JPRS ID: 9939 USSR REPORT MILITARY AFFAIRS

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JPRS L/9939
26 August 1981
U~SR Re ort
p
.
' /~lrILITARY AFFAIRS
(FOUO 9/81)
FBIS FOREI~N BROADCAST INl~ORIV~ATION SER4/ICE
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JPRS L/9939
26 August 1981
USSR REPORT
MILITARY AFFAIRS
(FOUO 9/81)
CONTENTS
MILITARY-POLITICAI, I5SUES
Economic Principles for Military Defense
(Aleksandr Ivanovich Pozharov; EKONCJMICHESKIYE OSNOVY
OBORONNOGO MOGUSHCHESTVA SOTSIAI.ISTICHESKOGO GOSUDARSTVA,
1981) 1
GROUND FORCES
Book Excerpts: Urigin and Development of Soviet Airborne Troops
(I. I. I,isov, A. F. Korol'chenko; DESANTNIIff ATAKUYUT S
NEBA, 1980) 20
- a - L II I- USSR - 4 FOUO]
.~n~ ncrlnT ~ i i rCS /1Ni V
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MILITARY-POLITICAL ISSUES
ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES FOR MILITARY DEFENSE
Moscow EKONOMICHESKIYE OSNOVY OBORONNOGO MOGUSHCHESTVA SOTSIALISTICHESKOGO
~ GOSUDARSTVA in Russian 198~ (Signed to press 20 Nov 80) pp 1-4, 166-192
[Brief description, table of contents, author's foreword and Chapter 4 from
book "Econc,mic Principles fnr the Defensive Migh.t of a Socia~ist State", by
- Aleksandr Ivanovich Pozharov, Voyenizdat, 25,000 copies, 192 pages. Passages
in slantlines written in boldface.]
[Excerpts] Brief ~escription
On the basis of the Marxist-Leninist thesis on the interrelationship of war and
economics, t?~e book examines the origin, essence, historical phases ofdevelop-
ment and forms of military economics. After explaining the basic directions
of economic support to defense under present-day conditions, the author ana-
lyzes ways of strengthening military-economic potential, features for imple-
menting it aizd issues on the effectiveness of military economfcs.
The book is intended for officers, generals and other readers studying military
economics.
Table of Contents
Author's foreword 3
Chapter I. Production Method and Economic Support of War 5
1. Interrelationship of War and Economics. ~eneral Concept of Military
Economics 5
2. Military Economics in Class Antagonistic Social-Economic Formations 18
3. Military Economics of the Socialist State 39
4. The Scientific-Technical Revolution and Economic Support of a War 59
Chapter II. The State's Economic Might ~1
1. The State's Economic Potential. and Economic Might ~1
- 2. Stru:.ture of che Economic Potential and Economic Might 82
3. Steady Increase in Economic Might is the Backbone of the Party's
Economic Strategy 108
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Chapter III. Military-Economic Potential and Its Realization 115
1. Essence of Military-Economic Potential and Ways of Reinforcing It 115
2. Military Produ~tion and Realization of Military-Economic Potential 126
3. Distribution and Consumption of Military Products 142.
4. Socialist Integration and Military-Economic Potential 152
Chapter IV. Effectiveness of Economic Support to Defense 166
1. The Need, Essence and Features of an Economic Approach to Defense 166
Problems
2. Military Economics as a Science and Its Significance in Training 175
Military Cadres
- 3. Current Issues of Military-Economic Theory and Pr3ct3ce 183
Author's Foreword
The developed socialist society built in our country is a supreme achievement of
social progress and a natural stage along the path to communism. In a world
where aggressive reactionary forces still are preserved we need a reliable and
effective defense of revolutionary achievements. This is one of the most impor-
tant functions of the socialist state and a matter for all the people.
A country's defensive capability rests on its economic capacities, since "nothing
depends so much on economic conditions as the Army and Navy.i1 The scientific-
technical revoluti~n extremely reinforced the interconnection and interdepend-
ence of war and the economy. Fundamental changes occurred in the nature of
possible warfare and throughout military organizaEional development. At the same
time there was an extraordinary st~rengthening of reverse influence on the economy
by measures invoiving economic support of armed forces. By virtue of this,
economic substantiation of military policy and of every concrete step in national
defense acquired especially great importance.
In order to achieve the assignecl goals with fewest costs (and herein specifically
is the meaning of economic substantiation), one has to know the economics of a
specific sphere of activity and, to master it, one needs above all general
military-economic knowledge. "...Whoever takes up specific issues without first
resolving general issues," cautioned V. I. Lenin, "inevitably will 'stumble' on
these general issues at every step without realizing it."2
The foundation of military economic knowledge consists of Marxist-Leninist theses
on the interconnection of war and ecor_omics, on principles of economic support to
defense, on characteristic traits of the military economy of a socialist state,
and on its fundamental distinctions from the military econom ics of imperialism.
1. Marx, K., and F. Etigels, "Sochineniya"[WorksJ, XX, 171.
2. Lenin, V. I. "Polnoye sobraniye sochineniy" [Complete Collected Works],
XV, 368.
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Of fundamental importance to resolving specific issues is the thorough under-
standing of the extraordinarily complex mechanism for strengthening and realizing
military-economic potential and ways for increasing the effectiveness of using
- funds allocated for defense. This book is devoted to an elucidation of these
theoretical issues.
The scientific-technical revolution and the rapid development of economics and
military affairs are constantly introducing new elements to the resolution of
many issues ~f military economics. It is important to comprehend theoretically
the changes occurring and draw necessary conclusions for practical endeavors.
A study of the essential interconnections of economics, politics and war helps
to overcome oversimplified impressions and bourgeois pseudoscientific theories on
the most vital issue of modern times--tha~t of war and peace. A correct under-
standing of these issues is of especially graat importance under present-day
conditions, when international relations are at a crossroads as it were, leading
either to increased trust and cooperation or to 3 renewal of the "cold war" and
the arms race.
_ Chapter IV - Effectiveness of Economic Support to Defense
Intensive management and a shift of emphasis to effectiveness and quality are
typical of the developed socialist society. This assumes a more detailed under-
standing of the essence and mechanism of actions of economic laws; an improve-
ment in management methods; and a rise in workers' activeness in the struggle to
fulfill economic plans. This is why increasingly complex tasks are being
advanced f.or economic science in the given phase and economic education is
acquiring primary importance.
The issues of increasing effectiveness and quality are of exceptional importance
not only in economics, but also in military organizational development. They
are specific, require consideration for the features of the defense sphere and,
consequently, assume a further development of military-economic science and an
improvement in the economic training of military ca3res.
l. The Need, Essence and Features of an Economic Approach to Defense Problems
The effectiveness of the use of funds allocated for defense holds one of the
leading places among current problems of military economics. This is not a new
problem. It was taken up back in very ancient times, and rules for accounting
~ and reporting were set up in the matter of army supply. As military expenditures
grew, the effectiveness of their use acquired an ever-increasing social impor-
tance. But despite the fact that this problem has been dealt with since ancient
times, there is still much that is vague here, beginning with the very concept
of effectiveness, which in different historical stages has had a far from iden-
tical content.
The effectiveness of military expenditures cannot be viewed abstractly as a
standard-normative category. It reflects the class essence of society and its
- basic economic law. If surplus value is the law of movement of the capitalist
method of production, then profit and itsamountand norm are necessary components
of the concept of effectiveness of economic support for this societq's military
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needs. The social content of effectiveness of defense expenditur~s of the
socialist society is determined by the basic economic law of socialism, which
subordinates production to fullest satisfaction of needs and comprehensive .
development of wor.kers. The comprehensive nature of development, the consumption
and the activities both of an individual and of society depend on saving time,
wrote IC. Marx. Marx considered time economy and its planned distributian by pro-
duction sectors to be the "first economic law" of socialism.l
Being forced to divert a portion of its personnel and funds for military purposes,
the socialist society strives for that use of them in which the goal is achieved
~ in the most economic way. V. I. Lenin stated that "the cause of defending the
- Soviet Republic insistently demands the greatest economy of personnel and the
most productive application of the peop~.e's labor.i2 This task has special siq-
nificance in the defense sphere because here we are speaking not just about ~he
expenditure and replaaement of personnel and resources; the lives of millions of
people and the fate of revoa.utionary achievements depend on the effectiveness
of their use.
And so the social essence of the category of effectiveness of using funds
intended for military purposes is predetermined by the basic economic law. In a
socialist society their most effective use is that which provides for a high
degree of national defense with a minimum diversion of personnel and resource.s
for the accomplishment of direct tasks of building communism. The Greeting of
the CP5U CC, Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet and USSR Council of Ministers
to military personnel on occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Soviet Arnted
_ Forces emphasizes: "The essence of our military policy is everything for an
effective defense, and nothing more than this. The Soviet Union never has armed
itself for the sake of armament; never was and never will be an instigator of
the arms r~ce.i3 ,
The problem of the effective utilization of resources earmarked for defense is a
specific one. It combines not only economics but also political and military
interests and factors. The end result which must be achieved is by its nature a
political result or a military result or both simultaneously. And although it
also has an economic content, in that it affects the development of productive
forces and the people's welfare in one way or another, it is directly incommen-
surate with economic expenditures. A military-economic analysis examines these
exgenditures as the price of the political or militarq effect obtained. Depend-
ing on the nature of the specific task, the unique combination of economic,
political and military factors may advance to the foreground and attach decisive
importance first to one, then the other. Inasmuch as different tasks are being
accomplished at dif�erent levels of leadership and in different areas of military
organizational development, the approach to their economic evaluation and the
role of economic considerations cannot be identical. In one instance the
economic factor plays a decisive role, and in another it acquires importance oniy
"with other things being equal."
A number of specific features are determined by the fact tha~. the effect obtained
and costs connected therewith are incommensurate in the defense sphere. By
virtue of this we have to compare not costs with results directly, buteither compare
variants in achieving a set goal by costs (minimization of costs) or, based on
specific costs, select the most suitable of possible goals (maximization of
results). These are the basic kinds of tasks being accomplished in the process
of a military-economic analysis.
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. The problem of the effectiveness of utilizing resources allocated for defense is
a complex one requiring a systems approach, strict subordination according to
degree of importance, a certain sequence of resolution, and a precise, coordi-
nated system of criteria which consider the sFecific nature of tasks being
accomplished at different levels of economic support of defense.
