Материал: Konrad Muzyka Russian Forces in the Western Military District

Fixedand rotary-wing units

The main combat unit of the army is the 105th Composite Aviation Division (Smeshnnaya Aviatsionnaya Diviziya: SAD), headquartered at Voronezh-Baltimor. It consists of four aviation regiments and one aviation squadron.

First, the 14th Fighter Aviation Regiment ((Istrebitelnyi Aviatsionnyi Polk: IAP) is based in Kursk Vostochny/Khalino. It fields 24 Su-30SM fighters (two squadrons), which were delivered between 2017 and 2018.57 Before that, the unit was equipped with MiG-29SMT aircraft that were originally sold to Algeria but were later refused due to poor manufacturing quality. Satellite imagery from early 2019 still shows around 20 MiGs at the airbase, but they do not seem to have moved for years and therefore are unlikely to be operational.

The 47th SAP’s home base is Voronezh Malshevo; however, since 2013 it has been redeployed to Buturlinovka while the former is undergoing modernization. The renovation of the base was to conclude in 2015, but it has been regularly postponed.58 As of mid 2020, it was still undergoing work. Delays have reportedly been caused by issues with the contractor and funding.59 Current plans call for the base to reopen in fall 2020. The regiment is equipped with two Su-34 squadrons, which were handed over between 2010 and 2013.

The northernmost regiment belonging to the 6th AADA is the 159th IAP, deployed at Besovets, Karelia, 300 km (186 miles) north of St. Petersburg. Its location makes it responsible for the provision of air attack capability along the Finnish border. It can also support the defense of St. Petersburg and provide additional strike capability to the Northern Fleet’s 45th AADA. The regiment began receiving Su-35S airframes in 2016. The process concluded in 2018, when two full squadrons were fully re-equipped. An additional squadron of Su-27SMs is also deployed at the airbase, which therefore houses at least 36 combat aircraft.60

57Центр АСТ, 14-й гвардейский истребительный авиационный полк в Курске получил еще один истребитель Су-30СМ, Dec. 1, 2019, https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3436686.html.

58Илья Ершов, Генерал Зибров рассказал о завершении работ на аэродроме «Балтимор» в Воронеже, bloknot-voronezh.ru/; https://bloknot-voronezh.ru/news/general-zibrov-rasskazal-o-zavershenii-rabot-na-ae- 925837.

59SVIK-TV, Воронежский военный аэродром «Балтимор» откроют осенью 2020-го, Dec. 14, 2019, http://xn-- --ctbbwk3bl.xn--p1ai/voronezhskij-voennyj-aerodrom-baltimor-otkroyut-osenyu-2020-go.

60A total of 60 aircraft are deployed at the base, although it is unclear how many, apart from the above-mentioned three squadrons, are operational.

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Khotilovo Air hosts the 790th IAP. It is equipped with two squadrons of modernized MiG-31BM interceptor aircraft as well as at least one squadron of Su-27/SMs. The latter is being replaced by Su-35Ss, nine of which had been delivered to the unit as of mid 2020.61

Finally, the 105th SAD also fields the 4th Independent Reconnaissance Aviation Squadron

(Otdelnaya Aviatsionnaya Razvedyvatelnaya Eskadrilya: OARE), stationed in Shatalovo. It was established in 2014 and nominally fields one Su-24MR squadron tasked with reconnaissance and target designation missions. That said, satellite imagery from 2019 does not indicate that the squadron is at its full strength; it only shows several Su-24s at various parts of the airbase. According to Piotr Butowski, an aviation journalist, the unit will be expanded into a regiment and its assets will be augmented with Su-34s in the future.62

There are also numerous directly reporting units under the command of the 6th AADA.

The 33rd Independent Transport SAP provides army-level rotaryand fixed-wing tactical airlift capability. It is equipped with An-26, An-12, An-72, An-148 (100), and Tu-134 aircraft. These are supported by around a squadron of Mi-8 helicopters.

