Military unit of the airborne forces. Structure and composition of airborne troops. 1st Airborne Regiment: basic facts

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Airborne troops (Airborne Forces) are a branch of troops intended for combat operations behind enemy lines. They are usually part of the ground forces, less often - part of the air force (navy), but can also be an independent branch of the armed forces.

Designed for air landing behind enemy lines or for rapid deployment in geographically remote areas. The main method of delivering airborne forces is parachute landing; they can also be delivered by helicopter; During the Second World War, delivery by gliders was practiced.

At the end of 1930, near Leningrad, a Soviet airborne unit was created - an airborne detachment. In December 1932, he was deployed to the 3rd Special Purpose Aviation Brigade, which in 1938 became known as the 201st Airborne Brigade.

The first use of airborne assault in the history of military affairs occurred in the spring of 1929. In the city of Garm, besieged by the Basmachi, a group of armed Red Army soldiers was landed from the air, which, with the support of local residents, defeated a gang that had invaded the territory of Tajikistan from abroad. However, Airborne Forces Day in Russia and a number of other countries is August 2, in honor of the parachute landing at a military exercise of the Moscow Military District near Voronezh on August 2, 1930.

In 1931, on the basis of a directive dated March 18, a non-standard, experienced aviation motorized landing detachment (airborne landing detachment) was formed in the 1st aviation brigade of the Leningrad Military District. It was intended to study issues of operational-tactical use and the most advantageous organizational forms of airborne (airborne) units, units and formations. The detachment consisted of 164 personnel and consisted of:

one rifle company;
separate platoons: engineer, communications and light vehicles;
heavy bomber aviation squadron (air squadron) (12 aircraft - TB-1);
one corps aviation detachment (air squadron) (10 aircraft - R-5).

The detachment was armed with:

two 76-mm Kurchevsky dynamo-reactive guns (DRP);
two wedges - T-27;
4 grenade launchers;
3 light armored vehicles (armored vehicles);
14 light and 4 heavy machine guns;
10 trucks and 16 cars;
4 motorcycles and one scooter (apparently, they meant a bicycle).

E.D. Lukin was appointed commander of the detachment. Then, in the same air brigade, a non-standard parachute detachment was formed.

In 1932, the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR adopted a resolution on the deployment of detachments into special purpose aviation battalions (BOSNAZ). By the end of 1933, there were already 29 airborne battalions and brigades that became part of the Air Force. The Leningrad Military District was entrusted with the task of training instructors in airborne operations and developing operational-tactical standards. By the standards of that time, airborne units were an effective means of disrupting enemy command and control and rear areas. They were to be used where other types of troops (infantry, artillery, cavalry, armored forces) could not currently solve this problem, and were intended to be used by the high command in cooperation with troops advancing from the front; airborne assaults were to assist in the encirclement and defeat the enemy in this direction.

Staff No. 015/890 1936 of the “airborne brigade” (ADBR) in wartime and peacetime. Name of units, number of wartime personnel (number of peacetime personnel in brackets):

management, 49 (50)
communications company, 56 (46)
musician platoon, 11 (11)
3 airborne battalions, each 521 (381)
Junior Command School, 0 (115)
services, 144 (135)

Personnel:

Total: 1823 (1500)
Command staff, 107 (118)
Commanding staff, 69 (60)
Junior command and management personnel, 330 (264)
Enlisted personnel, 1317 (1058)

Material part:

45 mm anti-tank gun, 18 (19)
Light machine guns, 90 (69)
Radio stations, 20 (20)
Automatic carbines, 1286 (1005)
Light mortars, 27 (20)
Passenger cars, 6 (6)
Trucks, 63 (51)
Special vehicles, 14 (14)
Cars "Pickup", 9 (8)
Motorcycles, 31 (31)
Tractors ChTZ, 2 (2)
Tractor trailers, 4 (4)

In the pre-war years, a lot of effort and money was allocated to the development of airborne troops, the development of the theory of their combat use and practical training. In 1934, 600 paratroopers were involved in Red Army exercises. In 1935, during the maneuvers of the Kyiv Military District, 1,188 paratroopers were parachuted and a landing force of 2,500 people with military equipment landed. In 1936, 3,000 paratroopers were landed in the Belarusian Military District, and 8,200 people with artillery and other military equipment were landed. The invited foreign military delegations who attended these exercises were amazed by the size of the landings and the skill of the landing.

31. Parachute units, as a new type of air infantry, are a means of disrupting the enemy’s control and rear. They are used by high command.

In cooperation with troops advancing from the front, air infantry helps to encircle and defeat the enemy in a given direction.

The use of air infantry must be strictly consistent with the conditions of the situation and requires reliable support and compliance with measures of secrecy and surprise.

Chapter two "Organization of the Red Army troops" 1. Branches of troops and their combat use, Field Manual of the Red Army (PU-39)

The paratroopers also gained experience in real battles. In 1939, the 212th Airborne Brigade took part in the defeat of the Japanese at Khalkhin Gol. For their courage and heroism, 352 paratroopers were awarded orders and medals. In 1939-1940, during the Soviet-Finnish War, the 201st, 202nd and 214th airborne brigades fought together with rifle units.

Based on the experience gained, in 1940 new brigade staffs were approved, consisting of three combat groups: parachute, glider and landing.

In preparation for the operation to annex Bessarabia to the USSR, occupied by Romania, as well as Northern Bukovina, the command of the Red Army included the 201st, 204th and 214th airborne brigades in the Southern Front. During the operation, the 204th and 201st ADBR received combat missions and troops were sent to the area of Bolgrad and Izmail, and after the closure of the state border to organize Soviet control bodies in populated areas.

By the beginning of 1941, on the basis of the existing airborne brigades, airborne corps of over 10 thousand people each were deployed. On September 4, 1941, by order of the People's Commissar, the Directorate of the Airborne Forces was transformed into the Directorate of the Commander of the Airborne Forces of the Red Army, and formations and units of the Airborne Forces were removed from the subordination of the commanders of the active fronts and transferred to the direct subordination of the commander of the Airborne Forces. In accordance with the same order, the formation of ten airborne corps, five maneuverable airborne brigades, five reserve airborne regiments and an airborne school (Kuibyshev) was carried out. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Airborne Forces constituted an independent branch of the Red Army Air Force.

In the counteroffensive near Moscow, conditions were created for the widespread use of airborne forces. In the winter of 1942, the Vyazma airborne operation was carried out with the participation of the 4th Airborne Corps. In September 1943, an airborne assault consisting of two brigades was used to assist the troops of the Voronezh Front in crossing the Dnieper River. In the Manchurian strategic operation in August 1945, more than 4 thousand personnel of rifle units were landed for landing operations, who successfully completed the assigned tasks.

In October 1944, the Airborne Forces were transformed into a separate Guards Airborne Army, which became part of long-range aviation. In December 1944, this army was disbanded, and the Airborne Forces Directorate was created, reporting to the commander of the Air Force. The Airborne Forces retained three airborne brigades, an airborne training regiment, advanced training courses for officers and an aeronautical division.

In 1956, two airborne divisions took part in the Hungarian events. In 1968, after the capture of two airfields near Prague and Bratislava, the 7th and 103rd Guards Airborne Divisions were landed, which ensured the successful completion of the task by formations and units of the United Armed Forces of the countries participating in the Warsaw Pact during the Czechoslovak events.

Paratroopers in the cargo compartment of the An-12.

In the post-war period, the Airborne Forces carried out a lot of work to strengthen the firepower and mobility of personnel. Numerous samples of airborne armored vehicles (BMD, BTR-D), automotive vehicles (TPK, GAZ-66), and artillery systems (ASU-57, ASU-85, 2S9 Nona, 107-mm recoilless rifle B-11) were created. Complex parachute systems were developed for landing all types of weapons - “Centaur”, “Reaktaur” and others. The fleet of military transport aircraft was also increased, designed for the massive transfer of landing forces in the event of large-scale hostilities. Large-body transport aircraft were created capable of parachute landing of military equipment (An-12, An-22, Il-76).

In the USSR, for the first time in the world, airborne troops were created, which had their own armored vehicles and self-propelled artillery. At large army exercises (for example, "Shield-82" or "Friendship-82"), the landing of personnel with standard equipment of no more than two parachute regiments was practiced. The state of the military transport aviation of the USSR Armed Forces at the end of the 80s made it possible to parachute 75% of the personnel and standard military equipment of one airborne division in one general sortie.

Organizational and personnel structure of the 105th Guards Airborne Division, as of July 1979.

By the fall of 1979, the 105th Guards Vienna Red Banner Airborne Division, specialized for combat operations in mountainous desert areas, was disbanded. Units of the 105th Guards. The Airborne Forces were stationed in the cities of Fergana, Namangan and Chirchik of the Uzbek SSR and in the city of Osh of the Kyrgyz SSR. As a result of the disbandment of the 105th Guards. The Airborne Forces formed three separate air assault brigades (35th, 38th and 56th) and the 345th Guards Separate Parachute Regiment.

Following the disbandment of the 105th Guards. The Airborne Forces in 1979, the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan showed the deep error of the decision taken by the leadership of the USSR Armed Forces - the airborne formation, specially adapted for combat operations in mountainous desert areas, was thoughtlessly and hastily disbanded, and was ultimately sent to Afghanistan 103 Guards Airborne Forces, whose personnel had no training to conduct combat operations in such a theater of operations:

“...in 1986, the Commander of the Airborne Forces, Army General D.F. Sukhorukov, came and said then what fools we were, disbanding the 105th Airborne Division, because it was intended to conduct combat operations in mountainous desert areas. And we were forced to spend huge amounts of money to transport the 103rd Airborne Division to Kabul by air..."

By the mid-80s. The airborne troops of the USSR Armed Forces included 7 airborne divisions and three separate regiments with the following names and locations:

Organizational and staffing structure of the 351st Guards Parachute Regiment, 105th Guards Airborne Division as of July 1979.

