On December 1, 2014, in the city of Murom (Vladimir Region), they began to form a centrally subordinated engineer brigade. The brigade was formed in order to increase the capabilities of engineering troops and the efficiency of their use, create a reserve to solve unexpected problems and strengthen troop groups in strategic directions. The brigade is in the reserve of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
As part of the brigade, for the first time since the Great Patriotic War, an assault and barrage battalion has been revived, designed to ensure the unimpeded advancement of general purpose forces in urban areas, which can significantly increase the efficiency of actions when storming buildings, while minimizing losses.
This time I was able to observe the work of the “stormtroopers” with a “watering can” and a notepad. From personal impressions: one of my most interesting army races.
Our and your questions are answered by Guard Senior Lieutenant Dmitry Anatolyevich F., commander of the assault and barrage company of the 1st Guards Engineer-Sapper Brest-Berlin Red Banner Order of Suvorov and Kutuzov Brigade.
1. Just a little bit about yourself
I have always wanted to serve in the army; I have been in military service since 2005. He graduated from a military school in St. Petersburg and, by the will of fate and his own, ended up in the ranks of the 1st Guards Engineer-Sapper Brest-Berlin Red Banner Order of Suvorov and Kutuzov Brigade. Our brigade of central subordination was formed on December 1, 2014 in the city of Murom (Vladimir region). I’m happy with my service in the brigade, this is exactly what I like to do.
2. Since time immemorial, there have been rumors that engineering troops are needed only for building bridges and installing/removing mines. They also say that you can involve them in digging everything. What else is included in the range of real tasks of modern engineers?
The Corps of Engineers, of course, not only builds bridges and places and removes mines. We are engaged in fortification, engineering reconnaissance of the area, we can equip approaches and lines for the convenience of our troops or make them unsuitable for the advance of enemy troops, make a passage through minefields or secure an entire direction for the maneuver of our troops. Building bridges and crossings over water barriers is also our area of responsibility.
In addition, military engineers provide troops in the field with electricity and water, including drinking water. We can greatly complicate enemy reconnaissance operations: where necessary, military engineers use camouflage and concealment of important objects or, conversely, imitation and arrangement of false objects, for example, using inflatable models of military equipment.
We operate on land and at sea; in addition to army engineering units, the engineering troops also have naval or marine engineering units.
3. What are the tasks of the assault unit of military engineers?
The immediate tasks of my unit are clearing and assault. Demolition, simply put, is the elimination of enemy barriers (including mines) using various methods, and assault is the destruction of the enemy at fortified points and entire areas. Plus ensuring the unhindered movement of infantry, artillery, tankers and other forces following us through enemy territory.
Units similar to ours were widely used in the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War, there is enough information on them. Modern military conflicts, of course, differ markedly from the situation on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, but there are also many common features. The creation of assault units is a call of the times and an adequate response to modern military realities.
4. What are the specifics of “stormtroopers”? Are there units with similar specifics in the RF Armed Forces?
It turns out that the specifics of assault engineers include part of the work performed by Special Forces units, some of the tasks are consonant with those assigned to airborne assault units, and in terms of work in urban conditions, rubble and buildings, we in some sense overlap with the specifics of police special forces (SOBR) and FSB special forces. In the modern RF Armed Forces there is nothing similar to us (and with similar tasks).
5. What kind of heavy equipment are the “stormtroopers” armed with?
The battalion has clearing and assault companies (of heavy equipment - BTR-82A armored personnel carriers and Typhoon-K armored vehicles) and companies of special heavy engineering equipment (engineering clearing vehicles - IMR-3, mine clearing installations - UR-77 "Meteor").
We are armed with robotic equipment (mine clearance and fire extinguishing robots); specially trained military personnel of the robotic equipment company work with robotics.
6. What small arms do assault units have?
As for small arms, we currently have access to AK-74 with under-barrel grenade launchers and AKS-74, PK, PKT (well, plus a 30-mm cannon on an armored personnel carrier). What you want is that you really need a sniper weapon. But the issue here is not so much about weapons; it is necessary to introduce snipers into our staffing table. A group that approaches a building or ruins, and especially during operations in urban environments, needs sniper support. This can prevent losses in the group and facilitate the advancement to the point of “work.”
As for small arms, I would like to replenish our arsenal with AK assault rifles of the “hundredth” series. And, of course, we need a replacement for the legendary PM. According to my staff, this is exactly what I am entitled to. But I would like to replace it with an APS (Stechkin automatic pistol).
7. If you had a choice not only of domestic pistols, but of any pistols in general, what would you like to have with you in battle as a short-barreled personal weapon?
APS pistol.
8. And from heavier weapons?
Possibly flamethrowers. There are certain plans for them, we are an experienced unit, perhaps they will be implemented.
9. How are your communications?
We have all the new items appearing in the aircraft. I don’t see any problems with communication, including communication between the fighters of the assault group.
10. What are the “stormtroopers” equipped with?
I'll start with OVR-3Sh. The mine clearance suit (assault version) is comfortable and well thought out. Of course, it needs individual adjustment, but that's normal. About weight and convenience I will say this: all daylight hours today I was actively moving around the building in OVR-3Sh. I’m tired, of course, but, without exaggeration, I’m ready to pass the physical training standards right now. Feelings of comfort come with time, the suit must “get used to” the person, then he can work normally in it.
The suit has three sizes in total, but this is not the most popular option. There is a natural limitation - the “attack aircraft” must be of average build. A big soldier is a big target and won’t be able to get through everywhere; a small soldier may not have enough physical strength in battle to do hard physical work.
The level of protection of the suit is determined by armor panels placed in special “pockets” on the chest, sides, groin, etc. Whatever protection class they have is the same as the suit. We have panels of the 6th protection class, they shot at a suit with such a panel from an SVD with an armor-piercing incendiary bullet from ten meters. No penetrations were recorded. The visor on the helmet holds a pistol bullet. And, of course, fragments.
The molle straps on the suit are comfortable. They allow you to place the necessary equipment exactly where it is most convenient for you.
"Warrior". I approve. Except, perhaps, for the location of the “unloading” on the chest. It must be moved to the hips, otherwise in fire contact it is not possible to minimize your own silhouette in the “lying” position, because you have to lie on the “armor” and compartments with magazines placed on top of the “armor.”
In addition, if a unit is camping for the day or overnight, surveillance and security are ensured, the soldier can take off his “armor” for the duration of the rest, without parting with his ammunition. This won't work in Ratnik. First you need to remove the unloading with ammunition and then the “armor”. And one more detail: a well-loaded “unloading” with equipment and ammunition in its current form, when worn for a long time, leads to excessive back fatigue.
Multitools. There are regular and personal ones. It is not forbidden to have one purchased personally. I personally have just this one, I bought it before the regular ones arrived. In general, I would say that the standard multitool is normal and allows you to solve the whole range of problems, but there are better tools. Life can depend on such an item of equipment as a multitool in our work, so I personally consider it wrong to save on a compact tool.
Probably not everyone knows that once a sapper had only a knife from such tools. During the war years in the Red Army it was a Finnish-type universal knife, and they did everything with it. In the post-war Soviet Army it was already a folding knife “Demolition Man” with several blades. The “Demolition Man” made it possible to unscrew something, cut it off (for example, a fire cord), pierce something, expose and strip the wire. With a modern multitool, there is more room for maneuver. Generally speaking, today you can’t live without a multitool; it’s like a third hand.
Machete. Or the assault knife “Sapper”. Domestic. Chops, cuts, sharpens easily. I won't say anything bad about him.
For supplies in general. Let me note that we have no shortage of anything. Among the regular allowances there are many new products. It is not forbidden to somehow “upgrade” your personal property. This, by the way, again allows us to summarize personal practical experience and broadcast it to the entire department. One bought something, brought it, showed it, checked it in action - oh, you can take it! A reliable and functional item never hurts. Again, electrical tape, scope for improvements and personal modifications has not been canceled.
One of the things that is already obvious is that we need hooks for machine gun magazines. This is especially important for the “Warrior”: if you put three magazines in each cell, it’s not very convenient to get it out without a hook, and it might fall out in a hurry.
The OVR has special fastening rubber bands for magazines, which prevent you from losing the magazine while moving. A small thing, but an important one. Other pouches don’t have this little detail, we modify them to suit ourselves because it’s proven and convenient. There is adopted third-party experience. The SOBR noticed that the “shield guard” had spare magazines attached to his pistol with a bandage or duct tape on his left hand. If you feel the urge to reload, you do it without taking your hands away from the shield. We also have two types of shields in service - light and heavy. You can combine three shields into one. The heavy shield is equipped with wheels, which can be very convenient in a building.
11. Who staffs the assault units of the engineering troops?
Both “contract soldiers” and “conscripts”. When recruiting our battalion, it is customary to pay close attention to contract servicemen who have served compulsory military service or who previously served as “contract soldiers” in reconnaissance units and special forces, in the Air Force. We highly value their previously acquired skills.
For me, as a company commander, a desirable candidate for a unit looks something like this: “contract soldier”, age - 20-25 years, athlete, physically developed, strong build. I'll pay attention to height and weight. Previously acquired sapper skills and a driver’s license will be an advantage for the candidate. It’s great if the candidate has previously received a military specialty, for example, a machine gunner or radio operator. And a very important aspect for me personally, as a commander, is the desire of the candidate to serve in our battalion. More than 30 such “selected contract soldiers” came to us in six months. There could have been noticeably more, but no one canceled our selection and elimination.
It is easier to teach something new to someone who wants to serve in an assault unit. Every “contractor” with us, at a minimum, knows how to shoot, drive an armored personnel carrier, handle explosives and provide first aid. And, of course, follow safety rules.
12. How are things going with shooting training?
We pay special attention to shooting training; our practice is constant and systematic. An assault unit that is not capable of shooting well cannot, in my opinion, be called an “assault” unit. An “attack aircraft” must be fluent in standard weapons. The same applies to mine-explosive specifics. In addition, you must, at a minimum, be able to handle foreign types of small arms. While we are forming, not all models have the opportunity to meet “live”; we make do with electronic documents and outline notes, but the command is carrying out work towards expanding and replenishing the material base specifically for us.
13. Is there a shortage of personnel or certain specialists?
At the moment, I cannot say that we have a shortage of personnel. Our own “cadres” are working, and there are many who want to join us. The same applies to conscript soldiers; immediately after the KMB (young soldier course), the majority strive to serve in our battalion. The motivation of the “conscripts” is different: some “by hearsay,” others see how and what we do during daily combat training. There's a lot of it.
Some people are surprised that we also have drill training. What would it be like without her? This is the foundation of group combat. Whoever is good in the ranks is also good in battle, it has been a known fact since Suvorov’s times. To increase the level of coherence of a unit, combat troops are indispensable. Fire, sapper, special, physical training - we have something to do in the service. I personally observe how a set of measures turns yesterday’s boys into today’s men. Including through morning physical exercises.
14. Is physical training just a struggle for “good sports shape” or are there other super-useful aspects?
Our military personnel generally have increased physical activity. However, over time, this “increased” level is leveled out due to personal growth, people are constantly developing and at some point in time you begin to regard high loads as normal. You just become stronger and more resilient. This is also an observation from personal experience.
15. How much does the “average contract soldier” earn in an assault unit?
On average, a “contract worker” receives about 30 thousand rubles, and if he is successful and persistent in terms of individual physical training, has (and can confirm) sports “class”, then he receives the right to a cash bonus of 10-15 thousand rubles. Maintaining excellent personal fitness, as you can see, pays well. In something like working on oneself personally, I consider a financial incentive to be very useful.
16. Is there any equipment that is not yet available, but would like to have specifically for the commander of an assault company?
UAV. We don’t have these yet, but personally they make my job of making decisions based on operational intelligence much easier. I had experience interacting with UAVs.
Without touching on technology, I think that it would be very useful for us, as a young unit with unique specifics, to be able to attract outside experts and instructors. For learning. We are now actively forming a base of combat experience, and this is where the instructor experience of “narrow” specialists from other units is invaluable to us. For example, I would like to master the nuances of operations in the mountains, to study in practice the experience of the same police SOBR in working in a building, instructors from the Special Forces intelligence service would introduce them to their experience of operations in the forest. All this needs to be summarized, accumulated and adapted.
We are now filming our classes followed by debriefing and analysis. We learn continuously. Again, let me remind you that our “contract soldiers” who come from special units also become sources of new knowledge and, to some extent, act as instructors. This is precisely part of my job as a commander: to highlight the main thing, summarize, adapt, accumulate and pass it on to subordinates.
In this vein, in the near future we have plans to cooperate with the Special Operations Forces (SSO). From what I can tell you about this, this will be a practical course of comprehensive training, conducted by MTR instructors at the MTR base for all our officers and “contract soldiers.” This training course awaits me, too. It’s great that we have such an opportunity and it’s very correct that cooperation with the MTR is intended to be permanent. After all, we were also created as a unit to perform special tasks within the framework of engineering and sapper topics.
17. If your unit were given the task “Take Konigsberg!” - how would you act?
It’s not right to plan an assault on Koenigsberg right away, “on your knees”, in a couple of minutes. But if we are given a similar task, we will complete it. Speaking in general: the personal armor protection of a soldier has advanced greatly since then, modern small arms, armored vehicles, mine clearance installations - in general, Keninsberg, modeled after the last years of the war, does not look absolutely impregnable from today. Moreover, our grandfathers took it without all of the above.
By the way, we studied the experience of both Chechen companies when they had to fight in low-rise urban areas. UR-77s were successfully used there. Why are human sacrifices needed when a fortified building with militants inside can be remotely bombarded with an UR-77 and only after that can be cleared by personnel. Although there was often nothing left to clear there after the UR.
Sometimes it happens that you need to break into a building through a hole in the wall. Which still remains to be done. Here it is important to have maximum information about the building and the enemy: what kind of building it is, what approaches it is, who is inside, how many there are, what they are armed with. Based on this data, we determine the tactics for a specific case: which of the groups in what composition works on the first floor, which on the second, who covers the central and emergency entrances and exits.
Let's say, sometimes it is more convenient to enter simply through the door, and sometimes from above, breaking through the ceiling or roof. If the situation and the door allow, you can do without an explosion, using hydraulic shears or a circular saw. You can’t really tell it in a nutshell and without specifics. In the general case, one person, under the cover of a group, approaches a building, sets a charge (there are many different ones) and detonates an explosive in one of the following ways. Then the assault is through the breach or simultaneously through the breach and other entry points.
18. Suppose we are talking about a large one-story brick house, with up to 30 people inside, presumably these are militants of ISIS, banned in the Russian Federation, and, probably, all of them are armed. What should I do?
Adjust the UR-77. If such equipment is not available, then we will have specialists who can carefully “fold” the building. This is not the pinnacle of a demolitionist's qualifications; there are more difficult tasks.
19. Is it true that mine clearance is a thing of the past, and now everything that was mined is simply destroyed?
Yes, everything is correct if we are talking about “neutralizing” on site or evacuating an explosive device for subsequent destruction. A sapper is a highly qualified specialist; unnecessary risk is contraindicated for a specialist; he can still save someone’s life. Why bother with neutralization once again, when without danger to others you can destroy an explosive device with a water cannon, an overhead charge, destroy it on the spot with a directed explosion without subsequent detonation, and at least primitively and reliably pull it off with a “cat” or simply shoot it? It’s only in the movies that the wires are cut when the brilliant “good guy” has to outplay the brilliant “bad guy.”
But cases when it is necessary to neutralize on site or remove an explosive device for subsequent destruction are also in practice. This is exactly the job for a highly qualified sapper specialist, which involves risk to life. A huge amount of experience has been accumulated in this part of the world, including from the time of the Great Patriotic War. And in modern engineering troops there are plenty of real geniuses of mine-explosive work.
20. What useful things can you do in peacetime? Are engineering troops involved, say, in civil defense tasks?
Recruited as needed. We can conduct reconnaissance in the area of a natural disaster, accident or catastrophe. We can work as rescuers. We can work as firefighters. We can provide first aid and evacuate. We can build a bridge and create a crossing. We can work underwater, we have our own divers. In general, we can save the lives of people in distress or in an emergency zone.
21. What is considered a sign of professional excellence? Pilots, for example, perform complex aerobatics at low altitudes, snipers hit their wristwatches from 300 meters, but what about “attack aircraft”?
A good stormtrooper engineer returns alive after successfully completing a combat mission.
Part two, photographic
I arrived at the unit while it was still dark, before getting up.
Had breakfast in the soldiers' canteen.
For breakfast we were given millet porridge with gravy, chicken, lard, cow butter, bread, chicken egg, sweet tea, caramel, gingerbread, cookies, milk.
Lard and chicken on my plate in double size, I finally found the first vegetarian in the army! The whole lieutenant colonel turned out to be.
Cabbage, carrots, beans, peas for breakfast to choose from. I couldn’t eat everything, even though I was hungry. Breakfast, by the way, was enough for a whole day of running around the outskirts of Murom; the food was good, satisfying, although not the most delicious.
After breakfast we went to meet the military engineers from the clearing and assault company. By prior agreement, they were to demonstrate the process of putting on new protective equipment.
OVR-3Sh has three standard sizes.
Costumes are transported and stored in bags like these. The round compartment is for a helmet.
The main components of the OVR-3Sh are laid out on the table: on the left you can see fragments of the cooling system, a lightweight jacket, trousers, a sleeveless vest and a protective helmet.
The cooling system consists of two parts - a sweatshirt and a “underpants”.