Concrete examples of a scientific approach to resolution of camplex military-
economic problems are characteristic of V. I. Lenin. For example, in discussing
the question of a program for repair and construction of naval vessels, he said:
"The entire proportion of the ship repair program must be made to conform
with the size of the fleet which for political and economic reasons we decide to
maintain." Assinning that the sum being requested for these purposes was large,
Lenin suggested reducing it to a specific size (seven million rubles) and, based
on this amount, "calculate the proportions in which this au?ount must be desig-
nated for particular purpo~es within the framework of the ship repair program,
and then calculate how we could begin right now converting the aforesaid number
. of our ship repair yards to metal articles needed by the peasants."4 This exam-
ple attests to the precise subordination of problems being resolved according to
- the degree of their importance, and of the need for a concrete analysis of the
= economic, political and military aspects of the problem.
The problem of effectiveness has its specific features at every level and in
every part of economic support of defense. At the highest level it must be
viewed in conformity withthPsum total of social needs, interests and relation-
ships and must be evaluated both from the position of social production as a
whole as well as that of the armed forces, since the former determines military-
economic capacities and resources and the lattPr determines concrete requirements
for military economics. The effectiveness of economic support of defense in this
case will appear as the ratio of the state's military might (the result) to the
scale of the functioning military economic system (the costs connected with main-
_ taining military might)--VM [military might7 to VEM [seale of military economic
system]. The meaning of this ratio is simple. If two states have identical
military force, then the effectiveness of economic support of defense is higher
for the one which achieved this result with the least scale of military economics
and the fewest costs.
This ratio can be presented in different forms. If we are speaking not of the
_ status at this very moment, but of states' maximum capabilities, then military
potential (VP) must be used in place of VM, and economic potential (EP), economic
might (EM) or military-economic potential (VEP) must be used in place of VEPidepend-
ing on the aspect of the problem. Either the minimization of costs at a given
level of military might or maximization of result with given resources can be
used as the criterion of effectiveness.
The effectiveness of economic support of defense can be expressed quantitatively
by various indicators, which are constructed on the basis of a cotnparison of
results and costs. It is customary to characterize military might using indica-
tors of troop strength, number of combat-ready divisions, and numbers of the
basic types of weapons and combat equipment in arm~ies of the belligerent coun-
tries. Corresponding data are given in absolute proportions and in relative terms,
as of a specific moment and in the dynamics. Data on human resources, the
- amount of productive capital, production volume of basic kinds of products, the
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gross product and national income are used as indicators of economic potential
and of economic and military-economic might. The different forms of comparison
of these two groups of indicators are the concrete indicators of effectiveness
- of economic support of defense. None of them pretends to be universal. Each
- one describes effectiveness only to a certain degree and highlights only a cer-
tain aspect and a separate side of it. For example, the ratio of troop strength
to human resources shaws the degree of their mobilizations and the ratio of the
amount of weap ons supplied to troops to economic resources describes the effec-
tiveness of resourc~ utilization for military purposes. A ratio given previously
is very indicative: with approximately 3-4 times less steel and 3-3.5 times less
coal, the USSR produced twice the combat equipment of Germany during the Great
Patriotic War. These data perauasively indicate that the Soviet Union subordi-
nated economic resources for winning victory in the war more fully than did
Germany and used them more efficiently. ~
The effectiveness of economic support of defense is shaped on the basis of the
- effectiveness with which all component elements of the military economic system
and all its parts function. Therefore specific criteria and indicators of effec-
tiveness char acterizing the work of each section of the military-economic system
and each stage of the military-economic process are of exceptionally great
importance for.its optimization. Specific criteria are constructed so as to
reflect th` specific nature of the section being described, and at the same time
so as to enter the framework of requirements of general effectiveness criteria.
Here a breakdown of the process of economic support of defense may reach the
primary part of each structural unit: the enterprise, shop, brigade and work sta-
' tion in the production unit and to the lowest section, service or subunit in the
logistical support system. Optimimn functioning of tne military-economic system
assumes the presence of a developed system of mutually related, precisely aub-
ordinated criteria of its optimization.
Effectiveness criteria of its primary part--military production--are the next
effectiveness criteria of the military-economic system in rank. With respect to
the costs of production of military goods, their measurement bears no substantial
features or differences at all from the measurement of resources of public produc-
tion. The re sult, on the other hand, is very specific--it must be m~asured not
only with an economic yardstick, but with a military one as well. Herein lies
the chief difficulty for developing an effectiveness criterion for military pro-
duction. Based on the purpose of the military-economic system, the result of
functioning of military production is determined not only by the amount of manu-
factured products, but also by what kinds of weapons and combaC equipment are
produced and how the aggregate combat effect expected from the use of these weap-
ons and equipment is correlated with costs. For example, the Soviet T-34 tank
was one of the most effective kinds of weapons in World War II. It is believed
that the colossal expenses of the V-2 were not repaid by the effective operation
of this kind of weapon, and that fascist Germany's only weapon meeting the demand
of maximum eff~ectiveness with minimum expenditure of personnel and resources for
its production was the antitank rocket launcher, the Faustpatrone.s
Selection of weapon systems assumed exceptionally great importance in the modern
scientific-technical revolution. No matter how well and economically organized
military production may be, there can be no mention of its high effectiveness or
that of the military-economic system as a whole if the weapone being manufactured
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are obsolete or do not correspond to the nature of missions assigned the armed
forces. That means a comprehensive and scientifically substantiated approach is
needed to determining military production programs with consideration of the
very latest achievements of military-technical thinking and the demands of modern
military art. The development of precise criteria of military production ~ffec-
tiveness is a necessary condition for success in this matter. This is a complex
- knot in which technical, economic and military problems are intertwined, which
require a complex approach and the use of economic-mathematical modeling and
modern computer technology.
The problem of effectiveness of the armed forces rear and the entire system of
their logistical support is no less specific. The effectiveness of this part of
the milit~:ry-economic system csn be define:i as the capability of providing troops
with weapons, combat equipment and other military goods on a timely basis, in the
necessary amounts, with the necessary assortment and with minimum costs. The
determination, measurement and quantitative expression of the results of work
represent great difficulty. We wi11 touch on two specific problems without going
into the special issues in thP work of the armed forces rear.
The first problem is what should be considered a result, how it is to be measured
- and what indicators should be used to express it. Different indicators are being
used: the amount of ammunition, fuel, rations and other military goods supplied to
the troops and used by them for an entire war, for an operation or for one day in
physical indicators (tons, standard railcars, and so on); the amount of food
products procured, shipping volume by different kinds of transportation; amount
of repairs performed, and so on.
The question of a development of generalizing indicators for the operation of the
armed forces rear thus arises above all, but matters are not reduced 3ust to this.
In describing the amount of work performed by the rear, all these indicators are
insufficiently tied in with results of troop activities. The fact is that logis-
tical support is not a goal in itself, but the means to achieve a goal assigned
to the troops. Therefore the most important characteristic of the rear's effec-
tiveness should be considered its conformity to the missions of the armed forces
and its direction toward their achievement. If such conformity is absent, an
increase in the amount of rear activities may not signify an increase in effec-
tiveness; moreover, it may lead to a drop in effectiveness. As an example let us
refer to the evidence of American military economist Eccles, who analyzed the
activities of the supply service during World War II and concluded that "the
volume of logistical work tends toward an expansion or overstepping of the boundsof
any reasonable proportions, which is not subject to control..." He wrote that
there were instances where American naval supply units "operated so inefficiently
that they not only did not contribute to support of the fleet but, to the con-
trary, became the chief consumers of supplies coming to it."~
It follows from what has been said that the work effectiveness criteria and indi-
cators of the armed forces rear must be linked with the end result of troop
activities or else they will not serve for optimization of the logistical support
system to the proper extent.
The second problem concerns a determination of the contribution of the armed
forces rear toward attainment of the overall result, and an elimination of the
distorting effect of external factors on work effectiveness indicators of the
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rear. The fact is that particular features of military production on the one
hand and features of troop activities on the other influence the work effective-
ness cf the rear. High mobility of war production and the capabilitq to adapt
zapidly to changing troop requirements permits a decrease in stockpiles of mili-
tary goods in the lowest parts of the military-economic system and a reduction
in costs involving attainment of a specific effect. And to the con~rary, if
production does not assure the prompt fulfillment of troop requests, this has a
negative effect on the work effectiveness of the armed forces rear. Various
features of troop operations also have a substantial influence on it: Their dis-
position (the compact or excessively extended nature of lines of communication
affects the volume of logistical work); their fighting proficiency (it has a
direct influence on the amount of amm~unition, fuel and so on required for per-
forming a combat mission); the operational-tactical and military-economic com-
petency of the command element, and so on.
Both problems lead to the idea of an ever-increasing universalization ~t military-
economic knowledge and the need for it to train highly qua.lified military
cadres. There were instances during the war, recalls Mar SU G. K. Zhukov, when
"tens of thousands of tons of ammunition were put out without result. And how
many unsubstantiated and un~ustified regroupings and different kinds of troop
movements were performed during the war! A colossal amount of fuel and other
costly material was consumed for all this and, most important, people's efforts
were spent without any benefit.t8 This emphasizes once again the importance of
military-economic training not only for military cadres engaged directly in
military,economic functions, but also for commanders and political workers. Speak-
ing at the All-Army Conferezce for Improving Troop Welfare, USSR Minister of
Defense Mar SU D. F. Ustinov expressed this idea very clearly. "There is a need
- to improve the style of all our economic work and achieve its highest effective-
ness," he said. "We leaders must be the example in this. Commanders in chief,
commanders, political workers and supply service workers are not simply people
holding particular posts, but active conductors of partq policy in our Armed
Forces, including in the sphere of economic organizational development within
them.i9
2. Military Economics as a Science and Its Significance in Training Military
Cadres
~ The preparation of highly qualified cadres of military economists and raising
the economic education of all Soviet Aimy and Navy specialists and all military
personnel is a necessary condition for high effectiveness in utilizing funds
earmarked for defense. Life suggests that every officer now must be familiar
with a broad range of military-economic issues both of a general theoretical and
applied nature. He has to know the features of the action of economic l~aws in
the deiense sphere and master the fundamentals of military-economic analysis and
an approach to daily tasks with economic criteria so as to raise the effective-
ness of utilizing funds and physical assets and the effectiveness of all work.
This also is of great importance for economic indoctrination of personnel and
for increasing their activeness in combat training and conducting a regime of
economy.
A well-developed and differentiated system of such education has been created in
the country on the basis of resolutions of congresses of the party, which teach
that economic education of all cadres and broad toiling masses acquires primarq
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importance in the present stage of building communism. It is in this system that
many millions of toilers of industry and agriculture acquired economic knowledge.
