Colonel-General Alexander Zelin, Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, stated that "the speediest integration of the air force and the rocket and space defense systems under the unified leadership and control of the air force" is an indispensable condition for the creation of the aerospace defense system. Space Forces in such a configuration was asked to leave the functions of launching spacecraft and the fight against the satellites of a potential enemy.
However, the general's plans remained unfulfilled: in the same year 2008, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov began to lead the Russian army to a new look. During the reform, the Air Force not only did not receive additional powers, but also lost part of the available ones. From 30 previously assigned tasks they left only 5 (personnel selection, scientific work, etc.), simultaneously depriving them of their command functions: the armed forces moved to a new structure, implying the presence of Air Force and Air Defense commands, as well as EKB teams of district subordination. At the same time, Serdyukov’s reform didn’t have any practical effect on the space forces: probably because they were supervised by his deputy for armaments, Army General Vladimir Popovkin (commanded by space forces in 2004-2008).
In this regard, the idea of space forces as the core of the entire aerospace defense system became more and more real every day. Concrete outlines appeared in 2011, when First Deputy Defense Minister General of the Army Nikolai Makarov said that such a "unified system would create an umbrella capable of protecting Russia from ballistic missile attacks, from medium-range missiles, from various types of cruise missiles extremely low altitudes, at any time in any setting. " Already 1 December of the same year by the decree of President Dmitry Medvedev were created troops EKR. They united the space command (Main Missile Warning Center, Main Space Intelligence Center, Main Titov Space Testing Center) and the command of the air defense and missile defense (integrated strategic command of the aerospace defense, formed on the basis of the liquidated special purpose command of the Moscow District, and three air defense brigades). VKO also includes the Plesetsk cosmodrome, a separate scientific research station (the Kura test site) and an arsenal. Traditionally, the Military Space Academy named after Mozhaisky in St. Petersburg continued to train personnel.
Not without problems. According to the memoirs of the source of "Power" in the General Staff, after the transfer to the newly created troops of the three air defense brigades (in 2014 they were reorganized into divisions), the question arose of building up their combat potential, including by transferring them to the front and army subordination aviation from the military districts and the Air Force. However, this did not happen, and it was precisely the air defense that remained and, perhaps, still remains the weakest link in all the defense missile defense forces. Significant minuses can also be added to the complete degradation of the space echelon of the SPRN (there are no spacecraft in either highly elliptical or geostationary orbits now), the time lag in the creation of the Unified Space Detection and Combat Command System. The industry accused the military of not being able to formulate a clear technical task; the military replied that the industry was simply not able to maintain the high standard. The blame in this case can be divided equally. It should be noted that there were fewer difficulties with the ground-based SPRN segment: high-readiness radars of the Voronezh type covered all missile-hazardous areas.
Information that a single structure would emerge in the armed forces instead of separate air forces and aerospace defense organizations appeared in various sources as early as the beginning of 2014. The first official confirmation of existing plans in July of the same year was given by Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, Colonel-General Viktor Bondarev, stating that the new structure would be formed by January 2016. In January, the Chief of the General Staff, Army General Valery Gerasimov, corrected his subordinate 2015, specifying that the VKS as an independent type of troops would appear this year. According to Vlast, all organizational and staff decisions have already been made and agreed by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the president. The new main command will begin to function in the fall of 2015. "Synchronizing the actions of the Air Force and the Space Forces in adjacent directions was asking for a long time," a person from the space forces told Vlasti. "In 2001, they did not do this because they would have to admit mistakes, in 2011, because of reforms ... Lost a lot of time. " In essence, there are two main questions: who exactly will head the VKS (who comes from the Air Force, from East Kazakhstan or someone from the combined-arms commanders) and how the new structure will look like.
And if the first question is still open (the submission for signature to the presidential administration has not yet been sent), then with the second, according to a source from Vlast, in the General Staff, everything has already been decided de facto. The new structure will consist of three trunks: aviation, air defense and anti-missile defense forces, as well as the space component. For each of the areas will be responsible profile deputy commander of the VKS, and the structure itself will be closed to the General Staff. At the same time, the district commanders regarding the operation of front-line and army aviation, despite its formal reassignment of the VKS, will have sufficient freedom to use it in accordance with their plans. Part of the army air defense of the ground forces, as well as their rocket forces and artillery, will not be included in the Aerospace Forces, this is, as the military say, "it would be a bout."
"War space is an absolute priority"
Vlast has collected statements by Russian leaders about military space forces and their reformation.
