This year the Russian Topographical Service celebrated its 200th anniversary. Today, in the age of information technology, it is unthinkable to imagine the Armed Forces without top service. Moreover, its importance is increasingly increasing, which is due to the continuous development of weapons, modern command and control systems, and geographic information systems. The Army Topographical Service of the 21st century uses digital technologies, space, cartographic, geodetic systems and other modern technology.
In the Eastern Military District, the problems of topographic geodetic and navigation support for troops are solved by the topographic service, headed by Lieutenant Colonel Anatoly TYURIN. In a conversation with our correspondent, he talks about the tasks of military topographers and promising areas of their activity, determined by the technical innovations of our turbulent man-made century.
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In Russia, the development of cartographic work was facilitated by the campaigns of Ermak, Moskovitin, Poyarkov, Dezhnev, who compiled descriptions and drawings of open lands. In turn, from their descriptions, summary drawings were compiled in the voivodeship offices. This is how the “Drawing of Siberia” (1629), “Drawing of the Oboyan lands” (1659), “Drawing of the Ukrainian and Cherkassy cities”, etc. were executed.
The first Russian geographical atlas, “Drawing Book of Siberia,” consisting of 23 maps, was compiled in 1701 by geographer S. Remezov. Based on its merits, it became an outstanding cartographic work in its time. Peter I paid serious attention to collecting accurate geographical information about the state and mapping territories, which was necessary primarily for military purposes. With the organization of the regular army in Russia, the need arose to provide its combat activities with map materials. In 1701, in the battles near Narva, Peter I introduced the position of quartermaster general, and in 1711 a quartermaster unit was formed in the army in order to resolve operational issues, including providing troops with maps.
In the later Pushkar (1712) and St. Petersburg (1719) engineering schools, students were taught geodesy and topography, and upon completion of training they could conduct surveys of the area. The first topographical survey in Russia was carried out in 1715 by surveyor Fyodor Molchanov on an expedition that explored the land route from Siberia to India.
In 1745, a major cartographic work was published entitled “Russian Atlas, consisting of nineteen special maps representing the All-Russian Empire with its border lands, compiled according to the rules of geography and the latest observations with an attached general map of this great empire through the efforts and labors of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg 1745." In the second half of the 18th century, the military department became increasingly involved in the publication of maps.
As a specially appointed commission reported to Catherine II, the experience of the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) showed that “... during the last and previous campaigns, due to the lack of special officers to take location, reconnaissance about the enemy and the routes along which the troops were supposed to pass , difficulties and confusion were often encountered.” This commission in January 1763 presented its proposals for the reorganization of the army and the quartermaster unit. It was proposed to organize the latter on new grounds and call it the General Staff. In May 1763 it began to function. In addition to other duties, he was entrusted with conducting cartographic work. When the General Staff was formed in 1763, a group of surveyors and topographers of 40 people was included in its composition for the purpose of creating maps for the army.
In 1797, with the aim of concentrating all published maps, storing them, as well as developing and improving their production, a Map Depot was established under the Cabinet of His Imperial Majesty, which was transferred to the Ministry of War in 1810. In 1812, the Map Depot was renamed the Military Topographical Depot (VTD). The history of the military topographical service dates back to this date.
Until the end of the war against Napoleon, surveying and compilation work progressed extremely slowly, and the activities of the VTD during the war were reduced mainly to the republication of some maps used by the troops. The secondment of officers from the quartermaster unit and the engineering corps for filming was extremely limited, since they were busy supporting the combat operations of the troops. At the end of the war, topographic surveys on the territory of the empire resumed.
The experience of the Patriotic War of 1812 showed that it was necessary to supply troops with more accurate topographic maps than were available. The creation of such maps required the organization of new surveys based on geodetic reference points. Trigonometric surveys for these purposes over a large area began in Russia in 1816.
In 1822, Alexander I approved the “Regulations on the Corps of Topographers.” This act marked the beginning of the organization that later became the Corps of Military Topographers.
The successor to the Corps of Military Topographers of the Russian Army was the Military Topographic Service (MTS) of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. By 1918, the number of corps reached 1212 people. In the same year, V. Barinov performed aerial photography for the first time near Tver.
After the Great Patriotic War, the military-technical cooperation of the Red Army was renamed the topographic service of the Armed Forces of the USSR, and then the topographic service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Anatoly Anatolyevich TYURIN was born on November 9, 1978 in Kovylkino. In 2000 he graduated from the Military Engineering University (branch in St. Petersburg). From 2000 to 2007, he served in the North Caucasus Military District as a senior cartographer of the unit, commander of a service company, head of the brigade topographic service, and head of the division topographic service.
From 2007 to 2009, student at the Combined Arms Academy of the Russian Armed Forces. In 2009 2011 chief of staff, deputy detachment commander in the Eastern Military District.
Since April 2011, head of the topographic service of the headquarters of the Eastern Military District.
He was awarded the medals “For Military Valor”, II degree, and “For Distinction in Military Service”, two degrees.
Married. Raises three children.
Anatoly Anatolyevich, what are the main tasks assigned to the district’s top service today?
The topographical service of our district implements the decisions made by the chiefs of the General Staff and the military topographical department, and provides the troops with topographic, geodetic and navigation services.
Unlike previous years, topographic maps of our territory are currently printed by civil organizations. The fact is that former cartographic factories, including those in our district, have now become open joint-stock companies, and now they print military maps for defense orders.
As for the current map section, it is intended for the publication and compilation of separate nomenclatures of topographic and special maps, which, for example, are urgently needed in the interests of the district. Then the map material is taken in electronic form and a topographic map is published. This can happen if, for example, an aggravation of the situation is suddenly expected in some area, a threat arises, or if we simply run out of some topographic maps, and requesting them from the center is a complex and lengthy procedure.
In terms of navigation, troops today are provided with satellite navigation equipment, wearable and portable GPS/GLONASS devices. The topographic service monitors the signals so that the enemy does not make a “correction”, as was the case during the Georgian-Ossetian conflict.
If possible, please tell me more about this.
There we used the same devices, but somewhere, for example, GLONASS was not taken, because the constellation of these satellites was smaller than the GPS constellation. As a result, the troops could not accurately determine their coordinates, for example, to anchor their positions and therefore used a constellation of GPS satellites. But the Americans introduced a small interference into the signal, and the coordinates turned out to be incorrect.