In further developing economic education, the party is striving to ensure that
it contributes to the maximum to a dissemination of foremost experience of labor
- organization everywhere and to introduction of the achievements of science and
technology in production.l~ All this also relates fully to the economic educa-
tion of off icer cadres and all military personnel.
A study of Marxist-Leninist political economy and other economic sciences com-
prises the basis of economic education. Economic laws dictate behavioral logic
for every Soviet citizen, including military personnel. By arming a person wirh
a knowledge of objective economic laws, political economy permits a correct evalu-
ation of states' military-economic capacities and an understanding of the
features of their realization as determined by a given Pconomic and political
system. But in order to take account of the demands of economic laws in the
military sphere knowledgeably, it is absolutely necessary for a person to have a
knowledge of military science as well and of concrete military-economic and spe-
cial disciplines, and he needs a specific goal orientation for this knowledge.
Military-economic theory contributes to this goal orientation. Its study pro-
vides the necessary connection between political economy and other econotnic
sciences on the one hand and with military sciences on the other. It activates
and integrates this knowledge and permits an understanding of the operating
features of economic laws in the defense sphere and mastery of the methodology of
an approach to and proper accounting of their requirements in daily military
activities. In addition, in training engineer and economic cadres, it is the
general theoretical base for specific military-economic disciplines being studied,
allows a detailed comprehension of their content and performs a methodological
function with respect to them. Let us dwell on the question of the subject and
place of the theory of military economics among other sciences.
It was explained in Chapter I that military economics as an objective reality has
two aspects: technical-economic and social-economic. The first aspect is studied
by military-technical and special sciences, while the second, i.e., social rela-
tionships formed in connection with the production, distribution, exchange and
consumption of military goods, is studied by the theory of military economics.
Having originated on the boundary between economic and military sciences and
relying on them as its basis, the theory of military economics makes extensive
use of their scientific apparatus. For example, the categories "military-
economic potential," "military production" and "military consumption" are deriva-
tive from the categories "economic potential," "production" and "consumption" and
_ express interrelationships and phenomena similar to tl-iose reflected in the given
categories of political econoury. The presence of general elements ~n these
phenomena permits use of one and the same categories. At the same time, the spe-
cific nature of these phenomena in the sphere of military economics is emphasized
by the attribute "military": military production, military consumption and so
on. Use of these categories, a clarification of the specific nature of the action
of laws uncovered by political economy in the sphere of military economics, reli-
ance on prov isions of military sciences, and application of the material of spe-
cific economic and military-technical disciplines comprises a necessary condition
� for developing a truly scientific method and a system of categories, laws and
principles of military-economic science.
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The most essential aspects of military-economic relations and the stable cause-
and-effect ties of phenomena and processes of military economics find their
reflection in objective laws. Penetrating deeper and deeper into the essence of
military-economic relations, military economics as a science uncovers the laws
_ and principles internally inherent to them and the mechanism of their action arid use.
An increasingly deeper penetration into the essence of military-economic rela~ion-
ships and processes presumes an understanding not only of their qualitative
aspects, but of their quantitative definiteness as well. Possibilities of a quanti-
tative expression of particular military-economic processes are predetermined on
_ the one hand by the nature of these processes and their inherent dialectics of
quantity and quality and, on the other hand, by the level of science development,
i.e., by the degree of understanding of the essence of these pro~cesses and by suc-
cesses of mathematics and computer technology in the matter of their formalization.
- The exceptional complexity of the relationships they express and the high degree
of abstraction is a feature of economic laws. In describing economic laws, F.
Engels wrote that "none of them have any other reality than in an approximation,
in a trend, in an average, but not in /direct/ actuality. This occurs in part
because their action crisscrosses with the simultaneous action of other laws and
in part as a result of their nature as concepts.i11 For example, studying the ~
~ dynamics of the mean profit norm, K. Marx identifies first of all the main
interrelationship--the inversely proportionate dependence of the amount of the
profit norm on the level of organic construction and turnover time of capital;
and secondly, the large number of factors counteracting a reduction in the mean
profit norm and which gives its law the nature only of a trend toward reduction.
The features of economic laws generate a skeptical attitude toward their mathe-
matical interpretation in some economists and mathematicians. For example, N.
Viner, one of the orginators of cybernetics, believed, in emphasizing the com-
plexity and dynamic nature of economic phenomena, that it was "useless and dis-
honest" to ascribe a special precision to economic values and "deception and an
empty waste of time" to apply precise formulas to them.12
Wit?~ respect to the laws of military economics, these features stand out in even
greater relief in them, since here we are dealing with secondary, derivative
relationships, and a need to consider crisscrossing actions of economic laws,
laws of warfare, and military-economic laws and principle~. Nevertheless, an
ever deeper ur_derstanding of the essence of these relations:~ips, clarification
of the action mechanism of their inherent laws, and the level of development
reached by mathematics and computer technology opened up new opportunities for
creating mathematical models of economic, including military-economic, processes.
The works of academicians L. V. Kantorovich and V. S. Nemchinov, professors V. V.
Novozhilov and A. L. Lur'ye and others made an important contribution to this
matter. In recent years the quantitative aspect ~f ~ilitary-economic phenomena is
attracting more and more attention of military economists.
Based on the general law of war's dependence on economics, military-economic
science studies concrete forms of their interaction determined by the given
- level of economic development and its inherent method of warfare, i.e., it
studies above all historically concrete methods of economic support of wars.
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By clarifying available economic capabilities and demands of warfare and the con-
tent of military-economic relations forming ob3ectively on these bases, it reveals
natural ties of military-economic phenomena and processes inherent to a given
stage of development. By studying them in close connecti.on with the technical
aspect of military economics, it serves as a theoretical basis for comprehending
concrete manifestations of these principles in individual sectors of military-
economic endeavor (transportation, supply, finances and so on), which are studied
by sectorial and special military-economic disciplines. The theory of military
economics is linked with these disciplines, relies on their data, generalizes
them, and is enriched and developed as a result of the interaction with them.
Concrete methods of economic support of wars are examined in their development.
Military economics is linked with economic history and militarq-historical science
and has its own history. What occurs is not a simple accumulation and systemati-
zation of knowledge (laws, categories and principles) which reflect processes of
the economic support of warfare more and more fully and correctly. In time cer-
tain conclusions of military-economic science lose their significance while others
are updated and transformed. New fields of science open up and new problems
appear simultaneously with this.
/And so military-economic relations in their integrity are the sub~ect of the
theory of military economics./ In studying the relationships of production, dis-
tribution, exchange and consumption of military goods in their internal unity and
conditionality and in their interconnection with the technical aspect of military
economics, with all economics and with political and militarq affairs, military
economics as a science clarifies ob~ective laws and principles of economic support
of wars in different stages of historical development. Together with other
economic, military and special sciences, it is called upon to substantiate scien-
tifically the most effective solutions to contemporary military-economic tasks of
defending the socialist homeland and maintaining a constant combat readiness
guaranteeing an immedizte rebuff to any aggressor.
Military economies is a profoundly class, party science. In its goals, method,
class-political character,and ideological directions, it is the opposite of vari-
- ous bourgeois military-economic teachings. In serving the selfish interests of
the imperialist bourgeoisie, these teachfngs are reactionary and antiscientific.
Serving the high goals of defending socialism and the building of co~?unism, and
the cause of peace and progress represents ti-~efirm foundation ~f the genuine
scientific and progressive nature of socialist military-economic theory.
- The struggle of the two ideologies is especially acute in the military-economic
sphere. Bourgeois military economists deal not only in questions of aggressive
wars, but also in their justification. In contrast to this, the military-
economic science of socialist society exposes all apologies of militarism,
reveals the true substance and reactionary nature of imperialism's military
economics, and clarifies the need, features and advantages of. socialist military
- economics and ways of realizing them.
In the process of its development, every science develops a method corresponding
to its sub~ect and tasks. The development of military economics as a sci~nce is
linked inseparably with the application of laws and categories of materialistic
dialectics to an analysis of the economic support of wars. This permitted
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identifying military-economic relationships from among the simm total of 5ocial
relationships and clarifying their natural link with the development of
economics, politics and warfare, the dialectical unity of which is determined by
the development of the economic support of wars. The replacement of periods of
slow evolutionary changes with revolutionary leaps marking a replacement of
methods of economic support of wars appeared as a result of corresponding natural
processes in the development of productive forces, production relationships and
- the political superstructure. The laws and categories of materialistic dialec-
tics are the basis for understanding specific military-economic principles and
categories. The method of military economics is nothing more than concretiza-
tion of dialectical materialism as applicable to its features and tasks. It is
characterized by the broad use of mathematics and electronic computer technology
for the purpose of understanding the quantitative relationships of processes
being studied as well as for modeling military economics and developing the foun-
dations of military-economic analysis and crit~ria for selection of optimum solu-
tions. The need for considering a wide range of factors relating not only to
strictly military economics, but also to the entire national economy, politics
and warfare, and the need for comparing and correlating quite heterogeneous
phenomena of economics and warfare reinforce the importance of a universal
method--materialistic dialectics--for military-economic science.
Military economics as a science studies a most important field of military
organizational development, and this determines its importiance for training
military cadres and elaborating the most important theoretiical and.app~ied
problems of economic. support of the armed defense of socialist countries. In
training commanders, political workers and specialists of various profiles, it is
important to arm them with a system of military, economic and special knowledge
revealing the complex mechanism of ob3ective laws by which the military organism
functions, including military-economic laws. This is what goes to create the
foundation on which the high political awareness of military cadres and their
desire to work imaginatively and zealously, thus achieving high effectiveriess in -
utilizing resources earmarked for defense, alone can be realized in concrete
deeds. A know~.edge of militarq economics is necessary for developing the correct
overall view and concrete methods and methodologies of militarq-economic analysis,
which is beginning to receive increasing emphasis in the work of army and navy
economic and engineering-technical specialists. The methodological function of
military economics is of very great importance in training cadres.
The growing importance of economic education of military cadres is reflected in
- the programs of military educational institutions and the command training system,
in agitprop work and in the military press. This is quite natural, since the
task of improving the economic training of officer cadres can be accomplished
successfully only on condition of universal attention to it and complete use o�
available reserves.
No matter how much the training process improves in academies and schools and no
matter how much the propaganda of military-economic knowledge is bettered, the
officer's independent work will of course remain as before the basic method for
increasing his level of economic education. As a rule, independent work intro-
duces a certain goal-orientation, inventiveness and interest in training, since
it usually contains an impetus coming from life and day-to-day work and a search
for answers to questions posed by practical work.