7th Guards Red Banner Order of Kutuzov II degree airborne division. Stationed in Kaunas, Lithuanian SSR, Baltic Military District.
76th Guards Red Banner Order of Kutuzov, II degree, Chernigov Airborne Division. Stationed in Pskov, RSFSR, Leningrad Military District.
98th Guards Red Banner Order of Kutuzov II degree Svir Airborne Division. It was stationed in the city of Bolgrad, Ukrainian SSR, Kodvo, and in the city of Chisinau, Moldavian SSR, KodVO.
103rd Guards Red Banner Order of Lenin Order of Kutuzov II degree airborne division named after the 60th anniversary of the USSR. She was stationed in Kabul (Afghanistan) as part of OKSVA. Until December 1979 and after February 1989, it was stationed in the city of Vitebsk, Belarusian SSR, Belorussian Military District.
104th Guards Red Banner Order of Kutuzov II degree airborne division, specialized for combat operations in mountainous areas. Stationed in the city of Kirovabad, Azerbaijan SSR, Transcaucasian Military District.
106th Guards Red Banner Order of Kutuzov II degree airborne division. Stationed in Tula and Ryazan, RSFSR, Moscow Military District.
44th training Red Banner Order of Suvorov II degree and Bogdan Khmelnitsky II degree Ovruch airborne division. Stationed in the village. Gaizhunai, Lithuanian SSR, Baltic Military District.
345th Guards Vienna Red Banner Order of Suvorov III degree parachute regiment named after the 70th anniversary of the Lenin Komsomol. Stationed in Bagram (Afghanistan) as part of OKSVA. Until December 1979, he was stationed in the city of Fergana, Uzbek SSR, after February 1989 - in the city of Kirovabad, Azerbaijan SSR, Transcaucasian Military District.
387th separate training parachute regiment. Until 1982 it was part of the 104th Guards. VDD. In the 80s, the 387th training ODDP trained young recruits to be sent to airborne and air assault units as part of OKSVA. In the cinema, in the film “9th Company”, the training unit means exactly 387 OUPDP. Stationed in Fergana, Uzbek SSR, Turkestan Military District.
196th separate communications regiment of the Airborne Forces. Stationed in the village. Bear Lakes, Moscow Region, RSFSR.

Each of these divisions included: a directorate (headquarters), three parachute regiments, one self-propelled artillery regiment, and combat support and logistics support units.

In addition to parachute units and formations, the airborne troops also had air assault units and formations, but they were subordinate to the commanders of military districts (groups of forces), armies or corps. They were no different in anything except their tasks, subordination and general education system. Methods of combat use, combat training programs for personnel, weapons and uniforms of military personnel were the same as those of parachute units and formations of the Airborne Forces (central subordination). Air assault formations were represented by separate air assault brigades (ADSB), separate air assault regiments (ADAS) and separate air assault battalions (ADSB).

The reason for the creation of air assault formations in the late 60s was the revision of tactics in the fight against the enemy in the event of a full-scale war. The emphasis was placed on the concept of using massive landings in the enemy's near rear, capable of disorganizing the defense. The technical capability for such a landing was provided by the significantly increased fleet of transport helicopters in the army aviation by this time.

By the mid-80s, the USSR Armed Forces included 14 separate brigades, two separate regiments and about 20 separate battalions. The brigades were stationed on the territory of the USSR according to the principle - one brigade per military district, which has land access to the State Border of the USSR, one brigade in the internal Kiev Military District (23 ADSB in the city of Kremenchug, subordinate to the Main Command of the southwestern direction) and two brigades for groups of Soviet troops abroad (35 ADShBR in the GSVG in Cottbus and 83 ADShBR in the SGV in Bialogard). 56th Guards The ODSBR in OKSVA, stationed in the city of Gardez of the Republic of Afghanistan, belonged to the Turkestan Military District in which it was formed.

Individual air assault regiments were subordinate to the commanders of individual army corps.

The difference between the parachute and airborne assault formations of the Airborne Forces was as follows:

Standard airborne armored vehicles are available (BMD, BTR-D, self-propelled guns “Nona”, etc.). In the air assault units, only a quarter of all units were equipped with it - in contrast to 100% of the airborne units.
Subordinate to the troops. Airborne assault units, operationally, were subordinate to the command of military districts (groups of forces), armies, and corps. The parachute units were subordinate to the command of the Airborne Forces, whose headquarters were in Moscow.
In the assigned tasks. It was assumed that the airborne assault units, in the event of the outbreak of large-scale hostilities, would be used to land near the enemy's rear, mainly by landing from helicopters. The parachute units were supposed to be used deeper behind enemy lines with parachute landing from military air transport aircraft. At the same time, airborne training with planned training parachute landings of personnel and military equipment was mandatory for both types of airborne formations.
Unlike the guards parachute units of the Airborne Forces deployed at full strength, some air assault brigades were squadroned (special staff) and were not guards. The exception was three brigades that received the name Guards, created on the basis of the 105th Vienna Red Banner Guards Airborne Division, disbanded in 1979 - the 35th, 38th and 56th.

In the mid-80s, the Airborne Forces of the USSR Armed Forces included the following brigades and regiments:

Organizational and staffing structure of the 56th Guards Separate Air Assault Brigade, as of December 1986.

11 ODShBR in the Trans-Baikal Military District (Trans-Baikal Territory, Mogocha and Amazar)
13 Special Airborne Brigade in the Far Eastern Military District (Amur Region, Magdagachi and Zavitinsk)
21 Special Airborne Brigade in the Transcaucasian Military District (Georgian SSR, Kutaisi)
23 ADSB of the South-Western direction (on the territory of the Kyiv Military District), (Ukrainian SSR, Kremenchug)
35th Guards ODSBR in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (German Democratic Republic, Cottbus)
36 ODShBR in the Leningrad Military District (Leningrad region, Garbolovo village)
37 separate airborne assault brigade in the Baltic Military District (Kaliningrad region, Chernyakhovsk)
38th Guards ODShBR in the Belarusian Military District (Belarusian SSR, Brest)
39 ODSBR in the Carpathian Military District (Ukrainian SSR, Khyrov)
40 ODShBR in Odessa Military District (Ukrainian SSR, Nikolaev)
56th Guards ODSBR in the Turkestan Military District (formed in the city of Chirchik, Uzbek SSR and introduced into Afghanistan)
57 Special Airborne Brigade in the Central Asian Military District (Kazakh SSR, Aktogay town)
58 ODShBR in the Kiev Military District (Ukrainian SSR, Kremenchug)
83 ADSB in the Northern Group of Forces, (Polish People's Republic, Bialogard)
1318 ODShP in the Belorussian Military District (Belarusian SSR, Polotsk) subordinate to the 5th separate army corps (5 UAC)
1319 ODShP in the Trans-Baikal Military District (Chita region, Kyakhta) subordinate to the 48th separate army corps (48 UAC)

These brigades included a command and control unit, 3 or 4 air assault battalions, one artillery battalion, and combat support and logistics support units. The personnel of the deployed brigades reached 2,500 military personnel. For example, the regular number of personnel is 56 Guards. As of December 1, 1986, the ODSBR numbered 2,452 military personnel (261 officers, 109 warrant officers, 416 sergeants, 1,666 soldiers).

The regiments differed from the brigades by the presence of only two battalions: one parachute and one air assault (on BMD), as well as a slightly reduced composition of the units of the regimental set.

Participation of the Airborne Forces in the Afghan War

Organizational and staffing structure of the 345th Guards Separate Parachute Regiment, for the summer of 1988.

In the Afghan War, the airborne and air assault formations of the USSR Armed Forces included one airborne division (103rd Guards Airborne Division), one separate airborne assault brigade (56th Guards Special Airborne Brigade), one separate parachute regiment (345th Guards Airborne Regiment). OPDP) and two air assault battalions as part of separate motorized rifle brigades (in the 66th Motorized Rifle Brigade and in the 70th Motorized Rifle Brigade). In total, in 1987 these were 18 “line” battalions (13 parachute and 5 air assault), which amounted to a fifth of the total number of all “line” OKSVA battalions (which included another 18 tank and 43 motorized rifle battalions) .

In almost the entire history of the Afghan war, no situation arose that would justify the use of parachute landing for the transfer of personnel. The main reasons for this were the complexity of the mountainous terrain and the unjustification of the material costs of using such methods in guerrilla warfare. The transfer of personnel of airborne and air assault units to mountainous combat areas impassable for armored vehicles was carried out exclusively by landing from helicopters. As in all motorized rifle, tank and artillery units within the OKSVA, up to half of all units of the airborne and air assault formations were assigned to guard duty at outposts, which made it possible to control roads, mountain passes and the vast territory of the country, thereby significantly constraining enemy actions. For example, the 2nd parachute battalion from the 345th Guards. The OPDP was dispersed among 20 outposts in the Panjshir Gorge near the village of Anava. With this, 2 PDB 345 OPDP (together with the 682nd motorized rifle regiment of the 108th MSD, stationed in the village of Rukha) blocked the western exit from the gorge, which was the enemy’s main transport artery from Pakistan to the strategically important Charikar Valley.

The most massive combat airborne operation in the USSR Armed Forces in the period after the Great Patriotic War should be considered the 5th Panjshir operation in May-June 1982, during which a mass landing of troops in Afghanistan was carried out for the first time: only during the first three days , over 4 thousand people were landed from helicopters. In total, about 12 thousand military personnel of various military branches took part in this operation. The operation took place simultaneously throughout the entire 120 km depth of the gorge. As a result, most of the Panjshir Gorge was taken under control.

In the period from 1982 to 1986, all OKSVA airborne units systematically replaced standard airborne armored vehicles (BMD-1, BTR-D) with armored vehicles standard for motorized rifle units (BMP-2D, BTR-70). First of all, this was due to the low security and low motor life of structurally lightweight armored vehicles of the Airborne Forces, as well as the nature of combat operations, where the tasks performed by paratroopers were not much different from the tasks assigned to motorized riflemen.