That is why, in the event of any threat, our service is entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring: we must establish control and detect such a signal in time, if it is sent, in order to warn the troops. Unfortunately, this was not possible in South Ossetia. Therefore, as they say, we learn from our own mistakes, from our own experience. After the signal is caught, our task is to immediately convey the information to the troops so that they do not use GPS, but use either topographic maps or only the GLONASS group.
By the way, we monitor the alignment of launch positions in the interests of the Missile Forces and artillery. In general, in terms of combat mission, we have a very wide range of tasks. In a few words, this can be called topographic and geodetic support for the district troops.
What other problems are directly in your field of vision?
At the moment, our main concern is topographic and geodetic support for the interspecific grouping of troops. As you know, after the reform a three-level management system was created. It includes ground forces, aviation, and navy. And our main task is to ensure this interspecific grouping of troops within the zone of responsibility of the Eastern Military District as efficiently as possible in topographic and geodetic terms.
The problem is that we are still at the reform stage. This year we are to create a Center for Geospatial Information and Navigation. It will include parts of the topographic service that are currently stationed in the district. According to the decision of the commander of the district troops, the center will be located on the northern outskirts of Khabarovsk.
There will also be a transfer of topographic map warehouses to logistics centers.
What can we say about financing the top service?
The situation has changed markedly since last year, when funding for the survey service has improved significantly compared to previous years. In the previous period, it was very meager and did not meet the needs. This year the provision is even more favorable.
Are the district troops receiving new equipment and machinery for the topographic service?
Yes, the Volynets navigation complexes (mobile digital topographic system) are arriving. Each complex consists of three universal modules, one printing and one life support module based on the Ural. Its main purpose is to solve problems of topographic and geodetic support using digital technologies for transmitting, processing and storing information about the area, as well as publishing special maps and photographic documents in the field. There are KUNGs for processing digital information, for creating spatial 3D models of terrain, for printing maps.
We also receive a mobile navigation geodetic complex (PNGC) based on KamAZ. It is designed to quickly determine the planned coordinates and heights of terrain points while moving and at stops. It can be used in advance preparation of theater operations in topographic and geodetic terms and during the conduct of combat operations during operational navigation and geodetic support of troops. Inside it is a portable satellite navigation equipment. We can say that this is a top-of-the-line machine. PNGK can both plot a course and carry out topographic geodetic reference.
Your service organizationally includes a topographic and geodetic detachment, which is stationed in Blagoveshchensk. How high is the professional level of the officers, sergeants and soldiers who serve in it?
The detachment is part of the district subordination, which is designed to perform tasks aimed at meeting the needs of troops and departments stationed in the Eastern Military District for topographic and geodetic information, as well as in the interests of developing military infrastructure. The detachment is fully capable of fulfilling its intended tasks. Our professional training is at the proper level. But if the officers are trained “excellently,” then with the arrival of modern equipment into the troops, the need arises for additional training of contract soldiers and conscript soldiers, which is what unit commanders do.
What military university is training officers for your service today, and are there enough young officers coming to serve in the Eastern Military District?
Today, only the topography department remains on the basis of the Military Space Academy named after. A. F. Mozhaisky. Recently, several young officers arrived in the Blagoveshchensk detachment; three more people came to the topographical services of the district associations. In principle, we are provided with personnel.
You served in the North Caucasus Military District for several years and visited “hot spots”. What did you have to do there? What from the experience gained should, in your opinion, be brought into the practice of everyday activities in the Far East?
I began my officer service in the Krasnodar Territory, in a topographic and geodetic detachment, which, as the forces and means of the head of the district topographic service, took part in the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus. We went on business trips to the Chechen Republic, to the Botlikh district of Dagestan and other areas. Specialists from our detachment were involved in various tasks: they worked for reconnaissance, helped to interpret aerial photographs, and built terrain models.
In particular, in the fall of 2000, one military operation was planned, and I was given the task of preparing a layout of the area. The dimensions of the layout were 4x6 meters. The then Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Igor Sergeev, who arrived there, rated the layout “excellent.” The officers of the operational department and intelligence officers mapped the situation on it, and the interaction of the combined group of troops and forces was organized there. There, in addition to the motorized rifle division, in whose interests we acted, internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation and units of the Ministry of Emergency Situations were also involved.
Then I commanded a service company in a topographic and geodetic detachment for three years, after which I was appointed head of the topographic service of a separate brigade in Maykop. Its battalions, in particular, were part of the collective CIS peacekeeping forces in the region.
Peacekeepers separated the two conflicting sides. The conflict zone was divided into two parts: northern and southern. The northern zone is the Galli region of Abkhazia, the southern zone is the Zugdidi region of Georgia. These zones were separated by the Inguri River. And already at that time (2004-2005), when I went there on business trips, it was clear how American specialists were preparing Georgian units.
What was the purpose of your business trips?
Topographic and geodetic support of troops in the conflict zone. I also visited Georgian territory in our peacekeeping battalion, located in Zugdidi. When we were rotating troops and I, as part of the brigade command, controlled this process, I witnessed how Georgian provocateurs blocked the bridge across the Inguri, not allowing our troops passage. In this case, we did not enter into conflict, but forded the river.
Now I will answer your question, what would be useful from my experience. For example, in the area of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, many cities and towns changed their names. And our maps did not correspond to the true situation. Therefore, we promptly corrected them, crossed out old names and typed in new ones. Naturally, as regards our territory, this information is constantly updated in accordance with governing documents.
And when I was appointed head of the division’s topographic service, I was engaged in topographic and geodetic support for the OGV (s) of the joint group of troops that took part in the counter-terrorist operation on the territory of the Chechen Republic. I came to the conclusion that the existing standards for providing troops with topographic maps are not always suitable. The group may be smaller or larger in terms of the number of personnel, so support must be provided after the fact. After all, in the conditions of hostilities, we provide not only the troops of the district, but also the units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB, which come to our pay.
How successfully are the tasks assigned to you performed by the service subordinate to you?
Here we can recall the results of last year, when it was noted that we completed all the tasks assigned to us by the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces with high quality and in full. A lot has been done. In particular, our service has updated topographic maps of Vladivostok with nearby areas. We completed this work with very good quality.
We are carrying out our duties quite successfully this year as well. The tasks are not easy, as mentioned above, but all the work is going according to plan. For the better, I would like to mention the specialists of the topographic and geodetic detachment, its commander, Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Vladimirovich Taranenko, and the head of the topographic department of the detachment, Major Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bystrov.