Igor Sergeyev, Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation *: “As for strategic forces, in 1997-1998, strategic rocket forces, military space forces and missile defense will have to be integrated into a single view - Strategic Rocket Forces. What will this give us? Increasing efficiency by 20% their possible use and saving 1,115 trillion rubles. "
19 July 1997, in an interview with the newspaper "Kommersant"
Boris Yeltsin, President of the Russian Federation: "Military space is one of the key factors for the development of Russia."
January 20 1998 of the year at the meeting of the Defense Council in the Kremlin
Andrei Nikolaev, the head of the State Duma Defense Committee: "That’s the military space forces are merging with the strategic rocket forces, and then again making the space forces independent. There is no logic to that."
21 March 2002 at the press conference at RIA News"
Sergei Ivanov, Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation: “It’s absolutely useless to talk about military reform in Russia without the development of military space. There will be no space assets - there will be no modern armed forces. After all, the space troops are not working for themselves, but for the benefit of all types and types of troops ".
18 June 2003 of the year during a working visit to RSC Energia
Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation: "From the point of view of ensuring the country's defense, the rocket and space industry, I mean military space, is an absolute priority along with the nuclear industry, its warhead."
30 April 2011 of the year in Penza at a meeting with an active union of the Institute of Physical Measurements
Sergei Shoigu, Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation: "Creating a single space system is one of the key areas for the development of forces and means of nuclear deterrence of the Russian Federation."
October 9 2014 at a meeting in the Ministry of Defense
* Posts are listed at the time of the statement.
History of Soviet Space Forces
"Power" followed the transformation of the domestic aerospace forces into an independent branch of the military.
The first parts of space were formed in the USSR in 1955 year after the decision was made to build in Kazakhstan a testing ground for intercontinental ballistic missiles (now - Baikonur cosmodrome).
In 1957, the Spacecraft Command and Measurement Complex was created (now the Main Test Center for Testing and Controlling Space Facilities as part of the aerospace defense forces). In the same year, the construction of a new range for launching intercontinental ballistic missiles (now the Plesetsk cosmodrome) began in the Arkhangelsk region.
To organize the management of space activities in 1960, the 3-e Directorate of the Main Directorate of Missile Weapons was formed at the USSR Ministry of Defense. In 1964, it was transformed into the Central Directorate of Space Facilities of the Ministry of Defense, and in 1970, it was reorganized into the Main Directorate for Space Facilities (GUUK) of the Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN).
In the 1982 year, GUUKOS and its subordinate units were removed from the Strategic Missile Forces and subordinated directly to the USSR Minister of Defense. In 1986, the Main Space Directorate was transformed into the Directorate-General of Space Facilities of the Ministry of Defense.
In accordance with a presidential decree from 27 July 1992, an independent branch of the military was formed - the Military Space Forces of the Russian Defense Ministry, which included the Baikonur cosmodrome, part of the launch of the spacecraft of the Plesetsk test site, the Main Testing Center for Space Facilities. Colonel-General Vladimir Ivanov was appointed the first commander of the VKS.
How in the world defend space
Vlast has studied the foreign experience of managing military space activities.
In the US, the Space Command (USSPACECOM) was created in 1985, one of the unified combat commands of the US Armed Forces. In 2002, USSPACECOM was attached to the Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) responsible for nuclear forces, missile defense and electronic intelligence. At present, the space component of the Armed Forces is not separated into a separate structure and is represented by units in the ground forces, air force, navy and marines under the overall control of USSTRATCOM. In addition, the United States-Canadian Command for Aerospace Defense of North America (NORAD) operates as part of the regional Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), which provides control over the airspace.
In China, the military space forces are also not allocated to a separate branch of the military and, like the civilian space program, are supervised by the Main Armaments Directorate (GDU), one of the four directorates of the PRC Central Military Council, the governing body of the People’s Liberation Army of China (PLA). There are only expert estimates of the distribution of the aerospace functionality inside the PLA. According to these data, the Air Force and the Strategic Missile Forces (the so-called Second Artillery) are equally responsible for operations in space and opposition to aerospace threats. The acquisition and processing of satellite reconnaissance data is the responsibility of the 2-th, 3-th and 4-th departments of the PLA General Staff.
In India, the Integrated Space Cell (ISC) operates at 2008 of the year with the Integrated Defense Staff (IDS) of the Armed Forces. ISC is considered as a link in the coordination of space activity of troops and specialized civil organizations and a prototype of the Joint Aerospace Command in the structure of the Air Force, the project of which is being actively discussed by the authorities.
In Japan, its own space troops are planned to be created on the basis of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) by the 2019 year. The main purpose of the new connection is the protection of Japanese telecommunications satellites from space debris, as well as the exchange of intelligence information with the United States. The Air Defense Command (JASDF) is now responsible for providing aerospace security and anti-missile defense.
Information