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The most important element in independent work is above all a detailed and
_ imaginative study of the works of Marx, Engels and Lenin and docwnents of the
CP3U and Soviet government. They contain the foundation of success, since wotks
by the founders of Marxism-Leninism have a permanent ideological and methodologi-
cal importance and their study helps develop a correct approach to contemporary
military-economic problems. Marxism-Leninism created an orderly teaching on war
and the army, revealed natural interrelationships of war and economics, and
clarified the essence, class nature, place and role of military economics. The
works of Lenin for the first time provided a scientific analysis of economic
principles of imperialistic wars, of the essence of "a capitalistic economy for
- war and military-state monopoly capitalism, and of a broad range of military-
economic problems of imperialism.
Lenin formed the foundations of Soviet military economics as a science and pro-
vided ingenius examples of a practical solution to problems of economic support
of the defense of socialism. A study of Lenin's work is a necessary condition
for thorough mastery of military-economic science.
It is important in any matter not only to master knowledge, but also to acquire an
ability to apply the knowledge obtained. Samples of a capable implementation of
theoretical conclusions are provided by the many-sided work of the Communist
Party in the field of economic support of national defense. Its basis consists
of Leninist ideas on the importance of the state's economic organization, on
the unity of the front and rear, on the entire country's conversion to a single
military camp during war, on the need for serious and comprehensive preparation
for the defense of socialism and others. How did the party apply them in fact
and how did it develop them? An answer to these questions is provided.by corre-
sponding party and state documents and by the works of L. I. ~rezhnev and other
party and state leaders. A study of them arms one with knowledge of practical
party experience and the method of an imaginative approach to tasks of economic
support of a defense of socialism's achievements.
There is very rich material contained in the basic works by collectives of
Soviet scientists devoted to the Civil and Great Patriotic wars and in works by
Soviet state, party, economic and military workers. Theq cover specific issues
of economic support of our Motherland's defense in various phases of its
historic history. They clearly and persuasivelq show the basic features and
advantages of Soviet military economics and expose reactionary teachings of the
apologists of imperialism. Works dedicated to contemporary military economics
are of special interest.
In refuting bourgeois military-economic teaching on the main, fundamental
points, it is impossible not to see or take account of developments on specific
military-economic problems in capitalist countries. Take for example the system
for evaluating and substantiating decisions in the field of military organiza-
tional development, the so-called PPB (planning-programming-budgeting) system.
According to foreign specialists, the effectiveness of resource utilization is
increased as a result of its application. For example, the U.S. Defense Depart-
ment used it to establish the irrationality of a large number of systems under
development (the B-70 bomber, Skybolt air-launched missile) and rejected them.
Conversion to the PPB system facilitated development of a standardization of
military products. For example, while there were 78 types of internal combustion
engines of %2-2G hp ir~ tne U. S. Armed Forces in World War II, now a total of six �
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models have been developed for this range of power and the number of parts for ;
manufacturing engines has been cut tens of times.i3 There is no doubt that the :
PPB system facilitates a rationalization of imperialism's war machinery. but in
serving the interests of the military-industrial complex it is being used to ;
intensify the arms race. With respect to general theoretical matters, bourgeois ~
scientists capable of providing valuable work in specialized fields cannot be
believed one bit when the talk turns'to general theory. Y~enin directed atten- i
tion to this repeatedly, emphasizing that the bourgeois "professor-economiste F
are nothing more than learned henchmen of the class of capitalists...i1`` j
3. Current Issues of Military-Economic Theory and Practice
New capabilities for productive studies bQth of a general theoretical and basic
nature as well as of an applied nature, open up at the boundary of different
sciences. Military economics is the ~unction point in which social and natural
sciences, economics, politics and military affairs interlace. There is a broad ~
field for study here and its currency and importance is exceptionally great. ~
An increase in the role of basic, general theoretical research is a general
feature of modern times. The correctness of words to the ef�ect that there is
nothing more practical than a good theory is especially understandable under '
conditions where science more and more is becoming a diract productive force
and when the gap between ma3or scientific discoveries and their realization is
being reduced sharply. The present practice of financing scientific research
and development pro~ects in developed countries, including the USSR, attests to
the fact that approximately one-third of appropriat3ons are spent to conduct
scientific research and two-thirds for development work. At the same time one
notes a certain increase in the share of appropriations,for basic researc'h.
Every science has its own general theoretical and applied tasks, and theq are
present in military economics as we11. General theoretical research has
acquired special urgency. The fact is that essential changes are occurring in
economic support of defense. They are caused, first of all, bq the rapid devel-
opment of productive forces and economic capacities as a resuLt of the
scientific-technical revolution; secondly, by revolutionary transformations in
means of armed warfare and in military affairs as a whole taking place on this
basis; and thirdly, by the dynamic process of opposition of the two world
systems--capitalist and socialist. These changes are touching not the indi-
vidual aspect of economic support of defense, but encompass the entire syatem of
military-economic relationships as a whole and are being improved~Sconstantlq.
Therefore it is necessary to have eystem~tic,complex general theoretical research
in the field of military economics which perntits delving deeper into the easence
of military-economic processes, reflecting them in the form of a strictly subor-
dinated system of laws, categories and principles; to generalize and systematize
the knowledge gained in concrete economic and military disciplines; and analyze
current military-economic activities. These are necessary conditions for the
scientific substantiation and perfection of the state's military policy and of
all endeavors in the field of economic support of defense.
As the essence of military-economic processes and their qualitative aspects are
clarified, the center of gravity shifts to their quantitative characterization,
the conduct of applied military-economic research and development of practical
recommendations on the most important tasks and directions of economic support
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of defense under present-day conditions. The level reached in development of
mathematics and computer technology creates new opportunities for mathematical
, modeling of military-economic processes, but these opportunities can be realized
only on the basis of an excension in the degree of understanding of the essence
of military-economic phenomena and their inherent ob~ective laws. Therefore a
detailed theoretical elaboration of military-economic categories and laws as a
single, thoroughly dissected and strictly subordinated system has become the pri-
- mary task of the general theory of military economics in the present stage. This
is a complex, many-sided task requiring methodological unity and coordination of
efforts of different collectives specializing in specific directions of work.
There are numerous outputs from it to cont~mporary practical military-economic
activity, since it is inseparably linked with a proper understanding of the
essence and main trends in development of military economics and ways of
strengthening military-economic potential, with an increase in effectiveness of
utilizing funds allocated for defense, and with questions of cadre training.
Those basic directions of economic support of national defenses mentioned in the
first chapter draw attention above all among the rather broad range of current
military-economic problems. Each of them requires a comprehensive theoretical
elaboration on the basis of a complex approach. In addition, there are problems
permeating all directions of military-economic endeavor.
/Strengthening of the military-economic potential/ is one of the basic directions
of economic support of defense and at the same time one of the fundamental prob-
lems of military-economic science. A comprehensive study of the content and
structure of military-economic potential and of its interdependence with economic
and military might is necessary for a study of the military-economic capabilities
of one's own state and of probable enemies, of the existing correlation of forces
and of their dynamics; and it is necessary for developing military policy and
doctrine. Opportunities are especially broad here and there is an especially
insistent need for applying achie~vements of mathematics and contemporary computer
technology. There must be a theoretical elaboration of the methodology and pro-
cedures of mathematical modeling of public reproduction. A special complexity is
presented by an accounting for the effect of social-economic factors on the
dynamics of economic might and military-economic capabi~.ities. Practical studies
of the military-economic capabilities of individual states and coalitions must
develop on the basis of the solution to theoretical problems of military-economic
potential.
/Economic moblization./ With the appearance of military needs, a differentiation
of military and civilian production occurs, specific interrelationships form
between them, and the problem of a proper distribution of personnel and resources
intended for satisfaction of particular socia7. needs arises. Study of the inter-
relationships of militarq and civilian production in each phase of development is
a necessary condition for clarifying the limits of economic mobilization, the
magnitude of the military-economic potential, optimum ratios of military and
civilian production, ways and methods for military reorganization of the economy
and a number of other problems which must be solved in order to develop the most
common guidelines in the field of economic support of defense. The study of this
group of relationships has been given especially great attention since World War
I~ which required the reorganization and subordination of the entire national
economy of warring states to the satisfaction of military needs. Nevertheless,
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these issues are very current even today, since fundamental changes in the method
of economic.support of defense and warfare which occurred in the postwar period
introduced much that was new to the interrelationship of military and civilian
production. ,
One of the.features of economic mobilization in the present stage is its /multiple
variants/, determined by the possibility of quite varied wars, requirements of
which for a military reorganization c~f the economy differ substantially in con-
tent, scale and time. Another feature consists of the sharplq increased impor-
tance of /mobility of the economic system/. The economic sgstem must adapt
rapidly to changing conditions and needs of warfare, caused first of all by the
multiple variants of economic mobilization; secondly, by the fact that the scope
and composition of military needs in the era of scientific-technical revolution
are sub~ect to frequent abrupt changes in peacetime, let alone in wartime; and
thirdly, by the fact that the status and conditions for functioning of the
national economy also will change often and abruptly in modern warfare as a result
of a reinforcement of its maneuverable character and sharplq increased capabil-
ities of armed influence on the economic system. This adaptability depends on
/preliminary preparation/ for possible reorganizations. Economic-mathematical
modeling of corresponding processes and the "gaming" of different variants of
economic mobilization as well as variants for restoration of the economic system
subjected to armed pressure on the part of the enemy help understand the make-up
and character of necessary preparatory measures.
Relationships in the process of /production of military goods/ make up a most
important group of military-economic relationships. As has been explained, in
the narrow sense of the word military production signifies the production of the
end military product going directly to the troops. It plays a decisive part with
respect to other phases of the military-economic process--distribution, exchange
and consumption. At the same time, military production is the chief structural
element of the military-economic system, since the character, quantity and qual-
ity of weapons and combat equipment being produced determine the possible scale
and character of military consumption, the system of troop supply and activities
of the armed forces rear as a connecting link between military production and
ultimate military consumption. By virtue of this, studies of relationships in
the sphere of military production have a fundamental, key importance in the
understanding of relationships and processes occurring in other links of the
military-economic system.
/Military production must be examined not only in the narrow sense, but also in
the broad sense of the word,/ having in mind the entire system of relationships
connected with economic support of defense. In this sense, along with production
of the end military product, it also includes production of ineans of production
for military production and production of consumer goods for workers engaged in
military production. A broad approach to military production is necessary first
of all because it provides a key to solving problems of economic mobilization
already mentioned; and secondly, because without such an approach it is impossi-
ble to understand the social essence of military production and features of its
functioning stemming therefrom. Since military production is based on produc-
tion in general, features of the historically concrete method of production with
its advantages or flaws directly affect it. Advancement of the task of combining
achievements of the scientific-technical revolution organically with advantages
of developed socialism also is of fundamental importance for the military-economic
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~ system and its effectiveness. Finally, an examination of military production in
the broad sense is necessary in the interests of a systems approach to economic
issues of a single military-technical policy, since it cannot be separated from
the common front of scientific-technical progress.