In conclusion, I would like to note that the forms and methods of armed struggle change beyond recognition over time, but the issues of topographic and geodetic support of all types and methods of this struggle have always been and remain invariably in demand. That's what we do.
Conducted the conversationVladimir PYLAEV
February 8 is the 202nd anniversary of the formation of the Military Topographical Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The head of the Military Topographical Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - the head of the Topographical Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - answers the questions of "Red Star" Rear Admiral Sergei KOZLOV.
Rear Admiral Sergei KOZLOV
— Sergey Viktorovich, what is the main purpose of the Topographical Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation?
Over the entire period of its existence, the Topographical Service has not significantly changed its profile and purpose. The main task was and remains the creation of topographic maps and plans, bringing them to the troops. Issues in this area have been resolved for two centuries; this is what the main efforts of military topographers are devoted to.
— Please tell us about the specifics of performing aerial photography, geodetic work, creating topographic maps and plans. What technical and software tools are used to decipher location survey materials?
Interpretation of Earth remote sensing (ERS) materials obtained using space mapping systems or aerial photography equipment installed on aircraft, in order to create and update topographic maps, as well as create other types of topographic and geodetic information, is carried out by specialists of the Topographic Service.
In the 70–80s of the last century, specialists from research organizations developed domestic high-precision photogrammetric complexes, which were used until recently. These are SPA (analytical stereo projector for thickening the plan-elevation basis and obtaining the terrain), “Ortomat” (obtaining orthorectified photographic images of high-mountain areas) and a number of others.
With the development of digital technologies and the receipt of remote sensing materials in digital form, new software and hardware systems and tools have been developed and are being introduced into production, created both by specialists from the research organization of the Topographic Service and by Russian organizations that develop software and hardware tools.
In 2013, development work was completed, which resulted in the development and acceptance for supply of software and hardware systems: Unified Automated Systems for Providing Geospatial Information (EASOGPI) and the creation and updating of digital terrain information (PAK SOCIM). Both systems are parts of the topographic and geodetic support subsystem of the advanced automated control system of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Aerial photography of the area is carried out by the relevant Air Force units on aircraft equipped with aerial photography equipment, as well as using space mapping systems.
Field geodetic work is traditionally carried out by topographic geodetic military units and units of topographic services of military districts, branches of the Armed Forces and branches of the armed forces, and desk work on the creation and updating of topographic maps in analogue and digital form is carried out in stationary topographic geodetic military units, staffed by highly qualified specialists with extensive experience prompt production of various types of topographic and geodetic information.
Due to the increased need of our Armed Forces for up-to-date geospatial information, some of the products are created by industrial enterprises within the framework of the state defense order.
— Where are military topographers trained?
Today officers for the Topographical Service are trained by the Department of Topographical Support and Cartography of the Military Space Academy named after. A.F. Mozhaisky. This unique military educational institution is the only one in the country, from which, after five years of study, highly professional military specialists in the field of geodesy, topography and cartography emerge.
Topographical officers receive higher military education in the capital at the Military Training and Research Center of the Ground Forces “Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.”
The training of reserve officers in the specialties of the Topographical Service is carried out by the military department at the Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography. University graduates who have successfully completed their military training program and are positively certified by the state commission are awarded the rank of reserve lieutenant.
Junior specialists and non-commissioned officers are also trained at the Faculty of Topogeodetic Support and Cartography of the Military Space Academy named after. A.F. Mozhaisky. The sphere of military-professional activity of graduates with a specialty in “operation of geodetic equipment” is topographic and geodetic support of units and units of the Topographical Service, as well as the corresponding services of the Armed Forces and branches of the armed forces.
— Does the Military Topographical Directorate of the General Staff participate in the implementation of the Federal Target Program “Global Navigation System (2011–2020)”? What exactly does the Federal Target Program assign to the VTU of the General Staff and what is the scope of responsibility?
The Russian Ministry of Defense has its own line in the Federal Target Program “Global Navigation System (2011–2020)”. At the same time, the role of the General Staff VTU in its implementation is to provide geodetic support for the functioning of the system. Special work related to this is carried out at the expense of the military department budget.
The topographic service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is responsible for the completeness and quality of geodetic support for the GLONASS space navigation system. Since 2003, we have been carrying out a range of works to ensure the accuracy of the GLONASS system, for which we have a network of ground observation points from which the GLONASS system is monitored.
We have not only a sphere of responsibility in the ground sector of the GLONASS system. The space sector is also developing. This is a space geodetic system being developed, which, together with the ground-based complex, will provide a significant improvement in the accuracy characteristics of the GLONASS system, as well as improve the accuracy of the use of weapons and the use of military equipment.
In the future, until 2015, with the help of targeted information received from space geodetic system devices, it is planned to create parity of our national global navigation satellite system GLONASS with the GPS system and other created foreign geodetic systems in terms of accuracy characteristics.
— What products, including software, are being developed by the General Staff VTU for geographic information systems?
To solve the problem of using electronic maps and other digital information about the terrain in military command and control bodies, a military geographic information system “Operator” was developed, which ensured the selection of the most suitable GIS platform for military use.
In 2013, software packages were developed that ensure the creation of new samples of the GIS Operator PC, which received the functionality of network and WEB-Gis technologies used on various software and hardware platforms. This GIS has been accepted for supply to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The joint strategic exercise “Zapad-2013” for the GIS “Operator” became its baptism of fire.
The software product for creating electronic topographic maps in the SXF format of a new generation, which replaced the Tipazh-M open source software, is the GIS "Map-2011".
Since 2005, exercises and training at various levels have been carried out using GIS VN (geographic information systems for military purposes). Since the same year, specialists from the geographic information support center have been trained to work with GIS VN. In addition, at the faculties of retraining and advanced training of the Military Academy of the General Staff and the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, practical study of the GIS “Operator” was organized within the framework of curricula and programs.
— For which automated control systems does the General Staff create electronic topographic maps of the General Staff?
State topographic maps, including electronic ones, are created in the Russian Federation in compliance with uniform requirements, in a single format for presenting information - SXF. And these maps are created not for a specific task or automated control system, but as a universal source of information about the area and its objects. In this regard, the ACS of the Armed Forces is required to use the specified electronic topographic maps (ETK) in its composition.
Currently, the VTU of the General Staff is taking part in a number of R&D carried out in order to create modern automated control systems at various levels for the Armed Forces, in particular the Unified Tactical Level Control System (ESU TZ).