Lightweight flexible plastic hoses are sewn along the entire inner surface of the sweatshirt and underpants.
Hoses drive water from such a tank using an electric motor. The battery lasts for about a day of operation. The coolant is supposed to be ordinary water with ice (with ice!?).
Generally speaking, I don’t really understand about ice: in winter there is a lot of it, but a cooling system is not needed, but in summer where can you get it? It was not possible to find out how effectively ordinary water (without ice) will cool the user.
In any case, a system filled with drinking water can serve as a portable water supply.
The cooling system is put on with tubes to the body directly on the thermal underwear. Connectors for connecting to a water tank are visible.
In winter, the cooling system is not required, was put on for demonstration purposes only. On top of thermal underwear and a cooling system (or without the latter) such a lightweight jacket is put on; in fact, these are only sleeves, while the jacket serves as a forced load-bearing element.
A lightweight jacket is more convenient for two people to put on and adjust, but the task is quite feasible for anyone alone. Lacing on the back prevents the suit from moving around the body and regulates the “movement” of the arms and shoulders and overall comfort.
Following the jacket, trousers are put on.
The trousers are connected to the jacket with special straps on latches, they are visible on the left in the picture.
All that remains is to put on a “sleeveless vest” with shoulder pads.
There are special “pockets” for placing armor panels on the sides, chest and groin of the suit.
The panels can be different, in this case they have a 6th class of protection, they can withstand a point-blank shot from an SVD with an armor-piercing incendiary bullet.
Shoulder protection works on the same principle, only it is flexible and does not have such a high class of protection. But it reliably protects against splinters, cuts and burns.
Armored helmet "Warrior Kiver RSP" with visor. The visor holds a 9mm pistol bullet.
The visor on the helmet is removable. In the picture it just came out of the cold, so the room was fogged up. It fogged up much less outside, so I paid special attention.
The shield, made of three-layer plastic, is heavy, extremely transparent, but greatly changes the center of gravity of the helmet. Helmet mounting points allow you to place a variety of items on the helmet, such as a flashlight.
Communications, hearing protection and connection point for a mine detector.
Attack engineer in OVR-3Sh. The visor has been removed from the helmet.
To demonstrate progress in individual armor protection for “stormtroopers,” they brought a pair of modern replicas of the CH-42 steel cuirass breastplates. The cuirasses were specially made for demonstration purposes at one of the enterprises based on drawings and photographs, and the fastening elements and “damper” were sewn by one of the officers with his own hands.
The steel helmet, as you can see, is not the most authentic, but it’s a real deal. But an infantry shoulder blade with the stamp “1917”.
Layout of teaching staff. It’s strange to see such “new-made” inscriptions on weapons made in the USSR. This also applies to our domestic “layout designers”.
Or is there some special valor in the emasculation (sometimes simply barbaric) of an old but military weapon? Or is this some kind of legal requirement?
Due to numerous requests from interested parties, some photographic details from life multitool NS-2 and the assault knife "Sapper".
The case with the standard multi-tool is visible on the left fighter’s left thigh.
Using the multitool for its intended purpose.
Multitool in a case. A table knife from a soldier's canteen for scale.
The case can be attached to a waist belt or equipment in several ways.
Assault knife "Sapper". A sheath with an assault knife is visible on the stormtrooper's right thigh.
The assault knife “Sapper” immediately attracted my attention due to its fairly common grammatical errors. Just in case, I inform you that in the phrase “Armed Forces of Russia” all words should be written with capital letters. But in the phrase “Engineering Troops” the word “troops” would be correctly written with a small capital letter.
I talked with the users of Minesweeper, they expressed themselves in the spirit that such a knife is useful and necessary, and there are no complaints about this particular product yet.
But a secret doubt crept into my mind: I had the amazing experience of owning and using a miracle survival knife, which proudly bore a similar “moose” brand.
Chapter two.
Growing up (1921-1941)
Having repelled the attack of the imperialists on our country, ending the civil war, the Soviet people moved on to peaceful construction.
At the same time, it was necessary to transfer the army to a peaceful position and reorganize it. The party was guided by the instructions of V.I. Lenin that, having reduced the army, preserve such a core of it, which would allow, in case of need, to deploy the necessary armed forces (53).
The question of the nature of the construction of the Red Army and Red Fleet was discussed at the X, XI and XIII Party Congresses, which made decisions aimed at further strengthening the Armed Forces. These issues were also discussed more than once at the Plenums of the Party Central Committee.
The first event in the construction of the Soviet Armed Forces after the end of the civil war was the demobilization of the Red Army and its transition to a peaceful situation, which was carried out in 1921-1924. Simultaneously with demobilization, the army was reorganized. The order for demobilization was given on December 11, 1920, and by October 1, 1924, the Red Army, which had 5.5 million people at the beginning of demobilization, was brought to a peacetime staff with a strength of 562 thousand people (54).
After the end of the civil war, a significant part of the personnel in the engineering troops was also demobilized and the engineering units were transferred to a peaceful position. On October 1, 1924, the number of engineering troops and military engineering service bodies (excluding military construction units and military sappers) amounted to 10,014 people (55), or about 2 percent of the total number of the Red Army.
Military field construction with the transition of the army to a peaceful position remained in the system of the military department, but was switched mainly to the restoration of the national economy.
The reorganization of the engineering troops began from below, from brigade and divisional units. By January 1, 1921, the engineering battalions of the rifle divisions were disbanded; instead of them, separate engineering companies were created - sapper and road-bridge companies, and in a division there were, as a rule, two of them, not counting the separate brigade sapper companies.
By order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic No. 424/61 of February 18, 1921, the Military Engineering Department was reorganized. This order provided;
“Concentrate the management of all issues of military engineering under the jurisdiction of the Main Military Engineering Directorate, subordinating it on operational and combat issues directly to the Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Republic, and on the issue of supply - to the chief supply officer” (56).In connection with this, the Inspectorate of Engineers was disbanded.
By April 1, in the Main Military Engineering Directorate and by April 15 in the field, the reorganization in accordance with the order of the RVSR was completed.
In military districts, military engineering issues were in charge of the chief of engineers, to whom a special department was subordinated. This department consisted of departments: fortification and construction, which was in charge of the engineering preparation of the district for defense (this department did not exist in the internal districts); combatant, in charge of combat training of engineering and technical troops; apartment, engineering and technical supplies. The chief of engineers reported to the commander of the district troops and worked closely with the Office of the district supply chief on engineering supply issues.
The staff of the Main Military Engineering Directorate of the Red Army (GVIU) was put into effect on August 1, 1921 by order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic No. 1529 of July 16, 1921. Somewhat earlier, on June 2, 1921, Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic E. Sklyansky approved the regulations on the GVIU, according to which it consisted of fourteen departments, a financial part and an engineering committee. In addition, senior inspectors and the secretariat were at the direct disposal of the head of the department.
The regulations determined that all issues of military engineering and military-technical affairs of the RSFSR are subject to the jurisdiction of the Main Military Engineering Directorate of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, namely issues of defense of the Republic in engineering, operational combat, inspection, organizational and technical, scientific, educational , economic and procurement units of the military department in all branches of military engineering and military-technical affairs, special education of troops, supplying the army with military engineering and technical equipment and providing it with all types of housing allowances.
The Main Military Engineering Directorate of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was led by the head of the department, who is also the head of the engineering and technical forces of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.
I. E. Korostashevsky was appointed head and military commissar of the Main Military Engineering Directorate of the Red Army (GVIUKA) on March 26, 1923, assistants to the head of GVIUKA were N. F. Popov and G. G. Nevsky, and A. was appointed chairman of the engineering committee of GVIUKA. K. Ovchinnikov and his deputy - A. P. Shoshin (57).
One of the central tasks of the Main Military Engineering Directorate and the military engineering departments of the fronts and districts in connection with the transition of the army to a peaceful situation was the training of engineering and technical troops and the creation of the necessary personnel for this purpose. For better organization of combat training, it was considered advisable to have engineering battalions in the districts, which at the time of mobilization could deploy into the appropriate number of separate companies.
During 1921, the staffs were again developed and a firm numerical composition of all engineering and technical military units and subunits was established.
The number of engineering units of the Red Army as of September 1, 1923, indicating the number of personnel in them, is given in Table 2.
table 2
| Name of engineering parts | Number of parts | Number of people per state in one in all parts |
|
| Sapper battalions | 18 | 373 | 6714 |
| Separate sapper companies of rifle divisions | 39 | 158 | 6162 |
| Separate sapper squadrons of cavalry divisions | 10 | 148 | 1480 |
| Separate sapper half-squadrons of cavalry brigades | 9 | 103 | 927 |
| Etc. | 15283 | ||
| Fortress sapper companies | 5 | 166 | 830 |
| Kronstadt sapper company | 1 | 173 | 173 |
| Engineering and technical battalion of the Petrograd UR | 1 | 325 | 325 |
| Total | 1328 | ||
| Pontoon battalions | 5 | 312 | 1560 |
| Transport motor-pontoon units | 5 | 68 | 340 |
| Training pontoon-mine division | 1 | 482 | 482 |
| Fortress mine squads | 3 | 72 | 216 |
| Mine squad | 1 | 224 | 224 |
| Total | 2822 | ||
| Electrical battalions | 2 | 355 | 710 |
| Electrical training battalion | 1 | 372 | 372 |
| Separate special purpose searchlight company | 1 | 114 | 114 |
| Total | 1196 | ||
| Individual combat masks | 2 | 103 | 206 |
| Training combat mask | 1 | 232 | 232 |
| Total | 438 | ||
| Trucking teams | 27 | 78 | 2106 |
| Petrograd Motor Transport Battalion (four detachments) | 1 | 444 | 444 |
| Training motorized brigade | 1 | 425 | 425 |
| Automobile detachments of rifle divisions | 39 | 39 | 1521 |
| Total | 4496 | ||
| Engineering site | 1 | 142 | 142 |
| Total(58) | 25705 | ||
Thus, as of September 1, 1923, in relation to the total strength of the Red Army established for peacetime, the regular strength of the engineering troops, taking into account regimental sappers, was about 5 percent, and excluding military sappers - 2.2 percent.
The task of training command personnel for engineering units and institutions with the transition of the army to a peaceful situation continued to remain one of the main ones in strengthening and further improving the engineering troops of the Red Army.
Training of command personnel was carried out in the system of higher and secondary military educational institutions, as well as in various specialized schools and short-term courses. The main military educational institution intended for training command staff of engineering troops with higher education was the Military Engineering Academy, which trained 107 military engineers from 1921 to 1924 (59). To train platoon commanders, the Main Directorate of Military Educational Institutions had four engineering schools (Petrograd, Moscow, Kiev and Kazan) with a training period of four years, including one preparatory year. Each school had a staff of 400 cadets and a corresponding number of permanent command and teaching staff. In addition, there was one electrical engineering school (Petrograd) with a duration of study of five years, including one preparatory year.
Under the jurisdiction of the Main Military Engineering Directorate there was a secondary school for secondary command personnel in the electrical training battalion (Petrograd) with a training period of nine months. In the district secondary schools there were engineering classes, in which one person from each engineering and technical company studied for six months. In addition, there was an engineering department at the Petrograd International School for 30 cadets, as well as a Higher Camouflage School.
The supply of the Red Army with various types of engineering equipment was very uneven. Thus, on January 1, 1921, the army's supply of entrenching tools and positional equipment (barbed wire, excavation bags, etc.) reached 100 percent, and for searchlights, mine-ship and demolition equipment - up to 60 percent of the total requirement.
As for workshop tools, saws and accessories for electromechanical equipment, as well as metals, the army felt an extreme need for them. There was also an acute issue with the supply of vehicles to the troops.
For the reception, storage and delivery of engineering property, as of January 1, 1921, there were 33 main, district and base warehouses, including 12 explosives warehouses. Of the 21 warehouses for engineering equipment, 7 were main, 9 district and 5 basic (60).
Already in the first years after the Civil War, in addition to measures to concentrate, repair and store existing engineering property, measures were taken to create new models of engineering equipment and improve existing ones.
These tasks were assigned to the engineering committee, which carried out its activities in cooperation with the Military Engineering Academy in accordance with the regulations approved on June 2, 1921. The military engineering training ground, established in 1920, served as the base for conducting experimental work and testing new models of engineering equipment. and subsequently expanded into the Research Engineering Institute.
Despite the insufficient scientific, experimental and production base of the test site, already at that time some new samples of military engineering equipment began to be manufactured there, and various kinds of inventive and rationalization proposals were being finalized. For example, new standard transport means were manufactured, in particular A-2 inflatable rubber boats.
During this period, great importance was also attached to the organization of combat and political training of engineering troops. These issues received significant attention in the decisions of the All-Russian Conference of the Chiefs of Engineering and Technical Forces of the Red Army, held on November 2-8, 1921.
Political work in engineering units, as well as throughout the Red Army, was carried out in accordance with the decisions of the XI All-Russian Conference of the RCP (b) (December 19-22, 1921) and the XI Congress of the RCP (b) (March 27 - April 2, 1922). ). These decisions required that political work be organized in such a way that after two years of service the Red Army soldier would leave the barracks not only well prepared militarily, but also with political knowledge equal to that of the cadets of the provincial party school.
The organization of combat and political training experienced serious difficulties during these years. Until 1924, the Red Army and its engineering troops had to carry out combat and political training in conditions of protracted reorganization of the army, high turnover of personnel, overload of units and formations with a number of tasks not directly related to combat and political training, as well as a lack of material supplies army, lack of junior command (instructor) staff, lack of new regulations and instructions.
Further strengthening of the engineering troops (1924-1928)
An important stage in the construction and further strengthening of the engineering troops of the Red Army, as well as all Soviet Armed Forces, was the military reform of 1924-1925, carried out by decision and under the leadership of the Communist Party.
To summarize the experience of building engineering troops after the Civil War and organizing combat training, as well as to determine ways to improve this work in accordance with the decisions of the Communist Party and the Soviet government, an All-Union meeting of the chiefs of engineers of the Red Army was held from January 15 to January 21, 1924. At the meeting, issues of organizing engineering troops and their territorial and police development were discussed.
The decisions adopted by the meeting specified the tasks of engineering units and subunits, drawing attention to the need to thoroughly introduce engineering knowledge into the troops, increase the number of sappers in the rifle regiment, and the need to establish order in the organization of combat training in territorial engineering units and subunits.
In rifle regiments it was proposed to create special sapper teams with a strength equal to a platoon of a sapper company. These teams were supposed to provide engineering training for the riflemen, supervise the sapper work carried out by the riflemen, and also independently carry out special engineering work. Special training for sappers of a regimental sapper team must be universal.
Taking into account the modern importance of ferrying facilities, the meeting confirmed the need for the existence of pontoon units and decided to ask the State Military Inspectorate to pay special attention to the speedy development of a perfect type of pontoon equipment and providing existing pontoon battalions with the necessary ferrying equipment and horse transport.
In the decision on the issue of territorial police construction of engineering troops, detailed recommendations were given on the organization of pre-conscription training, as well as the organization of territorial units. The need was noted to staff territorial engineering units and units from residents of industrial areas and cities; It was recognized that the terms of training in territorial units (with a total duration of eight months over five years) for the engineering troops were insufficient, and therefore it was recommended, while maintaining the same service life, to increase the duration of training camps to twelve and a half months.
At the same time, it was recommended to provide the territorial units with the necessary teaching aids and materials; staff them with command personnel who have graduated from normal military engineering schools and have practical experience of at least one year; ensure the training of the missing junior command personnel for territorial engineering units in personnel units or by organizing special schools outside the territorial divisions.
Thus, the meeting outlined the main activities for carrying out military reform in the engineering troops. The decisions made determined the basis for the construction and content of combat training of the engineering troops in subsequent years. Based on them, corresponding programs were developed.
Practically during the period of military reform and in the first years after it, the following measures were carried out in the engineering troops.
Simultaneously with the reorganization of the central apparatus of the People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs, the leadership of the technical troops of the Red Army was also reorganized. The Main Military Engineering Directorate, which was in charge of the engineering troops, as well as the supply of engineering equipment to the troops, was reorganized. It was freed from combat functions, was supposed to be in charge only of supplying troops with engineering equipment and was subordinate to the chief of supply of the Red Army. Control of the engineering troops was transferred to headquarters. Management of combat training of engineering troops was concentrated in the military engineering inspection under the Main Directorate of the Red Army.
The independent military engineering departments in the districts that existed before the reorganization were freed from combat functions and included as departments in the Office of the District Supply Chief. The military engineering training of the district troops was to be supervised by an inspector of engineers, subordinate directly to the commander of the district troops (this position soon became known as the chief of engineers).
In connection with the introduction in 1924-1925. In the new organizational structure of the Red Army (formation of rifle corps, liquidation of rifle brigades, etc.), much attention was paid to improving the organization and general condition of the engineering and technical troops. In accordance with the new states, the corps of engineering troops included a sapper battalion (two sapper companies and an engineer park), the division - a separate sapper company (61) and an engineer park, and the rifle regiment - a camouflage engineer platoon. In the cavalry, engineering troops consisted of cavalry sapper squadrons in divisions and sapper demolition platoons in regiments. The corps engineer battalions almost all remained personnel, but the positions of corps engineer and battalion commander were combined. The division engineer was also the company commander. This situation existed for one year, after which these positions were again separated. All special and technical troops were also personnel.
