Airfield Strikes
HeliRussia-2016 exhibition held in Moscow was full of industry events organized by exhibitors with the participation of the exhibition organizers. The business program discussed a wide range of issues and problems both within the framework of the helicopter industry and in the field of intersectoral cooperation. Such a problem as aviation transport logistics was not ignored. Even at the plenary session “The Present and Future of the Drone Industry aviation"At the conference" Industry of Unmanned Aircraft Systems "the alarming topic of the reduction of airfields and air communication networks was voiced, although the theme of unmanned aviation, it would seem, is far from this problem.
A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE
Foresight (looking into the future) is today one of the most important tools of an innovative economy. It helps to formulate priorities and mobilize for achieving qualitatively new results in all areas of production activities, including air transport. According to the results of foresight projects, road maps are created. This was stated in his report “The Future of Aviation: A View from the Position of the Leading Foresight Projects” by the head of the department of statistics at the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University. Mv Lomonosov Candidate of Economic Sciences Oleg Karasev. Among the main conclusions of the foresight of the development of aviation science and technology, he called the improvement of takeoff and landing mechanization, unconventional layout of aircraft, the combination of the wing and the fuselage. In the creation of supersonic aircraft, according to the scientist, it is necessary to ensure acceptable flight performance. For hypersonic aircraft (LA) in the near future, it will be important to create a stepped aerospace systems consisting of a subsonic carrier aircraft and an orbital plane, and after 2030 of the year - the development of single-stage aerospace systems.
All this is right. But that can not but alarm. Demonstrating success in the aircraft industry, manufacturers showed primarily aircraft, navigation and piloting means. And as if by the way - ground equipment of aerodrome service. Meanwhile, aviation without airfields does not happen. Helicopters, convertible planes and even unmanned aircraft systems need appropriately equipped landing sites. Well then, talk about aircraft that require complex and expensive ground-based ground infrastructure. Creating new, wonderful fighters, bombers and tanker aircraft, it seems, is seeking to minimize the cost of maintaining airfields for this advanced aviation technology.
At one time, we agreed to the point that in the absence of airfields we proposed to land planes on highways in accordance with experiments conducted in Europe. Only, probably, they have forgotten that Russian roads are not like European ones.
True, in recent years, as the NATO troops concentrate near the western borders of Russia, the country's leadership is increasingly returning to the issue of the mobilization readiness of the economy. At the May meetings of the President of the Russian Federation with the leadership of the Ministry of Defense and representatives of the military-industrial complex (DIC) in Sochi, Vladimir Putin also set a number of mobilization training tasks. In particular, he stressed that all approaches to improving the mobilization readiness of defense enterprises and the Russian economy as a whole should meet modern requirements and be comprehensive. This also applies to the ground-based airborne structure.
VICTIMS OF REFORM
Unfortunately, at the beginning of the 2000-ies did not recall the integrated approach. During this time, more than 4 of thousands of civilian, military and dual-use airfields hundreds were abandoned and destroyed.
The greatest damage was suffered by the military aviation base system in the first decade of the new century. A powerful blow to the airfields was delivered by Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov in 2008 – 2009. After the “reform” carried out by him from 245 military airfields, about 70 remained active. But this was not the end of Serdyukovsk innovations.
In June, at a meeting of the Council of the Federation Committee on Defense and Security, Chief of the General Staff Nikolai Makarov told 2010 that it was planned to drastically cut down a huge network of airfields. On the territory of Russia, eight joint aviation bases and two aviation naval bases will be created. After completion of the unification, the 27 main military airfields will remain in the country. These measures, according to Makarov, are designed to reduce the cost of maintaining aviation units and units.
And reduced, and in fact - abandoned and destroyed.
I have often been on business trips to an air garrison with the name Afrikanda that is exotic for the Polar Region. Here, during the Cold War, the 431 th Fighter Regiment based on the Su-15TM interceptors was based. Here in 1993, the 641-th Guards Order of the Kutuzov III class Fighter Air Regiment was transferred from the Rogachevo airfield. Both parts were combined into one 470 Guards Vilensky Order of the Kutuzov Aviation Regiment on Su-27 fighters. September 1 2001 of the year it was disbanded. The airfield was mothballed. There was an excellent runway (GDP) of width 50 m and length 2600 m.