Close interaction between military topographers, specialists in the development of information and telecommunication technologies and industrial enterprises (developers) has outlined prospects for further improving the presentation, storage and use of digital information about the terrain, including digital information.
At the same time, the experience of planning the use of multi-departmental groupings of troops (forces) in crisis situations in 2011–2013 made it possible to identify the problem of interfacing the automated control systems of various government structures, including the GIS platforms used and, accordingly, the formats of digital information about the terrain circulating within them , which requires technical regulation of the creation of GIS at the state level.
— Are gyroscopic navigation systems being developed? Which units and in what quantity are equipped with them? Are they used as primary or secondary navigation aids?
Today there is an active development and application of inertial systems. According to the nomenclature of the military equipment and technical equipment of the General Staff, the mobile navigation and geodetic complex PNGK-1, equipped with a domestic modernized aviation strapdown inertial system, was supplied to the Armed Forces in 2004. It is designed to determine the coordinates of points in real time, used in conjunction with a geodetic satellite receiver and used as a backup navigation tool.
The complex is equipped with geodetic units of topographic and geodetic detachments of district subordination (since 2012 - centers of geospatial information and navigation), aiming control services and astronomical-geodetic support of the Strategic Missile Forces and the Aerospace Defense Forces, topographical units of army subordination.
Further development of inertial systems is aimed at increasing their accuracy and reducing their weight and size characteristics, and improving special information processing software.
— In what areas of topographic and geodetic support are we lagging behind the armies of foreign countries, and in what areas are we ahead?
The topographic service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation does not lag behind the foreign armies of developed countries in matters of scientific and practical development of the organization of topographic and geodetic support. We have created and are steadily operating a system for providing troops with maps, astronomical and geodetic data, photographic documents of the area and other means of topographic and geodetic information. The necessary regulatory documents in this area have been developed, there is a developed infrastructure and qualified personnel. The recent combat experience of our Armed Forces has confirmed the operability and sufficient effectiveness of this system.
Our capabilities for mapping inaccessible territories are at the world level - thanks to domestic space mapping systems and developed technologies for photogrammetric image processing.
The Topographical Service is working to clarify the geocentric coordinate system, which is used to calculate the orbits of spacecraft and a number of other important government tasks. Currently, in terms of mathematical accuracy, the domestic geocentric system PZ-90.11 is not inferior to the similar American WGS system (in which the entire GPS complex operates).
— Tell us about the new mobile and stationary means of topographic support in the troops.
The Armed Forces are receiving new mobile topographic and geodetic support equipment. This, Firstly, a mobile navigation and geodetic complex PNGK-1, designed for the operational solution of tasks of navigation and geodetic support for troops and providing continuous determination of the coordinates and heights of terrain points while the vehicle is moving and at its stops.
Secondly, this is a mobile digital topographic system of the PCTS, which is designed to quickly solve problems of topographic and geodetic support for troops. It produces, updates, stores and issues digital and analog information about the area to consumers, determines the coordinates of its location while the vehicle is moving and at stops.
Stationary facilities are mainly software and hardware systems for creating and updating topographic and geodetic information based on Earth remote sensing materials, as well as modern astronomical and geodetic instruments.
— Whose coordinate system underlies the functioning of GLONASS? When did the “first version” come out and, if there was one, what is the difference between the current system and its predecessors, as well as from existing foreign systems?
The task of geodetic support for GLONASS, entrusted to the General Staff VTU, at the first stage of deployment (1990) was solved by the development and implementation of a system of mutually agreed geodetic parameters of the Earth (PP), including the coordinates of points of the space geodetic network (CGN), fixing the general terrestrial geocentric coordinate system, a model of gravitational Earth's fields and parameters of the global ellipsoid.
The developed system “Earth Parameters of 1990” (PZ-90) underlies the functioning of GLONASS and is directly related to the operation of the second generation GEO-IK space geodetic complex (SGC). It was created by the research institute of the Russian Ministry of Defense and one of the topographic and geodetic military units of central subordination. Compared to the first generation KGC (“Earth Parameters 1977”), the accuracy of KGS points in the geocentric coordinate system has increased significantly.
The PZ-90.11 system was introduced by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 28, 2012 No. 1463. The geocentric system was given state status when solving navigation problems and problems of geodetic support for orbital calculations.
Analogues of the general terrestrial geodetic coordinate system PZ-90.11 are the World Geodetic Coordinate System WGS-84 (USA) and the International Terrestrial Reference System (ITRS), fixed by points of the International Terrestrial Network (ITRF), which implements a constantly updated coordinate system (taking into account the movements of continents, movements earth plates, etc.).
When establishing the global coordinate systems PZ-90.11, WGS-84 and ITRS, the same theoretical principles were used, and, by definition, these systems are analogues, but in practice there are small differences between them. The reason for this is the different composition and accuracy of the satellite measurement data used in their construction, methodological differences in the mathematical processing of satellite measurements and a number of other factors.
The peculiarity of our system is that it was obtained independently, autonomously, according to programs developed by our military scientists and practitioners, which is unique and requires all kinds of support, including government support. Processing navigation measurements using foreign programs (gipsi, gamit, epos, bernes) does not contribute to the development of domestic science, production and technology, but leads our country into technological and scientific dependence.
— Sergey Viktorovich, what scientific and practical goals do military topographers set for themselves today?
We have to solve very serious problems. Here are just a few of them:
- Firstly, theoretical justification and practical implementation of the integration of topographic and geodetic and navigation support into a unified system of geoinformation support for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation at various levels of military command;
- Secondly, clarification of the structure and information content of the Bank of digital cartographic information, astronomical-geodetic and gravimetric data of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, development of technology for automated conversion of analogue geodetic information into digital form, integrated representation, compression and problem-oriented processing of space and ground-based geodetic information necessary for troops;
- Thirdly, improvement and organization of industrial use of technologies for automated creation of digital models of terrain and the Earth’s gravitational field;
- fourthly, development of methods for clarifying gravimetric maps for the territory of Russia, foreign territories and the waters of the World Ocean;
- fifthly, determination of geodetic points at training grounds, airfields and special facilities of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, recalculation of coordinates from foreign systems into domestic geodetic coordinate systems, compilation and publication of a new map of quasi-geoid heights above the Krasovsky ellipsoid.
