All the boys in the country dream of being conscripted into the Airborne Forces. Blue berets are attractive due to their fighting spirit, sense of camaraderie, beautiful uniform, from under which a blue vest peeks out. Everyone already knows...
All the boys in the country dream of being conscripted into the Airborne Forces. Blue berets are attractive due to their fighting spirit, sense of camaraderie, beautiful uniform, from under which a blue vest peeks out.
Everyone has known for a long time that a fighter receives a vest after his first parachute jump. The romance of the sky is captivating. And the slogan they carry through life? "Nobody but us"! And bright holidays celebrated on August 2.
Annual swimming in all reservoirs of the country and complete disregard for all conventions. I wish I could bring all the Airborne Forces guys together on August 2nd. They would tear up everyone who decided to encroach on the country.
Uncle Vasya's troops passed through Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Chechnya and a number of other countries, which we will learn about 30 years later. The North Caucasus is a special zone for our paratroopers.
It's hard to imagine a paratrooper who doesn't jump with a parachute. Everyone jumps: cooks, nurses, generals and warrant officers. But Grigory Mazilkin managed to become a paratrooper without ever jumping with a parachute.
He served as a conscript in the internal troops and returned to serve in private security. Everything went as it usually does for a guy returning from military service.
And then an acquaintance encouraged me, as they say, to go serve under a contract in the Pskov division. After passing the interview, he became a paratrooper. For some reason, he wrote in the contract that he refused to jump with a parachute.
Photo: emergency service, Sverdlovsk region, G. Mazilkin on the right
Probably there weren't enough fighters. And the personnel officer told him that there were enough people willing to jump without him. The personnel officer must have been impressed by his track record. He was hired. And in mid-December the First Chechen Company began to operate.
On January 10, Grigory, as part of the combined battalion, flew to Chechnya. He was appointed head of the clothing warehouse. Dust-free work, safe. Someone refused to go. They were fired immediately.
Illustration: contract clauses for military personnel leaving for the Chechen Republic
While the Minister of Defense was talking on television about the successes, we were badly beaten there. At the Terek stadium, Grigory saw the first killed. On January 19, they took part in the capture of Dudayev’s palace.
Baptism - two in one. He worked in the clothing warehouse, as prescribed. Providing uniforms, ammunition, water (it was attributed, in importance, to ammunition). Once you find yourself in the meat grinder of war, it is impossible to get out without a fight.
We needed water. Several cars drove to the reservoir under the protection of the BMD. As soon as we sat down to drink one hundred grams from the front, a soldier rushed over. There are people on the horizon, about thirty of them. The militants left Grozny.
Photo: upon returning from Chechnya at the Chkalovsky airfield, August 21, 1996. (G. Mazilkin in the bottom row, far left - with a beard)
The battle lasted for forty minutes. All this time, water was pumping from the reservoir, immediately becoming the price of human life. The militants fired grenade launchers while hiding in the industrial zone. But their own people were already coming to help. We managed to escape without casualties that day.
The award, the medal “For Courage,” reminds me of that battle. The certificate was signed by Boris Yeltsin. Returning from the war, he left the army. I wanted to be closer to home. But civilian life was strange.
Photo: at the Foundation for Support of Heroes of the USSR and the Russian Federation with the President of the Foundation Vyacheslav Sivko, Hero of Russia
Arguments about books, trips to the store. Ordinary. Somewhere far away there are explosions, hunger, blood, death. The paratrooper did not fit into civilian life. And he left again for Chechnya.
The motorized rifle brigade guarded the checkpoints. Active fighting began in April. Bamut, Goyskoye, Sernovodsk were liberated. And suddenly everything froze. Preparations for the presidential elections have begun.
The militants also became silent. The unit descended from the mountains and went to the city of Grozny. It was assumed that they would provide assistance to surrounded units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and troops who had been fighting for two days.
Minutka Square has already become a household name. And the main battles took place there. It was there that we needed to gain a foothold. The order was not fulfilled. They were able to gain a foothold at the Dynamo stadium. In two hours of battle, a third of the battalion was killed.
Continuing to fight was like accepting a meaningless death. Fierce resistance was everywhere. Here General Lebed began negotiations for peace.