The 15th Br AA is deployed at the Ostrov Airbase, some 30 km (18 miles) from the border with Latvia and 70 km (43 miles) from the border with Estonia. Its proximity to Pskov (60 km, or 37 miles) makes it naturally prepositioned to operationally support the 76th Airborne Division in the Baltic theater. Plans announced in 2014 called for an army aviation brigade to field 84 to 88 combat and airlift helicopters (66 for a regiment).63 Satellite imagery from March 2020 shows around 60 helicopters deployed at the base, which includes a squadron (12 airframes) each of Mi-28N and Ka-52 attack helicopters, a squadron of Mi-8MTV-5 helicopters, and several Mi-26 heavy transport helicopters.

The 549th Independent Helicopter Regiment (Otdelnyi Vertoliotnyi Polk: OVP) is deployed at the Pushkin Airbase, just south of St. Petersburg. It fields one squadron of Mi-8 transports, and one of Mi-28N and Mi-35 attack helos. Some of its assets, which include Mi-8s and Mi-24PNs, are also deployed at the Pribylovo Airbase, located 100 km (62 miles) northwest of St. Petersburg.64

61Центр АСТ, ВКС России получили первые три истребителя Су-35С постройки 2019 года, https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3713121.html, July 22, 2019.

62Piotr Butowski, Flashpoint Russia: Russia’s Air Power: Capabilities and Structure (Vienna: Harpia Publishing, 2019), p. 70.

63Взгляд, В ВВС России решено сформировать 14 бригад армейской авиации и вертолетных полков,

Взгляд, July 26, 2014, https://vz.ru/news/2014/7/26/697375.html

64The author understands that the regiment was stood up on the 549th Army Aviation Air Base in December 2016. Previously, the 332nd Helicopter Regiment with just one squadron was deployed at Pribylovo, whereas the

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Lastly, the 440th OVP is located at the Vyazma Airbase. It is equipped with around 20 Mi-24s and Mi-28Ns, at least 10 Ka-52s, and around 20 Mi-8s in various configurations. Around 50 of what seem to be Mi-24s and Mi-8s are also stored at the base, but they seem to be cannibalized for parts.

The army aviation has been subordinated to the air force since 2003. Although there are voices that call for at least a partial reversal of this decision,65 rotary-wing assets play a key role in the provision of close air support for maneuver ground forces, and they increase its flexibility and readiness to respond to quickly materializing threats.

One intrinsic feature of the Baltic States battlespace is the heavy presence of Russian army aviation assets, which include one regiment and one brigade. The reason behind such force prepositioning is the ground terrain around the Baltic States, which, because of its large number of lakes, rivers, and generally boggy terrain, does not favor maneuver warfare. Consequently, combat helicopters would be used to soften defensive lines in order to limit the need to maneuver, and to attack targets behind enemy’s lines in order to delay reinforcements. Airlift adds additional flexibility and provides maneuver space where necessary.

Russia continues to modernize its fixed-wing aviation fleet, although the pace of this modernization seems to have reached a plateau. Combat aircraft deliveries to front-line units reached their peak in 2014, when a total of 88 airframes were handed over. After that, delivery numbers gradually decreased, with 2019 marking the lowest number since 2009.66 In her recent interview with Krasnaya Zvezda, Tatiana Shevtsova, who is responsible for MoD finances, stated that “the increase in defense spending in previous years was due to the comprehensive re-equipment of the army” and that “this peak has been passed.”67 This indicates that the top brass is happy with what the rearmament has delivered and that it is unnecessary to maintain elevated defense spending (perhaps it is also unaffordable).

147th Independent EW Helicopter Regiment was at Pushkin. These were merged into the 549th Regiment and their previous structures were disbanded.

65Алексей Рамм, Алексей Козаченко, Богдан Степовой, Константин Валентинов, ВДВ окрыляют:

десантники получат собственную авиацию, Известия, Feb. 19, 2019, https://iz.ru/847090/aleksei-ramm- aleksei-kozachenko-bogdan-stepovoi-konstantin-valentinov/vdv-okryliaiut-desantniki-poluchat-sobstvennuiu- aviatciiu.