As part of the engineering troops, the militia-territorial ones were mainly sapper companies of territorial divisions and sapper-camouflage platoons of rifle regiments of these divisions. The sapper company of the territorial rifle division had a personnel of slightly more than twenty people. The permanent composition of the sapper-camouflage platoon included three people.
The number of engineering troops and institutions on October 1, 1925 was 11,415 people, or 2.1 percent of the total number of the Red Army (62). Organizational measures taken in the engineering troops in 1924-1925. were caused and justified by the prevailing situation at that time, but later it became clear that the available number of engineering troops in the Red Army was not enough.
Along with the implementation of organizational measures, there was a further improvement in the system of training command personnel for engineering units and subunits. The need for this was determined by the fact that the level of military education of the command staff was not high enough. Thus, in 1925, in the engineering troops, only 30 percent of the command staff had a normal military education, and 17 percent had no military education at all. The situation with junior command personnel during 1924-1925. remained unfavorable. As of June 1, 1924, the shortage in the engineering and technical troops was 32.3 percent.
To train junior command personnel, regimental schools were created at the end of 1924 - beginning of 1925. Junior command staff and relevant specialists from units that did not have regular schools were trained in special classes that were formed during the training period at the relevant units and formations.
The training and improvement of middle and senior command personnel was carried out in three types of military educational institutions: in normal military schools, which trained new cadres of middle command personnel; at advanced training courses and at higher schools that deepened the knowledge of commanders; in military academies that trained commanding officers of the senior and highest categories.
The experience of building and establishing a military school (including engineering) was summarized in the “Regulations on military schools of the Red Army”, which was put into effect by order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR dated November 30, 1925. This provision, in particular, determined that for the preparation of command military engineering schools are being created within the engineering troops. The military engineering school was a combat unit within a three-company battalion, and educationally it was divided into four classes: preparatory, junior, middle and senior. There were two such schools at that time.
To retrain the middle command staff of the engineering troops, advanced training courses for command staff were created at the Leningrad Engineering School back in 1924.
The systematic training of reserve command personnel began in 1924 with the organization of teams of one-year students at the corps engineer battalions. In addition to the battalion staff, these teams included young people of military age who had completed secondary education, as well as young engineers who received a deferment until they graduated from a higher educational institution. Those who completed training in the team were required to pass exams for the position of platoon commander, after which they were transferred to the reserve. Those who did not pass the exams remained to serve on a general basis.
By the time of the reform, by March 1924, the Red Army had a Military Engineering Academy to train military engineers. In addition, civilian universities were brought in to train some groups of military specialists for the Red Army. So in 1924, a geodetic department was created at the Land Survey Institute. In 1925, a military communications department was created at the Leningrad Institute of Railways, and a military electrical engineering department was created at the Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute. In this regard, the faculties of geodesy, military communications and electrical engineering that existed at the Military Engineering Academy were closed, and the Military Engineering Academy itself at the beginning of 1925 was merged with the artillery and reorganized into the Military Technical Academy, which received the name F in 1926 E. Dzerzhinsky. During the period from 1925 to 1928, the academy trained 113 military engineers.
The work carried out to strengthen the organizational structure of the Red Army made it possible to organize normal combat and political training in its units and formations. M. V. Frunze on November 17, 1924, in a report at a meeting of leading political workers, said:
“The general improvement in the living and working conditions of the army has opened up the possibility of putting its education and training on solid ground. In essence, only now can we really take up our studies. In previous years, with their turnover of personnel, difficult material conditions of existence, lack of a solid procedure for serving, etc., we were actually deprived of any opportunity to build an army as a real fighting force” (63).Combat and political training was also organized in the engineering troops. In September 1924, the Red Army inspectorate sent out a combat training plan to the troops for the first year of training, which was approved by the plenum of the USSR Revolutionary Military Council in December 1924. Based on this plan, winter training was organized in the engineering units of the Red Army in 1924-1925. In terms of combat training of engineering troops and engineering training of all types of troops, the recommendations of the All-Union Conference of Chiefs of Engineers of the Red Army were mainly taken into account.
In 1925, a normal training plan was put into effect in all personnel and territorial units and formations of the Red Army, including the engineering troops. The training period for personnel units was set at two years. Each year was divided into winter and summer periods of study. In the first year of training, the Red Army soldier was supposed to become a trained specialist fighter with technical knowledge of the material part of the platoon's arsenal. By the end of the second year of training, he should have acquired such knowledge that would allow him to go into the reserve as a squad commander.
Red Army soldiers who studied at the school for junior commanders (regimental or corresponding) received complete training as a squad commander during the first year, and in the second year they were prepared to perform the functions of an assistant reserve platoon commander.
Simultaneously with the combat training plan, a normal political training plan was developed and put into effect. The two-year program of political training and education developed by the PUR was aimed at preparing a conscious, combat-ready defender of Soviet power, clearly understanding that its strengthening is possible on the basis of a strong alliance of the working class and the peasantry under the leadership of the Communist Party. Approved by the department of agitation and propaganda of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), this program was put into effect in the 1925/26 academic year.
The need to organize combat training of engineering units sometimes required in some districts to temporarily gather sappers in one place for the period of summer practical training. This was achieved by assigning sapper units in general camps to an engineering group, headed by the deputy camp assembly for engineering troops. This was the case, for example, in 1923 and subsequent years in the Chuguev camp (southeast of Kharkov), where the engineering group consisted of the 7th and 8th corps battalions and the 23rd divisional engineer company. Sometimes it was necessary to organize special engineering camps. Such were, for example, the pontoon camp of the Kyiv garrison on Trukhanov Island in 1923-1941; in the same years - a camp of engineering units of the Kharkov Military District on the Northern Donets River near the city of Zmiev (14th corps, 29th divisional engineer battalions, engineer companies of the 25th and 73rd rifle divisions).
Having a purely educational value, the camps operated no more than three to four months a year. By the time of general training, regular exercises and maneuvers, the camps ceased to exist, and the engineering units joined their formations.
The development and implementation of new military regulations, manuals, manuals, instructions and other guidance materials were important for improving the training and education of army personnel.
In addition to the fact that the issues of engineering support for combat and the combat use of engineering troops were reflected in the combat manuals of the Red Army, issued in these years, a number of manuals and instructions on military engineering were issued, which made it possible to organize special training in the troops more purposefully and with high quality.
So, for example, in the period 1924-1928. instructions were published on the military engineering of the Red Army, military camouflage, engineering and technical affairs of the command staff of all branches of the army, special education of the engineering troops of the Red Army (Bridges and crossings, part 1; Demolition work; Underground mine engineering), military engineering for infantry, etc.
Military magazines that were published played a major role in generalizing the experience of combat and political training of units and formations of the Red Army and its further improvement. They also raised and, to one degree or another, resolved issues of Soviet military engineering, combat training and combat use of engineering troops. Such magazines in the period under review were “Army and Revolution”, “Military Thought and Revolution”, “Military Bulletin”, “War and Revolution”, “Technique and Supply of the Red Army”, etc.
During these years, military-scientific work was carried out on a large scale both throughout the Red Army and in its engineering troops. The following works published at this time deserve attention: N. Shelavin - “Divisional and Corps Engineers”, 1924; A. V. Prigorovsky - “Engineering and technical means of combat and tactical use of engineering troops,” 1924; G. Serchevsky - “Basic principles of the tactical use of sappers and the system of divisional management of them,” 1924; K. Schildbach - “Tactics of Engineering Troops”, 1927; G. Potapov - “Combat use and use of engineering troops”, 1928; M. Spiering, D. Ushakov, K. Schildbach - “Application of military engineering in the combat service of troops,” 1927; K. A. Rose - “River crossing based on the experience of the civil war of 1918-1920,” 1928; a number of works by D. M. Karbyshev, G. G. Nevsky and others.
In general, by the end of 1928, engineering units and subunits had already accumulated practical experience in organizing and conducting combat and political training. During this period, the sending of engineering units to various types of construction work was widely used to consolidate theoretical knowledge and develop practical skills in organizing work and its production (for example, the construction of the Orsha - Lepel railway, road and bridge work in a forested and swampy area in the upper reaches of the Berezina River west of Lepel and in the border zone of the Belarusian SSR, construction of the Oster - Chernigov road, etc.). In particular, for the construction of the Chernigov-Ovruch railway in 1927, a railway corps was formed, which included sapper corps battalions (2, 6, 7, 8, 14 and 17), united in training terms into a brigade, headed by the deputy commander of the 17th Rifle Corps for engineering troops, corps engineer A. S. Tsigurov. Corps engineer battalions in the summer of 1927 and 1928. they went to camps on the railway route and, in parallel with the implementation of the special and combat training plan, carried out work on the construction of the railway, including the construction of bridges on pile supports. During the same period, the command staff of the engineering troops and engineering units participated in ongoing exercises, field trips, reconnaissance and war games.
In the organization of combat training and its management, a large role was played by inspectors of engineers at the Main Directorate of the Red Army and inspectors of district engineers, who provided assistance to the troops, generalized and disseminated best practices, revealed shortcomings, identified the causes and, through the chiefs of engineers, sought to eliminate them.
A large group of engineering units and units, as well as soldiers of the engineering troops, were awarded orders, personalized weapons and valuable gifts for their participation in the fight against the Basmachism, for success in combat training and restoration of the national economy. Thus, by a resolution of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the USSR dated July 13, 1927, for distinction in the battle against the Basmachi on September 12, 1925 in the area of the Yakshi-Keldy fortress, the commander of a separate sapper half-squadron of the 8th Turkestan Cavalry Brigade B. I. Wetzel, assistant platoon commander of the same squadron N. M. Grigorenko, squad commander I. R. Wegner, Red Army soldiers Y. A. Stukalov, P. I. Prikhodko, I. D. Slashchini "N, T. S. Matveenko, G. M. Zharinov, K.K. Savoteev, D.N. Kofakov(64).
In commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Red Army, those who particularly distinguished themselves on the battle fronts and in peacetime work, by order of the USSR Revolutionary Military Council on personnel No. 102 of February 23, were awarded the Order of the Red Banner throughout the Red Army - 1066 people, including G. K. Dmitriev - former divisional engineer of the 10th Infantry Division, G. K. Usupov - former head of the sapper team of the 6th Khabarovsk Infantry Regiment and I. I. Khodunov - former head of the demolition team of the 81st Infantry Regiment of the 91st Infantry Division. The same order awarded 1,745 people with personal weapons and valuable gifts, among them 48 people from the engineering troops, including 17 people with personal weapons, valuable gifts and certificates of honor - 31 people (65).
In the same years, separate engineer battalions of the 8th, 10th, 13th and 17th Rifle Corps, the 21st separate engineer battalion and the 1st company of the 9th separate engineer battalion (66) were awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.
During this period, such a form of education for Red Army soldiers was also practiced, such as the election of the most honored people of the army and the country at meetings of unit personnel as honorary Red Army soldiers. The decision on election was announced by order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR. In engineering units and subunits, ten people were approved as honorary Red Army soldiers, including the commander of the 17th Rifle Corps, J. F. Fabritsius, the commander of the Turkestan Front, K. A. Avksentyevsky, a worker at the cement plant of the Kiev Okrug Municipal Economy, S. V. Lysenko, and the Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR. Georgia F.I. Makharadze et al.
During the period of technical re-equipment of the Red Army
The period of the pre-war five-year plans for the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union was a period of their technical re-equipment and further increase in combat power. At the same time, the technical equipment and re-equipment of the engineering troops took place.
In 1928, the “Engineering Weapons System” of the Red Army was developed and approved in 1930 by the People’s Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs, which provided the entire range of technical means necessary to carry out military engineering combat missions. The system determined the basic tactical and technical data of engineering assets and established the procedure for their development and introduction into supply. On the basis of this document, which was revised several times with the introduction of some changes, the engineering troops were equipped with new equipment until the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.
In accordance with the adopted system, during the years of the first five-year plans, along with the technical re-equipment of the entire army, there was an intensive development of military engineering equipment, which was equipped with the engineering troops.
The further development - both quantitatively and qualitatively - of crossing and bridge facilities was particularly intensive. The ferry-bridge fleet on inflatable boats A-2, which was adopted in 1926, was replaced in 1927 by a fleet on A-3 boats, which was modernized in subsequent years and by 1936 had a carrying capacity of 12-14 tons, and its transportation the material part was already carried out on cars.
In 1934, the heavy N2P fleet (with open metal pontoons) and the light NLP fleet (with folding pontoons made of bakelized plywood) began to enter service, replacing the Tomilovsky pontoon park that had been transferred from the old Russian army, which lasted 70 years (67).
It should be noted that at the beginning of the Second World War, the N2P fleet turned out to be the only one of the pontoon-bridge parks of all the armies that fought that was quite suitable for assembling and erecting bridges with a carrying capacity of up to 60 tons. The carrying capacity of the NLP fleet was 16 tons.
To transport ferry from regular water crossings in the pre-war years, the BMK-70 towing motor boat, the NKL-27 semi-glider and the SZ-10 and SZ-20 ship outboard units were created.
In 1939, a special pontoon park SP-19 was put into service, intended for the construction of bridges and ferry crossings on wide rivers with high flow speeds.
Simultaneously with heavy, medium and light ferry fleets, a number of light ferry vehicles also entered service in the same years: assault difficult-to-flood equipment (TZI), a small inflatable boat, a swimming suit. Later, an inflatable boat carried on packs and a folding boat made of plywood were designed for mountain units. Before the start of the Great Patriotic War, collapsible metal bridges RMM-2 and RMM-4 were developed, and the latter was put into service during the war and was the basis for the creation of collapsible metal bridges in our army.
Much attention was paid to the development of means of mechanization and electrification of military engineering work. Already in 1934-1935. Many new equipment were introduced into service, which dramatically increased the capabilities of the engineering troops.
So, for example, for logging work, the engineering troops received movable sawmill frames, sawmills, gas-powered saws, a set of accessories for tractor skidding of logs, and a set of suspended monorail tracks. The presence of these means made it possible to mechanize basically the entire process of logging work.
To mechanize bridge work, a metal collapsible pile driver with a steam-air hammer was adopted in 1935. Subsequently, Soviet designers created more advanced and productive piling tools - diesel pile hammers and others. The mobile compressor station, which entered service by 1936, could be successfully used not only for the mechanization of bridge work, but also in other work requiring the use of pneumatic tools.
Before the appearance of tractors in the engineering troops, road vehicles developed in accordance with the possibilities of using horse-drawn traction. Among the first road equipment were various types of uprooters, plows, drag shovels and even horse-drawn ditch diggers. By 1934-1935, as tractor-drawn road vehicles were being created, various machine samples were selected for engineering units after special tests. In 1937-1938 Based on the experience of using road vehicles, the troops adopted the most advanced machines used with the S-60 and S-65 tractors, namely: the modernized heavy GTM grader and the BG-M bulldozer, SP and ST-5 scrapers, KV-2 double-blade ditch diggers and KV-3, a heavy collapsible ripper, as well as a powerful special LNG grader and a wheeled motor grader with a picker.
The first mobile power station, mounted on a 1.5-ton vehicle in 1930 and put into service by 1934, was a charging and lighting station with a capacity of 3 kW (AES-1). In 1935, an automobile power plant with a capacity of 15 kW (NPP-3) was included in the report card of the engineering troops. The new power plant had a set of electrified tools and lighting fixtures. During these same years, the first samples of high-voltage mobile power stations, intended for electrifying wire fences, entered service.
Much work has been done in the field of creating and improving mine-explosive equipment and weapons. Thus, in 1934, blasting machines PM-1, PM-2, a large number of various electrical measuring instruments, special fuses and contactors entered service. The first anti-tank mine TM-35 appeared, later - AKS, TM-39, TMD-40, PMZ-40. The last of these samples were developed based on combat experience in the use of anti-tank mines in 1939-1940. Based on the same experience, anti-personnel mines MPK-40, PMK-6, etc. were created. Work was also carried out to study the effect of a shaped charge, especially on armor. New means of controlling landmines at a distance, via radio, were developed.
Wire obstacles (WOBs) were developed as other means of barriers. Much attention was paid to the construction of water barriers.
Work was carried out in the field of development of barriers. However, by 1935, only sets of means for reconnaissance and overcoming electrified barriers entered service. The first mine detectors appeared only in the period 1939-1940. To overcome anti-tank ditches with tanks, ST-26 sapper tanks were designed on the basis of the T-26 tank, equipped with a metal bridge that was moved onto the obstacle by the tank driver directly from the vehicle.
During the period of technical re-equipment of the army, there was significant work. was also carried out to create standard means of camouflaging troops and military equipment, as well as to develop methods for using these means. Various mask suits, mask nets, materials, and paints were put into service.
For the field water supply of troops, means of reconnaissance, extraction and purification of water in the field, as well as its transportation and storage, were designed and put into service.
The successes of industrialization of the USSR made it possible to ensure the production of various and complex engineering equipment at the factories of our country and not to be dependent on imports.
Studying the issue of the growth of mechanization equipment that entered the engineering armament during the years of the first five-year plan, D. M. Karbyshev noted that the capacity of the machine park that entered service with the engineering troops of the Red Army was: in 1932 - 5 thousand, in 1933 . - 25 thousand, in 1934 - 95 thousand l. With.; the growth of mechanization and motorization means per soldier was: in pontoon battalions in 1932 - 0.6, in 1933 - 3.0, in 1934 - 6.0; in engineering battalions in 1932 - 0.3, in 1933 - 1.6, in 1934 - 2.1; in sapper battalions in 1932 - 0.3, in 1933 - 1.02, in 1934 - 1.75 liters. p.(68) .
