The vehicles at the rehearsal include the GAZ Tiger armored mobility vehicle, the BUK M2 medium range air defense system, the T-90A main battle tank, the Pantsyr S1 short range air defense system, the Topol-M mobile intercontinental ballistic missile system, the BTR-80 armored personal carrier, the MSTA-S self-propelled howitzer, the S-400 long range air defense system, and the Iskander-M mobile theater ballistic missile system.
Video taken by Vitaly Kuzmin.
March 12th, 2012 marks 96 years since the creation of the first fighter regiments in Russia. Today we will visit the Buturlinovka Voronezh region, where the Kursk air squadron, composed mostly of Mig-29SMT and Mig-29UBT jets, is temporarily based.
“Target Engaged?”
“Target Is In Sight.”
“Destroy it, the timing has started.”
The soldiers set up the 35 kg automatic grenade launcher within 30 seconds. According to today’s training mission, they have to destroy a group of armed combatants and unarmored vehicles. The target is 300 meters away. The fact that they hit the target is confirmed by a cloud of smoke. The smoke is pink because it is from a training round, and today, grenadiers from all over the region gather to compete at the range. The journalists are invited to try out the weapons, as well.
“I don’t have enough strength to press…I can’t hear anything at all”.
Of course, I was unable to hit the target, but contractor Sergei, on the other hand, didn’t miss a single shot. He has been training with the AGS-17 for 2 years now, and won’t trade it for any other weapon.
“This weapon is quite destructive, it can wipe out everything over a large area, while other weapons can only destroy one or two targets before reloading. ”
Next, an even loader sound comes from the firing of the RPG-7, which weighs 6 kg and can destroy armored vehicles, as well as enemy troops behind cover. The soldiers execute the task perfectly, destroying the target within one and a half minutes. When Ilya first joined the army 3 years ago, it was hard for him to get used to the noise, but now he has gotten used to it.
“It now takes me 5 minutes to get used to the noise, though my ears continue to ring. ”
And this here is a search and reconnaissance unit, each consisting of 10 soldiers who move slowly to avoid clipping a mine. They are on a mission to capture the armed group that set up those mines.
“This is pocket artillery. But nevertheless, it is quite formidable and effective for carrying out missions in the southern Caucasus region, in mountainous and forested terrain, in “shoot-and-move” situations. ”
Today’s missions in the field near Homutovka are short, with the soldiers given 4 minutes to carry out each task. The next time there will be sounds of grenades being launched will be in Fall; such exercises are carried out once every six months.
It is highly unlikely that you will encounter them in everyday life. In civilian clothes, they’re unrecognizable. And when in action, it is best to not run into them. If they’ve hit the road, that means something serious has happened, and it is best not to get in their way.
It is impossible to put the emotions that you get at a live-firing range into words. The ears get plugged up from the noise of rounds being fired, and the air has a heavy smell of gunpowder, making it hard to breathe. This is the mobile rocket launch system “Grad”, which first entered service in 1963 and has a launcher with 40 tubes for rockets. It has served in many major armed conflicts, including the wars in Angola, Afghanistan, Chechnya, and in South Ossetia.
This here is the Tunguska short range air defense system. Learning to operate the system can take as much as 5 years. The Tunguska is mostly automated, but can be operated manually, as well. This is the self propelled howitzer “Msta-S”, which can fire rounds at distances of more than 30 km. And these tanks fire so quickly and maneuver so swiftly, that it’s hard to guess that they are being operated by novices. These young men arrived here from the training center in Kaliningrad just 3 months ago.
The commander was quite pleased with how his men performed today. However, improvements can be made, and the commander has already expressed his criticism. The 200th motorized brigade regularly performs such exercises, even in the dark; every 3rd exercise is performed at night. The only thing that disappoints the commander is the fact that the conscripts, who will have learned everything by the year’s end, will go back home soon, and the process of training young soldiers to defend their country will have to be started all over again.
More photos here.