He took part in the evacuation of RTR journalists. This matter is very complicated. They manage to fit in everywhere. Try tracking them down. For saving a group of civilians, he was presented with another award.
As often happens during times of complete confusion, all documents were thrown into the trash. It was no longer possible to find them. No one bothered to restore it. And the command changed again. This happens quite often in combat situations.
He doesn't like to talk about a lost war. And who loves? But a bad peace is better than a good quarrel. I spent almost a year in the North Caucasus with interruptions. There are also other awards. They warm the heart.
He lives in small, provincial Torzhok. A well-tailored and tightly sewn Russian peasant. Adult sons and two sweet daughters. Member of the public organization "Combat Brotherhood".
The Heroes Support Fund in Moscow is headed by a personal friend and commander with whom we went through the war - Sivko Vyacheslav. They meet when Grigory is in Moscow. Having served together in the Airborne Forces, they still hold high the motto of the paratroopers “Nobody but us”!
photo from the personal archive of G. Mazilkin and the Internet
Skydiving is popular in the modern world. Some people engage in this sport professionally, for others, skydiving is a way to tickle their nerves and get a dose of adrenaline. Has anyone ever wondered how many lines a parachute has?
What is a parachute?
The parachute is an ingenious and simple invention by an engineer from St. Petersburg, Gleb Evgenievich Kotelnikov. He was the first to create a backpack device and received a patent for his invention in nineteen hundred and twelve.
A parachute is a hemisphere made of fabric, to which a load or suspension system is attached using straps. It is designed to slow down and soften a fall from a height. Used for the safe landing of a person or cargo, it has several varieties.
How many lines do parachutes have?
This is certainly a very interesting question. There are several types of parachutes, all of them with different numbers of lines. There is a main parachute and a reserve, landing, army and cargo. There are main and additional slings, they are all made from high-quality durable fiber and can withstand a load (each) of up to two hundred kilograms. To answer the question of how many lines a parachute has, you need to consider each instance separately.
Army parachute
The armed forces have been using parachutes of the same series for many years. From the sixties to the present day these are D-5 and D-6 parachutes. They differ in size, weight and number of lines.
How many lines does the D-5 army parachute have? There are twenty-eight of them, nine meters each. The parachute itself is dome-shaped and cannot be controlled. Land with it however and wherever you are lucky. This is the only but serious minus of this series.
Next, the D-6 parachute was released. It has thirty lines. Twenty-eight are normal, and two are designed for dome control. They are located in the side slits of the parachute. If you pull these lines, you can turn and rotate the canopy in the desired direction. This is a very useful quality if the landing does not take place at a training ground, but in mountainous conditions, forests or in a place where there are bodies of water.
Paratrooper's parachute
In order for paratroopers to feel calm during a jump, they are provided with D-10 series parachutes. This is an improved version of the D-6. It has the shape of a squash, the dome size is one hundred square meters! Even a novice skydiver can easily control this parachute. The ease of control depends on how many lines are in the landing parachute: the more lines there are, the easier it is to control.
The D-10 has twenty-six main lines: twenty-two four-meter lines and two seven-meter lines attached to loops in the canopy slits. There are also twenty-two additional slings located on the outside, their length is three meters, made of durable ShKP-150 cord.
There are also twenty-four additional internal lines. They are attached to additional slings. Two additional ones are attached to the second and fourteenth at once. This is the answer to the question of how many lines are in an airborne parachute. The D-10 is considered one of the safest parachutes in history.
Why do you need a reserve parachute?
The parachutist must have a reserve parachute when jumping. It is designed for emergency deployment when the main one does not open or if it is twisted. In such a situation, it doesn’t matter whether the canopy is controlled or not, or how many lines the parachutes have - none of the additional ones will help. Of course, an experienced skydiver will try to straighten the main one first, which will waste additional time. If it was not possible to straighten, then a reserve parachute will save the situation. It opens quickly and easily.
To learn how to use a spare tire, you don’t need to go through a lot of training; even a child can handle this task.
How many lines does a reserve parachute have? Typically, such parachutes are the same for all major types. These are series 3 and 4. The spare lines are arranged in four groups. Each has six lines. The total is twenty-four. Of course, a reserve parachute is not designed for control; its main task is to quickly open and save a person’s life.