It should be noted that some engineering vehicles, in terms of their tactical and technical characteristics, no longer fully meet the increased requirements, and the pace of development and introduction of new models lagged behind in comparison with other types of modern weapons, which was noted by the People's Commissar of Defense at the review of engineering equipment in December 1940.
For the development, operation and combat use of new equipment, specially trained personnel were needed. For this purpose, technical companies were formed in corps engineer and pontoon battalions, and technical platoons were formed in divisional engineer battalions. The Military Engineering Academy named after V.V. Kuibyshev (recreated in 1932) began to train specialists in engineering weapons.
Despite the general difficulties of growth in the country, the Communist Party and the Soviet government paid great attention in the pre-war years to equipping the engineering troops with new equipment. This can be seen from the fact that during the period from 1935 to 1941 the number of engineering vehicles and ferry fleets increased in the following amounts:
Parkov N2P.. ... 3.5 times
Sawmill frames and machines... ...3 times
Power plants of all types.. ... 4 times
Collapsible metal pile drivers.. ... 4 times
Compressor stations.. ........... 5 times
During this period, there was a quantitative and qualitative growth of the engineering troops of the Red Army, as well as a number of organizational changes in them. In particular, two-company combat engineer battalions were formed in the rifle divisions.
The engineering troops of the Red Army were headed during these years (from May 1930 to May 1937) by an active participant in the civil war, one of the most talented military leaders, N. N. Petin.
Both during the period of economic recovery of the country and in 1929-1939. engineering units and divisions, as well as scientists from the Military Engineering Academy, provided great assistance in the further development of the national economy. They built roads, bridges, crossings and other objects. Soldiers from engineering units also provided great assistance in the fight against natural disasters. Characteristic in this regard is the feat of the sapper company of the 9th sapper battalion of the North Caucasus Military District, whose commander at that time was V. A. Kopylov (now retired major general of the engineering troops). In the spring of 1931, sappers from this company took part in extinguishing a fire that engulfed oil fields in the Maykop region. These works were supervised by the corps engineer of the 9th Rifle Corps K. S. Kalugin (later major general of the engineering troops, died in 1945). Skillfully using explosives, sappers extinguished the fire. For this feat, the most distinguished sappers were awarded the Order of Lenin. They were among the first servicemen of our army to receive the highest government award. Among those awarded were corps engineer K. S. Kalugin, company commander V. A. Kopylov, squad commander V. M. Emelyanov and Red Army demolition soldiers Artemov, Burgaster, Kiprov and Evsikov (69).
Engineering troops in the combat operations of the Red Army in 1929-1940.
After the end of the civil war, the Red Army did not conduct large-scale military operations for a long period. Numerous border conflicts and incidents organized by the imperialists, the struggle against large Basmachi gangs, and even the defeat of the Chinese militarists during the conflict on the Chinese Eastern Railway, due to the nature of the actions and their limited scope, could not serve as the basis for broad conclusions and generalizations in the field of military art. However, even in these hostilities, the personnel of the engineering units, as well as the entire Red Army, showed courage, heroism and a high consciousness of patriotic duty, defending Soviet power - the power of workers and peasants.
For distinction in military operations to eliminate the conflict on the Chinese Eastern Railway in 1929, S. M. Shumilov, a Red Army soldier of the engineer squadron of the 5th separate Kuban Cavalry Brigade, and N. P. Cherepanov were awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Red Army soldier (trained) of a separate sapper squadron of the 9th separate Far Eastern Cavalry Brigade, I. P. Bedrov - commander of this squadron, M. Vagin and S. Astafiev - sappers of the 13th separate sapper battalion, I. A. Levin - platoon commander, L Syrov is a foreman, M. Bubnov and A. Shaidurov are commanders of sections of this battalion, etc. - sixteen people in total (70).
Volunteers - sappers and military engineers - advisers selflessly and courageously fulfilled their international duty in Spain during the years of struggle against the Francoist rebels and fascist interventionists. Construction and maintenance of crossings, fortification equipment of borders, construction of barriers and destruction zones during retreat and behind enemy lines, transfer of knowledge and experience to sappers of the Republican Army - this is not a complete list of tasks that our volunteers solved in Spain. Many of them were awarded orders and medals. The Order of the Red Banner was awarded on November 11, 1937 to V.P. Shurygin (now retired Major General of the Engineering Troops), who at that time was an adviser on engineering issues at the headquarters of the Northern and then the Central Fronts.
Larger military events in these years, the experience of which had a certain significance in the development of the theory and practice of combat use of engineering troops of the Red Army, were military operations at Lake Khasan (July 29 - August 11, 1938), on the Khalkhin Gol River (May - August 1939) and the Soviet-Finnish conflict (1939-1940). Let us briefly consider the participation of engineering troops in these hostilities.
At the end of July 1938, Japanese militarists in the area of Lake Khasan (130 km from Vladivostok) invaded Soviet territory and captured the tactically advantageous Bezymyannaya and Zaozernaya hills.
The task of defeating the invading Japanese forces was assigned to the 40th and 32nd Rifle Divisions and the 2nd Mechanized Brigade of the 39th Rifle Corps.
The main tasks of the engineering troops were the preparation and maintenance of roads and column tracks for troops both during the period of their concentration in the combat area and during the battle; securing in engineering terms the hills recaptured from the enemy in order to provide the Soviet troops who occupied the hills with the opportunity to prevent a repetition of the enemy’s provocative attacks in this area.
The 39th Rifle Corps (corps engineer Major A.I. Goldovich) initially had only regular engineering forces and means, but they were not enough. The roads along which the corps troops followed to the deployment area and along which all types of supplies were supplied became completely impassable by August 5, and even tanks got stuck on them.
On August 5, the command of the Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army (OKDVA) ordered the allocation of 5 construction battalions, 2 sapper battalions (26th and 43rd) and 20 tractors to provide troops with routes.
Despite the difficult conditions in which the fighting took place, the personnel of the units and formations of the Soviet troops who participated in the battles and supported them showed high moral qualities and selfless devotion to the socialist Motherland. By August 11, the task of defeating the Japanese troops who had invaded Soviet soil was completed and the border was restored again.
For military merits shown in the battles near Lake Khasan, many Red Army soldiers and commanders of engineering troops were awarded orders and medals. Among them, captain A. A. Paderin, senior lieutenant M. L. Rabinovich, captain E. G. Dyldin, captain V. D. Kirpichnikov were awarded the Order of the Red Banner; Order of the Red Star - Captain N. A. Rossal; medal "For Courage" - Major A. I. Goldovich; Medal "For Military Merit" - Captain I. S. Telesh and others.
The fighting on the Khalkhin Gol River was more widespread than at Lake Khasan. They began in May 1939 with the invasion of large forces of Japanese troops into the territory of the Mongolian People's Republic. From May to August 1939, the Soviet-Mongolian troops fought mainly defensive battles and prepared for the offensive operation, which was planned in August. The task of defeating the Japanese troops was entrusted to the Soviet-Mongolian formations and units united in the 1st Army Group.
The engineering forces and means of the army group included three divisional separate engineer battalions (36th, 82nd and 24th), two separate companies of tank brigades (11th and 32nd), a separate engineer company (70th), one pontoon battalion ( 17th) and one company of the 15th pontoon battalion, two hydraulic companies (11th and 14th). Of the transport facilities, 2 1/3 of the N2P fleet and 2 1/2 of the A-3 fleet of boats were concentrated.
The main tasks of the engineering troops in the preparation and conduct of the operation were to ensure the secrecy of the preparation of the operation, to conduct engineering reconnaissance of the Khalkhin Gol River in the zone of the upcoming offensive, to arrange and maintain crossings across the Khalkhin Gol River, to provide the attacking troops with water, to ensure the advance of the advancing troops during the operation.
During the period of preparation for the offensive, engineering units and subunits provided camouflage for the concentration of troops and military equipment, and also skillfully led the simulation of preparations for a long-term defense.
Sapper and pontoon units and units, while conducting reconnaissance and reconnaissance of the Khalkhin Gol River, discovered several fords and identified bridge crossing points. A total of 12 pontoon bridges were built, including 3 bridges built back in June. Over 20 linear lines were equipped to the crossing areas. km of access roads, and a curfew service is organized at the crossings.
The engineering units did a great job of equipping structures for command and observation posts of formation commanders and for the command of the army group. To provide the troops with water, 49 shaft and 8 shallow-tube wells were equipped.
Soviet-Mongolian troops launched an offensive on August 20 and completed the encirclement of the Japanese group on August 23. The encircled group of Japanese troops was dismembered and liquidated by August 31.
During the operation, the engineering troops ensured the advancement of our infantry, cavalry, tanks and artillery, their fight on the internal and external fronts of the encirclement, and also maintained supply and evacuation routes and crossings across the Khalkhin Gol River.
The combat experience gained showed the increased importance of engineering troops and engineering support in modern offensive operations; the great role of operational camouflage and the ability to achieve operational surprise in difficult desert conditions; the need to timely provide the attacking troops with an appropriate number of standard transport means, especially in treeless areas.
The Soviet-Mongolian troops participating in the operation on the Khalkhin Gol River showed high moral and combat qualities, initiative in solving assigned combat missions, while demonstrating massive heroism and courage, for which hundreds of soldiers and officers were awarded orders and medals, and 70 the participants in the battles were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Among the soldiers of the engineering troops awarded orders and medals were D. D. Abashin, A. F. Zhuchkov, N. F. Kotikov, N. I. Nesterov, P. I. Patushko. N. G. Ufimtsev, G. N. Yakovlev, K. V. Yakovlev and others. The 70th separate sapper company was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
On November 17, 1939, in connection with the 20th anniversary of the creation of the 1st Cavalry Army, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR awarded a large group of formations and units the Order of the Red Banner, including a separate sapper company of the Order of Lenin tank brigade named after M.P. Yakovlev, separate sapper companies of the 6th and 32nd tank brigades (71).
Engineering units and units took part in the campaigns of the Red Army to liberate the western regions of Belarus, Ukraine, as well as Bessarabia and Bukovina.
The Soviet troops did not conduct large-scale and prolonged military operations at that time, but the issues of engineering support for the movement of troops (in their readiness to fight) had to be resolved.
During the liberation campaigns, most of the engineering units ensured the crossing of troops across rivers (reinforced existing bridges, equipped fords, built new bridges), repaired roads, cleared airfield sites, set up overpasses for unloading trains, etc. The engineering troops fulfilled the tasks assigned to them .
In November 1939, the Finnish military, fueled by the reactionary forces of the imperialist states, organized a series of military provocations on the Soviet-Finnish border. On November 30, Soviet troops were forced to begin military operations against the Finnish army.
They took place from November 30, 1939 to March 13, 1940. The main events took place on the Karelian Isthmus, on a front of 100-110 km, where the main forces of the parties were concentrated and the most important operations took place.
What are the characteristic features of the theater of military operations and the state of the enemy’s defense that determined the main tasks of the engineering troops?
Firstly, the fighting took place in an area 12 percent of which was covered with lakes and rivers, 70 percent with impenetrable forests. Numerous rapids, waterfalls, rocky ridges and ice-free swamps created serious obstacles for the advancing troops and facilitated defense.
Secondly, the fighting took place in winter, with severe frosts reaching 40°, and in the presence of deep snow. Heavy snow, frequent fogs, the polar night on the northern sector of the front and very short days in the Karelian Isthmus area created additional difficulties for the advancing troops and facilitated the actions of the defenders.
Thirdly, on the Karelian Isthmus, where the main military events unfolded, a powerful long-term defense system was built, known as the Mannerheim Line, with a total depth of 100-120 km. Its construction took place under the guidance of the best military specialists in Western Europe. The advancing Soviet troops had to break through this line, which was considered insurmountable by Western European experts.
On the Karelian Isthmus, the fighting was carried out by the 7th Army, consisting of nine rifle divisions and three tank brigades, and on the eastern borders of Finland on a front of about 1500 km - the 8th, 9th and 14th armies. At the end of December, another army, the 13th, advanced to the Karelian Isthmus, and on January 7, 1940, the North-Western Front was created to lead these armies. In February 1940, the 15th Army was deployed on the eastern borders of Finland. Colonel K. S. Nazarov (now a retired colonel general of the engineering troops) was appointed head of the front engineering troops.
By the beginning of hostilities, the 7th Army had from the engineering troops: one engineer battalion of a fortified area, the 125th engineer battalion, the 5th, 6th and 7th pontoon battalions. The head of the army engineering troops was Colonel A.F. Khrenov (now a retired colonel general of the engineering troops).
A broad generalization of the experience of combat use of engineering troops and engineering support for combat operations during the Soviet-Finnish conflict is an area of special research. Here we note only some of the results of their use.
Combat operations have shown the increasingly increasing role of engineering troops in modern combat and operations, not only in the field of providing infantry, artillery and tanks, but also in their direct action on the battlefield, especially when breaking through heavily fortified enemy defenses.
During the war, extensive experience was gained in breaking through powerful modern defenses in the extremely difficult conditions of the theater of operations in winter; organizing and conducting in a new way engineering reconnaissance related to the need to penetrate the enemy’s defense system to great depths (using aerial photography for this purpose); detecting mines and other explosive obstacles and equipping scouts with the necessary means in this regard; organizing clearing and making passages in enemy minefields and mined forest rubble, as well as consolidating captured lines; more precise establishment of road service.
The pre-war engineering equipment of the Red Army was also subjected to significant testing. Experience has shown that not all of our engineering equipment turned out to be suitable in those conditions, in particular, road and earth-moving machines did not meet the necessary requirements, the unsuitability of winter camouflage robes was also revealed, and they were replaced by others during the operation.
Gaps were also discovered in the combat training of the engineering troops, the lack of military equipment for some engineering units at the beginning of the war, and poor knowledge of the theater of military operations.
Despite the extremely difficult natural conditions in which the struggle was waged, and individual shortcomings in the combat training of troops and their technical equipment, the Red Army troops broke through the enemy’s long-term fortified zone, accomplishing a feat unprecedented in history.
For the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command and the valor and courage displayed in this case, over 9 thousand combatants were awarded by decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. More than 400 soldiers were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In addition, about 70 units and formations were awarded orders of the USSR (72).
Of the engineering troops, the Order of the Red Banner was awarded to the 57th and 227th separate sapper battalions and the 6th separate pontoon-bridge battalion.
The high title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to sappers Lieutenant N. I. Rumyantsev and Junior Lieutenant F. Ya. Kucherov; junior commanders B. L. Kuznetsov, P. S. Fedorchuk and A. R. Krutogolov; privates A.I. Byakov and N.N. Nikitin; pontooners junior lieutenant P.V. Usov, private V.K. Artyukh, as well as colonel A.F. Khrenov. A large group of engineering troops was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Among them are N. P. Artamonov, B. V. Bychevsky, I. F. Danilov, M. F. Ioffe, G. A. Kutsulin, I. P. Kusakin, I. I. Markov, I. E. Nagorny, V. O. Nool, M. A. Ponomarev, V. I. Skrynnikov, F. A. Stanchin, V. D. Starostin, G. P. Tomashevsky, S. F. Chmutov, N. A. Shitov, I. B. Shoikhet et al.
Further organizational strengthening and technical equipment of engineering troops
The experience of military operations at Lake Khasan, on the Khalkhin Gol River and the Karelian Isthmus, the liberation campaigns of the Red Army in Western Belarus and Western Ukraine, and the outbreak of the Second World War required serious measures to be taken in the Soviet Armed Forces to bring them into line with modern requirements.
In 1939-1941. a number of measures were taken for organizational improvement, further technical equipment of the Red Army and Navy, restructuring of management bodies, as well as personnel training. A corresponding series of events was carried out in the engineering troops.
As already noted, in the pre-war years, the Red Army and its engineering troops received a certain amount of engineering equipment from industry and, on January 1, 1941, had up to 265 ferry parks of all types (N2P, NLP, MDPA-3), including 45 heavy ones ( N2P), more than 1060 mobile power plants, over 680 sawmill frames and machines and many other means. However, in terms of technical equipment, the engineering troops lagged somewhat behind the level of requirements put forward by the general development of military affairs. New engineering equipment has just begun to enter the troops.
The management of engineering activities in the Red Army on the eve of the Great Patriotic War was carried out by the State Military Institution, which was in charge of military engineering training of all branches of the military, organized combat and special training of engineering troops, supervised defensive construction and the supply of engineering equipment to the Red Army. The heads of the GVIUKA were: from May 1937 to October 1939 - division commander I. P. Mikhailin, from October 1939 to July 1940 - Colonel I. A. Petrov, from July 1940 to March 12, 1941 - brigade commander A. F. Khrenov, and from March 20, 1941 - Major General of the Engineering Troops L. Z. Kotlyar.
Under the Main Inspectorate of the Red Army there was a military engineering inspection headed by the Inspector General of the Engineering Troops. Its task was to check the combat training of engineering troops and the engineering training of other branches of the military. Since July 1940, the Inspector General of the Engineering Troops was Major General of the Engineering Troops M.P. Vorobyov.
In the People's Commissariat of Defense, the leadership of the Main Military Engineering Directorate and the Directorate for the Construction of Fortified Areas was carried out at that time by the Deputy People's Commissar, Marshal B. M. Shaposhnikov.
In military districts and armies, the management of engineering activities in the troops and defensive construction was carried out by engineering departments and departments, headed by the corresponding commanders. In corps, divisions and regiments, this work was performed by corps and division engineers and chiefs of regimental engineering services.