In addition, it is necessary to develop a hardware-software complex and photogrammetric technologies for creating a high-precision plan-elevation base of the terrain for the continental regions of the globe based on the information that is expected to be obtained using a new generation of domestic space cartographic complex, the development and implementation of a program for the creation and updating of topographic, special maps, city plans, electronic topographic maps for Russian and foreign territory.
It is necessary to create and agree at all levels of military command of a standard composition of digital cartographic information, further detailing the metadata components of digital cartographic information in automated network-centric control systems and GIS for military purposes.
We must complete the development, coordinate and approve industry guidelines for the unification of information digital cartographic production: a classifier of cartographic information of digital and electronic city plans, topographic, survey-geographical and aviation maps, rules for the digital description of cartographic information of digital and electronic maps; classifier of reference and technological parameters of digital and electronic maps.
For geographic information systems used in automated military systems, it is necessary to define and approve the standard composition and metadata of digital cartographic information.
At an automated workstation (built into the equipment) of an individual soldier, it is necessary to create a prototype of a local database of geospatial and operational-tactical data.
It is impossible not to mention the development of new breakthrough technologies in terms of processing images obtained using unmanned aerial vehicles and based on the results of multispectral and radar surveys, creating analog maps from electronic maps on an industrial scale, publishing topographic maps on synthetic high-strength material, creating high-precision digital terrain models to inaccessible continental areas of the globe, processing materials from laser and radio interferometric surveys, a neural network approach to deciphering aerospace materials from remote sensing of the Earth.
As for GLONASS, we will be engaged in methodological support in terms of the functioning of its orbital constellation for its intended purpose, clarifying the parameters of the domestic geocentric coordinate system, studying the military-technical possibilities of participating in projects for the creation and operation of foreign GNSS (GPS, Galileo), developing a competitive military navigation equipment of domestic production, providing reception of the GLONASS signal.
Our tasks also include the creation and maintenance of a radio navigation field for the border areas of Russia, the theoretical justification of a system of military navigation maps, which includes standardization of information content, format, means and methods of delivery to consumers and their acceptance for supply to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
In addition, development is underway:
— the regulatory framework and technology for obtaining navigation and cartographic data created by domestic manufacturers, and bringing them into compliance with the national standard for military navigation maps;
— the technical appearance of integrated navigation systems based on strapdown inertial navigation systems with micromechanical gyroscopes and equipment for consumers of global navigation satellite systems;
— the technical appearance of miniature navigation and geodetic means for defense purposes and the justification of the technologies for their operation, conducting exploratory research on the creation of mini-robots based on nanotechnology to collect additional navigation and geodetic information;
— interactive technologies for navigation and cartographic support using broadband data transmission channels and multimedia in the interests of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and other law enforcement agencies, combining consumer GLONASS equipment with sensors operating in the gravitational field.
I will add that the scientific and practical development of the Topographical Service should be accompanied by the improvement of its organizational and staffing structures, and the technical re-equipment of geodetic and cartographic production. Of course, our development is impossible without the achievement of the highest professionalism by personnel of military topographers and the most effective navigation and topographic training of troops and headquarters personnel.
MILITARY TOPOGRAPHIC SERVICE(VTS), a service in the armed forces intended for topographic and geodetic support of troops in peace and war. Available in most armies. Basic tasks of military-technical cooperation: creation of topography. and special maps, production of graphic documents containing the necessary information about the project and the area, and bringing them to headquarters and troops; development of geodetic and gravimetric networks and providing troops with initial topographic and geodetic materials. data; organizational and methodological topographical manual training troops, conducting scientific. research on topographic and geodetic issues. provision of troops; development and creation of new topographic and geodetic samples. technology; training officers, military technical personnel, as well as solving other problems aimed at increasing the efficiency of the use of weapons. struggle. Military-technical cooperation arose with the advent of mass armies, when for the organization and conduct of war. actions, as well as for command and control of troops, there was a need for plans and maps.
Already in cop. 18-beg. 19th century there was a need to prepare in advance topographical maps, which means the territories of probable military operations of troops, and to create stocks of such maps of various types. scale. In 1797, a Card Depot was created in Russia, which was renamed in 1812 to Military Toiogr. depot, which was engaged in the compilation and publication of maps for Russian. army and the development of descriptions for them. In 1822 a military corps was formed. topographers, who were entrusted with military topography. filming in peacetime and performing various tasks. topographic work in the interests of troops in the military. time.
In 1867, military technical cooperation bodies were created in some military units. districts, and in 1877 in the armies. In World War I, with the advent of new weapons. struggle (tanks, aviation) and the further development of art, and it was necessary to produce topographical grenades. linking battle formations, marking landmarks and support points in the location of the pr-ka and friendly troops, determining the coordinates of targets, and also preparing special equipment. topographic documents about the area and the enemy.
First operations rus. The army showed that the available topographic maps were significantly outdated and did not meet the requirements for them. Topographic reserves created in peacetime. cards were used up in the first months of the war. There was an urgent need for their production during the war, but there were not sufficient forces and means for this.
After the victory of the Great Oct. socialist revolution under Vseros. Ch. headquarters in May 1918, a military topographical department was organized. control. K con. 1918 2 military topographical groups were formed. departments - in Petrograd and Moscow. In March 1919, V.I. Lenin signed a decree on the organization of the Higher Geodesy, the department of scientific and technical sciences. department of the Supreme Council of the People.
Farms. This decree laid the foundations for the implementation of all topographic geodesics. and cartography work on unified national, scientifically based plans in the interests of the people. economy and defense of the country. During Grayed. military-technical cooperation received further development.
Organizationally, it was most fully formed towards the end. 1921. During the years of peaceful construction, organizational improvements continued. VTS structures, topographic and geodetic methods. provision.
During the Great Patriotic War, the military-technical cooperation successfully carried out topographic and geodetic tasks. ensuring Soviet combat operations. troops. 23 topographical units of the military-technical cooperation were awarded orders. The rich experience gained during the Great Patriotic War formed the basis for the further development of military-technical cooperation and increasing its combat readiness in the post-war period. The military-technical cooperation of the Soviet Armed Forces is equipped with advanced technology and is staffed with highly qualified personnel. personnel, which makes it possible to successfully carry out surveying. ensuring combat training and combat operations of troops (see To-pogsodetic support). Similar tasks are assigned to the military-technical cooperation and foreign affairs. armies.