66In 2019, six Su-35Ss were handed over to the 790th IAP and six Su-34s were handed over to the 2nd SAP deployed at Chelyabinsk Shagol in the Central MD. Another two Su-34s were handed over to the air force in December, but it is unclear where they were sent.

67Евгений Подзоров, Сбалансированный бюджет позволяет реализовать все планы по развитию Вооружённых Сил, Красная Звезда, Dec. 27, 2019, http://redstar.ru/sbalansirovannyj-byudzhet-pozvolyaet- realizovat-vse-plany-po-stroitelstvu-i-razvitiyu-vooruzhyonnyh-sil/.

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The defense industry is also struggling with debt burden and is unable to produce aircraft at prices negotiated in 2012, as is the case with Su-34s. At the same time, long-term contracts signed in the early 2010s are also concluding, and no new deals have been signed as prices and terms are being negotiated.

There is also a gradual decrease in defense spending, which impacts both the state defense order (SDO) and the way that funds within it are managed, as well as which programs receive priorities. Fixed-wing aircraft do not seem to be prioritized, which could denote a gradual decrease in obtaining such aircraft. (See Table 1.) Indeed, Vedomosti reported in September 2019 that, although a new contract for the production of 48 Su-34s is expected in 2020, aircraft production at the Novosibirsk plant may cease: it is uneconomical to produce just 48 airframes at two plants (Su-34’s main production site is in Komsomolsk-on-Amur).68

Table 2. Fixed-wing combat aircraft deliveries to VKS

Source: Author’s calculations.

Air defense

As part of its role, the 6th AADA also provides strategic-level early warning and air defense coverage for units stationed in the Western MD. To fulfill this mission, it fields two air defense divisions, described in Table 3. Altogether, there are twelve S-400, four S-300PM, and five S-300PS SAM batteries deployed in the Western MD, under the command of the 6th AADA.

68 This contract would produce just six airframes per year. Иван Сафронов, Производство боевых самолетов в Новосибирске может прекратиться, Ведомости, 7 Oct. 2019, https://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/articles/2019/10/07/813072-proizvodstvo-boevih-samoletov.

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Table 3. Air defense divisions in the 6th AADA and their equipment

Source: Author’s calculations.

The 2nd Air Defense Division guards St. Petersburg, which again emphasizes Russia’s efforts to protect the city and its neighboring areas from mass attacks. It is composed of five air defense regiments (the 500th, 1488th, 1489th, 1490th, and 1544th), which are predominantly equipped with S-400 Strategic SAMs. The 1490th Air Defense Regiment is the only one composed of four S-400 batteries, which were delivered in February 2020.69 In its standard configuration, each battery is composed of eight transporter erector launchers (TELs). It is thus able to fire 32 missiles in a single salvo, or 128 for the entire regiment. The 2nd Air Defense Division, which is fielding 12 S-400 batteries, can therefore launch 384 missiles in a single salvo. Given that the Russian doctrine stipulates the employment of two missiles per target, the division can engage 192 targets.

However, the effectiveness of such attacks depends on the extent to which SAM batteries will obtain incoming targets, process them, and release missiles into them. To support the entire engagement cycle, an S-400 battery is supported by the following: a 92N6 target engagement radar (six to 10 simultaneous engagements); a 96L6 target acquisition radar, with an acquisition range of 300 km (186 miles); and a 91N6 battle management radar, with an acquisition range of 600 km (372 miles). It is equipped with a 48N6E3/48N6DM interceptor missile that has a nominal range of 250 km (155 miles). It is to be augmented with a 40N6 missile, which reportedly has a range of 400 km (248 miles). These nominal ranges, for both missile and radar systems, are restricted by two factors: first, the radar horizon, which effectively limits how much a radar horizon can “see”; and, second, by Russia’s ability to

69 Altyn73, Сразу Четыре дивизиона С-400 получил один полк, Feb. 25, 2020, https://altyn73.livejournal.com/1426325.html.

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