The engineering units of the army and district subordination were reorganized in the first half of 1941. In order to improve combat training and create a base for the deployment of engineering units in case of war, individual district engineering battalions were consolidated into engineering regiments of about 1 thousand people each. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, instead of 22 separate engineer battalions and 21 separate pontoon battalions, 18 engineer (73) and 16 pontoon (74) regiments were formed.
In addition to these units, they are part of the engineering troops of the RGK. there were separate camouflage-engineering and pontoon-bridge battalions, a separate hydraulic engineering company and a separate hydraulic engineering station. By this time, in the combined arms armies, in addition to military engineering units and subunits, there were a total of eighteen separate engineering, motorized engineering and sapper battalions.
According to the approved states of formations and units of the Red Army, it was envisaged to have from the engineering troops: in the rifle corps - a separate corps sapper battalion, in a rifle division - a separate sapper battalion of a rifle division, in a rifle regiment - a sapper company. The cavalry corps had a sapper squadron, a cavalry division had a sapper squadron and a ferry park, and a cavalry regiment had a sapper platoon. The mechanized corps included a separate motorized engineering battalion. The tank division included a motorized pontoon-bridge battalion, armed with the N2P fleet. The motorized division included a light engineering battalion. Tank brigades and regiments had separate sapper companies, and motorized brigades and mechanized regiments had an sapper platoon. In the high-power artillery regiment, the howitzer artillery regiment of the RVGK and the corps heavy artillery regiment, the headquarters batteries each had one sapper platoon. The engineering troops of the Red Army belonged to the special troops and were obliged to provide engineering support for the combat operations of combined arms, tank and other units and formations. In the temporary field regulations of the Red Army of 1936, Article 7 states:
“The use of all the maneuverability of the modern Armed Forces is possible only subject to the proactive and precise work of special forces, and first of all engineering, communications and transport (railway and road).”This charter defines the importance of engineering support for offensive combat and its tasks. The basic principles of engineering support for defensive combat were also developed. In 1939, the Engineering Manual for the Red Army infantry was put into effect. The manual provided basic guidelines for conducting military engineering work on the ground, taking into account the use of new engineering equipment (75).
In 1939, in connection with the transfer of our western border, the construction of new fortified areas began. In addition to military construction units, all the engineering and sapper battalions of the border districts and forty battalions from the internal districts were involved in this work. The separation of engineering units from their formations and formations had a very negative impact on the combat and special training of personnel, the cohesion and preparedness of the engineering troops for action in a combat situation. In passing, it should be noted that we failed to complete the construction of the SD by the beginning of the war.
The training of engineering officers before the war was carried out in five military engineering schools (Moscow, Leningrad, Borisov, Chernigov and Michurinsk, the latter was created in 1941), the V.V. Kuibyshev Military Engineering Academy and three courses for improving command composition. The training of reserve officers was carried out at some civilian higher educational institutions and at periodic gatherings of reserve officers.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 7, 1940, the ranks of general and admiral were established for the senior command staff of the army and navy. On June 4, 1940, the Council of People's Commissars, by its resolution, awarded the rank of general to a large group of officers, including 23 officers of the engineering troops (76).
On November 2, 1940, the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR established new military ranks for privates and junior commanding officers.
An important factor in the further strengthening of the engineering troops was the activities of political agencies and party organizations, strengthening their role and influence on the life of units and units. As in all Armed Forces, in the engineering units, special importance was attached to the organizational strengthening of party and Komsomol organizations, the growth in the number of communists and Komsomol members primarily due to soldiers of leading professions, as well as the expansion and strengthening of the party and Komsomol core of command and control personnel.
The theoretical position about the role and place of engineering troops in the system of the Armed Forces as a whole and the direction of their development before the Great Patriotic War corresponded to the general development of methods of armed struggle. The meetings of engineering chiefs held in December 1940 were especially important in developing a unity of views on the engineering support of the operation.
In the pre-war years, a number of teaching aids and textbooks on engineering support for combat operations of troops and the combat use of engineering units and subunits were developed and published at the Academy of the General Staff of the Red Army and at the Military Engineering Academy named after V.V. Kuibyshev. These include the training manual “Engineering support for combat operations of a rifle division” by E. V. Aleksandrov, 1937, and his work “The work of a corps engineer battalion in combat conditions.” 1938. textbook “Engineering support for combat operations of rifle formations (sd and sk)” by D. M. Karbyshev, published in 1939 (part 1) and in 1940 (part 2), and a number of others. At the same time, D. M. Karbyshev was the author of a large number of scientific works on a number of issues in military engineering.
Measures taken under the leadership of the Communist Party both throughout the Red Army and in its engineering troops to transfer them to a peaceful position in 1921-1923, military reform of 1924-1925, as well as the technical re-equipment of units and formations based on the industrialization of the country and the successful implementation of the plans of the pre-war five-year plans made it possible to organizationally strengthen the engineering troops, restructure command and control bodies, train command personnel, organize and consistently improve the combat and political training of troops, ensure the supply of an ever-increasing amount of new military equipment, including vehicles and engineering weapons, mastering this technique, etc.
By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Red Army had a scientific generalization of the theory and practice of engineering support for combat and operations and, in particular, the combat use of engineering troops. The main provisions of Soviet military theory on these issues corresponded to the general development of forms and methods of armed struggle.
But in general, all this made it possible to train the engineering troops to a sufficient extent, and they turned out to be capable of solving complex problems in difficult conditions in providing engineering support for the combat operations of the Soviet troops during the Great Patriotic War.
Staff of the engineer company of the tank regiment
Soviet army
(isr tp)The engineering and sapper company of a tank regiment belongs to the combat support units and is designed to perform engineering support tasks for the regiment's combat.
Structure of an engineering companyThe direct commander of the company is the head of the regiment's engineering service, who in turn reports directly to the regiment commander.
Structure of an engineering companyThere are only 59 personnel in the company. Of these, 4 officers, 3 warrant officers, 12 sergeants and 40 privates. The company consists of a company control and three platoons - engineer-sapper (ISV), engineering-technical (ITV) and automobile (AV). Company control:
Only 6 people. Of these, 2 officers, 2 warrant officers, 2 privates.
*Company commander - 1 (captain).
*Deputy Com. company for political affairs -1 (senior lieutenant).
*Company sergeant major - 1 (senior warrant officer).
*Company technician -1 (senior warrant officer).
*Armored personnel carrier driver - 1 (private).
*Radiotelephone operator - 1 (private).
Company control technique:
-BTR-60PB -1
Company control armament:
-PM-4 pistols
-AKM-2 assault rifles
-KPVT machine gun - 1 (on armored personnel carrier)
- PKT machine gun - 1 (on armored personnel carrier)
Company control communications equipment:
-radio station R-113 - 1 (on armored personnel carrier)
-radio station R-107 -1
ESV (engineer platoon)
There are 19 people in total. Of these, 1 officer, 3 sergeants, 15 privates.
Weapon: PM pistol.
1 engineering - sapper department. *Squad commander - deputy platoon commander -1 (senior sergeant)
*Driver -1 (private)
*Sappers - 4 (private)
Weapons: -AKM-6 assault rifles
- RPG-7 grenade launcher -1
-power saw "Friendship" -12nd engineer squad *Squad commander -1 (junior sergeant-sergeant)
*Driver -1 (private)
*Sappers - 4 (private
Weapons: -AKM assault rifles -6
Equipment: -car Ural -4320 -1
- trailed minelayer PMZ-4 - 1
-power saw "Friendship" -1
3rd engineer squad *Squad commander -1 (junior sergeant-sergeant)
*Driver -1 (private)
*Sappers - 4 (private
Weapons: -AKM assault rifles -6
Equipment: -car Ural -4320 -1
- trailed minelayer PMZ-4 - 1
-power saw "Friendship" -1
ITV (engineering and technical platoon)
There are 19 people in total. Of these, 1 officer, 7 sergeants, 11 privates.
*Platoon commander - 1 (senior lieutenant - lieutenant).
*Field water supply laboratory assistant - 1 (senior sergeant)
Weapon: pistol PM.-1
AKM-1 assault rifle
1 squad of road vehicles *Squad commander - commander of MTU -1 (junior sergeant - sergeant)
*Senior mechanic-driver BAT-M -1 private)
*Driver mechanic BAT-M-1 (private)
Weapons: -PM pistols -2
-AKM-2 assault rifles
- RPG-7 grenade launcher - 1
- tracklayer BAT-M-1
2nd department of road vehicles *Commander of MTU -1 (junior sergeant - sergeant)
*Mechanic driver MTU - 1 (private)
Weapons: -PM pistols -2
-automatic AKMS-1 (on-board MTU)
-DShK-M machine gun - (onboard MTU)
Equipment: -tank bridge laying machine MTU-1
Average communications: - radio station R-113 - 1 (onboard MTU)
3rd department of road vehicles *Commander of MTU -1 (junior sergeant - sergeant)
*Mechanic driver MTU - 1 (private)
Weapons: -PM pistols -2
-automatic AKMS-1 (on-board MTU)
-DShK-M machine gun - (onboard MTU)
Equipment: -tank bridge laying machine MTU-1
Average communications: - radio station R-113 - 1 (onboard MTU)
Division of earthmoving machines *Squad commander - senior mechanic-driver PZM -1 (junior sergeant - sergeant)
*Driver-mechanic PZM-1 (private)
Weapons: -AKM-2 assault rifles
Equipment: - regimental earth-moving vehicle PZM-1
Field water supply department *Squad commander -1 (junior sergeant - sergeant)
*Driver-motorist -1 (private)
*Motorman -1 (private)
Weapons: -AKM assault rifles -3
Equipment: -filter station MAFS (VFS-2.5) -1
TMM squad *Squad commander - senior mechanic-driver -1 (junior sergeant - sergeant)
*Senior mechanic-driver -1 (private)
*Driver mechanics -2 (private)
Weapons: -AKM-4 assault rifles
Equipment: -heavy mechanized bridge TMM-1 (4 vehicles)
AB (vehicle platoon)
Only 15 people. Of these, 1 warrant officer, 2 sergeants, 12 privates.
*Platoon commander -1 (senior warrant officer)
Weapon - pistol PM -1
1 automobile squad *Squad commander - deputy platoon commander - senior driver - 1 (senior sergeant)
*Drivers - 8 (private)
Weapons: -AKM-9 assault rifles
- RPG-7 grenade launcher - 1
Equipment: - ZIL-131 vehicles with self-loaders -9
-trailers 2PN-2 -9
-trawls KMT-6 - 27
- mounted tank bulldozers BTU-9
2nd automobile squad *Squad commander - senior driver -1 (junior sergeant - sergeant)
*Crane driver - 1 (private)
*Drivers -3 (private)
Weapons: -AKM assault rifles - 5
Equipment: -truck crane 8T-210 - 1
-cars Ural-4320 - 4
-trailers 2PN-4 -3
-trawls KMT-5M-3Service engineering equipment of the company:
Entrenching tool:
-small infantry shovels - 21;
-large sapper shovels - 35;
- two-handed saws - 10;
-carpenter's axes - 20;
- pickaxe - 5;
-lomov - 5.Lighting means:
- rechargeable flashlights AMF-8 - 1;
- battery-powered flashlights KSF-4;Means of mining and demining:
- IMP mine detectors (RVM, RVM-2) -9;
- demining kits KR-I - 3;
- miner cord - 9;
- device for fixing minefields - 1;
- actuator for minefield control KRAB-IM - 1.Camouflage means:
- camouflage kits type MKT - 22;
- camouflage overalls - 24.Watercraft:
- life jackets - 16;
- swimming suits MPC - 2.Means of demolition work:
- demolition machine KPM-1 -1;
-set 77 - 1;
-ohmmeters M-57 (linear bridge LM-68) -2;
- miner-demolition bag - 9.Means of water extraction and purification:
-reservoir RDV-1500 -1.Surveillance and reconnaissance equipment:
- range finder sapper DSP-30 -1;
- night work device PNR -1;
-periscope PIR - 1;
--binoculars -3.Carryable ammunition:
- anti-tank mines - 600 pcs.;
- anti-personnel mines - 8000 pcs.;
- TNT in checkers - 500 kg.From the author. In total, the company has 28 different vehicles and 15 trailers. For comparison, there are 10 tanks in a tank company and not a single other vehicle! How many military specialties are there in the company? After all, each soldier must be trained separately. In a tank company there are all specialties: tank commander, gunner, driver, loader. And the position of the commander of a sapper company, like the commander of a tank company, is a captain’s. And the salary is not a ruble more. No, it’s a thankless task to be the commander of an engineering company.
The development of engineering troops after the Great Patriotic War was significantly influenced by the growing capabilities of the economy, advances in science and technology, as well as qualitative changes occurring in the means and methods of armed struggle of a potential enemy.
Creation of the organizational structure of peacetime engineering troops
After the end of the war in 1945-1948. the number of engineering troops was reduced in accordance with peacetime conditions and transferred to the first post-war states, in 1949-1953. During combat training, exercises and troop maneuvers, a practical test of the new organizational structure of the engineering troops and its further improvement was carried out. By the end of the war, formations, units and divisions of engineering troops were divided into military and RGK according to organizational affiliation. The military included units and units that were organizationally part of army associations, formations and units of military branches. They were divided into army, corps, divisional and regimental.
In connection with the first post-war reorganization of the Ground Forces in May 1946, a commission was created in the Office of the Chief of Engineering Troops of the Soviet Army (UNIV SA) to determine ways for the further development of engineering troops, which proposed that a unified motorized engineer brigade and a mechanized an engineer regiment, in which to concentrate all the heavy engineering equipment, in the armies to have one engineer-sapper brigade, in the fronts - one mechanized heavy regiment, and in the RGK - motorized engineer-sapper breakthrough brigades, pontoon brigades and regiments. The basis of the military unit was to consist of divisional and corps sapper battalions.
At the same time, the organizational structure of the engineer-sapper brigade of the combined arms army was revised. It began to include: three engineer battalions
3 companies (328 people each) and one mechanized engineering battalion (319 people) consisting of a company of engineering vehicles, an engineering company of minesweepers and an engineering tank company; a separate engineering reconnaissance company and a ferry fleet company (a platoon of amphibious vehicles, a light ferry fleet platoon and two platoons of collapsible metal bridges). The army engineer brigades of the post-war organization were superior in their capabilities to similar brigades during the Great Patriotic War.
The engineering formations of the RGK also underwent reorganization. The engineering sapper brigade of the RVGK included a directorate, three engineer sapper battalions, an engineer tank battalion and a flamethrower battalion, and three separate companies (engineer vehicles, engineering reconnaissance, and a ferry fleet). Essentially, it was an assault engineer brigade during the war, in which the engineer tank and flamethrower tank regiments were reorganized into battalions. Separate engineering tank battalion numbering 324 people. included two companies of minesweeper tanks and an engineering tank company (bridge-laying tanks). The flamethrower battalion (329 people) consisted of a company of flamethrower tanks and a company of backpack flamethrowers.
The reserve of the Supreme High Command also included heavy pontoon-bridge regiments and separate pontoon-bridge battalions. The heavy pontoon-bridge regiment had two battalions. The regiments were armed with SP-19 or TMP parks. Separate pontoon-bridge battalions consisted of two pontoon companies with an N2P park and one park company.
With the formation of the NATO bloc, a decision was made to sharply increase the size of the Soviet Army. Under these conditions, as well as taking into account the entry into service of a large amount of engineering equipment and the deficiencies identified during maneuvers and exercises of troops, in the early 50s. it was decided to include in engineering formations (military, operational level and RVGK) engineering and technical units capable of mechanizing the execution of the most labor-intensive engineering tasks in combat conditions, which ensured greater independence of formations and associations in engineering terms.
Based on the results of exercises and maneuvers in 1951-1952. It was considered advisable to have a company of engineering vehicles and a mechanized engineering company in the engineer battalion of rifle, tank and mechanized divisions. The engineering vehicle company (engineering and technical company) consisted of platoons: positional work, road vehicles and positional vehicles, and the mechanized engineering company consisted of an escort platoon, road and bridge platoons. An airborne transport company was additionally included in the battalion. In addition, engineer companies remained on his staff. Third engineer companies were included in the engineer battalions of the corps in groups of Soviet troops abroad, and platoons of minelayers and amphibious vehicles were included in the engineer-mechanized company and the company of engineering vehicles of these battalions. The army engineer-sapper brigade was also reorganized, in which it was supposed to have three engineer-sapper, one engineer-mechanized and one ferry-bridge battalions, a company of fortification works and a company of controlled mining.
The engineering troops of the RGK were significantly strengthened: changes were made to the staff of the engineer-sapper and pontoon-bridge brigades. The engineer-sapper brigade began to have three engineer-sapper battalions, an engineer-mechanized battalion, an engineer-bridge-building battalion and an engineer reconnaissance company. The pontoon-bridge brigade included five pontoon-bridge battalions consisting of two pontoon and engineer-bridge companies. In addition, it was planned to deploy a large number of other engineering formations in the Civil Code reserve.
With the massive introduction of nuclear weapons and other new types of military equipment and weapons into the troops. The development of the organization of engineering troops was greatly influenced by the increase in their technical equipment. In accordance with the requirements of the USSR Ministry of Defense, the headquarters of the engineering troops at the beginning of 1954 prepared proposals to change the organizational structure of the engineering troops. The proposals provided for approximately half of the engineering units and subunits to be transferred to the engineering and technical profile. At the same time, it was proposed to double the number of road and earth-moving equipment in them. The remaining units needed to be equipped with armored personnel carriers with trailed mine spreaders.