The Admiral Kuznetsov is the flagship and the sole aircraft carrier of the Russian navy. The Admiral Kuznetsov is not really a dedicated aircraft carrier, but more of an aircraft carrying missile cruiser, which can provide support to naval aircraft, surface ships, and submarines. The Kuznetsov’s aircraft squadron initially consisted of Su-33 interceptors and Su-25UTG strike aircraft, but the Russian MOD recently signed a contract for the purchase of Mig-29K/KUB fighters, which may replace the Su-33’s and Su-25’s. The Kuznetsov also carries Ka-27 helicopters for ASW, transportation, and search and rescue roles. The Kuznetsov can carry a total of up to 14 Su-33 interceptors or 28 Mig-29K fighters, up to 4 Su-25UTG strike aircraft and up to 16 Ka-27 helicopters of various types.
The Kuznetsov has a heavy armament consisting of eight AK-630 30 mm Gatling guns, eight Kashtan CIWS suites, twelve P-700 Granit anti-ship cruise missiles, eighteen 8-cell 3K95 (Naval TOR-M1) short-range anti-aircraft missile launchers, and an RBU-12000 UDAV-1 ASW rocket launcher. The aircraft carrier has a displacement of up to 58,600 tons and has a length of 306.5 meters. It has a speed of 32 knots, a range of 15,700 km, and an endurance of 45 days. The ship has 3,857 rooms for 1,993 people, which includes the ship’s crew and the pilots. The Admiral Kuznetsov is due to undergo a major refit and modernization at the Severodvinsk Sevmash shipyard by the end of this year. Modifications are rumored to include the replacement of obsolete sensor equipment and electronics, the addition of a new anti-aircraft missile system, and an increase of deck space (to increase the number of aircraft the ship can carry) by removing the P-700 launchers. It is also possible that the Kuznetsov might receive catapults to aid the launch of aircraft and the replacement of the troubled steam engine with a more efficient alternative.
3rd photo taken from here.
Every step in unfamiliar territory can potentially be fatal, so the obstacle clearing platoon moves slowly. At the front are men with steel probes and mine detectors, but even modern electronics do not always immediately give an answer as to what kind of surprise the enemy has prepared. “It can only distinguish an anti-tank mine at a depth of up to 40 cm, and an anti-personal mine at a depth of up to 10 cm”, stated Vadim Lebedev, the squad leader. Once the mine detector gave a signal of impending danger, the convoy stopped. At this stage, work was conducted only by the officers, and only with their bare hands. Life at this moment, as said by the Sappers, is at their fingertips.
“We have detected a TM-62 anti-tank mine. We have decided to destroy it with a 600 gram overhead charge, awaiting permission”
“Permission granted”.
The men move away to a safe distance, and then an explosion echoes. The next obstacle is an anti-personal trip-mine, and the convoy stops once again. The average speed of a convoy moving through a minefield is around 100 meters an hour. The area ahead of the convoy is scanned by steel rods, but the Sappers must be aware that regular mines are not the only obstacle. The Sapper should not only scan the ground next to him, but in front of him and even upwards, as well. The obstacle could be a thin wire hanging from the trees, which is linked to mines that will explode if a vehicle’s antenna touches it. The mine is set very high on a tree. The platoon’s commander decides to shoot it with a machine gun.
“We cannot determine if the mine is safely reachable, whether it can be disarmed, or whether there are more mines in the area. Shooting it from a distance will remove it without endangering human lives”, stated the platoon commander, Alexander Ovcharenko. Again, the commander chooses to personally carry out the more dangerous task. Even during training, the soldiers work with real explosives, so each day they carefully learn to weigh their every decision, ever step, and even every word. “I think a real-life combat situation would certainly be scary, so it’s good to have a good commander who is ready to provide support at any time. I want to issue him a big thank you,” stated Sapper Alex Volkov. In spring, a big exam awaits the platoon. During the upcoming tactical military exercise, the Sappers will lead a convoy of vehicles safely through a simulated enemy minefield.
Слава Украине! Glory To Ukraine! 