Also, in order to increase the firepower of the airborne units, additional artillery and tank units were introduced into their composition. For example, the 345 ODDP, modeled on a motorized rifle regiment, was supplemented with an artillery howitzer division and a tank company, in the 56 ADSB the artillery battalion was deployed to 5 fire batteries (instead of the required 3 batteries), and the 103rd Guards. The airborne division will be reinforced with the 62nd separate tank battalion, which was unusual for the organizational structure of airborne units on the territory of the USSR.

Training of officers for airborne troops

Officers were trained by the following military educational institutions in the following military specialties:

Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School - commander of an airborne (airborne) platoon, commander of a reconnaissance platoon.
Airborne Faculty of the Ryazan Higher Military Automotive Engineering School - commander of an automobile/transport platoon.
Airborne Faculty of the Ryazan Higher Military Command School of Communications - commander of a communications platoon.
Airborne Faculty of the Novosibirsk Higher Military-Political Combined Arms School - deputy company commander for political affairs (educational work).
Airborne Faculty of the Kolomna Higher Artillery Command School - commander of an artillery platoon.
Airborne Faculty of the Leningrad Higher Anti-Aircraft Missile Command School - commander of an anti-aircraft missile platoon.
Airborne Faculty of the Kamenets-Podolsk Higher Military Engineering Command School - commander of an engineering platoon.

In addition to graduates of these educational institutions, the Airborne Forces often appointed graduates of higher combined arms schools (VOKU) and military departments that trained to become motorized rifle platoon commanders to positions of platoon commanders. This was due to the fact that the specialized Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School, which graduated on average about 300 lieutenants every year, was not able to fully meet the needs of the Airborne Forces (at the end of the 80s there were about 60,000 personnel in them) platoon commanders. For example, the former commander of the 247th Guards. PDP (7th Guards Airborne Forces), Hero of the Russian Federation Em Yuri Pavlovich, who began his service in the Airborne Forces as a platoon commander in the 111th Guards. PDP 105 Guards Airborne Forces, graduated from the Alma-Ata Higher Combined Arms Command School.

For a long time, military personnel of units and units of the Special Forces (now called army special forces) were mistakenly and deliberately called paratroopers. This is due to the fact that in the Soviet period, as now, in the Russian Armed Forces, there were and are no special forces, but there were and are special forces units and units of the GRU of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces. The phrases “special forces” or “commandos” were mentioned in the press and in the media only in relation to the troops of a potential enemy (“Green Berets”, “Rangers”, “Commandos”).

Starting from the emergence of these units, the USSR Armed Forces in 1950 until the end of the 80s completely denied the existence of such units and units. To the point that conscripts only learned about their existence when they were recruited into these units and units. Officially in the Soviet press and on television, units and units of the Special Forces of the GRU of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces were declared either parts of the Airborne Forces - as in the case of the GSVG (officially in the GDR there were no units of the Special Forces), or as in the case of OKSVA - separate motorized rifle battalions (OMSB). For example, the 173rd separate special forces detachment (173 OOSpN), stationed near the city of Kandahar, was called the 3rd separate motorized rifle battalion (3 OMSB).

In everyday life, military personnel of units and units of the Special Forces wore the dress and field uniforms adopted by the Airborne Forces, although neither in terms of subordination nor in terms of the assigned tasks of reconnaissance and sabotage activities they belonged to the Airborne Forces. The only thing that united the Airborne Forces and the units and units of the Special Forces was the majority of the officers - graduates of the RVVDKU, airborne training and possible combat use behind enemy lines.

A Soviet airborne unit was created - an airborne detachment, in the 11th Infantry Division. In December, he was deployed to the 3rd Special Purpose Aviation Brigade, which became known as the 201st Airborne Brigade.

The first use of airborne assault in the history of military affairs occurred in the spring of 1929. In the city of Garm, besieged by the Basmachis, a group of armed Red Army soldiers was dropped from the air, which, with the support of local residents, defeated a gang that had invaded the territory of Tajikistan from abroad. . However, Airborne Forces Day in Russia and a number of other countries is August 2, in honor of the parachute landing at a military exercise of the Moscow Military District near Voronezh on August 2, 1930.

Based on the experience gained, in 1940 new brigade staffs were approved, consisting of three combat groups: parachute, glider and landing.

was sent to the Saratov Bomber School. ... However, soon an order came from the People's Commissariat of Defense to transfer the Saratov School to the jurisdiction of Airborne Forces.

In the counteroffensive near Moscow, conditions were created for widespread use Airborne Forces. In the winter of the city, the Vyazma airborne operation was carried out with the participation of the 4th Airborne Corps. In September, an airborne assault consisting of two brigades was used to assist the troops of the Voronezh Front in crossing the Dnieper River. In the Manchurian strategic operation in August 1945, more than 4 thousand personnel of rifle units were landed for landing operations, who successfully completed the assigned tasks.

In 1956, two airborne divisions took part in the Hungarian events. In 1968, after the capture of two airfields near Prague and Bratislava, the 7th and 103rd Guards Airborne Divisions were landed, which ensured the successful completion of the task by formations and units of the United Armed Forces of the Warsaw Pact countries during the Czechoslovak events.

In the post-war period Airborne Forces A lot of work was done to enhance the firepower and mobility of personnel. Numerous samples of airborne armored vehicles (BMD, BTR-D), automotive vehicles (TPK, GAZ-66), and artillery systems (ASU-57, ASU-85, 2S9 Nona, 107-mm recoilless rifle B-11) were created. Complex parachute systems were developed for landing all types of weapons - “Centaur”, “Reaktaur” and others. The fleet of military transport aircraft was also increased, designed for the massive transfer of landing forces in the event of large-scale hostilities. Large-body transport aircraft were created capable of parachute landing of military equipment (An-12, An-22, Il-76).

The USSR was the first in the world to create airborne troops, which had their own armored vehicles and self-propelled artillery. At large army exercises (like Shield-82 or Friendship-82), the landing of personnel with standard equipment of no more than two parachute regiments was practiced. The state of the military transport aviation of the USSR Armed Forces at the end of the 80s made it possible to parachute 75% of the personnel and standard military equipment of one airborne division in one general sortie.

Organizational and personnel structure of the 105th Guards Airborne Division, as of July 1979.

Organizational and staffing structure of the 351st Guards Parachute Regiment, 105th Guards Airborne Division as of July 1979.

The entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan in 1979, which followed the disbandment of the 105th Guards Airborne Division, showed the deep fallacy of the decision taken by the leadership of the USSR Armed Forces - the airborne formation, specially adapted for combat operations in mountainous desert areas, was thoughtlessly and hastily disbanded, and The 103rd Guards Airborne Division was ultimately sent to Afghanistan, whose personnel had no training to conduct combat operations in such a theater of operations:

“...in 1986, the Commander of the Airborne Forces, Army General D.F. Sukhorukov, came and said then what fools we were, disbanding the 105th Airborne Division, because it was intended to conduct combat operations in mountainous desert areas. And we were forced to spend huge amounts of money to transport the 103rd Airborne Division to Kabul by air..."

airborne troops The USSR Armed Forces had 7 airborne divisions and three separate regiments with the following names and locations:

Each of these divisions included: a directorate (headquarters), three parachute regiments, one self-propelled artillery regiment, and combat support and logistics support units.

In addition to parachute units and formations, in airborne troops There were also air assault units and formations, but they were subordinate to the commanders of military districts (groups of forces), armies or corps. They were no different in anything except their tasks, subordination and general education system. Methods of combat use, combat training programs for personnel, weapons and uniforms of military personnel were the same as for parachute units and formations Airborne Forces(central subordination). The air assault formations were represented by separate air assault brigades (odshbr), separate air assault regiments (odshp) and separate air assault battalions (odshb).

The reason for the creation of air assault formations in the late 60s was the revision of tactics in the fight against the enemy in the event of a full-scale war. The emphasis was placed on the concept of using massive landings in the enemy's near rear, capable of disorganizing the defense. The technical capability for such a landing was provided by the significantly increased fleet of transport helicopters in the army aviation by this time.

By the mid-80s, the USSR Armed Forces included 14 separate brigades, two separate regiments and about 20 separate battalions. The brigades were stationed on the territory of the USSR according to the principle - one brigade per military district, which has land access to the State Border of the USSR, one brigade in the internal Kiev Military District (23rd brigade in Kremenchug, subordinate to the High Command of the southwestern direction) and two brigades for the group Soviet troops abroad (35dshbr in the GSVG in Cottbus and 83dshbr in the SGV in Bialogard). The 56th Guards Brigade in OKSVA, stationed in the city of Gardez, Republic of Afghanistan, belonged to the Turkestan Military District in which it was formed.

Individual air assault regiments were subordinate to the commanders of individual army corps.