Even worse is the fate of the airfield Kitsa (Taybola), which, like Afrikanda, is located in the Murmansk region. Its operator is the former 924-th separate naval rocket-carrying air regiment. Its runway had a width of 40 m and a length of 2220 m. There are no more military men here, and it turned out to be unnecessary for civil authorities. The airfield was simply abandoned, and the plates of the runway were ransacked. Of course, they were not taken away by local residents, but by very reputable organizations. A total of 14 military airfields on the Kola Peninsula left 4.
Abandoned airfields are usually subject to looting. Moreover, this process applies not only to the aerodromes themselves, but also to the infrastructure adjacent to them. Well, why not take for free what is literally lying around under your feet? The leaders of some enterprises think so, and, most sadly, they find the support of local authorities. For example, in November 2010, as part of the Roskosmos Reconnaissance Commission, I happened to visit the former Svobodny cosmodrome in the Amur Region (now Vostochny). In a conversation with me, the prosecutor of the garrison of Uglegorsk (now the city of Tsiolkovsky) honestly admitted that he had lost the war with the local heads of industrial enterprises for the preservation of concrete slabs covering the road along which heavy missiles were being carried to the cosmodrome.
THROWN HERITAGE
Much of the former military air bases came completely in disrepair. Photos from www.kamaran.ru
The Kaliningrad Oblast, which was detached from Russia and therefore the most vulnerable in all respects when it was East Prussia, was an 23 airfield. Nowadays, due to the lack of a systemic state policy and programs aimed at preserving and developing the system of airfields, the Kaliningrad Region, like many subjects of the Russian Federation, has almost completely lost its network of local airfields and airlines. According to the Interregional Public Organization of Pilots and Citizens - Owners of Aircraft (AOPA-Russia, RAOPA), there are currently three operating and six abandoned military airfields in the region. Three of them - Baltiysk, Dunaevka and Nivenskoye (Northern) - have concrete runways with a width of 50 m and a length of 2000 m and more. The last of these airfields was built in 1935 – 1936 and was considered one of the best in East Prussia. The troops of the 3 of the Belorussian Front liberated him in April 1945.
In January, 2012, the Office of the Press Service and Information of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that before 2020, it is planned to carry out a complete reconstruction of the existing aerodrome network at military aviation bases (base aerodromes, aerodromes providing tests of aircraft and platforms for army aviation).
In 2012, the construction of new pavements for runways, buildings and structures providing flight control began at base airfields in the Krasnodar Territory, Saratov and Astrakhan Regions, as well as in Kaliningrad. Upon completion of the work, these aerodromes will be able to receive all types of aircraft that are in service with the VCS and are available in the aircraft fleet of Russian civil aviation. In order to maintain the operational availability of artificial surfaces, repairs are being made at about 20 military aerodromes.
The airfield in Kaliningrad mentioned in the message of the Ministry of Defense is Chkalovsk airfield. The rest - in addition to 20 "happy" airfields - were ordered to wait, and better - in general, nothing to hope for. After all, the overhaul of the runway at only one aerodrome initially had to cost about 8 billion rubles. Well, as the amount grows as construction or repairs are made, we know this from the Olympic facilities and the Vostochny space center.
As part of the mobilization readiness of the country's economy and an integrated approach to ensuring it, as Vladimir Putin said, it is probably worth thinking about how to manage dozens, if not hundreds, of airfields abandoned throughout the country, so that in the event of war they can be used as alternate or hop airfields. . If the state has no money for their maintenance, maybe it is worth asking for support from business representatives? No, not figuring out, let's say, plates from airfields, but saving them in case of war?
There are already examples when military aerodromes were leased to large corporations and even to private entrepreneurs, with the obligatory condition of preserving the infrastructure and the possibility of targeted use for the main purpose. Of course, there is hardly such a tenant in Arctic Africa. But in the Kaliningrad region it would be worth searching. The first private commercial aviation organization is registered here, there is the first private aviation sports club. In general, there are a lot of aviportport fans in the region and everything connected with aviation — probably a large number of former military pilots, dismissed due to service or length of service and remaining in Kaliningrad region for permanent residence.
Two years ago, at one of the press conferences, the governor of the Kaliningrad region, Nikolai Tsukanov, said that there are a large number of investors who would like to implement the business model of one of the former military airfields. “There are a lot of investors for this project, oddly enough. But the land, which belongs to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, is not fully decorated. It declaratively occupied this territory, but it was not formalized, so they cannot now hand it over to us, and the regional government together with the Ministry of Defense deals with land registration, the governor said. “As soon as the land is transferred, we will immediately begin the selection of an investor.”