What do you need to know when making a parachute jump for the first time?
If you are not a member and a parachute jump is just a dream, and not a military duty, then you should start by taking training courses. Even if you decide to jump in tandem with an instructor, training is necessary in order not to harm either yourself or the instructor. He’s already scared to jump with a person, and even be responsible for someone’s life. Such courses cost from three thousand rubles - it depends on the company providing these services.
Before going to the club, make sure to obtain a medical certificate: a heart attack during a jump is a serious and dangerous thing. And it can happen, because when you jump into the abyss, so much adrenaline splashes out that it will last for a year. And the fear of jumping can also lead to sad consequences if your heart is naughty. The pressure should also be the same as when joining the space forces. If you are overweight, then you should also consult a doctor whether you should jump or not.
If you are under eighteen years of age, written permission from your parents to jump will be useful. Don’t forget to warn them what you are going to do; the instructor will not allow you within a kilometer of the parachute without their written consent. People with mental disorders, after recent operations, with diseases of the musculoskeletal system, or with respiratory diseases are not allowed to jump.
If your weight is more than one hundred and twenty kilograms, then you will be denied a tandem jump. Weight less than forty-five kilograms is a contraindication for a single jump. Pregnant women are also not allowed. First, calmly carry the child out, do not hide your position from the instructor in order to make the jump.
Skydiving is a dream for many. Do not drink alcohol before it under any circumstances. It is clear that the joy is off the charts, but it is better to celebrate this event after the fact, especially since you will not be allowed to jump with the smell of alcohol. And if you decide to drink so as not to be scared, then it is better to abstain from this idea altogether. And good luck to everyone who passed the medical examination!
German parachute troops were used in the Second World War to solve independent operational tasks and tactical tasks within the framework of the operations of larger ground army formations. Operation Freudenthal. which was planned to be carried out during the Sudetenland crisis, was that German paratroopers were to “open” the Czechoslovak fortification line from the rear. It was conceived as a completely independent operation. It was followed by other independent operations of riflemen-paratroopers: the only partially successful capture of “Fortress Holland” in May 1940, the capture of the island of Crete in May 1941 - the largest and truly independently carried out airborne operation, as well as a number of smaller operations carried out in eastern Mediterranean in the fall of 1943, after Italy broke its alliance with Germany. The landing of German paratroopers in Northern Ireland in the late autumn of 1940, planned as a major diversionary maneuver, as well as the unrealized plan to capture the island of Malta in the summer of 1942, were supposed to be independent operations of parachute troops. The army, navy and aviation units assigned to interact with parachute landings were supposed to carry out tactical tasks as part of the operations of the parachute troops.
All the largest of these airborne operations were based on almost the same idea: first attack in several places from the air and create several strong points in order to break into the enemy’s defense system from the inside, preventing him from concentrating his forces on any one area and cut off communications necessary for defense; then select one of the created strongholds, concentrate all existing and newly arriving forces on it, so that they then spread out, like an inkblot, until the main stronghold merges with the others and absorbs them. This tactic - I would call it the "inkblot tactic" - was preferred by the Germans in all airborne operations, as opposed to the "carpet" tactics used by the Allies, which consisted in the fact that paratroopers were scattered evenly on the terrain to be captured from the very beginning. The “ink spot” tactic paid off both in Holland and in Crete.
Along with the use of German parachute troops to solve operational problems, the German high command during the war increasingly began to assign tactical tasks to paratroopers as part of the combat operations of large front-line formations. At the same time, parachute troops were used for the most part as forward detachments or as rearguards, that is, to some extent they were likened to modernized cavalry. The actions of parachute troops in Norway - in the Dombos area and at Oslo airfield in April 1940 - and the attack by an engineer platoon of parachute troops on Fort Eben-Emael, the capture and provision of crossings across the Albert Canal and the capture of crossings across the Lower Rhine on May 10, 1940 can be considered as actions parachute troops in the role of advanced detachments. When attacking Alexandria, Rommel also initially planned to use four battle groups of Ramke's brigade as a vanguard to surprise and destroy the British anti-tank barriers. The planned use of one of the parachute force formations to suddenly capture the oil region northwest of Baku before the retreating enemy destroyed it also placed the parachute troops in the role of an advance detachment. Finally, Kampfgruppe von Heydte, dropped during the last major German paratroop action in December 1944 in the Eifel mountain region to secure the northern flank of the attackers and to capture mountain passes and roads, was also the vanguard.