/Problems of military distribution and consumption/ and consequently of the organ-
izational development and functioning of the economic organism of the armed forces,
hold a special place in the range of military-economic problems. As has been
noted, military distribution and consumption in peacetime serve combat training,
and in wartime they serve armed warfare. In this sense their study is a subject
- of military science. At the same time, however, military distribution and con-
sumption are the intermediate and final phases in the process of functioning of
the military-economic system, and the economic organism of armed forces is a
link within it. That means these problems have an economic content which
military-economic science is called upon to reveal. This is necessary for a more
effective and economic solution to corresponding problems of military organiza-
tional development.
Issues of logistical support rivet the attention of many sciences and many
researchers. There are scientific research institutes in western countries
engaged in problems of logistical support. For example, an A~rmed Forces Logis-
~tics Management Institute was set up in the United States in 1961. It drew up
programs for supply economy and fighting surpluses and for such procurement u?etY,ods
as incentive contracts and fixed-cost contracts. In view of the fact that prob-
lems of logistical support are within the sphere of many sciences, their study
requires a complex approach and coordination.
The problem of /effective use of funds earmarked for defense/ is a problem which
permeates all aspects of military-economic endeavor. This problem is not ~ust
one of military-economic science. The highest effectiveness of military
economics will be reduced to naught if military leaders, the co~anders, have not
developed the desire and ability to win victory with fewest losses of people and
supplies.
"The problem of economic utilization of human and material resources in a period
of war has been and always will be one of the most important,i15 noted Mar SU G.
K. Zhul~ov in a foreword to N. A. Antipenko's book.
The complexity and multifaceted nature of the problem of effectivenesa assumes
the need for developin~ its ~eneral methodolo~ical principles desi~ned to assure
a uniform approach to solvin~ concrete problems of effectiveness in all defense
spheres. On the other hand, development of simple, rather precise /particular
methods of military-economic analysis easily understood by appropriate special-
ists is an appropriate condition for achieving high effectiveness of the military-
economic system as a whole, of each of its individual parts, and of specific deci-
sions by commanders of all ranks. The work of raising the effectiveness of all
kinds of military endeavor and all structural elements of the Armed Forces is
being analyzed more and more under conditions of nationwide attention to problems
of effectiveness and quality. A comprehensive development of Soviet soldiers'
creative acti~reness, of rationalization and invention, patriotic initiative and
socialist competition, and an upswing in economic work atnong the troops are very
effective means for rationalizing the economic organism of the Armed Forces and
for increasing the effectiveness of military work.
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/The study of international military-economic relationships/ is one of the.current
and very difficult complex problems. This problem acquired special acuteness and
importance in the postwar period in connection with the formation of two world
systems and the rapid~development in each of them of integration processes whiclt
gripped economics, politics and military affairs--all aspects of state life.
External military-economic relationships in the capitalist world have colossal
scope and importance. IZew forms have appeared as a supplement to the traditional
form of these relationships--the arms trade, which saw exceptionally great devel-
opment in the postwar years: military assistance, military production on the basis
a of foreign licenses, joint research, development and production of armaments, the
creation and development of a military infrastructure on the territory of coun-
tries participating in aggressive military blocs, and so on. It is impossible to
assess the real scope and basic directions of physical preparation of war by
aggressive forces or to understand the actual processes occurring in the military
economic system of imperialism without a thorough analysis of a11 these forms. In
solving all military-economic problems at any level one no~+ has to take account
of their international aspects. When we speak of military-economic potential, we
must examine it in a system of states and in the make-up of a coalition. When we
study military production, we can evaluate it correctly only with consideration
of the international division of labor. But it is not only problems of produc-
tion, economic mobilization and vitality of the economy which have an interna-
tional aspect; but also questions of transportation, communication and troop
logistical support ~re resolved with consideration of the capabilities and inter-
ests of a coalition.
A developed system of military-economic relationships also exists in the social-
ist community of countries, as mentioned earlier. It is fully understandable
that a comprehensive study of coalition problems and their consideration in
military-economic activity is necessary for realization of the advantages of a
world socialist system.
/Generalization of the experience of economic support of wars in defense of
socialism/ is one of the important tasks of military-economic science. This
experience permits a deeper understanding of the advantages of socialism and the
art of their realization. The decisive role of the Communist Partq's management
activities was displayed in all its greatness during the Civil and Great
Patriotic wars. It was thanks to these activities that all sources of strength
contained in the socialist social and state system were used fully for victory.
The need has matured to create a scientific history of the military-economfc
system of socialism and illuminate this important aspect of the many-sided proc-
' ess of struggle for establishing socialism. This is a task which goes far beyond
the narrowly specialized military-economic framework.
The history of the military economic system from its inception to our daqs
written from a Marxist position would have very great importance along with the
creation of the history of socialist military economics. This would be a docu-
ment of supreme importance: Historians have estimated that some 15,000 wars
have taken place over the last five millennia. Some four billion persons per-
ished in these wars, which approximately equals the entire present population of
- earth. Capitalism and imperialism brought the most disastrous of them. Lenin
saw in victorious socialism for the first time in history the appearance of a
physical force capable of opposing war.i16 Now the Soviet Union and other
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socialist countries are a reliable bulwark of peace and the center of gravitation
of all peaceloving forces.
These are the most urgent problems of military-economic scienCe. They are closely
interconnected and interdependent, being successive links in a single process of
economic support of defense of the socialist state. Close interaction and precise
c:oordination of the work of collectives engaged in elaborating them is a necessary
condition for successful resolution of these problems. The presence of a single
theoretical and methodological base is the main coordinating factor here.
FOOTNOTES~
1. Cf: K. Marx and F. Engels, "Sochineniya" [Works], Vol 46, Part I, p 117.
2. V. I. Lenin, "Polnoye sobraniye sochineniy" [Complete Collected Works],
Vol 37, p 367.
3. PRAVDA, 23 February 1978.
4. Lenin, Vol. 45, pp 312-313. ~
5. Cf: P. V. Sokolov, "Voyna i lyudskiye resursy" [War and Human Resources],
Moscow, 1961, p 51.
6. Cf: "Itogi vtoroy mirovoy voyny" [Results of World War IIJ, collection of
articles, Moscow, 1957, p 362.
7. Eccles, H., "Rol' tyla v voyne" [Role of the Rear in War], pp 112-114.
8. Quatation from the book: N. A. Antipenko, "Na glavnom napravlenii" [On the
Main Axis], p 17.
9. D. F. Ustinov, "Izbrannyye rechi i stat'i" [Selected Speeches and Articles],
p 411.
10. Cf: L. I. Brezhnev, "Leninskim kursom" [With a Leninist Course], speeches
and articles, Vol 5, p 537.
11. Marx and Engels, Vol 39, p 355.
12. N. Viner, "Tvorets i robot" [The Creator and the Robot], Moscow, 1966, p 100.
_ 13. Cf: Yu. S. Solnyshkov, "Ekonomicheskiye faktory i vooruzheniye" [Economic
Factors and Armament], Moscow, 1973, p 64.
14. Lenin, Vol 18, p 364.
15. Antipenko, p 17.
16. M. Suslov, "Historical Truth of Lenin's Ideas and Work," KOMMUNIST, No 4,
1980, p 27.
COPYRIGHT: Voyenizdat 1981
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GROUND FORCES
BOOK EXCERPTS: ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF SOVIET AIRBORNE TROOPS
Moscow DESANTNIKI ATAKUYUT S NEBA in Russian 1980 (signed to press 19 Aug 80)
pp 1-4, 109-152
[Annotation, foreword, and text of last chapter "Always in Combat Readiness" from
book "Paratroopers Attack From the Sky", by I. I. Lisov and A. F. Korol'chenko,
Voyenizdat, 65,000 copies, 152 pages]
- [Text] This book is dedicated to the glorious Soviet paratroopers. It describes
the birth of the airborne troops, the heroism of paratroopers in the Great Patriotic
War, and their service and combat training in peacetime.
It is intended for a wide rar~ge of readers.
Table of Contents Page
They Were the First
In the Beginning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
The "Parachute" Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
The Pioneer of Soviet Parachute Making . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Pilot, Designer, Parachutist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Brigade Commander Minov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
From the Cohort of Honor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Girls in the Sky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
A Son of Dagestan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Paratroopers in Combat
In the Enemy Rear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Lodeynoye Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
The Rnutine of War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
At Loym~la . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
An Old Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Always in Combat Readiness
Paratroopers Attack From the Sky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
The Coriquerors of the Heights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Clear Skies for You, Lieutenants! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
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Foreword
Heavy military transporters fly above the fields and forests in sharp formation.
They are escorted by supersonic fighters and fighter-bombers. The airborne armada
approaches the drop zone. The signal lights flash on in the airplane; the huge
hatches open up, and soon multiple-canopy parachute systems begin lowering equipment
to the ground. The crews of the combat assault vehicles touch down beside the latter.
Surveying the actions of the paratroopers, who enter into simulated combat im�nediately
after landing, one can no longer refer to them simply as "winged infantry", as they
were affectionately named by the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War and
in the first postwar years. The mighty wings of militaYy transport aviation, the
strong armor and powerful engines of the armored troops, powerful annihilatory
artillery fire, and high mobility and maneuverability on the battlefield all typify
the modern Soviet airborne troops. They are called the air guard today.
The airborne troops are vigilantly guarding the peaceful labor of the Soviet people
in a single formation with soldiers of other arms and services of the Soviet Armed
Forces. They are honorably performing their duty of protecting the socialist mother-
land.
Paratroopers have modern combat vehicles, tanks, self-propelled guns, antitank and
antiaircraft ~eapons, motor vehicles, and various engineering equi.pment at their
c3isposal. All of this equipment can be landed by parachute together with the required
personnel, and it can be delivered to the required place by military transport air-
craft.
The unique features of a paratrooper's military service require that he be physically
fit, strong, and persevering, that he have the ability to get his bearings quickly on
the ground, and that he have excellent mastery of the tactics of close combat.
- Boldness and fearlessness, heroism and selfless devotion to the motherland, high
mi.litary proficiency, and firm soldier's friendship distinguish the Guards-paratroopers.
Soldiers in blue berets speak of their service in the air guard with affection; they
carefully preser~~~ and multiply the glorious combat traditions of their units and
subunits, and tae-~ always take special pride in saying: "We are paratroopers!"