So, in the tasks of topogeodesic. ground support US Army troops include: provision of troops with maps, provision of artillery and missiles, geodetic troops. data, production of intelligence. documents about the area (topographic maps, diagrams, descriptions, photographic documents). Topogeodesic support is considered as an integral part of engineering. support (intelligence engineer). Responsibility for topographic geodetic. support for the theater of operations in America. armed forces entrusted to the association. reconnaissance Directorate of the Committee of Chiefs of Staff, which includes cartography. management of the Ministry of Defense with the corresponding topographical gr. in parts. A. S. Nikolaev.,.
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- ROAD TRANSPORTATION SERVICE- MOTOR TRANSPORTATION SERVICE (military), one of the Soviet rear services. Armed Strength Plans, organizes and carries out military transportation of vehicles. transport in various rear links; supervises subordinates. in parts and...
- ALEXENKO Vladimir Avramovich- ALEXENKO Vladimir Avramovich (b. January 30, 1923, Kyiv village, Krasnodar Territory), twice Hero of the Soviet Union. Union (Air. 19 and June 29, 1945), lieutenant general of aviation (1968). Member CPSU since 1943. In the "Soviet Army since 19...
- ARMY CORPS- ARMY CORPS, combined arms operational-tact. land connection (union) permanent troops or time, composition in the armed forces. forces of a number of states; in the military time acts both as part of the army and on its own...
- "ARMY"- “ARMY”, an article by F. Engels, one of his first works for the “New American Encyclopedia”. Written in 1857. The article outlines the basics. provisions of the Marxist military. thoughts and military history. art, form...
- INVASING ARMY- INVASION ARMY (ist), part of the armed forces. forces of a country, prepared for a surprise attack on another country. The purpose of A.V. is to defeat the covering troops and part of the chapter in the shortest possible time. strength pr-ka; captured...
- ARTILLERY SUPPORT- ARTILLERY SUPPORT, 1) widespread, but not officially received. recognizing the name of artillery combat operations; 2) the original name of the 3rd period of the artillery offensive, the essence...
- BASE OPERATING- OPERATIONAL BASE (operational base), rear territory in the zone of active formations, equipped in military-economic. and operational and technical. relations to ensure the operations carried out by the troops...
- TROOPS BASED- BASING OF TROOPS, the use by operational formations (formations) of logistics support forces and means and the territory on which they are located to maintain constant combat readiness in the world...
- BODIN Pavel Ivanovich- BODIN Pavel Ivanovich, lieutenant general (1941). Member CPSU since 1940. 8 Sov. Army since 1919. Graduated from the Military. acad. them. M. V. Frunze (1935), Academic...
On February 8, the Russian Armed Forces celebrate the professional holiday of military topographers. Military Topographer's Day appeared in the calendar of modern military holidays with a historical reference to February 8 (January 27), 1812, when the Regulations for military topography were approved in the Russian Empire. Today, military personnel of the Topographical Service of the RF Armed Forces are tasked with topographic and geodetic support of modern military operations.
The full range of tasks that the General Staff sets for military topographers today is as follows:
creation, updating, accumulation of stocks of topographic maps, catalogs of geodetic and gravimetric points, bringing them to headquarters and troops;
production, accumulation and creation of funds of digital and electronic maps and other means of digital information about the area and providing them with automated command and control systems;
preparation of initial geodetic and gravimetric bases to support missile launches, aviation flights, artillery fire and combat use of radio engineering systems for various purposes;
production of special maps, photographic documents of the area and other means of topographic and geodetic information and provision of them to troops;
publication of graphic combat documents;
performing geodetic and cartographic works for federal purposes.
A high-quality solution to navigation support problems allows one to achieve effective results both when transferring troops to a combat area or conducting combat training exercises, and when delivering devastating strikes against a simulated or real enemy. For example, special maps and photographic documents of the area in Syria created back in Soviet times today allow the Russian Aerospace Forces to successfully cope with the tasks of destroying militants of various terrorist groups. Special assistance here is provided by military topographers of the Syrian armed forces, many of whom were trained in Soviet and Russian military universities. Syrian civilians, including members of the patriotic Syrian opposition, also contribute to the creation of detailed topographic maps and other elements of navigation support, whose task is also related to the elimination of terrorist groups that have taken deep roots on Syrian soil, actively supported by Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United States. States of America.
Russian military topographers today are actively working on creating geospatial materials, including using space geodesy units (such work is carried out using data coming from the Russian satellite constellation).
Within the framework of the Topographical Service of the RF Armed Forces, in addition to the main center of space geodesy, navigation and cartography, the main center of geospatial information, an expeditionary topographical geodetic detachment, military units of district and army subordination - units of the Topographical Service - have been formed.
For their work, military topographers use a whole range of technical means, thanks to which the accuracy of determining coordinates on the ground increases, the speed and overall efficiency of this type of activity increases. Among the technical support means is a complex of automated workstations ARM-EK, which allows you to create electronic maps and plans of settlements. In addition, the military personnel of the Topographic Service of the RF Armed Forces are helped to solve navigational and topographical geodetic tasks by the mobile digital topographic system “Volynets” and the software and hardware complex “Violit”.
In 2015, military personnel of the Eastern Military District conducted a number of exercises on determining coordinates, georeferencing, and creating electronic three-dimensional maps. Such activities were carried out at the training grounds of the Khabarovsk, Primorsky and Transbaikal territories, the Amur and Sakhalin regions, as well as the Jewish Autonomous Region. Using the mobile digital topographic system “Volynets”, the most important navigational materials were obtained - detailed three-dimensional maps of the area. The capabilities of the Volynets PCTS allow solving problems, including in the field. The complex is installed on the base of the Ural vehicle.
Gravimetric and astronomical-geodetic data can be obtained by the PNGK-1 complex (based on KamAZ), as well as the Geonika-T navigation and geodetic support system.
The introduction of modern technologies allows military topographers to deploy topographic and geodetic equipment within a short period of time, up to 10 minutes, and begin performing tasks, including the task of providing the operation of high-precision weapons with the necessary geospatial information.
"Military Review" congratulates military topographers of the RF Armed Forces and all service veterans on their professional holiday!
The Military Topographical Service of the Armed Forces (MTS AF) of the Russian Federation has a centuries-old history, rich in glorious events.
Peter's reforms at the beginning of the 18th century radically changed the organization of the Russian cartographic school. Maps began to be created on the basis of Western European geographic cartography. In Moscow, in 1701, the training of surveyors began at the Mathematics and Navigation School, who began instrumental surveying of Muscovy, and at the Civil Printing House, opened in 1705 in Moscow, they began printing maps and atlases according to European models. In post-Petrine times (1763), the General Staff (GS) was established, whose officers in peacetime carried out geodetic surveys of individual regions of the country, camps, routes and produced maps for the needs of the army.