It goes without saying that in a major airborne operation, a small number of parachute riflemen, dropped by parachute or landing on gliders, perform the tasks of the vanguard. For example, during the fighting in Crete, companies of the assault regiment landed in the area of Malemes and eastern Kania on cargo gliders before the paratroopers; when planning the operation to capture the island of Malta, the above-mentioned battalion was supposed to, using diving cargo gliders, disable the anti-aircraft artillery of the island. Much less often it was planned to use parachute and parachute-glider landings as a rearguard. Thus, in August 1943, units of the 2nd Parachute Division landed in Sicily on the western and southern slopes of Etna with the task of establishing a cut-off position between the retreating and partially defeated Italian troops and the enemy units pursuing them and ensuring the creation of a powerful bridgehead near the Strait of Messina even before , when the troops were evacuated from Sicily, were a kind of rearguard. The use of paratroopers in the role of a rearguard is to some extent approached by another type of their combat use. In soldier's jargon it is called "firefighting." It consists of throwing parachutist riflemen into the gap that has arisen in order to restore a continuous front line. No matter how great the number of cases when paratroopers replaced infantry units, I do not know of a single example when such “firefighting” was carried out from the air by parachute and parachute-glider landings. True, once the high command planned a similar enterprise (to establish contact with the encircled German group in the Kholm area in the spring of 1942), but it was not carried out.
If one follows the progress of the major German airborne operations and the few cases of tactical use of parachute troops, one inevitably gets the impression that the German High Command did not know how to use parachute troops in accordance with their characteristics. It hesitantly and reluctantly accepted proposals that came from representatives of the parachute troops themselves, and in particular from General Student. All this led to the fact that such a valuable unit for the army, which consisted entirely of selected volunteer soldiers and had excellent equipment, weapons and expensive equipment, turned into an ordinary infantry unit.
The actions of the German parachute and parachute-glider landings indicate that the command's fear of large landing losses was completely unfounded. True, the losses of parachute troops in such operations were undoubtedly heavy, since the actions of any large landing force represented a fierce, difficult struggle. However, the use of a parachute landing always gives the command the opportunity to achieve an operational or tactical goal with the expenditure of much less force than in a ground operation of ground forces, where much larger forces must be used to achieve a similar goal. Even if we assume that the goals set for the parachute landings in Holland (1940) and Crete (1941) could have been achieved without the use of airborne assaults, only through the actions of ground forces, then this would have taken much more time and much more forces, while the absolute numbers of losses would, of course, be no less. In any case, the use of paratrooper shooters always justifies itself, but for this, parachute troops must be brought into battle in the direction of the main attack. They should not be used dispersedly and perform various secondary tactical tasks. It is very doubtful whether the command of the 6th Panzer Army “SO” observed this principle during the last landing of German parachute troops in December 1944.
When performing tactical missions, a separate group of paratroopers must be given greater freedom of action. Nowhere is a stamp and stencil more harmful than when attacking from the air, be it a jump or actions from a glider. Despite this, we must admit that during the Second World War, German paratroopers and glider landings used three main types of air attack: drop or landing directly on an object, drop or landing near an object, and drop or landing away from an object.
Direct release onto an object is possible only if the object is small in size. In this case, this form of attack is even necessary. A typical example of this is the landing on Fort Eben-Emael on May 10, 1940. The fort was captured only by landing directly on the site. In the same way, when planning the operation to capture the island of Malta, it was envisaged to land troops from diving gliders directly at the anti-aircraft artillery positions. Rommel also thought about landing troops on anti-tank barriers when he wanted to carry out an attack on Alexandria. The first English parachute landing, dropped in February 1942 north of Le Havre, was also a drop on the site. His task was to eliminate the German Wurzburg radar installation and remove from it the parts necessary for the British. The bridgehead can be captured from the air only if the landing is carried out directly on the bridge, as was done, for example, by German paratroopers in 1940 on the Lower Rhine and in 1941 on the Isthmus of Corinth. The British ignoring this basic rule of parachute tactics at Arnhem in September 1944 cost them the loss of one of their best parachute divisions. Capturing a bridge requires unloading or landing on both bridgeheads, and this is an indisputable rule.