Difference between parachute and air assault formations Airborne Forces was as follows:

In the mid-80s, the Airborne Forces of the USSR Armed Forces included the following brigades and regiments:

11odshbr in the Trans-Baikal Military District (Trans-Baikal Territory, Mogocha and Amazar),

13dshbr in the Far Eastern Military District (Amur region, Magdagachi and Zavitinsk),

21st brigade in the Transcaucasian Military District (Georgian SSR, Kutaisi),

23dshbr of the South-Western direction (on the territory of the Kyiv Military District), (Ukrainian SSR, Kremenchug),

35th Guards Brigade in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (German Democratic Republic, Cottbus),

36odshbr in the Leningrad Military District (Leningrad region, Garbolovo village),

37dshbr in the Baltic Military District (Kaliningrad region, Chernyakhovsk),

38th Guards Brigade in the Belorussian Military District (Belarusian SSR, Brest),

39odshbr in the Carpathian Military District (Ukrainian SSR, Khyrov),

40odshbr in the Odessa Military District (Ukrainian SSR, Bolshaya Korenikha village (Nikolaev region),

56th Guards Brigade in the Turkestan Military District (formed in the city of Chirchik, Uzbek SSR and introduced into Afghanistan),

57odshbr in the Central Asian Military District (Kazakh SSR, Aktogay town),

58dshbr in the Kiev Military District (Ukrainian SSR, Kremenchug),

83dshbr in the Northern Group of Forces, (Polish People's Republic, Bialogard),

1318odshp in the Belorussian Military District (Belarusian SSR, Polotsk) subordinate to the 5th separate army corps (5oak)

1319adshp in the Trans-Baikal Military District (Chita region, Kyakhta) subordinate to the 48th separate army corps (48oak)

These brigades included a command and control unit, 3 or 4 air assault battalions, one artillery battalion, and combat support and logistics support units. The personnel of the deployed brigades reached 2,500 military personnel. For example, the regular number of personnel of the 56th Guards Division as of December 1, 1986 was 2,452 military personnel (261 officers, 109 warrant officers, 416 sergeants, 1,666 soldiers).

The regiments differed from the brigades by the presence of only two battalions: one parachute and one air assault (on BMD), as well as a slightly reduced composition of the units of the regimental set

Participation of the Airborne Forces in the Afghan War

Also, in order to increase the firepower of the airborne units, additional artillery and tank units will be introduced into their composition. For example, the 345th opdp, based on the model of a motorized rifle regiment, will be supplemented with an artillery howitzer division and a tank company, in the 56th airborne assault brigade the artillery division was deployed to 5 fire batteries (instead of the required 3 batteries), and the 103rd Guards Airborne Division will be given the 62nd separate tank for reinforcement battalion, which was unusual for the organizational structure of airborne units on the territory of the USSR.

Officer training for airborne troops

Officers were trained by the following military educational institutions in the following military specialties:

In addition to graduates of these educational institutions, Airborne Forces They were often appointed to the positions of platoon commanders, graduates of higher combined arms schools (VOKU) and military departments that trained to become motorized rifle platoon commanders. This was due to the fact that the specialized Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School, which graduated on average about 300 lieutenants every year, was not able to fully meet the needs Airborne Forces(at the end of the 80s there were about 60,000 personnel in them) as platoon commanders. For example, the former commander of the 247gv.pdp (7gv.vdd), Hero of the Russian Federation Em Yuri Pavlovich, who began his service in Airborne Forces from platoon commander in the 111th Guards Division of the 105th Guards Airborne Division, graduated from the Alma-Ata Higher Combined Arms Command School

For a long time, military personnel of special forces units and units (now called army special forces) wrong And intentionally called paratroopers. This is due to the fact that in the Soviet period, as now, there were and are no special forces in the Russian Armed Forces, but there were and are subunits and units Special purpose (SP) GRU of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces. The phrases “special forces” or “commandos” were mentioned in the press and in the media only in relation to the troops of a potential enemy (“Green Berets”, “Rangers”, “Commandos”).

Starting from the emergence of these units in the USSR Armed Forces in 1950 until the end of the 80s, the existence of such units and units was completely denied. To the point that conscripts only learned about their existence when they were recruited into these units and units. Officially in the Soviet press and on television, units and units of the Special Forces of the GRU of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces were announced either as units Airborne Forces- as in the case of the GSVG (officially there were no Special Forces units in the GDR), or as in the case of OKSVA - separate motorized rifle battalions (omsb). For example, the 173rd separate special forces detachment (173ooSpN), stationed near the city of Kandahar, was called the 3rd separate motorized rifle battalion (3omsb)

In everyday life, military personnel of units and units of the Special Forces wore dress and field uniforms accepted in Airborne Forces, although neither in terms of subordination, nor in terms of assigned tasks, reconnaissance and sabotage activities were classified as Airborne Forces. The only thing that united Airborne Forces and units and units of the Special Forces - this is the majority of the officers - graduates of the RVVDKU, airborne training and possible combat use behind enemy lines.

Russian Federation - period after 1991

Medium emblem of the Russian Airborne Forces

In 1991, they were allocated to an independent branch of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

7th Guards Air Assault (Mountain) Division (Novorossiysk)

76th Guards Air Assault Division Chernigov Red Banner Division (Pskov)

98th Guards Airborne Division (Ivanovo)

106th Guards Airborne Division (Tula)

242nd training center Omsk and Ishim

31st Separate Guards Air Assault Order of Kutuzov II Class Brigade (Ulyanovsk)

38th Separate Signal Regiment (Bear Lakes)

45th Guards Separate Regiment of Special Forces Airborne Forces (Kubinka, Odintsovo District, Moscow Region)

11th separate air assault brigade (Ulan-Ude

56th Guards Separate Air Assault Brigade (Kamyshin) (As part of the Airborne Forces, but operationally subordinate to the Southern Military District)

83rd Separate Air Assault Brigade (Ussuriysk) (As part of the Airborne Forces, but operationally subordinate to the Eastern Military District)

100th Guards Separate Air Assault Brigade (Abakan) (As part of the Airborne Forces, but operationally subordinate to the Central Military District)

In other countries

Belarus

Special Operations Forces(belor. Forces of special operations). The command reports directly to the General Staff of the Armed Forces. Commanders: Major General Lucian Surint (2010); since July 2010 - Colonel (since February 2011 Major General) Oleg Belokonev. Includes the 38th, 103rd Guards Mobile Brigades, 5th Special Purpose Brigade, etc.

Kazakhstan

Sleeve insignia of the airmobile troops of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Great Britain

British paratroopers 1pb ,1(British) Airborne Division are fighting. Holland. September 17, 1944

British Airborne Forces, the main airborne component is 16th Air Assault Brigade(English) 16th Air Assault Brigade). The brigade was created on September 1, 1999 by merging components of the disbanded 5th Airborne. 5th Airborne Brigade) and 24th Aeromobile (eng. 24th Air Mobile Brigade) brigades. The brigade's headquarters and units are based in Colchester, Essex. The 16th Air Assault Brigade is part of the 5th British Army Division.

Germany

Wehrmacht airborne troops

Breastplate of a paratrooper of the Wehrmacht airborne forces, Germany

Wehrmacht Airborne Forces(German) Fallschirmjäger, from Fallschirm- “parachute” and Jäger- “hunter, huntsman”) - German airborne forces of the Wehrmacht for operational-tactical deployment in the enemy rear. Being a selective branch of the army, only the best of the best soldiers in Germany were recruited into them. The formation of units began in 1936, after which during the Second World War, in the period from 1940 to 1941, they were used in large airborne operations in Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands and Greece. In subsequent years there were even larger-scale operations with their participation, but mostly only as regular infantry formations to support the main forces. They received the nickname "Green Devils" from the Allies. Throughout the Second World War, the permanent commander of the Fallschirmjäger was their founder, Colonel General Kurt Student.

Israel

The brigade was formed in 1954-1956 by the merger of several special forces units.

The Tsanhanim brigade belongs to the Central District and is part of the 98th Reserve Airborne Division, staffed by reservists who served on active duty in the brigade.

USA

Chevron 1 Allied Air Force, 1944

Notes

Guderian G. Attention, tanks! History of the creation of tank forces. - M.: Tsentropoligraf, 2005.

Field manual of the Red Army (PU-39), 1939.

The development of the striking power of air assault formations will occur by equipping them with transport and combat aircraft, Military Review website.

Military encyclopedic dictionary, Moscow, Military Publishing House, 1984, 863 pp. with illustrations, 30 sheets

The Ukrainian army has created highly mobile airborne troops, Kommersant-Ukraine.

The English word “commandos” was used to designate military personnel of special airborne detachments, the airborne detachments themselves, and the entire S.S. service (“Special Service”, abbreviated as “S.S.”) as a whole.

Airborne Forces in TSB.

The first parachute formations

Khukhrikov Yuri Mikhailovich, A. Drabkin, I fought on the Il-2 - M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2005.

Unknown division. 105th Guards Airborne Red Banner Division (mountain-desert). - Desantura.ru - about landing without borders

This year marks the forty-five anniversary of the 242nd Airborne Training Center

Structure of the Airborne Forces - Bratishka Magazine

The combat regulations of the airborne troops, put into effect by order of the commander of the airborne troops No. 40, dated July 20, 1983

Airborne Forces (Airborne Forces) are a branch of the Armed Forces, which is a means of the Supreme High Command and is intended to cover the enemy by air and carry out tasks in his rear to disrupt command and control, capture and destroy ground elements of high-precision weapons, disrupt the advance and deployment of reserves, disrupt rear and communications work, as well as covering (defense) individual directions, areas, open flanks, blocking and destroying landed airborne troops, broken through enemy groups and performing other tasks. In peacetime, the Airborne Forces perform the main tasks of maintaining combat and mobilization readiness at a level that ensures their successful use for their intended purpose.

3.3 Structure of the Airborne Forces

The structure of the airborne troops includes:

Central governing body (headquarters)

Connections

Divisions

Institutions

Since pre-war times, since 1939, a lot of funds have been allocated for the development of airborne troops. Time was devoted to developing theories of their use in combat and improving technical means. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the paratroopers already had some combat experience. In 1939, the 212th Airborne Brigade took part in the victory over the Japanese. In 1940, during the Soviet-Finnish War, three more airborne brigades were in action. As a result of these battles, by 1940, new states were created, consisting of parachute, glider and landing groups.

By 1941, airborne squads had been created, numbering more than 10,000 people per corps.

On September 14, 1941, according to the order of the Commissioner, the General Directorate of the Airborne Forces was transformed into the Directorate of the Command of the Airborne Forces of the Red Army. The Airborne Forces themselves were no longer subordinate to the front-line commanders, but were directly subordinate to the Airborne Forces commander.