The reorganization of the engineering troops, taking into account the requirements of nuclear war, was carried out in the mid-50s. The new states provided for: in the rifle corps - a separate sapper battalion, in the rifle, mechanized and tank divisions - a separate sapper battalion, in the rifle, mechanized and tank regiments - a sapper company, and in tank-self-propelled and heavy tank-self-propelled regiments - a sapper platoon . The organizational structure of individual engineer battalions of all types of divisions has been clarified. In the same type of sapper battalions of rifle, tank and mechanized divisions there were two sapper, airborne, mechanized, engineering and technical companies and an engineering reconnaissance platoon.
For the first time, engineering units were deployed in the artillery. The staff of the breakthrough artillery division, cannon artillery division, and destroyer artillery-anti-tank brigade of the RVGK included an engineer company. Separate artillery and mortar brigades had sapper platoons.
Major changes have occurred in the operational level of the engineering troops. For the first time, a front-line set of engineering troops is being created. The reason for this was a sharp increase in the volume of front-line engineering tasks in the conditions of a nuclear war (equipment of protected control posts, construction of a deep system of front-line defensive lines, etc.). The front-line set included an engineer-sapper brigade, a pontoon-bridge brigade, a separate pontoon-bridge regiment SP-19, separate battalions of field water supply, deep drilling, mine clearance, a separate engineer-camouflage battalion, as well as separate companies (field water supply, controlled mining , electric barriers). The number of engineering weapons vehicles in the new states was increased: earth-moving vehicles - more than twice, logging - two times and armored personnel carriers - 2.5 times. The number of repair shops has increased.
The RGK included engineer-sapper, pontoon-bridge brigades, mine clearance, deep drilling and hydraulic engineering battalions. For mountainous areas, it was planned to have special engineering units - separate engineer-sapper mountain-pack battalions (two engineer-sapper, engineer-mechanized companies, reconnaissance and backpack flamethrower platoons).
It was not possible to deploy the required number of engineering troops formations according to this organizational structure due to the radical reorganization of the Ground Forces in the late 50s, when the deployment of the Strategic Missile Forces began, which required elaboration of the problems of the initial period of a nuclear missile war. In the new conditions of armed struggle, the standard set of engineering units and formations of the front was supposed to ensure its independence during the deployment and conduct of the first operations, the combined arms army - in the auxiliary direction, and the tank army - after its entry into battle. By state 1962-1963 Separate sapper battalions of motorized rifle and tank divisions included a sapper, ferry landing, engineering and technical, engineering and road companies and a reconnaissance diving platoon. The motorized rifle regiment of these divisions had an engineer company (sapper and technical platoons), and the tank regiment had an engineer platoon.
The army kit included units and formations that significantly increased the armies' capabilities to ensure crossing of water barriers and equip protected control points. The combined arms army received a pontoon-bridge regiment of 2 battalions, a ferry landing battalion, consisting of two companies of amphibious transporters, a company of amphibious transport amphibious vehicles and a company of tracked self-propelled ferries, and an engineering company of control point equipment.
Instead of a brigade, the tank army included an engineer-sapper regiment consisting of two engineer-sapper and one engineer-road battalion, an engineering reconnaissance and field water supply company. In addition, the tank army received a pontoon regiment and a company of control point equipment.
By the mid-60s. It became obvious that the massive introduction of tactical and operational-tactical nuclear weapons into NATO troops and the Department of Internal Affairs, the creation of a nuclear mine belt on the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany would lead to an increased role of engineering measures to ensure the movement of troops. In this regard, in 1966, the structure of the engineering troops was adjusted towards increasing the number of formations and units in the RGC while reducing the operational level of the engineering troops. Army and front-line engineer-sapper brigades were reorganized into engineer-sapper regiments (three engineer-sapper and one position battalions, three separate companies - camouflage engineering, field water supply and engineering reconnaissance). In addition, the combined arms army received an engineer barrage battalion, and the tank army received an engineer barrage battalion. The cumbersome engineering-construction, engineering-positional brigades and the deep-drilling battalion were excluded from the front's engineering troops. Additionally, the front included an engineering road and bridge construction brigade, separate engineering battalions of obstacles, barricades, airborne and camouflage battalions. At the same time, the number of engineering formations of the RGK increased: it included engineer-sapper, engineer road-bridge-building and pontoon-bridge brigades, pontoon-bridge regiments of the teaching staff, and engineer-position regiments.
From the late 60s to the mid 70s. The organizational and staffing structure of the engineering troops was relatively stable, which was due to the established frequency of changing engineering weapons (SEW), equal to 10-15 years. At the same time, the adoption of nuclear mines by the US armies necessitated the inclusion of the corresponding units in the engineering units of the military level of the Soviet Army - separate nuclear mine reconnaissance platoons introduced in 1972 into the staff of engineer battalions of motorized rifle and tank divisions.
In the mid-70s. the revision of the concepts of warfare - the recognition that the first operations could be carried out without the use of nuclear weapons, forced further changes to be made to the organizational structure of the engineering troops. Separate engineer battalions of motorized rifle and tank divisions were equipped with new engineering weapons, which increased their ability to support combat. The engineering battalion of the motorized rifle (tank) division included a sapper, pontoon, airborne (PTS platoon and GSP platoon), engineering road company, engineering and technical platoon and nuclear mine reconnaissance platoon.
In the armies and fronts, engineer-sapper regiments were again deployed into engineer-sapper brigades due to the inclusion of engineer barrage battalions and engineer barrier battalions in their composition. A new formation was included in the army and front-line set of engineering troops - an engineering and technical regiment, consisting of a battalion of control point equipment, a camouflage battalion and a field water supply battalion. The pontoon-bridge regiment at the front was deployed into a brigade by including a crossing and landing battalion in its composition.
In the RGK, qualitatively new engineering formations were formed - engineering assault and barrage brigades, the emergence of which was due to the increase in the capabilities of the potential enemy troops to strengthen the defensive properties of the area in accordance with the concept of “mine warfare”. At the same time, the pontoon-bridge regiments of the RGK were deployed into pontoon-bridge brigades, which, unlike the front ones, did not have a ferry landing battalion, but a battalion of underwater bridges. Otherwise, the composition of the RGK engineering troops remained unchanged.
In the early 80s. Taking into account the experience of combat operations in Afghanistan, separate road engineering air transport battalions (361 people, three road engineering companies) were included in the RGK engineering troops, designed to prepare and maintain roads, equip bridges while supporting combat operations of troops in mountainous conditions. To transport one company of a battalion with standard technical equipment by air, 17 Mi-6 helicopters were required. Subsequently, these battalions were included in the engineering road and bridge construction brigades.
In May 1985, the organization of engineering troops was clarified, associated with the adoption of a new defensive doctrine and the development of the “Division-87” concept, according to which the motorized rifle (tank) division was to have a separate engineer battalion, as part of the engineer company (sapper platoon, demining platoon and platoon for reconnaissance and destruction of nuclear landmines), obstacle company (mine-layer platoon, obstacle platoon), engineering-positional company (engineering-positional platoon, platoon of engineering structures, field water supply platoon), engineering-road company (two road engineering platoons, a bridge engineering platoon), a platoon of amphibious transporters and a reconnaissance diving platoon. The army kit has not undergone any changes. An engineering brigade of assault and barrage was additionally included in the front. Along with this, a strong engineering RGK was retained, which made it possible to strengthen the formations formed and promoted from the depths of the country to the main theater of military operations.
Thus, by 1991, organizational measures in the engineering troops sharply increased the number of engineering and technical units and subunits, which significantly increased their ability to carry out engineering support tasks in the new conditions of armed struggle.
Improving engineering weapons
In the post-war period, significant work was carried out to create new types of engineering ammunition, engineering equipment and engineering equipment. In November 1946, the head of the engineering troops of the Soviet Army presented a report to the Deputy Minister of the Armed Forces of the USSR on ways to increase the technical equipment of the engineering troops, according to which the main types of engineering equipment should be: a minesweeper tank, a bridge tank, a mechanized assault heavy bridge, a tank- a bulldozer, an armored minelayer, a demolition tank and an armored mobile firing point (“trailer”), which would increase the capabilities of engineering troops to carry out engineering support tasks under heavy enemy fire and raise their maneuverability to the level of mechanized and tank formations. Due to the limited capabilities for the production of military equipment, it took a long time to fully equip the engineering troops.
The development of engineering reconnaissance tools was carried out in the direction of developing new and modernizing existing devices for observing and photographing remote objects, as well as creating new mine detectors. In 1946-1949. The DSP-25 sapper rangefinder was modernized, the DSP-30 sapper rangefinder and the PFP-5 field fortification periscope were adopted. For reconnaissance of mine-explosive barriers, in different years the troops received mine detectors: VIM-625, VIM-625-B2, UMIV-1, UMIN.
The improvement of engineered ammunition was aimed at ensuring higher efficiency and safety of use. During this period, anti-tank mines were adopted: TM-46, TMD-46, TMK, anti-personnel mines: high-explosive PMN, fragmentation-barrier OZM-3 and OZM with UVK. To control the explosion of anti-tank mines, the Krab-I and Krab-IM kits were adopted. Plastic explosives PVV-3 and plastit-4, standard charges for demolition work SZ-1 and SZ-3, shaped charges KZ-2 and KZU, fire-conducting and detonating cords in a plastic sheath, fuse MD-5 and demolition machines are being adopted. KPM-2 and PM-3. New means were developed for road mining MZD-10, MZM, special mine MZS, surprise mine MS-3, signal mine SM, fuses for delayed action mines - ChVM-16, ChVM-60, EHV-5.
To mechanize mining, the PMR-2 trailed mine layer was adopted in 1954, and the PMR-3 in 1956, which ensured the laying of mines on the ground surface with a certain step, which increased the mining rate by 2-3 times.
Much attention was paid to the development of means of overcoming mine-explosive obstacles. To create passages in minefields using an explosive method, an extended charge UZ-3 (1949) and sets of means for supplying extended charges to minefields by pushing with a winch and a tank are being developed. In 1951, the PT-54 trawl was adopted as an attachment to the T-54 tank.
An achievement was the development of landing craft and pontoon parks. Over the years, the following have been adopted into service: the K-61 tracked amphibious transporter, the BAV amphibious transport amphibious vehicle, and the MAV-67 and MAV-69 small amphibious vehicles. The development of pontoon parks in the first post-war years was aimed at reducing the time required to assemble ferries and build bridges. In 1946-1948. The development of three new pontoon parks began: light (LPP), heavy (TPP) and special purpose (PPS).
The problem of mechanization of road and positioning work was solved by attracting from the national economy the most efficient road and earth-moving machines on a tractor and wheel base. For use in the engineering troops, the D-147 trailed scraper, D-157 bulldozer, D-174A brush cutter, D-20 trailed grader, D-162 ripper, D-180A tractor snow plow, and D motor grader were adopted as means of mechanization for laying military tracks. -144 and STU snowplow. To reduce the time needed to equip military positions, much attention was paid to the development of means of mechanization of trench sections and communication passages. One of the first to be adopted was the KG-65 rotary trench excavator, which was replaced by the more advanced ETR-152 machine. A PLT-60 plow trencher was also used.
The development of electrical equipment was carried out in the direction of meeting the increased need of the Armed Forces for electricity for the electrification of engineering work and for power supply to a large number of electrical consumers. The PES-15 automobile trailer power station, the PES-0.75 portable power station, a lighting cable network, and ALD series electric units were put into service. To ensure the operation of rechargeable batteries, the development of mobile charging electric stations with a capacity of 1 kW, 2 kW and 4 kW has begun.
The means of water supply to the troops also received their development. In the first post-war years, the MTK small-tube well and the AVB-100 drilling rig were modernized, which entered service with the troops under the name MTK-2 and AVB-3-100. At the same time, the M-600 motor pump and the AC-28 tank truck were selected from the national economy.
The structures of structures for field positions of troops were developed mainly from local materials. Dugouts and shelters were assembled from pre-prepared wooden standard ribbed shields. In a short time, structures were created for the installation of special casemated weapons: machine guns, mortars and guns, as well as a K-51 machine-gun armored turret and a VPF armored head for a stereo tube installed in a reinforced concrete structure for an artillery OP.
The development of engineering equipment was carried out by the Engineering Committee of the Office of the Chief of Engineering Troops, the Central Research and Testing Engineering Institute named after. D.M. Karbyshev and Military Engineering Academy named after. V.V. Kuibysheva.
Created by the early 60s. the engineering weapons system required further improvement, since the bulk of engineering equipment was based on a tractor base, which limited its maneuverability, and when developing tactical and technical requirements for new equipment, the effect of the damaging factors of nuclear weapons that a potential enemy had was not taken into account.
In the mid-60s. A new system of engineering weapons was developed, which was based on the requirement that new engineering weapons allow performing engineering support tasks in conditions of the use of weapons of mass destruction. Along with this, the need arose to clarify the classification of engineering weapons. In the “Manual on Engineering Support for Combined Arms Combat,” which was put into effect by Order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces No. 036 dated July 18, 1959, they were divided into two groups: engineering weapons and engineering equipment.
Engineering weapons included: engineering weapons vehicles, including diesel hammers, power plants, mounted and trailed equipment for wheeled and tracked vehicles and special workshops; engineering ammunition (engineering mines, charges, explosives and blasting agents); special engineering instruments for observation, photography, mine control, detection of mines and shells, diving work, etc. Engineering equipment included: camouflage, ferrying, and bridge-building equipment; property for constructing barriers, water supply, spare parts and units for engineering vehicles, entrenching tools, workshop tools and materials. Subsequently, engineering weapons began to be divided into engineering vehicles, engineering ammunition and engineering equipment.
In the field of engineering reconnaissance, priority was given to the creation of more advanced means of detecting minefields and nuclear mines, as well as reconnaissance of water barriers. For reconnaissance of mines on roads and convoy routes, in 1961, the DIM wide-range road mine detector, later DIM-M, was put into service. At the end of the 50s. the IMP semiconductor mine detector was developed, and in 1964 the MIV diving mine detector. In 1973, the RVM mine detector was put into service. To search for unexploded aerial bombs when demining populated areas, the MBI-1 magnetic finder was put into service in 1959. In the 70s The troops received installations and instruments for detecting and preventing the explosion of nuclear mines. In the 80s The troops received mine detectors of the induction type IMP-2, the combined type MMP, and the detector of non-contact mines INM. Along with them, the troops received: a set of general-arms reconnaissance and mine clearance equipment KR-0, and an engineering set KR-I.
For engineering reconnaissance of water obstacles, in 1969 the IPR tracked engineering underwater reconnaissance aircraft was adopted. In the 70s Based on the IPR, the IRM tracked armored engineering reconnaissance vehicle was developed for reconnaissance of terrain, travel routes and water obstacles from a position afloat.
The development of engineered ammunition followed the path of creating new types of anti-tank and anti-personnel mines capable of not losing their combat effectiveness when exposed to the shock wave of a nuclear explosion. In 1957, anti-tank mines TM-57 and TMK-2 were adopted. In 1962-1969 troops received mines of the TM-62 series, which had bodies made of metal, wood, plastic, fabric, and in the 70-80s. – anti-tank mines TM-72, TM-73, TM-83, TM-89 and PTM-3. From anti-personnel mines in the 60s. The PMP bullet mine and fragmentation mines - OZM-4, MON-100, MON-200, O3M-160 - were adopted. Subsequently, the troops received PMN-2, OZM-72 mines and fundamentally new mines for remote installation - PFM-1S and POM-2.
Along with the development of new engineered ammunition, the means for their installation were also improved. In the 1960s The armored tracked minelayer GMZ, later - GMZ-3, equipment VMR-1 for the MI-4 helicopter, VMR-2 for the MI-8T helicopter, and the universal minelayer UMZ entered service. In the 80s The VSM-1 mining system for installation from helicopters of mines PTM-3, PFM-1c and POM-2, rocket-artillery on a tracked base ("Hurricane") and aircraft mining systems, as well as sets PKM-1, VKPM- are being adopted for service. 1 and VKPM-2 to cover strong points and locations of military units.
To solve the problem of overcoming obstacles, the improvement of mine trawls continued. In 1959, the PT-55 mine trawl was adopted, and in 1962, the KMT-4 gauge knife trawl and the KMT-5 combined mine trawl (roller and knife) were adopted. In 1971, a new knife trawl KMT-6 was put into service, and after its modernization - KMT-7. In the 80s The KMT-10 trawl entered the troops to equip infantry fighting vehicles. At the same time, the troops received the KMT-7KN roller-knife trawl with more advanced roller sections.
To make passages in minefields for tanks, the troops received extended mine clearance charges UZ-3R, and for infantry - ZR-150, ZRP and ZRP-2. In 1967, the UR-67 self-propelled armored mine clearance system was put into service, which was replaced in the 80s. more advanced installations UR-77, UR-83P with an extended charge UZP-83 arrived.
In the conditions of massive destruction of permanent bridges by nuclear and subsequently high-precision weapons, the importance of equipping troops with advanced crossing and bridge means has sharply increased. In 1957, the troops received a mechanized bridge for escorting military columns KMM, and in 1962 a new heavy mechanized bridge TMM with an intermediate support. The MTU bridge layer, which was put into service in 1955, was replaced in 1962 by the MTU-55, in 1965 by the MTU-20, and in 1974 by the MTU-72.