Always in Combat Readiness
Paratroopers Attack From the Sky
- The Great Patriotic War was a harsh test for the airborne troops, as well as for
all of the Soviet Armed Forces. They honorably withstood this test, and made a
worthy contribution to the victory over the enemy. Paratroopers displayed unexcelled
heroism, bravery, and high combat proficiency.
- The Great Patriotic War showed that the success of the airborne troops, this young
branch of troops of the Soviet Armed Forces, is based on the high combat skill of the
units and formations, on presence of new weapons in the troops and the means for
delivering them to the rear, and on the high moral-political and psychological
qualities of paratroopers.
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Today the airborne troops have risen to a higher level ir. their developu?ent. They
are outfitted with modern combat equipment and armament, and they are carried to
their drop zones by top-class military transport aircraft that can convey missiles,
tanks, self-propelled guns, and varieus vehicl~s. Paratroopers possess the lateat
equipment, and highly sophisticated devices, instruments, and mechanisms.
It is true that the organization, armament, and training of the airborne troops have
changed, but their devotion to the Communist Party, their faithfulness to the mother-
land, and their constant readiness to defend their motherland remain unchanged.
Soldiers of the airborne troops have demonstrated this high combat readiness and
their m~ral and fighting qualities many times at major Soviet Army exercises such as,
for example, "Dnepr", "Dvina", and "Yug". Let us look at two of them in greater
detail.
Soldiers of the armed forces reported their successes in combat and political
training to the Communist Party, Soviet government, and the motherland on the eve
of the 50th anniversary of Great October. A graphic example of the power and combat
skill of the Soviet troops was demonstrated at the "Dnepr" troop maneuvers.
Troops of several military districts participated in the~combat activities at the
maneuvers. The airborne troops were represented by Guards units and subunits that
~ had earned glory for themselves several times in the Great Pat~iotic iNar. The para-
troopers have honorably accepted the baton from the veterans of the past war, and
they have once again confirmed the glory of their order-bearing Guards units.
The columns of troops flowed hundreds of kilometers like mighty currents of molten
steel. Missile carriers and fighter-bombers rushed swiftly in all directions over
the Dnieper and Pripyat'.
During the battle for the first line of defense, long-range aviation struck the deep
rear of the defenses. And as if taking on the fighter bombers in a duel of pro-
ficiency, dozens of heavy helicopters dropped airborne units into the engagement
from the air. The helicopter assault units had to help the troops attacking from
the front to penetrate into the defenses more quickly. The paratroopers proved by
their deeds that no mission is ever impossible to them. In the first day of the
offensive the helicopter assault units held their airheads on their own for several
hours, until the forward units of the advancing troops joined them.
- When on the second day of the maneuvers the advance of "East" in the main sector was
halted, the command once again decided to land an even larger tacticaZ assault unit
in "West's" rear by helicopter.
The morning was overcast. Low clouds hovered over the forest. It began to rain.
Using airborne troops under these conditions seemed impossible. Nevertheless the
paratroopers prepared for their mission. And despite the c3ifficult situation, the
helicopter pilots raised the winged infantry into the air and landed deep in "West"
defenses, exactly where they were supposed to.
The helicopters also ferried self-propelled guns, armored transporters, guns, and
mortars.
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The subunits quickly prepared for attack. The Guards had to engage in field firing
as part of a reinforced battalion. Enemy positions were simulated by practice
targets. They were set up on terrain unfamiliar to the participants, and they were
well ::amouflaged. The manner in which the practice targets were set up reflected
the enemy's most sophisticated combat resources. And high comba~ proficiency and
artful use of weapons were needed to discover"West's" defense system and win.
Batteries of artillery and rocket launchers supported the parachutists with a
powerful fire strike. The fire storm raged above the "enemy" defenses. T'he practice
targets fell as if clipp ~d by a mower. Gun, tank, and combat vehicle mock-ups flew
apart into splinters. The avalanche of fire annihilated evexything in its path.
The paratroopers displayed high gunnery skill, and the ability to hit targets accu-
rately with all forms of infantry weapons: Ninety-eight percent of the targets were
struck. An outstanding result!
- On 26 September, in the second half of the day, when the events reached their highest
pitch, the command of the "East" decided to airlift a Guards airborne formation from
airfields in the deep rear and commit it to the engagement. Its mission was to
make a surprise invasion into the disposition of "West's" operational reserves, in
direct proximity to one of their important control posts, and quickly capture it to-
gether with offensive znissiles. Moreover the parachutists had to capture a large
airfield and support the transfer of aombat equipment to it for the purposes of
reinforcing the airborne assault.
Airships carrying parachutists of the forward airborne detachment, scouts, and an
airborne support group were the first to reach the landing zone. They dropped
swiftly to the ground beneath cream-colored and gray parachute canopies, firing
their automatic weapons while still in the air to clear out the landing site. Landing,
- the paratroopers quickly advanced toward their objectives and toward lines that were
to block the approach of "enemy" units.
The ai.rborne support group set up its homing radar equipment, designated the
offset aiming points, and set up orientation markers for military transport aircraft.
Meanwhile fighters provided dependable cover to them from various altitudes.
A column of military transport aircraft appeared over the landing zone after the
forward detachmEnt. The huge canopies of the freight parachutes were the first to
open in the sky. They carried the armored transporters, self-propelled guns, and
antitank weapons carefully to the ground. Some of the combat equipment was dropped
by parachute-rocket systems at great speed, and almost without any lateral drift.
Bright flashes, like lightning, burst beneath them just before they hit the ground.
This was the special braking devices firinq, providing a soft landing for the cargo.
The weapon crews abandoned their airplane following the equi.pment.
The fight went on in the sky as well. "East" and "West" fi~hters fought for air
supremacy. ~
But suddenly airplanes with paratroopers aboard appeared in the sky. Within seconds,
the deploying canopies of the parachutes covered up the sky. The parachutists de-
scended smoothly, and soon the entire area of the huge field became white.
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It took just a few minutes for the paratroopers to form.up in their approach march
formations. Every platoon, company, and battalion swiftly advanced within its
sector.
Guards Private Viktor Belyuk led one of the detachm~nts to "battle". When he was
asked whether he had co~renanded the detachment long, he replied:
"I just took command. It seems that our comunander drifted off course, and we had
no time to waste!"
"Do you know your mission well?"
"Yes, sir! Each of us studied the mission well on terrain models just before �
taking off. Each of us knows what he must do after landing. We were ordered to
destroy an 'enemy` signal post on the western edge of Krivaya Grove. Here it is on
_ the map, and there it is out there"--and gPlyuk accurately indicated the reference
points and the bearing toward the object of his attack.
Viktor Belyialc is a Komsomol member, an outstanding soldier of combat and political
training. He has 11 years of service in the army behind his back, and several
dozen parachute jumps. And he is just one of many who landed beyond the Dnieper,
ready to perform any mission.
- The actions of the paratroopers were distinguished by swiftness, mobility, an offen-
sive spirit, and a desire to engage the "enemy" in combat at all costs, in a situa-
tion disadvantageous to him.
"West" ~reW its reserve~--tank units--at the "enemy". The tank crews managed
to place one of the airborne units in an extremely difficul.t situation. But this
was only a temporary success. The division commander comanitted his powerful anti-
tank reserve to "combat". He was supported by fighter bombers called up for
assistance. This permitted the commaizder of the airborne assault to break the
resistance of the "West".
There was a"battle" going on beside a hill for a major "Western" control post.
Battalion comanander Major G. Ya. Gordiyenko radioed to the regiment commander that
the "enemy" was using tanks in decisive counterattacks. 7.'he paratroopers met them
with self-propelled guns, antitank guns, and grenade throwers. And on other tank
approaches a mobile detachment of engineer-parachutists set up minefields.
Ocuupying their gun positions, antiaircraft gunners of the airborne assault prepared
themselves to repel the airborne "enemy".
Outstanding work by airborne equipment maintenance specialists promoted the success
of the mission. They ensured 100-percent deployment of the multiple-canopy para-
chute systems and firing of the parachute-rocket braking devi.ces, owing to which
hwndreds of guns, self-propelled guns, and other combat equipment entered into
"battle" in time. '
The paratroopers displayed boldness, resourcefulness, and initiative, and they per-
formed their missions efficiently.
2~.
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Summarizing the results of the maneuvers, the newspaper KRASNAYA Z~IEZDA wrote:
"The strikes made by the paratroopers were imprinted upon my memory. I can confi-
3ently say that they snowed the 'enemy' under. Their actions were distinguished
not only by great scale but also by originality of intent and execution. This per-
tains especially to the airborne unit landed in the very heat of 'battle' at the
Dnieper, in the tactical defenses of the 'enemy'. 'West's' defenses were quickly
broken. This was essentially a confi nnation of a new means for crossing water
obstacles--aerial crossing."
Another correspondent reported: "The paratroopers are soldiers with unlimited
courage and valor. ThEy never become confused, always able to find a way out.
P aratroopers have perfect mastery of various weapons, handling them with artistic
proficiency. Every warrior of the winged infantry knows how to fight at 1:100 odds.
"During the days of the maneuvers I was able to observe many competent actions not
only by individual soldiers and officers but also by entire subunits, formations,
and staffs. I became a witness to artful use of combat equipment in the most com-
plex conditions of combat. But perhaps the st~ongest impression was made by the ai.r-
borne troops and the transport aircraft pilots. They dem4nstrated split-second
timing in their assault, high proficiency, and the sort of boldness and initiative
that compels one to confidentiy say that they are honorably continuing and multiplying
the combat glory of their fathers and olders brothers--paratroopers of the Great
Patriotic War. The baton of bravery and valor is now held by dependable hands."
Rnd this is in fact so. In a quarter of a century, the Dnieper was fated to become
- the arena of major events for a second tiihe. In 1943 it was the site of savage
battles against fascist German invaders. It was almost in these same days of
September, in '43, that the 3d and 5th airborne brigades landed on the right bank
~ of the Dnieper.
And now, almost a quarter of a century later, airborne units and subunits of the
Soviet Army of the '60's are landing here. And once again the thunder of cannon fire
- and the unceasing roar of tanks and airplanes fills the regions adjacent to the
Dnieper. The only difference is that in the past the opponents were real, and today
they are simulated.
Soldiers who had participated in the Great Patriotic War were within the composition
- of this airborne landing. A small group of parachutists headed by Vladimir Nizkiy
was dropped in the enemy rear right at the locations of the present maneuvers. With-
standing a savage 6-hour attack by the Germans and completing their mission, the
paratroopers were able to make their way to the brigade's assembly area. And in
the "Dnepr" troop maneuvers, Guards Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Fedorovich Nizkiy
efficiently controlled the subunits of the regiment that captured the "enemy's" missiles.