Numerous military operations were carried out in counter-offensives near Moscow, in which airborne forces played a leading role. Among these operations, the Vyazma airborne operation and the Manchurian strategic operation should be highlighted.

In 1944, the structure of the airborne troops underwent changes. Having been transformed into a separate Guards Airborne Army, the Airborne Forces entered the long-range aviation departments. A year later, this army was reorganized, and on its basis a new airborne forces department was created, which was subordinate to the chief commander of the Air Force.

In 1946, the Airborne Forces were transferred to the USSR ground forces. They were directly subordinate to the USSR Minister of Defense.

In 1956, several airborne units took part in military events in Hungary, as well as near Prague and Bratislava.

In the post-war period, in improving the Airborne Forces, the greatest attention was paid to increasing the efficiency of firepower and maneuverability of personnel. A lot of aircraft models were created with the help of which the delivery and landing of troops was carried out. These were: armored vehicles (BMD, BTR-D), artillery systems (ASU - 57 and so on), automotive equipment (GAZ - 66). New parachute delivery systems were created for different types of weapons. It should be noted that in the USSR, for the first time in the world, airborne forces appeared that had their own armored vehicles.

In 1979, the squads, adapted for combat in mountainous desert areas, were hastily disbanded. This was a miscalculation, since a brigade was sent to Afghanistan, whose representatives did not have the experience to conduct combat operations in these geographical conditions.

Closer to the mid-80s, the USSR Airborne Forces included 7 airborne squads, plus three additional separate regiments.

In addition to the parachute units, there were also air assault units. They were subordinate to the commanders of the military districts. The impetus for their creation was to rethink the tactics of fighting the enemy in the event of a large-scale war. The main emphasis was on carrying out mass landings behind enemy lines and, as a result, disorganizing the enemy’s defense.

One airborne division, one air assault division, two air assault battalions and one parachute regiment took part in the war in Afghanistan from the USSR. But the results of the use of airborne forces cannot be called successful. The mountainous terrain turned out to be very difficult. And the large investment was not entirely justified.

The most significant event in the period after World War II for the USSR Airborne Forces was the landing in Afghanistan as part of the Panjshir operation in 1982. In just the first 3 days, almost 4,000 people were landed and the territory was quickly taken under control.

After 1982, over the course of 4 years, all standard aircraft armored vehicles were replaced with armored vehicles for motorized rifle brigades. This is justified, first of all, by the relative commonality of tasks for paratroopers and motorized rifle divisions. To increase firepower, additional tank and artillery formations were introduced into the Airborne Forces.

The branch of the Armed Forces, which is a reserve of the Supreme High Command and specifically designed to cover the enemy by air and carry out tasks in his rear to disrupt command and control, capture and destroy ground elements of high-precision weapons, disrupt the advance and deployment of reserves, disrupt the work of the rear and communications, as well as for covering (defense) of individual directions, areas, open flanks, blocking and destroying landed airborne troops, broken through enemy groups and performing many other tasks.

In peacetime, the Airborne Forces perform the main tasks of maintaining combat and mobilization readiness at a level that ensures their successful use for their intended purpose.

In the Russian Armed Forces they are a separate branch of the military.

Airborne forces are also quite often used as rapid reaction forces.

The main method of delivering airborne forces is parachute landing; they can also be delivered by helicopter; During World War II, delivery by gliders was practiced.

Airborne Forces of the USSR

Pre-war period

At the end of 1930, near Voronezh, a Soviet airborne unit was created in the 11th Infantry Division - an airborne detachment. In December 1932, he was deployed to the 3rd Special Purpose Aviation Brigade (OsNaz), which in 1938 became known as the 201st Airborne Brigade.

The very first use of airborne assault in the history of military affairs occurred in the spring of 1929. In the city of Garm, besieged by the Basmachi, a group of armed Red Army soldiers was dropped from the air, and with the support of local residents, they completely defeated the gang that had invaded the territory of Tajikistan from abroad. But still, Airborne Forces Day in Russia and a number of other countries is considered to be August 2, in honor of the parachute landing at a military exercise of the Moscow Military District near Voronezh on August 2, 1930.

in 1931, on the basis of an order dated March 18, a non-standard, experienced aviation motorized landing detachment (airborne landing detachment) was formed in the Leningrad Military District. It was intended to study issues of operational-tactical use and the most advantageous organizational forms of airborne (airborne) units, units and formations. The detachment consisted of 164 personnel and consisted of:

One rifle company;
-separate platoons: engineer, communications and light vehicles;
-heavy bomber aviation squadron (air squadron) (12 aircraft - TB-1);
-one corps aviation detachment (air squadron) (10 aircraft - R-5).
The detachment was armed with:

Two 76-mm Kurchevsky dynamo-reactive guns (DRP);
- two wedges - T-27;
-4 grenade launchers;
-3 light armored vehicles (armored vehicles);
-14 light and 4 heavy machine guns;
-10 trucks and 16 cars;
-4 motorcycles and one scooter
E.D. Lukin was appointed commander of the detachment. Subsequently, a non-standard parachute detachment was formed in the same air brigade.

In 1932, the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR issued a decree on the deployment of detachments into special purpose aviation battalions (BOSNAZ). By the end of 1933, there were already 29 airborne battalions and brigades that became part of the Air Force. The Leningrad Military District (Leningrad Military District) was entrusted with the task of training instructors in airborne operations and developing operational-tactical standards.

By the standards of that time, airborne units were an effective means of disrupting enemy command and control and rear areas. They were to be used where other types of troops (infantry, artillery, cavalry, armored forces) could not currently solve this problem, and were also intended to be used by the high command in cooperation with troops advancing from the front; airborne assaults were to help encircling and defeating the enemy in this direction.

Staff No. 015/890 1936 of the “airborne brigade” (adbr) in wartime and peacetime. Name of units, number of wartime personnel (number of peacetime personnel in brackets):

Management, 49(50);
-communications company, 56 (46);
-musician platoon, 11 (11);
-3 airborne battalions, each, 521 (381);
-school for junior officers, 0 (115);
-services, 144 (135);
Total: in the brigade, 1823 (1500); Personnel:

Command staff, 107 (118);
-Commanding staff, 69 (60);
-Junior command and command staff, 330 (264);
-Private personnel, 1317 (1058);
-Total: 1823 (1500);

Material part:

45 mm anti-tank gun, 18 (19);
-Light machine guns, 90 (69);
-Radio Stations, 20 (20);
-Automatic carbines, 1286 (1005);
-Light mortars, 27 (20);
-Cars, 6 (6);
-Trucks, 63 (51);
-Special vehicles, 14 (14);
-Cars “Pickup”, 9 (8);
-Motorcycles, 31 (31);
-ChTZ Tractors, 2 (2);
-Tractor trailers, 4 (4);
In the pre-war years, a lot of effort and funds were allocated for the development of airborne troops, the development of the theory of their combat use, as well as practical training. In 1934, 600 paratroopers were involved in Red Army exercises. In 1935, during the maneuvers of the Kyiv Military District, 1,188 paratroopers were parachuted and a landing force of 2,500 people was landed along with military equipment.

In 1936, 3,000 paratroopers were landed in the Belarusian Military District, and 8,200 people with artillery and other military equipment were landed. The invited foreign military delegations present at these exercises were amazed by the size of the landings and the skill of the landing.

“31. Parachute units, as a new type of air infantry, are a means of disrupting the enemy’s control and rear. They are used by the high command.
In cooperation with troops advancing from the front, air infantry helps encircle and defeat the enemy in a given direction.

The use of air infantry must be strictly consistent with the conditions of the situation and requires reliable support and compliance with measures of secrecy and surprise."
- Chapter two “Organization of the Red Army troops” 1. Types of troops and their combat use, Field Manual of the Red Army (PU-39)

Based on the experience gained, in 1940 new brigade staffs were approved, consisting of three combat groups: parachute, glider and landing.

In preparation for the operation to annex Bessarabia to the USSR, occupied by Romania, as well as Northern Bukovina, the Red Army command included the 201st, 204th and 214th airborne brigades in the Southern Front. During the operation, the 204th and 201st ADBRs received combat missions and troops were sent to the area of Bolgrad and Izmail, and after the closure of the state border to organize Soviet control bodies in populated areas.

The Great Patriotic War

By the beginning of 1941, on the basis of the existing airborne brigades, airborne corps were deployed, each numbering more than 10 thousand people.
On September 4, 1941, by order of the People's Commissar, the Directorate of the Airborne Forces was transformed into the Directorate of the Commander of the Airborne Forces of the Red Army, and formations and units of the Airborne Forces were removed from the subordination of the commanders of the active fronts and transferred to the direct subordination of the commander of the Airborne Forces. In accordance with this order, the formation of ten airborne corps, five maneuverable airborne brigades, five reserve airborne regiments and an airborne school (Kuibyshev) was carried out. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Airborne Forces were an independent branch of the Red Army Air Force.

In the counter-offensive near Moscow, conditions appeared for the widespread use of airborne forces. In the winter of 1942, the Vyazma airborne operation was carried out with the participation of the 4th Airborne Corps. In September 1943, an airborne assault consisting of two brigades was used to assist the troops of the Voronezh Front in crossing the Dnieper River. In the Manchurian strategic operation in August 1945, more than 4 thousand personnel of rifle units were landed for landing operations, who quite successfully completed the assigned tasks.