A typical case of a drop or landing near an object may be the capture of an airfield. Landing directly on an object using gliders or parachutes would cause completely unnecessary losses here, in open terrain.
Dropping or landing away from an objective lacks the advantage of a surprise air attack directly on or near an objective. If a drop or landing directly on or near an objective can be compared to an attack on the move, then a landing away from an objective is essentially taking the starting position for an attack. In this case, after occupying the starting position, the landing force begins an attack, guided by the general principles of infantry operations. An example of such a landing away from the objective is the actions of the 3rd Parachute Rifle Regiment in Crete. This regiment had the task of capturing the capital of the island - the city of Cania. To complete the task, the regiment parachuted onto the Kania - Alikianu road, approximately 3 km southwest of the outskirts of Kania. Then, from the landing area cleared of the enemy, the regiment began to systematically develop an offensive in the northeast direction, towards the main city of the island.
The commander of a separate parachute unit will decide to drop troops far from the target only if the target has a large extent (area) and the enemy’s situation is completely unclear. As part of a major landing operation, the command of the parachute troops will use a separate unit under certain circumstances, far from the objective, also because, if necessary, its task can be changed by ordering it to participate in ground combat in other areas. In the example above, the 3rd Parachute Regiment had all of the above prerequisites.
It would be a mistake to assume that at the moment when paratroopers find themselves on the ground - be it when landing directly on an object, next to it or far from it - the actions of the paratrooper-gunner lose their specific characteristics, and everything that happens afterwards , takes on the character of an ordinary infantry battle, conducted according to old, proven rules. Even after unloading or disembarking, the combat of paratroopers retains its special features. Combat under landing conditions, in contrast to combat in normal infantry units, is characterized mainly by three points: the need to defend from all sides, that is, to conduct an all-round defense; the lack of close-in reconnaissance and reconnaissance in force prior to the battle and, not least, the lack of artillery. The old truth that the essence of an offensive lies in the harmonious interaction of fire and movement loses its meaning in the conditions of an airborne assault. In this case, the fire recedes into the background, making way for movement. Its overwhelming and paralyzing effect is not as effective as the stunning surprise, deliberate order and overturning force of movement that characterize the airborne attack. After landing, the commander of the parachute regiment is no longer the conductor of a large “fire orchestra”, but to a certain extent an “ammunition conservation commissioner” who seeks to compensate for insufficient firepower with skillful and unexpected fire maneuvers of his heavy weapons. Where this art of fire maneuver was replaced by bombing and strafing from aircraft, for example on the island of Crete and in South Holland (September 1944), instead of a clear, complementary and successful interaction of fire and movement, only clumsy and rather useless “assistance” was obtained. "
During the last landing of German paratroopers in the Eifel mountain region in December 1944, the battle group included forward observers - long-range artillery divisions (batteries) and an artillery communications team, who controlled fire from deep behind enemy lines. The results of their actions showed that such use of observers is fully justified.
Airborne troops are required to undergo jump training even at the training stage. Then the skills of parachute jumping are used during combat operations or demonstration performances. Jumping has special rules: requirements for parachutes, aircraft used, and training of soldiers. The landing party needs to know all these requirements for a safe flight and landing.
A paratrooper cannot jump without training. Training is a mandatory stage before the start of real airborne jumps; during it, theoretical training and jumping practice take place. All the information that is told to future paratroopers during training is given below.
Aircraft for transportation and landing
What planes do paratroopers jump from? The Russian army currently uses several aircraft to airdrop troops. The main one is IL-76, but other flying machines are also used:
- AN-12;
- MI6;
- MI-8.
The IL-76 remains preferred because it is most conveniently equipped for landing, has a spacious luggage compartment and maintains pressure well even at high altitudes if the landing party needs to jump there. Its body is sealed, but in case of emergency, the compartment for paratroopers is equipped with individual oxygen masks. This way, every skydiver will not experience a lack of oxygen during the flight.