On these lines, where their fathers had once fought fearlessly, today the sons--
worthy successors of the combat traditions of the Soviet Army--executed their missions
today. Today they also went into combat. It was training combat, but they acted as
if in real combat. Paratrooper Viktor Kuropyatnik served in the same airborne regi-
ment and in the same company as his father Dmitriy Grigor'yevich Kuropyatnik, who
- received G high government award for his fearlessness in the crossing of the Dnieper
- in 1943. The son followed the example of his father in the "Dnepr" maneuvers.
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A review of the troops was held following th~ maneuvers. High-speed vehicles
carrying the paratroopers appeared before the reviewing stand. Fighting air units
flew over them, squadron by squadron. Z'he fighter pilots seemed to be escorting
their comrades-in-arms, the paratroopers.
One of the workers of the "Elektrosila" Plant imeni S. M. Kirov in Leningrad wrote:
"On reading about the actions of paratroopers in the 'Dnepr' manuevers, I was
pleased to learn that our army has such fabulous equipment and such well-trained
people.
"I delighted in their combat proficiency. Not only the militazy but also we,
the toilers in the plants, factories, kolkhozes, and sovkhozes, take pride in the
- fact that this is our army, that our labor has contributed to its might. We spare
no strength or energy to make our armed forces grow stronger from day to day."
"Vertical envelopment"--Soviet troop commanders once dreamed about this operational
troop maneuver. The Soviet Army performed a"vertical envelopment" of the enemy for
the first time in the world in the 1930's. Later on this maneuver was performed
successfully in the Great Patriotic War during the assault on the Dnieper in 1943.
Vertical envelopment has become one of the most important maneuvers, without which
not a single modern offensive operation would be possible. This has been graphi-
cally demonstrated many times at the largest exercises and maneuvers of the Soviet
Army in recent years. �
A TASS radio broadcast on 11 March 1970 recalled a message transmitted by the Soviet
Information Bureau during the anxious war years: "Following an artillery and air
strike, 'Northern' troops went over to the offensive against 'Southern' positions.
Enjoying a superiority of forces, they destroyed the foxward units of the offenders
and are now continuing their movement forward...."
On the morning of 10 March, the "Dvina" troop maneuvers began on Belorussian terri-
tory. All branches of troops representing a number of military districts partici-
_ pated in them. The airborne troops were represented in the maneuvers by the Guards
Chernigov Red Banner Airborne Division.
The division's personnel accepted this important assignment proudly. Everyone under-
stood that this would be a test not only of the individual, his unit, and the divi-
sion, but also all airborne troops.
Veterans of the division, who had fought in the Great Patriotic War right where
the maneuvers were to take place, also prepared for the exercises. This is probably
why the traditions of those long-gone days of combat literally came back to life.
As before the decisive offensive in the war years, today, before the manuevers,
veterans of the Chernigov Red Banner division--heroes of the Soviet Union--appealed
to all soldiers with an open letter. Here is an excerpt from that letter:
"It is with great joy that we learned that our division will be
participating in the 'Dvina' troop maneuvers. These exercises
will be conducted on Belorussian soil where members of the same
regiments graced the battle pennant with unfading glory in the
menacing years of the Great Patriotic War....
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"Many hundreds of Guards soldiers received orders and medals for
bravery and valor, and 50 of them were awarded the lofty Hero of
the Soviet Union title. It was in those days that our unit earned
its Red Banner.
"We remember well the burdens and deprivations endured in these
battles, and we remember the joy and warmth of the'.welcome we
received from the Belorussian people, liberated from the
fascist yoke. This welcome warmed our souls, relieved our
- tiredness, and inspired us to new acts~of heroism.
"You will be acting on the fields and in the forests of Belorussia,
in difficult conditions and in a complex situation. Let faithful-
ness to combat traditions help you surmount these difficulties....
We are certain that you, our comrades-in-arms, will display the
courage and steadfastness, initiative and skill, faithfulness and
resolve, and organization and discipline that are inherent to para-
troopers.
"Be worthy of the combat glory of your fathers and older brothers!
Heroes of t12e Soviet Union A. V. Kirsanov,
. G. I. Gendreus, G. Ye. Chereshnev, I. K. Sobko,
and A. A. Demi.dov
The paratroopers were aware of how serious their mission was and how much responsi-
bility was laid on their shoulders. Experienced paratroopers shared their ex-
perience and proficiency with young paratroopers. They prepared together to honor-
ably fulfill their missions. This helped the young soldiers to prepare better for
the serious trial; it brought the people even m~re closely together, and it sharpened
their feelings of collective responsibility.
On the eve of the maneuvers, as had happened once long ago before the battle, many
soldiers drew up applications for the Komsomol and the party.
Scouts Anatoliy Nikulivech, Aleksandr Makarenko, Viktor Aratamonov, and Igor'
Aleksandrov were given their Komsomol cards in the division's museum of combat
- glory, in which every stand and every display is testimony to the heroism of the
regiment. Former battalion commander Hero of the Soviet Union Nbdest Alekseyevi.ch
Alekseyev had this to say to the young scouts:
"My sons! There are difficulties ahead of you. I know what it is to be a scout.
And this is why I am pleased that there are now four more Komsomol members among
you. Almost all of you here are sons of fighting veterans. Our memory is your
memory. Do not forget the past war, and preserve your hatred of our enemies, af
which there are many today as well. For you, every exercise is a battle. Holsi the
weapons of your fathers firmly...."
The airborne troops are organically associated with military transport aviation.
The latter is the powerful wings of the paratroopers, without which they can do
nothing. This tie, as the Great Patriotic War and numerous troop exercises have
shown, must be very strong and clear.
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This tie grew even stronger during the "Dvina" maneuvers. Following concentration
of the division's unit in the indicated areas, control posts were deployed at the
take-off airfields. At headquarters and at the airfields, one could see the green
jackets of the paratroopers side by side with the dark jackets of the pilots. The
staff officers made the final arrangements for the airborne landing, specifying the
personnel and equipment loading points and the routes by which the airborne subunits
were to reach their airships. Platforms bearing heavy airborne equipment were lo-
cated near the airfields. All of the meticulous joint effort was aimed at achieving
clear coordination in the actions of the paratroopers and pilots, so that each para-
trooper would know his place when it came time to climb aboard or to load a gun or
vehicle, and so as to avoid excessive crowding and unnecessary traffic on the air-
field.
The conditions of a parachute drop are rigorous. Usually the landing zones are
located close to each other, and the time allowed to drop the personnel and equipment
and to assemble it together is very limited; moreover the paratroopers must perform
a compact, so-called "closely grouped" jump, as in combat. This is why the airmen
and paratroopers work so carefully on the calculations, timetables, and plans for
the airborne landing.
At dawn the roar of turbines broke the silence. Supersonic MiG's appeared in the
air--the fighter escort and cover.
There is somethinq in the militaxy referred to as "H-hour", the time to begin the
attack. To paratroopers, "H-hour" is the moment the parachutists begin jumping in
their appointed area, when the first paratrooper leaves the first airplane. A jump
is also an attack, except from the air. There was such an "H-hour" in the "Dvina"
troop maneuvers as well.
"North's" ground troops went over to the offensive on a broad front in conjunction
with the thunder of powerful artillery preparation and air strikes against troops,
airfields, and road junctions of the "South".
During the first day the "North" achieved significant successes. But the "battle"
- did not end with the onset of darkness; it went on into the night as well. On that
same night units of the Chernigov division made their way to their take-off airfields.
The hour of their airborne attack was drawing nigh.
"North's" frontal commander decided to forestall the advance of "South's" reserves
and drop a large operational assault force in their rear. His objective was to keep
fresh "Southern" forces from approaching, and thus to promote successful advance of
"North's" main troop grouping.
The moment for the long-awaited command pernti.tting the take-off arrived. This
coirmiand was preceded by the last meetings between the pilots and paratroopers for
preflight preparations. The comrades-in-arms exchanged letters of exhortation.
Here is what the paratroopers wrote:
Dear comrade airmen!
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W~,, the Guards paratroopers, have been ordered to participate
in the"Dvina" troop maneuvers. gai:thful to the combat traditions
of our valorous armed forces, and adopting high socialist
pledges in honor of the 100th anniversary of V. I. Lenin's birth,
we have given our word to complete this task with nothing but
"good" and "outstanding" grades.
We can successfully perform our mission if you the airmen drop
us precisely in the prescribed zone, in organized fashion. We
give you our word that we will fulfill our duty to the motherland
as is required of Guards paratroopers--with a high grade.
We are certain that you, the majestic falcons of the socialist
fatherland, will perform with nothing but a grade of "outstanding"
during the jump as well.
In response, each paratrooper received a letter of exhortation with the following
content:
This is not the first time that we, the airmen, have had to work
together with you as we must today, in a single formation. We
always delight in the bravery, efficiency, and proficiency with
which you, a paratrooper, leave your ship. But for you, the
jump is only the beginning. The most important part--the
"battle"--is still ahead. Be bold in "battle", paratrooper!
"Be faithful to the co~�nandments of the great Lenin"--this is the
slogan under which you are now flying into the "enemy" rear. We
know that in the "battle" you will remain taithful to the glorious
traditions of the Soviet Army's airborne troops.
In turn, we assure you that we will get you to the jump point
precisely and on time.
- We wish you clear skies, paratrooper, a soft landing, and
outstanding actions in the troop maneuvers!
The Aircraft Crew
The heavily loaded airships left the airfield one after another. The aerial march
into the "enemy" rear began. Experienced pilots, true masters of airborne landings,
guided the airplanes. The night prior to a jump is a restless night for para-
troopers. Each thinks about his jump, and about the "battle". On such a night,
staff officers of the airborne troops check out and study the conditions under
which the troops must land, and information on the "enemy" once again. And irrespec-
tive of his rank and position, every paratrooper is interested in the weather to
be expected at the time of the parachute jump. The meteorologists are anxious--
they do not want to make mistakes in their predictions, and let the pilots and
paratroopers down.
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Strong gusty winds blew all night. After the rains and the frosts immediately
following, the ground had become hard. Snow had thawed from high points, and it
barely covered the frozen ground. These were not the easiest landing conditions.
_ By dawn the winds grew stronger, but when the sun came up they abated.
The Chernigov division took to the air. "Northern" aviation appeared above the
landing zone, laying a road for the air transport armadas and clearing the "enemy"
airplanes from the skies.