In October 1944, the Airborne Forces were transformed into a separate Guards Airborne Army, which became part of long-range aviation. In December 1944, this army was, based on the order of the Supreme High Command Headquarters dated December 18, 1944, transformed into the 9th Guards Army, based on the command of the 7th Army and formations of a separate Guards Airborne Army with direct subordination to the Supreme High Command Headquarters. The airborne divisions were reorganized into rifle divisions.
At the same time, an Airborne Forces directorate was created with direct subordination to the Air Force commander. The Airborne Forces retained three airborne brigades, an airborne training regiment, advanced training courses for officers and an aeronautical division. At the end of the winter of 1945, the 9th Guards Army, consisting of the 37th, 38th, 39th Guards Rifle Corps, was concentrated in Hungary southeast of Budapest; On February 27, it became part of the 2nd Ukrainian Front; on March 9, it was reassigned to the 3rd Ukrainian Front. In March - April 1945, the army took part in the Vienna Strategic Operation (March 16 - April 15), advancing in the direction of the front's main attack. At the beginning of May 1945, the army as part of the 2nd Ukrainian Front participated in the Prague operation (May 6-11). The 9th Guards Army ended its combat journey with access to the Elbe. The army was disbanded on May 11, 1945. The army commander is Colonel General V.V. Glagolev (December 1944 - until the end of the war). On June 10, 1945, in accordance with the order of the Supreme High Command Headquarters dated May 29, 1945, the Central Group of Forces was formed, which included the 9th Guards Army. Later it was transferred to the Moscow District, where in 1946 its directorate was transformed into the Airborne Forces Directorate, and all its formations again became guards airborne units - the 37th, 38th, 39th Corps and the 98th, 99th, 100th, 103rd, 104th , 105, 106, 107, 114 airborne division (airborne division).

Post-war period

Since 1946, they were transferred to the ground forces of the Armed Forces of the USSR, and were directly subordinate to the Minister of Defense of the USSR, being the reserve of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
In 1956, two airborne divisions took part in the Hungarian events. In 1968, after the capture of two airfields near Prague and Bratislava, the 7th and 103rd Guards Airborne Divisions were landed, which ensured the successful completion of the task by formations and units of the Joint Armed Forces of the countries participating in the Warsaw Pact during the Czechoslovak events.

In the post-war period, the Airborne Forces carried out a lot of work to strengthen the firepower and mobility of personnel. Numerous samples of airborne armored vehicles (BMD, BTR-D), automotive vehicles (TPK, GAZ-66), artillery systems (ASU-57, ASU-85, 2S9 Nona, 107-mm recoilless rifle B-11) were made. Complex parachute systems were created for landing all types of weapons - “Centaur”, “Reaktavr” and others. The fleet of military transport aircraft, designed for the massive transfer of landing forces in the event of large-scale hostilities, was also greatly increased. Large-body transport aircraft were made capable of parachute landing of military equipment (An-12, An-22, Il-76).

In the USSR, for the first time in the world, airborne troops were created, which had their own armored vehicles and self-propelled artillery. During major army exercises (like Shield-82 or Friendship-82), personnel with standard equipment numbering no more than two parachute regiments were landed. The state of military transport aviation of the USSR Armed Forces at the end of the 1980s allowed for the parachute drop of 75% of the personnel and standard military equipment of one airborne division in just one general sortie.

By the fall of 1979, the 105th Guards Vienna Red Banner Airborne Division, specially designed for combat operations in mountainous desert areas, was disbanded. Units of the 105th Guards Airborne Division were stationed in the cities of Fergana, Namangan and Chirchik of the Uzbek SSR and in the city of Osh of the Kirghiz SSR. As a result of the disbandment of the 105th Guards Airborne Division, 4 separate air assault brigades were created (35th Guards, 38th Guards and 56th Guards), 40th (without “Guards” status) and 345th guards separate parachute regiment.

The entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan in 1979, which followed the disbandment of the 105th Guards Airborne Division, showed the profound fallacy of the decision taken by the leadership of the USSR Armed Forces - an airborne formation specially adapted for combat operations in mountainous desert areas in an ill-considered and rather hasty manner was disbanded, and the 103rd Guards Airborne Division was ultimately sent to Afghanistan, whose personnel had no training at all to conduct combat operations in such a theater of operations:

105th Guards Airborne Vienna Red Banner Division (mountain-desert):
“...in 1986, the Commander of the Airborne Forces, Army General D.F. Sukhorukov, arrived, he said then what fools we were, disbanding the 105th Airborne Division, because it was specifically designed to conduct combat operations in mountainous desert areas. And we were forced to spend huge amounts of money to transport the 103rd Airborne Division to Kabul by air..."

By the mid-80s, the airborne troops of the USSR Armed Forces included 7 airborne divisions and three separate regiments with the following names and locations:

7th Guards Red Banner Order of Kutuzov II degree airborne division. Based in Kaunas, Lithuanian SSR, Baltic Military District.
-76th Guards Red Banner Order of Kutuzov, II degree, Chernigov Airborne Division. She was stationed in Pskov, RSFSR, Leningrad Military District.
-98th Guards Red Banner Order of Kutuzov, II degree, Svirskaya Airborne Division. It was based in the city of Bolgrad, Ukrainian SSR, Kodvo, and in the city of Chisinau, Moldavian SSR, KodVO.
-103rd Guards Red Banner Order of Lenin Order of Kutuzov II degree airborne division named after the 60th anniversary of the USSR. She was stationed in Kabul (Afghanistan) as part of OKSVA. Until December 1979 and after February 1989, it was stationed in the city of Vitebsk, Belarusian SSR, Belorussian Military District.
-104th Guards Red Banner Order of Kutuzov II degree airborne division, specially designed for combat operations in mountainous areas. She was stationed in the city of Kirovabad, Azerbaijan SSR, Transcaucasian Military District.
-106th Guards Red Banner Order of Kutuzov II degree airborne division. Stationed in Tula and Ryazan, RSFSR, Moscow Military District.
-44th training Red Banner Order of Suvorov II degree and Bogdan Khmelnitsky II degree Ovruch airborne division. Located in the village. Gaizhunai, Lithuanian SSR, Baltic Military District.
-345th Guards Vienna Red Banner Order of Suvorov III degree parachute regiment named after the 70th anniversary of the Lenin Komsomol. It was located in Bagram (Afghanistan) as part of OKSVA. Until December 1979, he was based in the city of Fergana, Uzbek SSR, after February 1989 - in the city of Kirovabad, Azerbaijan SSR, Transcaucasian Military District.
-387th separate training parachute regiment (387th airborne assault regiment). Until 1982, it was part of the 104th Guards Airborne Division. In the period from 1982 to 1988, the 387th OUPD trained young recruits to be sent to airborne and air assault units as part of OKSVA. In the cinema, in the film “9th Company”, the training unit refers to the 387th OUPD. Based in Fergana, Uzbek SSR, Turkestan Military District.
-196th separate communications regiment of the Airborne Forces. Located in the village. Bear Lakes, Moscow Region, RSFSR.
Each of these divisions included: a directorate (headquarters), three parachute regiments, one self-propelled artillery regiment, and combat support and logistics support units.

In addition to parachute units and formations, the airborne troops also had air assault units and formations, but they were directly subordinate to the commanders of military districts (groups of forces), armies or corps. They were practically no different, except for tasks, subordination and OSH (organizational staffing structure). Methods of combat use, combat training programs for personnel, weapons and uniforms of military personnel were the same as in parachute units and formations of the Airborne Forces (central subordination). The air assault formations were represented by separate air assault brigades (odshbr), separate air assault regiments (odshp) and separate air assault battalions (odshb).

The reason for the creation of air assault formations in the late 60s was the revision of tactics in the fight against the enemy in the event of a full-scale war. The emphasis was placed on the concept of using massive landings in the near rear of the enemy, capable of disorganizing the defense. The technical capability for such a landing was provided by the significantly increased fleet of transport helicopters in the army aviation by this time.

By the mid-80s, the USSR Armed Forces included 14 separate brigades, two separate regiments and about 20 separate battalions. The brigades were based on the territory of the USSR according to the principle - one brigade per military district, which has land access to the State Border of the USSR, one brigade in the internal Kiev Military District (23rd brigade in Kremenchug, subordinate to the Main Command of the southwestern direction) and two brigades for the group Soviet troops abroad (35th Guards Brigade in the GSVG in Cottbus and 83rd Guards Brigade in the SGV in Bialogard). The 56th Army Brigade in OKSVA, located in the city of Gardez of the Republic of Afghanistan, belonged to the Turkestan Military District in which it was created.

Individual air assault regiments were subordinate to the commanders of individual army corps.

The difference between the parachute and airborne assault formations of the Airborne Forces was as follows:

Standard airborne armored vehicles are available (BMD, BTR-D, self-propelled guns “Nona”, etc.). In the air assault units, only a quarter of all units were equipped with it - in contrast to 100% of the staffing in the parachute units.
-In the subordination of the troops. Airborne assault units, operationally, were directly subordinate to the command of military districts (groups of forces), armies, and corps. The parachute units were subordinate only to the command of the Airborne Forces, whose headquarters were located in Moscow.
-In the assigned tasks. It was assumed that the airborne assault units, in the event of the outbreak of large-scale hostilities, would be used to land near the enemy's rear, mainly by landing from helicopters. The parachute units were supposed to be used deeper behind enemy lines with parachute landing from MTA (military transport aviation) aircraft. At the same time, airborne training with planned training parachute landings of personnel and military equipment was mandatory for both types of airborne formations.
-Unlike the guards parachute units of the Airborne Forces deployed at full strength, some air assault brigades were squadroned (incomplete) and were not guards. The exception was three brigades that received the name Guards, created on the basis of the Guards parachute regiments, the 105th Vienna Red Banner Guards Airborne Division disbanded in 1979 - the 35th, 38th and 56th. The 40th air assault brigade, created on the basis of the 612th separate airborne support battalion and the 100th separate reconnaissance company of the same division, did not receive “guards” status.
In the mid-80s, the Airborne Forces of the USSR Armed Forces included the following brigades and regiments:

11th separate air assault brigade in the Trans-Baikal Military District (Chita region, Mogocha and Amazar),
-13th separate air assault brigade in the Far Eastern Military District (Amur region, Magdagachi and Zavitinsk),
-21st separate air assault brigade in the Transcaucasian Military District (Georgian SSR, Kutaisi),
-23rd separate air assault brigade of the South-Western direction (on the territory of the Kyiv Military District), (Ukrainian SSR, Kremenchug),
-35th separate guards air assault brigade in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (German Democratic Republic, Cottbus),
-36th separate air assault brigade in the Leningrad Military District (Leningrad region, Garbolovo village),
-37th separate air assault brigade in the Baltic Military District (Kaliningrad region, Chernyakhovsk),
-38th separate guards air assault brigade in the Belarusian Military District (Belarusian SSR, Brest),
-39th separate air assault brigade in the Carpathian Military District (Ukrainian SSR, Khyrov),
-40th separate air assault brigade in the Odessa Military District (Ukrainian SSR, Bolshaya Korenikha village, Nikolaev region),
-56th Guards Separate Air Assault Brigade in the Turkestan Military District (created in the city of Chirchik, Uzbek SSR and introduced into Afghanistan),
-57th separate air assault brigade in the Central Asian Military District (Kazakh SSR, Aktogay village),
-58th separate air assault brigade in the Kiev Military District (Ukrainian SSR, Kremenchug),
-83rd separate air assault brigade in the Northern Group of Forces, (Polish People's Republic, Bialogard),
-1318th separate air assault regiment in the Belarusian Military District (Belarusian SSR, Polotsk) subordinate to the 5th separate army corps (5oak)
-1319th separate air assault regiment in the Trans-Baikal Military District (Buryat Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Kyakhta) subordinate to the 48th separate army corps (48oak)
These brigades included a command, 3 or 4 air assault battalions, one artillery division and combat support and logistics support units. The personnel of fully deployed brigades ranged from 2,500 to 3,000 troops.
For example, the regular number of personnel of the 56th General Guards Brigade as of December 1, 1986 was 2,452 military personnel (261 officers, 109 warrant officers, 416 sergeants, 1,666 soldiers).

Participation of the Airborne Forces in the Afghan War

In the Afghan war, one airborne division (103rd Guards Airborne Division), one separate airborne assault brigade (56ogdshbr), one separate parachute regiment (345guards opdp) and two air assault battalions as part of separate motorized rifle brigades (in the 66th Motorized Rifle Brigade and in the 70th Motorized Rifle Brigade). In total, in 1987 these were 18 “line” battalions (13 parachute and 5 air assault), which amounted to a fifth of the total number of all “line” OKSVA battalions (which included another 18 tank and 43rd motorized rifle battalions).

In almost the entire history of the Afghan war, not a single situation arose that would justify the use of parachute landing for the transfer of personnel. The main reasons for this were the complexity of the mountainous terrain, as well as the unjustification of the material costs of using such methods in counter-guerrilla warfare. The delivery of personnel of parachute and air assault units to mountainous combat areas impassable for armored vehicles was carried out only by landing using helicopters. Therefore, the division of line battalions of the Airborne Forces in OKSVA into air assault and parachute assault should be considered conditional. Both types of battalions operated according to the same pattern.

As in all motorized rifle, tank and artillery units within the OKSVA, up to half of all units of the airborne and air assault formations were assigned to guard duty at outposts, which made it possible to control roads, mountain passes and the vast territory of the country, significantly limiting the the very actions of the enemy. For example, battalions of the 350th Guards RPD were often based in various points of Afghanistan (in Kunar, Girishk, Surubi), monitoring the situation in these areas. The 2nd parachute battalion from the 345th Guards Special Operations Division was distributed among 20 outposts in the Panjshir Gorge near the village of Anava. With this 2ndb 345th opdp (together with the 682nd motorized rifle regiment of the 108th motorized rifle division stationed in the village of Rukha) completely blocked the western exit from the gorge, which was the enemy’s main transport artery from Pakistan to the strategically important Charikar Valley.

The most massive combat airborne operation in the USSR Armed Forces in the period after the Great Patriotic War should be considered the 5th Panjshir Operation in May-June 1982, during which the first mass landing of the 103rd Guards Airborne Division in Afghanistan was carried out: only During the first three days, over 4 thousand people were landed from helicopters. In total, about 12 thousand military personnel of various branches of the military took part in this operation. The operation took place simultaneously throughout the entire 120 km depth of the gorge. As a result of the operation, most of the Panjshir gorge was taken under control.

In the period from 1982 to 1986, all OKSVA airborne units systematically replaced standard airborne armored vehicles (BMD-1, BTR-D) with armored vehicles standard for motorized rifle units (BMP-2D, BTR-70). First of all, this was due to the rather low security and low motor life of structurally lightweight armored vehicles of the Airborne Forces, as well as the nature of combat operations, where combat missions performed by paratroopers will differ little from the tasks assigned to motorized riflemen.

Also, to increase the firepower of the airborne units, additional artillery and tank units will be added to their composition. For example, the 345th opdp, modeled on a motorized rifle regiment, will be supplemented with an artillery howitzer division and a tank company, in the 56th Odshbr the artillery division was deployed to 5 fire batteries (instead of the required 3 batteries), and the 103rd Guards Airborne Division will be given the 62nd separate tank battalion for reinforcement, which was unusual for the organizational structure of Airborne Forces units on the territory of the USSR.

Training of officers for airborne troops

Officers were trained by the following military educational institutions in the following military specialties:

Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School - commander of an airborne (airborne) platoon, commander of a reconnaissance platoon.
-Airborne Faculty of the Ryazan Military Automotive Institute - commander of an automobile/transport platoon.
-Airborne Faculty of the Ryazan Higher Military Command School of Communications - commander of a communications platoon.
-Airborne Faculty of the Novosibirsk Higher Military Command School - deputy company commander for political affairs (educational work).
-Airborne Faculty of the Kolomna Higher Artillery Command School - commander of an artillery platoon.
-Poltava Higher Anti-Aircraft Missile Command Red Banner School - commander of an anti-aircraft artillery, anti-aircraft missile platoon.
-Airborne Faculty of Kamenets-Podolsk Higher Military Engineering Command School - commander of an engineering platoon.
In addition to graduates of these educational institutions, graduates of higher combined arms schools (VOKU) and military departments that trained motorized rifle platoon commanders were often appointed to the positions of platoon commanders in the Airborne Forces. This was due to the fact that the specialized Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School, which graduated on average about 300 lieutenants every year, was simply not able to fully meet the needs of the Airborne Forces (at the end of the 80s there were about 60,000 personnel in them) as platoon commanders. For example, the former commander of the 247gv.pdp (7gv.vdd), Hero of the Russian Federation Em Yuri Pavlovich, who began his service in the Airborne Forces as a platoon commander in the 111gv.pdp 105gv.vdd, graduated from the Alma-Ata Higher Combined Arms Command School.

For quite a long time, military personnel of units and units of the Special Forces (now called army special forces) were mistakenly and/or intentionally called paratroopers. This circumstance is connected with the fact that in the Soviet period, as now, there were and are no special forces in the Russian Armed Forces, but there were and are Special Forces units and units (SPT) of the GRU of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces. The phrases “special forces” or “commandos” were mentioned in the press and in the media only in relation to the troops of a potential enemy (“Green Berets”, “Rangers”, “Commandos”).

Starting from the formation of these units in the USSR Armed Forces in 1950 until the end of the 80s, the existence of such units and units was completely denied. It got to the point that conscripts only learned about their existence when they were recruited into these units and units. Officially, in the Soviet press and on television, units and units of the Special Forces of the GRU of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces were declared either units of the Airborne Forces - as in the case of the GSVG (officially in the GDR there were no units of the Special Forces), or as in the case of OKSVA - separate motorized rifle battalions (omsb). For example, the 173rd separate special forces detachment (173ooSpN), based near the city of Kandahar, was called the 3rd separate motorized rifle battalion (3omsb)

In everyday life, military personnel of units and units of the Special Forces wore dress and field uniforms adopted by the Airborne Forces, although they were in no way related to the Airborne Forces either in terms of subordination or assigned tasks of reconnaissance and sabotage activities. The only thing that united the Airborne Forces and the units and units of the Special Forces was the majority of the officers - graduates of the RVVDKU, airborne training and possible combat use behind enemy lines.

Russian Airborne Forces

The decisive role in the formation of the theory of combat use and the development of weapons of the airborne troops belonged to the Soviet military leader Vasily Filippovich Margelov, commander of the Airborne Forces from 1954 to 1979. The name of Margelov is also associated with the positioning of airborne formations as highly maneuverable, armored units with sufficient fire efficiency to participate in modern strategic operations in various theaters of military operations. On his initiative, the technical re-equipment of the Airborne Forces began: serial production of landing equipment was launched at defense production enterprises, modifications of small arms were made specifically for paratroopers, new military equipment was modernized and created (including the first tracked combat vehicle BMD-1), which were adopted by weapons and new military transport aircraft entered the troops, and finally, the Airborne Forces’ own symbols were created - vests and blue berets. His personal contribution to the formation of the Airborne Forces in their modern form was formulated by General Pavel Fedoseevich Pavlenko:

“In the history of the Airborne Forces, and in the Armed Forces of Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union, his name will remain forever. He personified an entire era in the development and formation of the Airborne Forces, their authority and popularity are associated with his name not only in our country, but and abroad...
…IN. F. Margelov realized that in modern operations only highly mobile landing forces capable of wide maneuver can operate successfully deep behind enemy lines. He categorically rejected the idea of holding the area captured by the landing forces until the approach of troops advancing from the front using the method of rigid defense as disastrous, because in this case the landing force would be quickly destroyed."