The plane reaches speeds of approximately 300 km per hour, and this is the optimal indicator for landing in military conditions.
Jump height
From what height do paratroopers usually jump with a parachute? The height of the jump depends on the type of parachute and the aircraft used for landing. The recommended optimal landing altitude is 800-1000 meters above the ground. This indicator is convenient in combat conditions, since at this altitude the aircraft is less exposed to fire. At the same time, the air is not too thin for the paratrooper to land.
From what height do paratroopers usually jump in non-training situations? The deployment of the D-5 or D-6 parachute when landing from an IL-76 occurs at an altitude of 600 meters. The usual distance required for full deployment is 200 meters. That is, if the landing begins at a height of 1200, then the deployment will occur at around 1000. The maximum permissible during landing is 2000 meters.
More advanced models of parachutes allow you to start landing from a level of several thousand meters. Thus, the modern D-10 model allows landing at a maximum altitude of no more than 4000 m above the ground. In this case, the minimum permissible level for deployment is 200. It is recommended to start deployment earlier to reduce the likelihood of injury and a hard landing.
Types of parachutes
Since the 1990s, Russia has used two main types of landing parachutes: D-5 and D-6. The first is the simplest and does not allow you to adjust the landing location. How many lines does a paratrooper's parachute have? Depends on the model. The sling in D-5 is 28, the ends are fixed, which is why it is impossible to adjust the direction of flight. The length of the slings is 9 meters. The weight of one set is about 15 kg.
A more advanced model of the D-5 is the D-6 paratrooper's parachute. In it, the ends of the lines can be released and the threads can be pulled, adjusting the direction of flight. To turn left, you need to pull the lines on the left, to maneuver to the right side, pull the thread on the right. The area of the parachute dome is the same as that of the D-5 (83 square meters). The weight of the kit is reduced - only 11 kilograms, it is most convenient for paratroopers still in training, but already trained. During training, about 5 jumps are made (with express courses), D-6 is recommended to be issued after the first or second. There are 30 rafters in the set, four of which allow you to control the parachute.
D-10 kits have been developed for complete beginners; this is an updated version, which only recently became available to the army. There are more rafters here: 26 main and 24 additional. Of the 26 stops, 4 allow you to control the system, their length is 7 meters, and the remaining 22 are 4 meters. It turns out that there are only 22 external additional lines and 24 internal additional ones. Such a number of cords (all of them are made of nylon) allow maximum flight control and course correction during disembarkation. The dome area of D-10 is as much as 100 square meters. At the same time, the dome is made in the shape of a squash, a convenient green color without a pattern, so that after the landing of the paratrooper it would be more difficult to detect.
Rules for deplaning
The paratroopers disembark from the cabin in a certain order. In IL-76 this happens in several threads. For disembarkation there are two side doors and a ramp. During training activities, they prefer to use exclusively side doors. Disembarkation can be carried out:
- in one stream of two doors (with a minimum of personnel);
- in two streams from two doors (with an average number of paratroopers);
- three or four streams of two doors (for large-scale training activities);
- in two streams both from the ramp and from the doors (during combat operations).
The distribution into streams is done so that the jumpers do not collide with each other when landing and cannot get caught. There is a small delay between threads, usually several tens of seconds.
Mechanism of flight and parachute deployment
After landing, the paratrooper must calculate 5 seconds. It cannot be considered a standard method: “1, 2, 3...”. It will turn out too quickly, the real 5 seconds will not pass yet. It’s better to count like this: “121, 122...”. Nowadays the most commonly used counting is starting from 500: “501, 502, 503...”.
Immediately after the jump, the stabilizing parachute automatically opens (the stages of its deployment can be seen in the video). This is a small dome that prevents the paratrooper from spinning while falling. Stabilization prevents flips in the air, in which a person begins to fly upside down (this position does not allow the parachute to open).
After five seconds, stabilization is completely removed, and the main dome must be activated. This is done either using a ring or automatically. A good paratrooper must be able to adjust the opening of the parachute himself, which is why trained students are given kits with a ring. After activating the ring, the main dome opens completely within 200 meters of fall. The duties of a trained paratrooper paratrooper include camouflage after landing.