The General Staff was engaged in these works from 1764 to 1797. In 1797, as part of His Imperial Majesty's Retinue (E.I.V.), a Map Depot was formed in the quartermaster section, which solved the problems of topographic and geodetic support for the entire Russian army. This depot had units responsible for the redeployment of troops and providing them with maps.
In 1812, the Map Depot was renamed the Military Topographical Depot - VTD (since 1816, the Military Topographical Depot).
Since 1822, the VTD led the Corps of Topographers (after 1866 - the Corps of Military Topographers - KVT) as part of the Retinue of E.I.V.
This corps was not distinguished by its large numbers - in different years, no more than 600 ranks served in it, including officers, who were distinguished from other army officers by a special uniform, which was recorded in the 22nd volume of the illustrated “Historical Description of Clothing and Armament of Russian Troops.” Between 1825 and 1848, numerous changes were introduced to the officer uniform. In 1826, officer trousers with high boots and leggings with stripes were replaced by long dark green trousers with light blue piping in the side seams; Officers of the Topographers Corps in the summer, when combat officers wear summer trousers with boots, are assigned the same summer trousers, dark green and of the same cut.
In 1827, gold forged stars were installed on officer epaulettes to distinguish ranks in the same form and order as in the other army infantry and cavalry troops described above.
In 1829, officers, while on filming outside the capitals, were ordered to wear half-uniform, that is, in a frock coat with epaulettes, without a sword and a cap. Topographers promoted from senior management to officers for their length of service are allowed to wear a silver lanyard.
1830 - topographers installed stripes only on chakchirs or dark green trousers, and on gray leggings, intended for marching time, to have only one edging.
1832 - officers are allowed to wear a mustache.
1835 - the commanders of the companies of topographers, instead of the general army uniform, were given a uniform similar to that assigned to the officers of the Topographers Corps, but without sewing and aiguillettes and with epaulette shoulder straps made of black cloth, not velvet. The buttons in the company of the Military Topographical Depot are set with a grenade on one fire, and in other companies - with the number assigned to the company, which is also common for the lower ranks.
The lower ranks were recruited mainly from cantonists of military orphan departments, but in order to become topographers they had to pass an exam in the following subjects: arithmetic, algebra up to 2nd degree equations, planimetry, penmanship and drawing plans. Their maintenance was four times cheaper than that of officers.
The training of topographical soldiers was carried out, for example, in the Chuguevsky Slobodsko-Ukrainian military settlement, where the headquarters of the Chuguevsky Uhlan Regiment was located. The watercolor “View of the Corps of Military Topographers in Chuguev” is kept in the gallery of the city of Chuguev.
This is how Ilya Efimovich Repin recalls the Corps of Military Topographers in Chuguev in his book “Distant Close”: “So, after much waiting and dreaming, I finally found myself in the most desirable place for training, where they paint with watercolors and draw in ink...
The large halls were filled with long, wide tables; on the tables, geographical maps, mainly of parts of the Ukrainian military settlement, were attached to large boards.
At the headquarters there was a lithographic workshop and a corps of military topographers (according to some sources, a school of topographers).
And what colors! Miracle, miracle! (The treasury furnished surveyors extensively and richly; everything was expensive, first-class, from London.) My eyes ran wild.
And on the huge table, my gaze suddenly fell on two soles of boots with spurs up. It was a topographer lying across the table, chest down, coloring the boundaries of a huge map. I didn't realize paper came in sizes like these cards. What I liked best was that many of the plates contained large slabs of Newtonian fresh paint. They seemed to be completely soft: they just floated onto the brush.
Afterwards I found out that in the corps of topographers, where I ended up, topographic students were seconded from different cavalry regiments; they wore the uniforms of their regiments... Soon, a group of ten cantonists walked past us from other rooms behind their teacher, also a topographer; Everyone has a written notebook in their hands. The teacher pointed out a place on the map with a stick, and they loudly shouted out the names of countries, rivers, mountains, cities, seas, bays, straits, etc.
I really liked these cantonists in military jackets and leggings... They answered their teacher’s questions so quickly and quickly pointed out places on the maps. Everything was studied quickly, loudly and cheerfully - both the complex German Union and the appanage system of Russian princes and principalities. I learned all this later, when I began to study right away...
After graduating from school, students became 1st class topographers, having served in the non-commissioned rank for at least 8 years; they were promoted to KVT officers after a strict examination.
For the most part, the KVT was not replenished by nobles, and when the question of admitting nobles to the Corps of Military Topographers was raised, the head of the office for the quartermaster section wrote: “A nobleman cannot remain a topographer for a long time, but should be in a noble regiment».
The goal was to keep topographers (i.e., soldiers) on the survey for as long as possible in order to develop them into fully experienced surveyors.
Indeed, topographers from the cantonists, remaining on surveys from 8 to 12 years, acquired such experience before their promotion to officers that they successfully carried out the work.
In 1857, military settlements were abolished, and therefore the corps of military topographers in Chuguev ceased to exist.
But the history of the Russian Corps of Military Topographers did not end there. The building existed for more than a century. During this time, his officers carried out numerous topographical surveys and geodetic surveys in different parts of the country in peacetime, and in wartime, reconnaissance and surveys of the terrain in combat areas. Military topographers did not shine in the capital's parades with gold aiguillettes. In forests, swamps, deserts and mountains, they honestly and conscientiously painted images of streams and ravines, tracts and gorges, remote villages and farmsteads onto clean film tablets. Emperor Nicholas II helped them in this, to the best of his royal capabilities.
After 1863, the Military Topographical Depot consistently changed its names and was partially transformed, and in 1912 new models of uniforms for military topographers were introduced.
At first it was the Military Topographical Unit of the Main Directorate (GU) of the General Staff, then the Military Topographical Department (VTO) of the General Staff (transformed into the Main Staff - GS), the Military Topographical Directorate (VTU) and again to the WTO.
The head of the VTU (VTO) was at the same time the head of the KVT and enjoyed the rights of the head of the division.
This body of the central military administration exercised control functions regarding the publication of maps in Imperial Russia, and also supervised the implementation of geodetic, topographical and cartographic work carried out in the interests of the Armed Forces and the Russian state, until 1918. The historical essays of the KVT describe in detail many of the achievements of military topographers.