During the Second World War, the largest operational-tactical associations of airborne troops (forces) - the army - were formed. The Airborne Army (Airborne Army) was specifically designed to carry out major operational-strategic missions behind enemy lines. It was first created at the end of 1943 in Nazi Germany as part of several airborne divisions. In 1944, the Anglo-American command also created such an army consisting of two airborne corps (a total of five airborne divisions) and several military transport aviation formations. These armies never took part in hostilities in full force.
-During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, tens of thousands of soldiers, sergeants, and officers of the airborne units of the Red Army Air Force were awarded orders and medals, and 126 people were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
-After the end of the Great Patriotic War and for several decades, the USSR (Russian) Airborne Forces were and probably remain the most massive airborne troops on Earth.
-Only Soviet paratroopers in full combat gear were able to land on the North Pole back in the late 40s
-Only Soviet paratroopers dared to jump from many kilometers in height in airborne combat vehicles.
-The abbreviation VDV is sometimes deciphered as “Two hundred options are possible”, “Uncle Vasya’s troops”, “Your girls are widows”, “I’m unlikely to return home”, “A paratrooper will endure everything”, “Everything for you”, “Troops for war”, etc. d.

Serve in the Airborne Forces

Serve in the Airborne Forces prestigious and honorable, and the desire of the guys to get into these elite troops is becoming more and more apparent. How to get into service in the Airborne Forces, what is needed for this, we will analyze in detail.

Airborne Troops

Airborne Forces motto: “Nobody but us”

Many people are breathtaking when the paratroopers walk across Red Square. The faces of the guys, in whose eyes every step they take reflects pride in the troops, whose representatives they are walking along the Main Square of the Motherland. They visited the Sky under the canopies of parachutes, underwent exercises, many of them participated in combat operations, protecting the interests and security of the Motherland. Serving Russia, serving one’s Motherland is worthy of everyone’s honor, because behind this stands security and a peaceful Sky above the heads of relatives and friends.

Airborne troops consist of formations, units and units of paratroopers, tanks, artillery... engineering troops, communications... squadron... Everything is in the Airborne Forces. The Airborne Forces are the reserve of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces and the basis of the mobile rapid reaction forces. And there are no impossible tasks where there are Airborne Troops.

I want to serve in the Airborne Forces

More and more often we hear from guys: “I want to serve in the Airborne Forces. What is needed for this? How to get into service in the Airborne Forces." Good desire and good questions.

You need to prepare for service in the Airborne Forces.

Preference is given not only to the strong, but also to the smart.

1. Study, get an education.

2. Sports development. The main thing is running 3-5 km in the morning. The crossbar is a pull-up with a normal grip, not a reverse one. The snatch pull-up is for speed, and the power pull-up is a necessity and works on the inversion bar. Hang on the bar with a normal grip and work your feet up to the bar. Push-ups from the floor on your hands, on your fists and on your fingers. Push-ups on parallel bars.

Swim, play volleyball, basketball, football. This is all physical development.

3. At all commissions at the military registration and enlistment office, declare your desire. And if you didn’t have time to declare at the medical commissions, go to the military registration and enlistment office in the conscription department and say that you want to serve in the Airborne Forces. Talk and convince until they put a mark on your record card.

If there is an airborne unit in the city, go to the commander, be able to prove to him your desire to serve in the Airborne Forces. Be brave from the very beginning, and if you get an attitude (this is the basis for the military registration and enlistment office for conscription into a certain unit), it will be just great.

4. If you serve in the Airborne Forces, you need to be ready to land. Go skydiving. Three independent parachute jumps is the third sports category, it is assigned to everyone after the third jump.

During the period of service in the Airborne Forces, according to the mandatory program, all paratroopers make 12 parachute jumps. Now D-10 parachute systems are in all airborne formations and units.

5. Health. Train your heart by running and swimming. Height 175 - 190 cm, weight 75 - 90 kg... These are the standards for admission to skydiving. Those with low weight are not accepted into the Airborne Forces.

Service in the Airborne Forces is interesting, and if you have physical training, it will be easier to get involved... And after serving military service, many guys continue to serve under a contract. 70% contract workers, 30% conscripts. According to the contract, after training, sergeants are placed in positions that officers previously held. So, guys, study, get an education, try military service, and if you want to stay in the Airborne Forces, then there are two ways - contract service or the Airborne School in Ryazan.

They say that you become a real paratrooper after the first jump from an Il-76.

People are not born paratroopers, they become paratroopers.

Where do they serve in the Airborne Forces?

To the question where they serve in the Airborne Forces, I’ll answer briefly.

The Airborne Forces include:

4 divisions - 7th in Novorossiysk, 76th in Pskov, 98th in Ivanovo, 106th in Tula;

31st Air Assault Brigade in Ulyanovsk

The 45th separate special-purpose regiment was formed in February 1994 on the basis of 218 and 901 separate special-purpose battalions. Location: Kubinka, Moscow region.

By the end of 2015, the 345th Separate Airborne Brigade will be formed in Voronezh. This is the revival of the 345th Guards OPDP.

The Airborne Forces Training Center is located in Omsk.

7th Guards Air Assault (Mountain) Division- airborne connection Soviet Army and Russian Armed Forces. Formed October 15, 1948.

Divisions:

108th Guards Air Assault Kuban Cossack Order of the Red Star Regiment (Novorossiysk)
247th Guards Air Assault Caucasian Cossack Regiment. (Stavropol)
1141st Guards Artillery Regiment (Anapa)
3rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment
743rd Separate Guards Signal Battalion
629th separate engineer battalion (Starotitarovskaya station, Krasnodar Territory)
1681st separate logistics battalion (Novorossiysk)
32nd separate medical detachment

76th Guards Chernigov Red Banner Airborne Assault Division (76 guards dshd, before March 1, 1943 157th Rifle Division)- the oldest existing airborne formation of the Russian Armed Forces.

Formed on September 1, 1939. Stationed in the city of Pskov, hence the nickname “Pskovskaya”, one of the air assault regiments is located in the suburban village of Cherekha.

Compound

management (headquarters)
104th Guards Air Assault Red Banner Regiment of the Order of Peter the Great
234th Guards Air Assault Black Sea Order of Kutuzov 3rd degree Regiment named after Alexander Nevsky
237th Guards Parachute Landing Torun Red Banner Regiment (disbanded in 2001). The regiment can be deployed after receiving an order, replenished with assigned personnel.
1140th Guards Artillery Twice Red Banner Regiment
4th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (formerly 165th Separate Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile Division)
656th Guards Separate Engineer-Sapper Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky 3rd Class Battalion
728th Guards Separate Signal Battalion
7th Guards Separate Repair and Reconstruction Battalion
3996th military hospital (airmobile). All personnel have parachute training, from 3 jumps.
242nd separate military transport aviation squadron (An-2, An-3). Serves for direct airborne training of unit personnel without the involvement of the Russian Air Force VTA
1682nd Guards Separate Material Support Battalion
175th Guards Separate Reconnaissance Company
968th Guards Separate Airborne Support Company
separate RCBZ company
commandant company

98th Guards Svir Red Banner Order of Kutuzov 2nd Class Airborne Division- airborne formation consisting of Armed forces of the USSR and Russia.

Composition in 2012

98th Guards Airborne Division (Ivanovo) 217th Guards Parachute Regiment (Ivanovo)
331st Guards Parachute Regiment (Kostroma)
1065th Guards Red Banner Artillery Regiment (Kostroma)
5th Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (formerly 318th Separate Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile and Artillery Division; Ivanovo)
243rd separate military transport aviation squadron (Ivanovo)
36th separate medical detachment (airmobile) (Ivanovo)
674th Separate Guards Signal Battalion (Ivanovo)
661st separate engineer battalion (Ivanovo)
15th separate repair and restoration battalion (Ivanovo)
1683rd separate logistics battalion (Ivanovo)
969th separate airborne support company (Ivanovo)
215th separate guards reconnaissance company (Ivanovo)
728th courier-postal communication station (Ivanovo)
educational and training complex (Pesochnoe, Yaroslavl region).

106th Guards Airborne Order of Kutuzov Red Banner Division- formation of the Airborne Forces of the Armed Forces of the USSR, and then of the Russian Federation. Units of the division are stationed in Tula, Ryazan and Naro-Fominsk, the division headquarters is in Tula.

Composition of the division in 2009:

51st Guards Parachute Landing Red Banner Order of Suvorov Regiment named after Dmitry Donskoy
137th Guards Parachute Landing Order of the Red Star Regiment
1182nd Guards Artillery Novgorod Red Banner Order of Suvorov 3rd degree, Kutuzov 3rd degree, Bogdan Khmelnitsky 2nd degree and Alexander Nevsky Regiment (Naro-Fominsk, Moscow region)
173rd Guards Separate Reconnaissance Company
388th separate guards engineer battalion
731st Separate Guards Signal Battalion
970th separate airborne support company
43rd Guards Separate Repair and Reconstruction Battalion
1060th separate logistics battalion
39th separate medical detachment (airmobile)
1883rd courier-postal communication station
1st Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (formerly 107th Separate Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile and Artillery Division (military unit 71298, Naro-Fominsk, Moscow Region)

Information on airborne divisions - source Wikipedia

Reconnaissance in the Airborne Forces has wings - the Crossbow parachute. A unique system was developed for intelligence officers; there are no analogues in the world.

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Military unit of the airborne forces. Structure and composition of airborne troops. 1st Airborne Regiment: basic facts

Participation of the Airborne Forces in the Afghan War

Training of officers for airborne troops

Participation of the Airborne Forces in the Afghan War

Officer training for airborne troops

Russian Federation - period after 1991

In other countries

Belarus

Kazakhstan

Great Britain

Germany

Wehrmacht airborne troops

Israel

USA

Notes

3.3 Structure of the Airborne Forces

Airborne Forces of the USSR

Pre-war period

The Great Patriotic War

Post-war period

Participation of the Airborne Forces in the Afghan War

Training of officers for airborne troops

Russian Airborne Forces

Airborne Troops

I want to serve in the Airborne Forces

You need to prepare for service in the Airborne Forces.

Where do they serve in the Airborne Forces?