Safety rules: how to protect troops from injury
Parachutes require special treatment and care to ensure that jumps using them are as safe as possible. Immediately after use, the parachute must be folded correctly, otherwise its service life will be sharply reduced. An incorrectly folded parachute may not function during landing, resulting in death.
- Before landing, check the stabilization parachute;
- check other equipment;
- remember all the disembarkation rules, calm down by using an oxygen mask;
- don’t forget about the five second rule;
- ensure uniform landing of troops in several streams to reduce the risk of collisions.
It is imperative to take into account the weight of the jumper. All parachute models can withstand no more than 150 kg. Moreover, when jumping with a weight of up to 140, they can be used 80 times, but if the load is 150, then only 10, after which the parachute goes to waste. The weight must be calculated from the sum of the paratrooper itself and the weight of the kit. The new D-10 weighs 15 kg, like the D-5, but the D-6 weighs 11 kg.
Units similar to the Russian airborne troops exist in many countries around the world. But they are called differently: air infantry, winged infantry, airmobile troops, highly mobile airborne troops and even commandos.
At the beginning of 1936, the British leadership was shown a documentary film about the world's first airborne assault created in the USSR. Following the viewing, General Alfred Knox casually remarked on the sidelines of parliament: “I have always been convinced that the Russians are a nation of dreamers.” In vain, already during the Great Patriotic War, Russian paratroopers proved that they were capable of the impossible.
Moscow is in danger. Parachutes - not needed
From the first days of its existence, Soviet airborne troops were used to carry out the most complex military operations. However, the feat they accomplished in the winter of 1941 can hardly be called anything other than science fiction.
During the most dramatic days of the Great Patriotic War, a pilot of the Soviet Army, making a reconnaissance flight, unexpectedly and with horror discovered a column of fascist armored vehicles moving towards Moscow, with no Soviet troops on its way. Moscow was naked. There was no time left to think. The High Command ordered to stop the fascists rapidly advancing towards the capital with airborne troops. In this case, it was assumed that they would have to jump from planes flying at low level, without parachutes, into the snow and immediately engage in battle. When the command announced the conditions of the operation to the airborne company of Siberians, emphasizing that participation in it was not an order, but a request, no one refused.
It is not difficult to imagine the feelings of the Wehrmacht soldiers when the wedges of Soviet aircraft appeared in front of them, flying at an extremely low altitude. When tall heroes without parachutes fell from the air vehicles into the snow, the Germans were completely seized by panic. The first planes were followed by the next. There was no end in sight for them. This episode is most vividly described in the book by Yu.V. Sergeev "Prince's Island". The battle was fierce. Both sides suffered heavy losses. But as soon as the Germans, significantly superior in numbers and weapons, began to gain the upper hand, new Soviet landing planes appeared from behind the forest and the battle flared up again. Victory remained with the Soviet paratroopers. German mechanized columns were destroyed. Moscow was saved. Moreover, as it was later calculated, about 12% of the landing party died when jumping without a parachute into the snow. It is noteworthy that this was not the only case of such a landing during the defense of Moscow. A story about a similar operation can be found in the autobiographical book “From the Sky into Battle,” written by the Soviet intelligence officer Ivan Starchak, one of the record holders in parachute jumping.
Paratroopers were the first to take the North Pole
For a long time, a feat of Soviet paratroopers worthy of the Guinness Book of Records was hidden under the heading “Top Secret”. As you know, after the end of World War II, the heavy shadow of the Cold War hung over the world. Moreover, the countries participating in it did not have equal conditions in the event of the outbreak of hostilities. The United States had bases in European countries where its bombers were located. And the USSR could launch a nuclear strike on the United States only through the territory of the Arctic Ocean. But in the late 1940s and early 1950s, this was a long journey for heavy bombers, and the country needed jump-off airfields in the Arctic, which had to be protected. For this purpose, the military command decided to organize the world's first landing of Soviet military personnel in full combat gear to the North Pole. Vitaly Volovich and Andrei Medvedev were entrusted with such an important mission.