Significant milestones illustrating the history of the activities of military topographers before 1918 were:
- transformation of the Map Depot into the Military Topographic Depot in January-February 1812;
- formation of the Corps of Topographers in February 1822;
- large Baltic chronometric expedition of 1833;
- transition to the verst scale series of maps;
- the creation in 1854 of a geodetic department at the Academy of the General Staff;
- compilation of a “catalog of trigonometric and astronomical items”;
- reform of topographic and geodetic units and governing bodies of 1863–1877;
- topographic and geodetic support (TGS) of the Danube army during the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878;
- mapping Manchuria and the Caucasus;
- development and leveling of new triangulation polygons since 1906;
- creation of a new two-color topographic map;
- increasing the map publishing capacity of KVT;
- topographic and geodetic support of troops during the First World War (1914–1917).
In 1918, the VTO was again renamed the VTU of the All-Russian General Staff, and in 1919 it became the Directorate of the KVT and after some time was transformed into the Military Topographical Service (VTS).
- Directorate of the Corps of Military Topographers (UKVT) of the Headquarters of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA):
- VTU of the main directorate of the Red Army (7th directorate);
- Office of Military Topographers;
- 7th department of military-technical cooperation of the Red Army Headquarters;
- WTO of the Red Army Headquarters;
- Department of the Military Topographic Service (MTS) of the Red Army Headquarters;
- MTC Management;
- VTU GSh KA (Red Army);
- VTU GSh SA (Soviet Army);
- VTU General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
After the Civil War, military topographers had to make the transition to the metric system of measures and organize aerial photography of the area to solve numerous topographic problems, carry out work on the technical and technical support of troops who took part in military conflicts on the borders with China and Finland, and carry out topographic development of territories on the western borders of the USSR. The training of new personnel for military-technical cooperation continued. In topographical schools, cadets published magazines.
Heavy trials befell the military-technical cooperation at the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War. In 1941, this service lost 148 officers, 1,127 sergeants and soldiers. The geodetic team consisted of a small group of soldiers (6–7 people) led by a corporal. The head of the team was a surveyor with the rank of sergeant to senior lieutenant, who graduated from a special school or college. The teams had at their disposal a 30-second theodolite, metal measuring tapes, topographic maps, catalogs of coordinates of points of the state geodetic network (GGS), an adding machine, office abacus, ten-digit tables of logarithms of trigonometric functions (“Peters tables”), construction tools (saws, axes , shovels), a medical bag with medicines, food, a steam-horse cart and fodder for horses. The soldiers had rifles, the corporal had a PPSh machine gun with a supply of ammunition. The team leader had a revolver of the “revolver” system and a couple of grenades, as well as a certificate for the right to perform special work in the relevant area. In 1943, military surveyors' uniforms changed.
The initial geodetic basis on the territory of our country was the coordinates of the centers of points of the GGS network, which at that time was quite rare. On the territory of Poland, the coordinates of the centers of points determined at one time by the Corps of Military Topographers of the Russian Army were used. In Germany, the coordinates were determined based on the results of mathematical processing of the coordinates of several contour points measured on the map, and the reference directions were calculated from astronomical observations using tables of coordinates of bright stars compiled by A. M. Petrov, who during the war commanded the 75th Geodetic Detachment (GO) .
During the heavy battles for Stalingrad, a military topographer of the 2nd Guards Army of the Guard, senior technician-lieutenant Sergei Aleksandrovich Salyaev, took part in its defense.
For his service in the Red Army, he was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree and the Red Star, medals “For Courage”, “For Military Merit”, “For the Defense of Stalingrad” and “For the Capture of Koenigsberg”. At the end of the war, S. A. Salyaev continued to serve at the Research Institute of Military-Technical Cooperation (now the Scientific Research Center for Topographic Geodetic and Navigation Support - SRC TGNO 27 Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense of Russia), and then worked as the head of the department of the Central Order of the Badge of Honor at the Research Institute of Geodesy and Aerial Photography and cartography named after F.N. Krasovsky.
After 1945, military topographers participated in mapping the regions of the Far North, Far East and Pamir, developed space technologies in relation to solving topographic problems, conducted astronomical and geodetic surveys on the Antarctic continent, created domestic systems of electronic and digital maps, developed topographic and geodetic equipment and took part in creation of the global navigation system GLONASS.
Meanwhile, it should be noted that the difficult 1990s were marked by numerous problems for military topographers. Reductions in funding for the Armed Forces, low salaries, and the state’s inattention to the basic needs of military specialists—military topographers also had to go through all this. Many of them were forced, due to circumstances, to go “to civilian life” and, it must be said, having a good practical education and extensive experience, as well as “bright heads,” they found a great job in civilian companies.
After all, the need for highly qualified specialists in the field of topographic geodesy is also felt in the most important sectors of the Russian economy. At the same time, many officers of “Soviet training” remained in military service and made a huge contribution to the development of military topography in post-Soviet Russia.
In connection with the demise of the USSR in 1991, the Military Topographic Service of the Armed Forces of Russia was formed, which in the following 1992 was transformed into the Topographic Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
In modern conditions, old paper maps have long been replaced by electronic ones, which are much more convenient to use. Military topographers are equipped with the latest mobile geodetic systems that record the smallest changes in the terrain while moving along the route. At the same time, the army is not completely abandoning paper maps - after all, technology is technology, and in the event of its failure or interruptions, the old, proven, grandfather’s map can come to the rescue.
An experimental Center for Geospatial Information and Navigation has been created in the Southern Military District. The technical equipment of the Center makes it possible to carry out the tasks assigned to military topographers both directly at the place of permanent deployment and in the field, moving to the area if necessary.
When providing reliable, accurate and promptly received geospatial information to automatic troop control systems, high-precision weapon systems, headquarters and commanders of army units, military topographers of the military-technical cooperation use the latest developments in the field of digital and IT technologies, the GLONASS global navigation satellite system, mobile navigation and topographic complexes .
In general, the activities of military topographers in peacetime are of slightly reduced importance compared to times of war. Of course, employees always have jobs and tasks that they are required to perform at any time, but the fact is that the work of military surveyors during a war can be key to victory not only in local battles, but in general. History knows how many situations where knowledge of the area, as well as information about the presence of such knowledge on the enemy, can save the lives of millions of people. Therefore, the profession of a military topographer has always been held in high esteem since its official appearance in the Armed Forces, first of the Russian Empire, and then of modern Russia.