But here’s a paradox: the Ministry of Defense, after refusing to use the Nivenskoye airfield as a reserve, offered it to the regional government, but Governor Nikolai Tsukanov refused. “After complete disassembly, the territory of the airfield will go to the Nivensky rural district,” wrote a full member of the Russian Geographical Society, Andrei Rumyantsev, referring to one of the heads of the airfield.
It is noteworthy that the final decision on dismantling the aerodrome has not yet been made, and from the 18 thousands of aircraft plates 6 thousand have already been dismantled and have disappeared without a trace. What awaits the airfield after the transfer of his village council? It may be that part of it is used for gardens of “strategic importance,” and a part where the land needs reclamation will simply be abandoned. Or repeat story one of the first civil airports in the world Devau. A multifunctional center of military-patriotic education and training of young people for military service was created here. But it is now actively coming cottage construction.
WILL THE LEGENDARY NAME RETURN TO THE NIVENA
Did not work with Devau, maybe for this purpose Nivenskoe will fit? Moreover, there are not indifferent people in the region who want to preserve the aerodrome, restore its infrastructure in order to develop small aviation in the region while maintaining the practical possibility of its use by the aircraft of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. And to get from the regional center is not particularly difficult - on the suburban bus. From the final stop to the airport - about five minutes walk.
Among the primary activities proposed to create an aviation military-patriotic club to them. three times Hero of the Soviet Union Marshal of Aviation Alexander Pokryshkin. His name was worn by the 689 Guards Sandomierz Order of Alexander Nevsky Fighter Aviation Regiment, which was based at the airfield of Niven from the autumn of 1952 of the year to the summer of 2002 of the year. Then he was relocated to the airfield Chkalovsk. He was the only "ground" regiment in the air force and air defense system of the Russian Navy, armed with Su-27 fighters. But in the period of massive reductions of aviation and clouds thickened over it. 11 years ago, one respected newspaper wrote about the 689 regiment: “Already in the name of the regiment is a huge symbolism: two Alexander, two great heroes who lived seven centuries apart, and joined in the name of one regiment. This symbolism is not accidental. The regiment has the richest history. His pilots engaged the 22 fascists on June 1941 of the year. 7 March 1942, the regiment was awarded the title of "Guards". In 1944, he received the honorary title Sandomirsky. In the same year, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, and August 19 of the same 44 regiment commander Alexander Pokryshkin (59 downed aircraft) became the first Hero of the Soviet Union three times in history. 10 May 1945, the regiment pilot Hero of the Soviet Union Georgy Golubev in the sky of Czechoslovakia shot down the last fascist aircraft in this war. Total regiment pilots made 13 684 departure, shot down 618 enemy aircraft. 22 Hero of the Soviet Union, and Alexander Pokryshkin - three times, Grigory Rechkalov, Dmitry Glinka and Alexander Klubov - twice Heroes. Over 100 their fellow soldiers laid down their heads in battles. Here is such a heroic air regiment. In the world history of military units with such a track record once or twice and miscalculated. "
The article ended on an optimistic note: “According to available information, a number of State Duma deputies intend to appeal to the President and the Security Council of the Russian Federation to consider this situation, which directly threatens the defense capability of our country.”
But either the appeal did not reach the addressees, or there were some other weighty reasons that prevented the legendary regiment from being destroyed. October 15 2009, he solemnly celebrated his 70 anniversary, and March 1 2010 was disbanded by decision of Serdyukov. Do not convey the insults of veterans of the military aviation on how the reformers trampled the glory of their unit obtained in the battles. So the return, if it takes place, to the name of Pokryshkin on Kaliningrad land is also a tribute to the veterans.
The club could include various structural units related to the development of small aircraft, glider and parachuting, as well as a military aviation museum, a helipad, a flight school, facilities for maintenance, storage and technical support, a shooting club, a karting site, an aircraft modeling center and much more.
Of course, for the implementation of the project, considerable financial resources are needed for the reconstruction of the airfield, the artificial runway, the light and signal equipment, the technical equipment of the air traffic control complex and other aerodrome services.
The Committee on Defense of the State Duma of the Russian Federation has already become interested in this proposal. However, the final decision - whether to turn the airfield into gardens or preserve it for the patriotic education of young people and for mobilization purposes - remains with the regional authorities. If the Nivenskoye aerodrome is preserved, this could serve as an example of a careful attitude to the aviation base system in other regions of Russia. The problem of repair and restoration of airfields may be particularly relevant in the foreseeable future in connection with the restoration and renovation of the aviation fleet of the Aerospace Forces of Russia.
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