The means of overcoming water obstacles using the landing-ferry method have also received development. The first tracked floating transporter K-61 replaced the PTS transporter. In 1972, the PTS-2 tracked amphibious transporter was put into service. In 1957, a tracked self-propelled ferry for ferrying GSP tanks was adopted by the engineering troops, which was replaced in 1978 by the PMM-2, and then by the PMM-2M. Pontoon parks have received significant development. In 1960, the PMP pontoon fleet was supplied, allowing the assembly of a ribbon bridge. In 1969, a new pontoon park for the airborne troops DPP-40 was developed according to the bridge-ribbon design. In 1974, the PPS-84 self-propelled pontoon fleet was put into service. The set of pontoon parks included towing motor boats BMK-150 and BMK-130, as well as a pusher boat BMK-T.
In the new conditions of armed struggle, the need to create special military road vehicles clearly emerged. At the end of the 50s. The BAT track-laying vehicle was put into service, which was replaced by the BAT-M track-laying vehicle in 1963. In 1964, the PKT wheeled track-laying machine was put into service. To make passages in forest and stone rubble, the IMR armored engineering vehicle was put into service in 1969, and in 1972-1973. – IMR-2.
Much attention was paid to the development of new means of mechanization of earthworks. In the 50-60s. High-speed rotary trench vehicles BTM, then BTM-3, were put into service. In the 80s The troops received an improved BTM-TMG trench vehicle and a TMK wheeled trench vehicle.
The requirements for protecting troops from nuclear weapons led to a significant increase in the volume of excavation work and necessitated the need to have earth-moving machines capable of digging pits up to 3.5 m deep. In 1961, the MDK-2 machine was created, which was later replaced by the MDK-2M and MDK-3. It successfully passed tests and in 1968 the regimental earth-moving vehicle PZM, and then PZM-2, was put into service.
To entrench tank and artillery units by the end of the 50s. The troops received BTU bulldozer attachments for the T-54 tank and OTT, OTO and OTL attachments for heavy, medium and light artillery tractors, respectively. In the 70-80s. designs of attachments were created for new types of tanks (BTU-55), MTL and MTL-B transporters.
In the context of the use of weapons of mass destruction, new demands were made on the means of supplying troops with water. Taking into account these requirements, the MAFS automobile filtration station, the OPS mobile desalination station, and the URB-3AM drilling rig are accepted for supply. Subsequently, the troops received: a mechanized auger well MShK-15, a groundwater extraction plant UDV-15, an automobile filtration station MAFS-3, a desalination plant POU-4, a desalination station OPS-5, etc.
In the face of the threat of the use of weapons of mass destruction, the problem of creating new, prefabricated fortification structures arose. Over the years, to solve this problem, the troops received: prefabricated structures made from corrugated steel elements KVS-U and KVS-A, prefabricated reinforced concrete structures SBU, frame-fabric structures LKS, LKS-3 and LKTS, structures made from reinforced concrete elements SBK and USB, prefabricated long-span structures “Pantsir”, “Granit”, SKR, “Pantsir-2” and “Pantsir-2 PU”, structures made of reinforced synthetic film “Obolochka-1”, quickly removable metal structures “Package”.
Thus, by the end of the 80s. The engineering troops turned, essentially, into technical troops, which sharply increased their ability to carry out the tasks assigned to them in the conditions of a nuclear war.
Central command and control bodies of engineering troops
In the post-war years, the control bodies of the engineering troops were continuously improved. The Office of the Chief of Engineering Troops of the Soviet Army, headed by Marshal of the Engineering Troops M.P. Vorobyov, according to the first post-war staff (March 1946) consisted of the command, the headquarters of the engineering troops, the combat training department, the engineering weapons and supply department, the defensive construction department, the engineering committee, the personnel department and the general department. The headquarters of the engineering troops, led by Colonel General of the engineering troops K.S. Nazarov, from September 1948 – Lieutenant General of the Engineering Troops B.V. Blagoslavov, and from July 1951 - Lieutenant General S.V. Roginsky, included departments: staff training, organizational and mobilization, and the study of theater of operations and obstacles.
The Combat Training Directorate, headed by Lieutenant General of the Engineering Troops N.P. Baranov, had four departments: statutory and use of war experience, combat training of engineering troops, military educational institutions and editorial and publishing. Defense Construction Department, headed by Lieutenant General of the Engineering Troops V.V. Kosarev, consisted of six departments (reconnaissance and technical, planning and production, chief mechanic, logistics, general supply, financial department) and other divisions.
The Engineering Weapons and Supply Directorate, formed on the basis of the Main Military Engineering Directorate, included departments: mine explosives, electrical equipment, positioning machines, supply and accounting, bases and warehouses, material assets and finance. The heads of this department, at the same time the deputy heads of the engineering troops, in different years were Lieutenant General A.Ya. Kalyagin and Major General
M.I. Maryin. The engineering committee also had a large number of departments (planning, fortification and camouflage, mining, crossing and bridges, engineering machines, electrical and special equipment, editorial and publishing and inventions department). It also included an archive and a library.
Major General V.P. was appointed head of the engineering committee. Shurygin, and later Colonels V.I. Zheleznykh and V.K. Kharchenko.
There were design organizations within the structure of UNIV SA. In 1946, the Central Design Institute (CPI) was launched to design fortifications and engineering vehicles. However, in 1951 the institute was disbanded, and the Fortification Design Bureau was established on its basis. The Engineering Machines Design Department became part of the Research Institute of Engineering Technology (TSNIIIT).
In order to monitor the combat training of troops and maintain them in constant readiness, an Inspectorate of Engineering Troops is being created as part of the Main Inspectorate of the Armed Forces. Colonel General of the Engineering Troops A.F. is appointed Inspector General of the Engineering Troops. Khrenov, who was replaced by Major General of the Engineering Troops P.A. Shitikov.
In 1948 and 1951 the organization of the NIV SA Directorate was clarified, and by the end of the 50s. UNIV SA, headed by Colonel General of the Engineering Troops A.I. Proshlyakov, was significantly reorganized. In accordance with the staff dated November 14, 1952, at the headquarters of the engineering troops, the total number of units was reduced from 11 to five departments. The following departments were liquidated: statutory, operational training, obstacles and obstacles, theater of war studies, as well as the machinery bureau, drawing bureau, general unit and expedition. Instead of the engineering weapons and supply department, the engineering weapons order department was established, consisting of seven departments.
Based on the new staff introduced in April 1953, the NIV SA Directorate underwent further consolidation of divisions and increased centralization of leadership. The combat training department was reorganized into a department and subordinated to the deputy chief of engineering troops. The department of fortification, study and preparation of theater of operations, the financial department, the general part and the editorial office of the Military Engineering Journal became independent divisions. At the same time, the number of management was reduced.
The headquarters began to consist of an operational and barrage department, a military scientific department and a department of organizational, staffing and mobilization planning. The department of orders and engineering weapons included two departments: orders of engineering weapons and engineering weapons. The Engineering Committee included such enlarged departments as the department of transportation means and engineering ammunition, the department of fortification and camouflage and engineering reconnaissance equipment.
However, further practice showed that the reduction in the number of departments was not sufficiently justified and led to difficulties in managing the engineering troops. In 1954, the department of fortification and theater of operations was reorganized into the department of fortified areas and special works, and the orders and supply department was also quantitatively increased (instead of two there were five departments) and the engineering committee (from three to seven).
In connection with the formation after the Great Patriotic War of four groups of troops and 21 military districts, the following were introduced into them: in groups of troops - the directorate of the chief of engineering troops with headquarters; in border districts - the departments of the chief of engineering troops; in internal districts - departments of the chief of engineering troops of the district. In the combined arms and mechanized armies, the headquarters of the engineering troops created during the war were retained, although in a reduced composition. The main thing in the activities of engineering control bodies in the first post-war years was the organization of combat training of engineering troops and maintaining their constant combat readiness. These events were carried out under the leadership of generals and engineering officers who had gone through the war and had extensive experience in commanding troops.
The reduction in the size of the USSR Armed Forces, which took place in 1960-1962, became a serious test for the Office of the Chief of Engineering Troops. On the one hand, it was necessary to preserve the combat effectiveness of subordinate troops, and on the other, to ensure the functionality of our own apparatus, which had undergone the most serious reorganization in the post-war years. The fact is that the reorganization of the Directorate in 1960 led to a reduction in its number by almost three times and the elimination of the headquarters of the engineering troops within its structure, which was, of course, erroneous. The NIV Directorate of the Ministry of Defense began to consist of a command, a weapons and supply department, a scientific and technical committee and four independent departments: combat training and military scientific; organizational planning, engineering, technical and financial.
Further development of the Directorate went in the direction of restoring and increasing the number of directorates, departments and their composition. Thus, according to the directive of the General Staff of the USSR Ministry of Defense dated March 15, 1962, the combat training and organizational planning department was again deployed, which had three departments: combat training and military-scientific; organizational-planning and engineering-technical.
In the leadership of the engineering troops in the late 50s - early 60s. included: chief of the engineering troops - colonel general (from 1961 - marshal) of the engineering troops
A.I. Proshlyakov, his deputies – Lieutenant General of the Engineering Troops N.M. Pylypets,
A.I. Goldovich and V.K. Kharchenko, chiefs of staff - Lieutenant General of the Engineering Troops
IN AND. Zheleznykh and Major General of the Engineering Troops M.N. Safronov, heads of the combat training department - Major General of the Engineering Troops N.T. Derzhitsky, Lieutenant General of the Engineering Troops A.D. Tertyshnikov and A.N. Tarasov.
In 1965, the composition of the UNIV Ministry of Defense of the USSR was clarified. Management began to consist of command, combat training and organizational management; Directorate of Armaments and Supply, which included seven departments: planning, engineering machines, electrical equipment, repair and operation, lifting equipment and funds, road-digging equipment and spare parts, engineering and technical committee with departments: planning and invention, engineering equipment, means of barriers and barriers, electrical equipment, fortification and camouflage.
In 1965, Lieutenant General (from 1966 - Colonel General, from 1972 - Marshal) of the engineering troops V.K. was appointed head of the engineering troops of the USSR Ministry of Defense in 1965. Kharchenko. His deputies over the years were Lieutenant General of the Engineering Troops A.D. Tertyshnikov and S.Kh. Aganov.
During these years, young cadres of engineering chiefs who had combat experience as unit commanders and military engineers in the Great Patriotic War and graduated from the Military Engineering Academy or the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze in the post-war years. Among them are Major Generals of the Engineering Troops D.D. Abashin, M.A. Zaika, E.S. Kolibernov, G.A. Mazin, N.P. Netemin, I.V. Petrov, Yu.B. Smakovsky, R.I. Stepanov, P.F. Chuiko, P.T. Tsegenko, A.I. Tulyavko, Colonels V.I. Karmanov, M.I. Kudlaev and others.
Increasing the technical equipment of the engineering troops required strengthening the corresponding units of the UNIV of the USSR Ministry of Defense, therefore in 1968 the repair and operation department of engineering equipment was separated from the armament and supply department.
In 1971, the headquarters of the engineering troops was again deployed. Major General (since 1975 - Lieutenant General) of the Engineering Troops E.S. was appointed Chief of Staff-Deputy Chief of the Engineering Troops of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Coliburn. The Directorate of the Chief of Engineering Troops began to consist of a command and two independent departments (personnel and financial), the headquarters of the engineering troops, consisting of three departments (operational and reconnaissance, organizational and planning, theater equipment); the combat training department, which was subsequently included as a group in the headquarters; weapons and supply departments with six departments (planning, orders of engineering weapons, orders of electrical equipment, orders of engineering ammunition, orders of equipment and spare parts, department for monitoring the work of military representatives); repair and operation departments with planning and production departments; bases, warehouses and operation of engineering equipment; to provide military-technical assistance to foreign countries; on energy supervision in the USSR Armed Forces; scientific and technical committee with a planning department, an engineering technology department, a barrage department, a fortification and camouflage department and an electrical equipment department.
In 1975, Lieutenant General (since 1975 - Colonel General, since 1980 - Marshal) of the engineering troops S.Kh. was appointed head of the engineering troops of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Aganov. His first deputies in different years were: Lieutenant General of the Engineering Troops V.E. Uporov and
A.P. Gorbachev, deputies for armaments - lieutenant generals of the engineering troops
B.V. Zatylkin and V.I. Zhizhchenko.
In the 70s and until the mid-80s. There was relative stability in the organization of both central and district command and control bodies of the engineering troops, to which only minor changes were made that did not affect their overall structure. This indicated a certain optimization of their composition.
The last transition to new staff of the UNIV of the USSR Ministry of Defense was carried out in December 1985. In 1987, a lieutenant general was appointed head of the engineering troops of the USSR Ministry of Defense (since 1989 -
Colonel General) V.P. Kuznetsov. Until the beginning of the 90s, his deputies were: first deputies – Lieutenant General A.A. Ivanov and Major General V.D. Bezrodny; for armament - Major General N.G. Topilin. The chiefs of staff of the engineering troops during these years were Lieutenant General S.Kh. Arakelyan and V.A. Vasiliev.
Activities and use of engineering troops in the post-war years
The training and education of engineering troops personnel in the post-war years was based on the principle of teaching troops what is necessary in war. The basis of combat training was practical training in the field, tactical and special training and exercises. Engineering formations, units and units took an active part in restoring the national economy destroyed by the war, demining the border areas of the USSR, as well as the territory of foreign countries: Austria, Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.
In accordance with the “Plan for Complete Complete Demining,” approved in January 1946, the engineering troops, together with rifle and artillery units and subunits, and teams of volunteer miners of Osoviakhim, had to carry out work on an area of 26,000 square meters. km. 12 engineer-sapper brigades, three engineer and pontoon-bridge regiments, 35 engineer-sapper battalions (total of about 20.3 thousand people) were involved in the work on complete demining. In 1946 alone, they identified and destroyed over 6.3 million engineering mines and 11 million unexploded ordnance. By the mid-50s. Over 183,000 square meters were cleared. km of territory, more than 56.7 million units of explosive objects were discovered and destroyed, including 10 million engineering mines.
The soldiers of the engineering troops built and restored thousands of kilometers of roads and hundreds of bridges on them, power plants and mines, plants and factories, houses and schools. Every year, during ice drift, sappers carried out work to protect river bridges from destruction.
Thus, in 1946 alone, the engineering troops guarded 2,720 bridges and various hydraulic structures. For assistance in eliminating the consequences of the war on the territory of the liberated states of Eastern Europe, many soldiers of the engineering troops were awarded orders, medals and valuable gifts by the leadership of these countries.
Fulfilling their international duty in Algeria, soldiers of the engineering troops in the summer of 1962 cleared 1.5 million mines, clearing 800 km of mine-explosive strips, restoring life
120 thousand hectares of fertile land.
At the end of 1977, with the involvement of specialists from the Military Engineering Academy and pontooners of the Siberian Military District, a unique bridge was built from the CCI park across the Yenisei during the construction of the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric station.
Soldiers of the engineering troops had to eliminate the consequences of natural disasters on the Dnieper and Amur, in the Carpathians and Transcaucasia, in Karelia and the Caspian Sea, on Sakhalin and Kamchatka, in the fight against fires in the Central European part of Russia. Soldiers of the engineering troops made a significant contribution to the development of rice fields in Central Asia and to the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline.
The Chernobyl disaster was the most severe in its consequences. To eliminate its consequences, the forces and means of various ministries and departments, including the engineering troops, were involved. To manage the implementation of this complex government task, the NIV operational group of the USSR Ministry of Defense was created, which began functioning on May 3, 1986. The first to head this group was Marshal of the Engineering Troops S.Kh. Aganov. In total, 26 engineering battalions with a total number of more than 8 thousand people were involved in carrying out work in the accident zone. and up to 900 units of special equipment. Engineering units were involved in independent actions, as well as as part of chemical defense and civil defense brigades. Engineering units decontaminated the area by removing the top layer of soil and then burying it (and this is over 300 thousand cubic meters), cut down and buried forest on an area of more than 2,000 hectares, erected 140 water protection structures, equipped 186 water supply points, and carried out a number of special tasks for the construction of "sarcophagus" over the destroyed reactor.
A severe test for the engineering troops was their participation in eliminating the consequences of the earthquake in Armenia, which occurred in December 1988 and went down in history as one of the largest disasters of the 20th century. While being a member of the Government Commission, the Chief of the Engineering Troops, Colonel General V.P. Kuznetsov personally led the work at the source of the earthquake. In total, more than 200 thousand cubic meters were cleared with the help of engineering equipment in the shortest possible time. m of rubble, 86 emergency buildings were blown up, dozens of drinking water supply points were equipped.
On the eve of the Arab-Israeli War of 1973, Soviet military engineers trained officers and personnel of the Egyptian and Syrian armies at military colleges in Egypt and Syria, as well as in the Odessa Military District, and took part in hostilities as military advisers. Senior officers of the engineering forces of Egypt and Syria graduated from the Military Engineering Academy. V.V. Kuibysheva. The contribution of the Soviet Union to equipping Egypt with modern weapons, training, including SIV, and the contribution of Soviet specialists is evidenced by the words of the President of Egypt Anwar Sadat - “The Russians armed and equipped as many as two field armies” and the Chief of the General Staff of the Egyptian Army Saad Shazli - “The Egyptians are not could have fought the 1973 war without the help of the USSR, since no country could, or would, supply Egypt with weapons of the appropriate level and in the required quantity.”