They were supposed to land on the pole on the iconic day of May 9, 1949. The parachute jump was successful. The Soviet paratroopers landed exactly at the predetermined point. They planted the USSR flag and took pictures, although this was a violation of the instructions. When the mission was successfully completed, the paratroopers were picked up by a Li-2 aircraft that landed nearby on an ice floe. For setting a record, the paratroopers received the Order of the Red Banner. The most amazing thing is that the Americans were able to repeat their jump only 32 years later in 1981. Of course, it was they who got into the Guinness Book of Records: Jack Wheeler and Rocky Parsons, although the first parachute jump to the North Pole was made by Soviet paratroopers.
“9th Company”: in the cinema from life
One of the most famous domestic films about the Russian airborne troops is Fyodor Bondarchuk’s film “9th Company”. As you know, the plot of the blockbuster, striking in its drama, is based on real events that took place during the notorious war in Afghanistan. The film is based on the story of the battle for the dominant height 3234 in the Afghan city of Khost, which was supposed to be held by the 9th company of the 345th Guards Separate Parachute Regiment. The battle took place on January 7, 1988. Several hundred Mujahideen opposed 39 Soviet paratroopers. Their task was to capture the dominant heights in order to then gain control of the Gardez-Khost road. Using terraces and hidden approaches, the Mujahideen were able to approach the positions of the Soviet paratroopers at a distance of 200 meters. The battle lasted for 12 hours, but unlike the film, it had a less dramatic ending. The Mujahideen fired mercilessly at the paratroopers' positions using mortars, machine guns and grenade launchers. During the night, the attackers stormed the heights nine times and were thrown back the same number of times. True, the last attack almost brought them to their goal. Fortunately, at that moment a reconnaissance platoon of the 3rd Parachute Regiment arrived to help the paratroopers. This decided the outcome of the battle. The Mujahideen, having suffered significant losses and not having achieved what they wanted, retreated. The most surprising thing is that our losses were not as great as was shown in the film. Six people were killed and 28 were injured of varying severity.
Russian response to NATO
It is noteworthy that it was the airborne troops that brought Russia’s first military-political victory after the collapse of the Soviet Union. During the tragic 1990s for the country, when the United States stopped taking Russian interests into account, the last straw that broke the cup of patience was the bombing of Serbia. NATO did not take into account the protests of Russia, which demanded an exclusively peaceful resolution of the conflict.
As a result, over the course of several months, more than 2,000 civilians alone died in Serbia. Moreover, during the preparations for Operation Allied Force in 1999, Russia was not only not mentioned as a possible participant in resolving the conflict, its opinion was not taken into account at all. In this situation, the military leadership decided to conduct its own proactive operation and occupy the only large airport in Kosovo, forcing them to reckon with themselves. The Russian peacekeeping battalion was ordered to move out of Bosnia and Herzegovina and make a forced march of 600 km. The paratroopers of the combined airborne battalion were to be the first, before the British, to occupy the Pristina Slatina airport, the main strategic facility of the country. The fact is that it was the only airport in the region capable of receiving any type of aircraft, including military transport ones. It was here that it was planned to transfer the main NATO forces for ground combat.
The order was carried out on the night of June 11-12, 1999, on the eve of the start of the NATO ground operation. The Russians were greeted with flowers. As soon as NATO realized what had happened, a column of British tanks hastily advanced to the Slatina airfield. The forces, as usual, were unequal. Russia wanted to additionally transfer an airborne division to the airport, but Hungary and Bulgaria refused the air corridor. Meanwhile, British General Michael Jackson gave the order to the tank crews to liberate the airport from the Russians. In response, Russian military personnel took aim at NATO military equipment, showing the seriousness of their intentions. They did not allow British helicopters to land at the airport. NATO sharply demanded that Jackson kick the Russians out of Slatina. But the general declared that he was not going to start World War III and retreated. As a result, during the daring and successful operation of the paratroopers, Russia gained zones of influence, including control over the Slatina airport.
Nowadays, Russian airborne troops, as before, continue to defend the military-political interests of Russia. The main tasks of the Airborne Forces during combat operations include covering the enemy from the air and carrying out combat operations in his rear. The priority is to disorient enemy troops by disrupting their control, as well as destroying ground elements of precision weapons. In addition, airborne troops are used as rapid reaction forces.