Military operations in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (1979-1989) became the most serious combat school after the Great Patriotic War. The specific tasks of engineering support for Soviet troops in Afghanistan were: large-scale combat against minefields and destruction; engineering equipment of outposts and outposts, areas where command posts are located and points of permanent deployment of troops; covering the state border with Pakistan and Iran; blocking caravan routes; engineering support for the passage of transport convoys with materiel and the protection of important facilities and communications from sudden enemy attacks; ensuring vital functions and increasing the survivability of units and formations of OKSV and Afghan troops during combat operations in difficult climatic and geographical conditions.
Scientists of the Military Engineering Academy named after. V.V. Kuibyshev and 15 Central Research Institute named after. D.M. Karbyshev took an active part in solving the problems of engineering support for combat operations. For example, under the scientific leadership of the department of bridges and crossings, a floating bridge with a length of 788 m on the river was built and continuously operated for two and a half years. Amu Darya in the region of Termez. There, for the first time in the history of bridge construction, a high-water bridge 588 m long was built in fifty-one days in the conditions of a migrating river.
Faithful to the glorious combat traditions, the soldiers of the engineering troops showed examples of heroic actions when carrying out combat missions in Afghanistan. For the courage and heroism shown in providing international assistance, combat engineer sergeants N.P. Chepik, N.I. Kremenish, V.P. Sinitsky and A.I. Israfilov were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and Colonel G.K. Loshkarev became the first full holder of the Order “For Service to the Motherland” in the Ground Forces.
Military engineering preparation of the country's territory
In the post-war years, issues of improving the engineering preparation of the country's territory were considered as one of the tasks of comprehensively ensuring the combat activities of the newly created branch of the USSR Armed Forces - the Strategic Missile Forces. In 1959, the Office of the Chief of Engineering Troops was tasked with identifying underground workings and structures to house storage facilities for fuel, ammunition, explosives and various property in the interests of the Strategic Missile Forces. In addition, more stringent requirements were imposed on the camouflage of troops and objects, including ground and silo complexes and missile force bases. Work to fulfill these requirements began in the early 60s. and continued over the next 20 years.
The need to solve problematic problems related to the protection of troops and facilities was reflected in the organizational and staffing structure of the Office of the Chief of Engineering Troops. In 1958, the department of fortification and theater of operations became organizationally part of the headquarters of the engineering troops with a new name - the department of study and preparation of theater of operations and special works. The new name of the department more fully reflected the approach to solving the problems of preparing the country’s territory on a national scale, in the interests of creating conditions for conducting offensive and defensive operations with the possible use of nuclear weapons, as well as for the development of military infrastructure facilities in the country’s anti-nuclear defense system. At the same time, a secret department was introduced into the headquarters of the engineering troops to organize the work of staff officers with top secret and particularly important documents related to this issue. The position of assistant chief of engineering troops for special works was abolished.
Thus, the headquarters of the engineering troops became the main governing body within the UNIV for organizing special work and carrying out activities for engineering preparation of the country’s territory. In solving these problems, the headquarters relied on teams of scientists and designers from the academy, 15 Central Research Institute, design bureaus and scientific testing site, closely interacted with the main directorates of the armed forces and branches of the armed forces, and maintained contacts with institutions and enterprises of other ministries and departments.
Military engineering training for theaters of military operations remained one of the problematic tasks facing the NIV Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Defense, and in the late 60s. At the same time, in accordance with the change in the military-political situation, it was necessary to transfer the main efforts from the territory of the western military districts and groups of troops to the eastern borders of the Soviet Union, especially to the Trans-Baikal and Far Eastern theaters of operations. Since 1967, the issues of engineering equipment of the territories adjacent to the Soviet-Chinese border have become especially pressing. To strengthen the centralization of management of this task, in February 1967, a department of fortified areas with a strength of 12 people was included in the combat training department and the organizational and planning UNIV of the USSR Ministry of Defense. of which five are officers.
By the beginning of the 80s. Work on the creation of a network of fortified areas and military infrastructure facilities in the Trans-Baikal and Far Eastern theater of operations and on the border of the Kazakh SSR with the Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region of China was largely completed. The fortified areas on the Soviet-Chinese border retained their strategic importance until the early 90s, when their funding and maintenance in the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan was stopped. The machine-gun and artillery formations and units that occupied the defensive lines were disbanded, and the fortified areas themselves and related infrastructure (residential and utility premises, roads, communication lines) quickly fell into complete disrepair.
Military engineering education and science
The continuous growth of the technical equipment of the engineering troops of the Soviet Army persistently required the improvement of the system for training command and engineering personnel. In the training of command personnel for engineering troops in the post-war years, the Military Engineering Academy named after. V.V. Kuibysheva. After the first post-war reorganization (October 1946), the academy, headed by Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel General of the Engineering Troops L.Z. Kotlyar, had operational engineering, command engineering, command electromechanical and command geodetic faculties. The Academy switched to a five-year training period. By the mid-50s. Training was conducted at the following faculties: command engineering, electrical engineering, weapons engineering, civil engineering, correspondence education and training of military engineering personnel for foreign armies; 1,381 military engineers were trained, over 300 officers were trained in academic courses. In 1952-1957 The academy was headed by Colonel General of the Engineering Troops I.P. Galitsky.
After the end of the war, the training of junior officers of the engineering troops was carried out by two military engineering schools - Leningrad and Moscow. For the period from 1946 to 1953. 2,792 officers were trained in these military engineering schools, of which 2,216 completed the full course of the school and 476 completed advanced courses. Among those who graduated from the school, 226 officers were trained for friendly armies.
Advanced training of command staff of engineering troops continued to be carried out at the Higher School of Mine Engineering. The training of junior specialists for the engineering troops during this period was carried out by the training units of the units, the 18th school of junior specialists and the 275th separate airborne battalion. Such a structure could not meet the needs of the engineering troops for trained personnel of junior commanders and specialists.
By the end of the 50s. in Military Engineering named after. V.V. Kuibyshev had the following faculties: command engineering, weapons engineering, electrical engineering, geodesy, fortification construction, and correspondence education. The department for training foreign military personnel was expanded to the faculty. Training was carried out in four specialties: command engineering, mechanical and electrical engineering, fortification and construction and topographic geodetic.
Equipping the engineering troops with new military equipment has sharply increased the importance of military-technical training of students. In the academy’s field camp in the village of Nikolo-Uryupino, training fields, platforms and miniature training grounds were equipped, where modern engineering weapons were concentrated, which made it possible to practically study their design, use, operation and repair. Almost all scientific teams of the Academy were involved in the study of new problematic issues in the field of military engineering. As a result of their efforts, by the end of the 60s. The Soviet Armed Forces had a full-fledged theory of military engineering applied to the conditions of nuclear war.
In the 50-70s. Academy under the leadership of Lieutenant General of the Engineering Troops P.V. Shvydkoy, Colonel General of the Engineering Troops A.D. Tsirlina and V.L. Avseenko and Lieutenant General of the Engineering Troops S.Kh. Aganova achieved high results in training highly qualified officers for the Armed Forces of the USSR. Only in the period 1954-1966. The academy trained 5,741 military engineers, of which 4,339 were in the main faculties and 1,402 in academic courses.
In 1976-1977 By decision of the Minister of Defense, the training of military engineers for capital construction and electrical supply of facilities was removed from the military engineering department, which led to the abolition of the fortification construction and electrical engineering faculties at the academy. By the mid-80s. The academy had command, engineering (from 1975 to 1983 - the faculty of leading engineering staff), fortification and camouflage, geodetic, correspondence education and special (training of foreign military personnel) faculties.
Further expansion of the areas of training military engineering personnel for the Soviet Armed Forces was associated with the deployment of civil defense faculties within the academy in 1986, command of border and internal troops in 1989.
In the 70s and 80s. before the scientists of the academy, headed by its chiefs, Lieutenant General
V.E. Uporov, Colonel General E.S. Kolibernov and Lieutenant General and
IN AND. Ustinov faced new problems caused by the adoption by the military-political leadership of the country of a defensive doctrine. In solving the problem of protecting troops and facilities, the main attention was paid to developing the theory of fortification equipment in areas occupied by troops. By the end of the 80s. views on the theory of mass use of mine-explosive barriers, ensuring the crossing of water obstacles, and preparation of troop movement routes were finally formed.
In the second post-war period, the system of training junior officers of the engineering troops also received significant development. In accordance with the directive of the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces of June 22, 1957, the Tyumen Military Engineering School was created
them. A.I. Proshlyakov for training platoon commanders of engineer-sapper, pontoon-bridge and ferry-landing specialties.
In 1960, the Moscow Red Banner Military Engineering School, which was located in Kaliningrad, was disbanded, and the Leningrad Military Engineering School was transferred to its base and, in accordance with the order of the Minister of Defense of January 4, 1963, was renamed the Kaliningrad Military -engineering command of the Order of Lenin Red Banner School named after A.A. Zhdanova. Already in 1966, the Kaliningrad school was transferred to the highest level and trained platoon commanders in engineering, technical and airborne specialties.
In 1967, the Tyumen School was also transferred to the higher category and began training platoon commanders in the specialties of engineer-sapper and pontoon-bridge with a four-year training period.
Also in 1967, in accordance with the order of the USSR Ministry of Defense, the Kamenets-Podolsk Military Engineering School was created, which in 1969 was also transferred to the category of higher military schools.
In 1967, the Donetsk Higher Military-Political School of Engineering Troops and Signal Corps was created, training deputy company commanders for political affairs and those corresponding to them.
Thus, by the end of the 60s. A network of military engineering schools was formed, fully meeting the needs of the engineering troops for junior and middle command personnel. In the 50-60s. 5,312 officers were trained in all military engineering schools.
In May 1973, the Kaliningrad School was one of the first in the Ground Forces to be transferred to a five-year training period and become a higher engineering school. It includes faculties instead of battalions, an officer training department, research and editorial and publishing departments. The Kaliningrad school trained officers in the following specialties: military mechanical engineer, military civil engineer-fortifier, military electrical engineer and military radio and telemechanical engineer.
Equipping the engineering troops with more advanced equipment required the training of a significant number of well-trained junior specialists. In 1956, for the purpose of centralized training, two schools were formed on the basis of the 18th school and the 275th separate training landing battalion: the 16th school for training junior specialists of amphibious vehicles (Volzhsky) and the 20th school training of junior specialists in engineering machines (Vinnitsa). In October 1961, the 20th school was relocated to the city of Mamonovo, Kaliningrad region, and subsequently to the city of Tapa, Estonian SSR. Due to the intensive supply of new engineering equipment to the troops, it was necessary to create another, third school for junior specialists of the engineering troops, which was opened in 1968 in the group of Soviet troops in Germany. Subsequently, the training system for junior specialists was continuously improved.
In the post-war years, the recognized center of scientific and technical thought of the engineering troops, the 15th Central Research Institute named after D.M., underwent significant quantitative and qualitative changes. Karbysheva. In order to carry out research and testing of weapons, military equipment and fortifications on the impact of the air shock wave of a nuclear explosion in the conditions of the cessation of full-scale tests, the Council of Ministers of the USSR on July 13, 1959, by a special resolution, decided to build the RUT-2200 shock tube in Noginsk. In September 1964, on its basis, by directive of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces, a scientific testing site was created, which was subsequently transformed into a department of the institute. The presence of a cohesive team at the institute made it possible not only to successfully solve the tasks assigned to it in equipping the engineering troops with equipment, but also to become the leading organization in the Armed Forces in a number of scientific areas.
Engineering support
With the advent of a large number of new complex types of engineering equipment, the tasks of mastering them, ensuring their operation and repair have increased significantly. These tasks were solved by strengthening, first of all, at the military level, the role of technical training of personnel, and by increasing the number of repair units. Thus, in the mid-60s, specialists in the repair of engineering equipment were introduced into the repair and restoration battalions of combined arms formations. In 1961, the first course for driving engineering vehicles, KVIM-61, was published.
Significant work was carried out in district and central engineering warehouses and bases to increase their production capabilities. During this period, stationary repair shops and workshops were built at a number of bases and warehouses. The tasks facing bases and warehouses during the threatened period and with the outbreak of war were clarified. To ensure the functioning of district and central bases and warehouses during that period, work teams and automobile companies (platoons) were assigned to the bases and warehouses, which were later transformed into temporary units - separate technical battalions (companies, platoons). These units were tasked with ensuring the dispersal of supplies stored at bases and warehouses, as well as participation in the mass shipment of engineering equipment.
Production plans (“calculation year plans”) for the first 2-3 months of the war were developed and brought to bases and warehouses. At bases and warehouses, work was carried out to accumulate spare parts, repair materials, technological equipment, reserve production capacities, and energy resources to fulfill the “plans for the current year.” To repair engineering equipment in wartime, by decision of the Government, a number of national economic enterprises determined the volumes and range of engineering equipment to be repaired.
With the accumulation of a significant amount of engineering ammunition in the troops, the issue of their maintenance became acute in the mid-60s. To replace non-standard ones, engineer ammunition depots were introduced in combined arms formations and a number of engineering units. At the same time, engineering ammunition warehouses of military districts were formed to store stocks of engineering ammunition, which were previously kept at central bases and warehouses. At the district engineering ammunition warehouses, a large amount of work was carried out on the arrangement of technical areas, construction and embankment of storage facilities.
During this period, major changes occurred in the management bodies of engineering and technical support. Due to the reduction in the late 50s. The Armed Forces have significantly reduced the control bodies of information and technical support in formations and units. The positions of deputy commanders for the technical part of engineering brigades, regiments, and individual battalions were replaced by heads of the technical part, with a reduction in the staff category by one level. In military districts, the position of assistant chief of engineering troops for armaments was reduced, engineering armament departments were reduced to 1-2 officers, which significantly reduced the capabilities of information and technical support bodies and did not correspond to both the general trends in the development of the Armed Forces and the growing role of engineering and technical support . That is why in the late 60s. In order to correct the mistakes made, the positions of deputy commanders for technical matters were reintroduced.
Engineering position company (IPR).
Engineering and road company (IDR).
Company of engineering barriers (RIZ).
Engineer-sapper company (ISR).
The engineering and sapper company is designed to carry out tasks of constructing obstacles and making passages in minefields.
Composition of the ISR:
2 engineer platoons;
A platoon of controlled mining.
ISR weapons:
BGM drilling machine – 1 unit;
Cars Ural-43202 – 10 units;
Trailer 2-pm-4 – 3 units;
Chainsaw “Friendship” - 9 units;
IMP mine detectors – 12 units;
KRI reconnaissance set – 6 units;
Chipboard-30 – 6 units;
PFM – 3 units;
PD-530 – 1 set;
PBU-50 – 3 units.
Capabilities of the ISR company (in 10-12 hours):
1. Set – 3-6 minefields;
2. Make 6-9 passes in minefields;
3. Arrange 1-2 barrier nodes;
4. Set 1-2 INP;
5. Prepare 2-3 bridges for demolition .
Composition of RIZ:
2 barrage platoons;
1 platoon of remote mining.
RIZ weapons:
GMZ-3 – 3 units;
PMZ-4 – 4-3 kits;
Cars Ural-43202 – 12 units;
Trailer 2-PN-4 – 3 units;
Set of guided minefield UMP-3 – 3 sets.
RIZ capabilities (in 10-12 hours):
1. Set up 2-3 controlled minefields;
2. Select 2 mobile obstacle squads;
3. Make and maintain 3-4 passages in minefields.
Designed for equipping and maintaining extension routes and building low-water bridges for loads of 60 tons.
Composition of the IDR:
2 road engineering platoons;
Barrage platoon;
Platoon of heavy mechanized bridges.
IDR weapons:
Tracklayers BAT-2 – 6 units;
Set TMM-3 – 2 sets;
Installation of UR-77-3 units.
IDR capabilities (in 10-12 hours):
1. Equip and maintain 2 sections of roads, 75 km each;
2. Equip 1-2 obstacle crossings;
3. Make up to 6 passes through enemy minefields directly during the battle (passage length 100m, width 6m).
Designed to carry out tasks related to fortification equipment of the defense area, positions, command posts, and supplying water to units and units.
Composition of the IPR:
2 engineering position platoons;
Engineering structures platoon;
Water supply department;
Painting department.
IPR weapons:
Excavation machine MDK – 3 units;
Trench vehicle BTM – 3 units;
Excavators EOV-4421 – 4 units;
Truck crane KS-2573 – 1 unit;
Set KVS-A (KVS-U) – 3 sets;
Filtration station VFS-10 – 1 set;
Sawmill LRV-2 – 1 set;
Lighting station AD-75-VS – 1 set;
Power station ESB-8I- 1 set;
Painting station POS-1 set;
Power plant ED-16RAO – 1 set.
IPR capabilities (in 10-12 hours):
1. Equip 1-2 water supply points;
2. Equip 1-2 NP for the unit commander;
3. Open 30 km of trenches and communication passages;
4. Open 20 shelters for vehicles;
5. Prepare up to 50 m 3 of lumber;
6. Produce 50 linear lines. meters of bridge per shift;
7. Equip 2-3 crushing sets.
Designed to provide forced barriers via floating bridges or with landing crossing equipment.
Composition of PonR:
2 pontoon platoons;
A platoon of floating transporters;
Coastal branch.
PonR weapons:
0.5 sets of PMP fleet;
6 BMK-T type boats;
4 ferry-bridge cars;
BAT-2 – 1 unit;
PTS-2 – 6 units.
Possibilities of PonR (in 10-12 hours):
1 floating bridge with a length of 117 m for loads of 60 tons.
1 bridge 314 m long for 20 t loads.