Fighter-bombers struck antiaircraft missile batteries, fire control resources, and
"enemy" airfields. ~
Hundreds of heavy military transporters crossed the front line under fighter escort.
The turbines droned on monotonously. Light from the portholes accented the figures
of the paratroopers on the gentle twilight background. The hoods of their camou-
flage robes were flipped back, and their faces were stern and concentrated.
The jumpmasters ambled slowly between the rows of parachutists, wondering how the
young soldiers that were making their first trip into the "enemy" rear were feeling.
The airplanes were flying low and in combat formation, and the roughness of the
flight was having its effect--some were nauseous and their faces were pale, but
there was still far to fly.
It is very important to know how to influence the mood of people at such moments,
to relieve the excessive moral-psychological load. Paratrooper officers have full
mastery of the complex art of pedagogical influence upon subordinates. And it was
not long before the parachutists were smiling in response to witty words, funny
pictures, and friendly jabs; they became noticeably more animated, and their spirits
improved.

' But suddenly something changed in their mood. Their faces grew sterner. They had
in their hands a battle leaflet bearing the following in a bold hand: "Flash!
Comrades, we are now flying over the place where in winter of '42, 20 Soviet para-
troopers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel N. Sagaydachnyy fought off an
attack by a German battalion in the course of 1 day. The fascists opened artillery
fire against the heroes, and they asked them to surrender, promising to spare their
lives, but the paratroopers kept on fighting until almost all of them were dead....
The Germans subjected wounded Coimriunist Sagaydachnyy to atrocious torture, but they
never got a word out of him...."
The faces of the lads grew stern. It seemed to them that they were now sitting
next to those who jumped from the airplane on that frosty February night in 1942
and landed on Smolensk soil.
The engines of the powerful aircraft roared. The goal, the jump point, was coming
closer and closer.
The paratroopers were ready for "combat".
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The columns of military transporters approached the several landing zones carrying
the parachutist subunits, guns, mortars, antiaircraft systems, self-propelled guns,
and armored transporters undPr fighter cover. A reinforced paratrooper regiment
jumped in the central landing zone, the one reserved for the command. There was a
group of division staff officers in the lead i~lane.
The most critical moment was drawing near. Sudaenly a siren sounded, and a yellow
light appeared on the signal panel: "Prepare to jump!"
Guards Viktor Nedelya, Pavel German, Gennadiy Tse?oval'nikov, Valeriy Yakunin,
and their comrades stood up at their places and Iowered the seats. They were now
ready to take a bold step toward the ground, to make a surprise attack on the
"enemy".
Fingers clutched rip-cord rings. All faced the tail end of the airplane. Opposite
them was the open hatch. All watched the signal panel above the hatch. The tension
was extreme. And finally, the green light! The inscription above it shone with
clear but expressive insistence: "Jump!"
The winged soldiers stepped into the sky. And a loud "Hurrah!" drowned out the
whine of the siren and the roar of the engines. The faces flashed past. Faster,
faster! The men were running so close together that it seemed as if they were falling
- on top of one another, There was no other way: A delay of half a second up here
_ would mean as much as 75-100 meters down there. The closer a comrade is up here,
the closer he will be in "combat".
It looked as if the sky was covered by a blanket of snow. And the paratroopers
continued to jump out of the heavy airships. The beauty and power of the sight was
indescribable!
But the paratroopers had no time to enjoy the beautiful sight. Their altitude was
not very great. They had to land well, find their heavy-drop platforms, untie them,
make their way to their prescribed places, occupy their gun positions, and make the
equipment fully combat ready. It is only after all of this is done that the command
to open fire could be given. Moreover they had to fight for each second, so that
they could help the attacking airborne infantry with fire in time.
The forward airborne detachment commanded by Captain V. Kurnyshov landed first. The
detachment quickly seized the conunanding heights and prepared to cover the landing
of the division's main forces.
The powerful air.ships came in wave after wave, delivering more and more paratrooper
subunits and combat equipment. The division, many thousands strong, was dropped
within 22 minutes.
The heavy-drop platform rolled smoothly to the open hatch. Go! One after another,
Guards Senior Sergeant 57. Boyarskiy and the soldiers of his crew pushed off from
the airplane. They had to land as close as possible to their platform.
There it is! Without losing a moment, Boyarskiy began untying it. The rest of the
crew was right behind him. Mortarmen Romashin, Gus'kov, Boltunov, and Fedunovich
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worked efficiently. Within minutes the vehicle took off with its rocket launcher
and ammunition. This was the first step toward excellence. Guards Sergeant
Boyarskiy's mortarmen did what seemed to be the impossible: Surpassing all time
standards by a healthy amount, they reported their readiness to open fire ahead
of everyone else. Guards Private A. Sedov established communication quickly. His
- radio station has never let the mortarmen down yet. He received instructions from
the observation post clearly and transmi.tted them to Guards Senior Sergeant V.
Yermolayev, the position chief. Now the time was being reckoned in seconds. It
was not long before gunlayer Private Rpmashin had the gunner's quadrant set up.
In a few more seconds the projectile accurately hit its target.
The self-propelled gun landed 150 meters away. There was no time to lose. Loader
G~ards Private Prokopenko knew that the vehicle commander was not on the battlefield,
and so he assumed command. The last few meters were through deep snow. As soon as
he got there he untied the platform. He turned on the engine heating lamp.
Prokopenko had an excellent knowledge of the responsibilities of a commander and
a mechanic. At this moment driver-mechanic Stennikov joined him. He joined the
work of untying the platform with little said. Each second is precious. Finally
the last mooring line was cast off. Its engine roaring, the self-propelled gun
rode off the platform. Getting his bearings, Prokopenko indicated the course to .
the driver-mechanic. The self-propelled gun headed toward the indicated antitank
line at high speed.
But it was not always this way. Immediately after landing, the paratroopers of one
of the subunits had to enter into "combat" with an attacking "enemy" group. Their
feet had barely touched the ground when the riflemen, signalmen, mortarmen, and
drivers assembled into a tight line. Acting boldly together with the paratroopers,
medic Guards Sergeant Aleksey Vasil'yev had just recently become a paratrooper.
After medical school, Aleksey studied military affairs. And now the first diffi-
culties of paratrooper service were behind his back. As with all paratroopers,
- the medic was bold, enduring, and a marksman. Being an outstanding specialist,
he is always prepared to render medical aid. He wore a pouch with a red cross next
to his assault ritle, and he knew how to use it. After the "enemy" attack was re-
pelled, the battle line fell apart as suddenly as it was formed: Every specialist
took his place in the combat formation of his subunit.
While still in the air, group Komsomol organizer Private Leonid Vasil'chikov was
able to notice where his recoil.less rifle landed. Leonid was the first to get to
the gun, he quickly deployed it for combat, and he began moving toward the fire line.
But it is difficult for one person to do this. And it was not long before comrades
in Vasil'chikov's crew hastened to his aid. Gunner Vasil'chikov fired his weapon
accurately in the "battle".
The actions of the paratroopers after they landed were distinguished by great bold-
ness and stubbornness.
In literally just a few minutes the crew of a self-propelled gun commanded by
Guards Junior Sergeant Lisov untied the vehicle, quickly got its bearings in the
situation, and without waiting for others to approach, attacked a dug-in "enemy"
infantry platoon. Disturbing the thick brush beneath it, another vehicle driven
by Guards Private Salimov rushed fonaard in a whirlwind of snow, and gunlayer
Private Famutdinov fired the gun while on the move.
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Many commanders and privates distinguished themselves in the complex "battle",
which required great coolness, endurance, and wisdom of the soldiers. Here are
some of their names: battalion commander Guards Major A. Mayorov, company commander
. Captain V. Alekseyev, and platoon co~nander Lieutenant N. Pikauskas.
The division had completed its landing and our troops were already working on their
mission when an An-22 heavy transporter appeared over the landing zone. By this
time the "Antey" had managed to gain popularity not only in the national economy
but also in the Soviet Army. Here again it was to demonstrate its power as an
assault vehicle in "combat".
In the "Dvina" maneuvers the An-22 was piloted by Pilot lst Class Colonel B.
Stepanov and USSR Distinguished Military Navigator Colonel I. Koshkin.
The airborne assault grcup aboard the "Antey" consisted of paratrooper groups
commanded by senior lieutenants N. Tarabanov and E. Yakub. This assault force was
led by an experienced parachutist, USSR Master of Sports Lieutenant Colonel Ya.
Rakcheyev.
The airborne subunits justified their outstanding rating.
But the aerial program of the paratroopers did not end with this. The An-22 had
barely left the landing zone when five An-2's appeared in sharp formation at a
90� angle to its course. It seemed as if they had not even taken off yet, that they
were still on their take-off run--so close this group flew to the ground.. In
another instant, when the airplanes were in line with the reviewing stand, 50
sports parachutists left the airplane. It was only 25-27 seconds from the moment
the first parachutist left the airplane until the last landed.
'This group jump was made from a height of 100 meters. This unusual landing force
consisted of 27 persons who had made more than 1,000 parachute jumps. Extended-
service sergeants B. Prokhorov and G. Basov were credited with 2,630 and 2,800
jumps. Our glorious women paratroopers also participated in this experiment--medics
and radio operators Anya Guyvon, Asya Kulishina, Tamara Yakubovskaya, Lyuba
Sheregova, and Vera Ivanova. USSR Master of 5ports Viya Kriyevina made her
thousandth parachute jump on that day.
- The leader of the maneuvers declared his gratefulness to all soldiers of the group
for their high combat proficiency and courage.
Extended-Service Warrant Officer Aleksandr Dudar' demonstrated exceptional profi-
ciency. While being towed by a cable behind an airplane, he flew 30 meters above
the ground and saluted the dignitaries in the reviewing stand smartly, as it says
in the manuals. Turning, the airplane made another pass at low altitude, and the
moment it was opposite the reviewing stand the warrant officer released himself
from the cable, making a beautiful landing just 9 seconds later. He was not more
than 75 meters above the ground when he released himself.
This was Aleksandr Dudar " s two thousand five hundred eleventh jump.
Meanwhile a"battle" was proceeding on the ground--units of the Chernigov Airborne
Division were successfully performing their immediate mission. The scene was an
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observation post. This is where accuracy ef fire is born. A target cannot hide from
the keen eyes of the experienced paratrooper-gunners. Rangefinder operator Guards
Pzivate Vyacheslav Kolpakov is a young soldier, but he has a firm knowledge of his
responsibilities. The distances to the reference point and the target were deter-
mi.ned accurately and quickly. Guards Private Viktor Vikhonin has also become a
good specialist. He makes competent use of his instrument--an aiming circle, the
keen~~eyes" of the gunners. Radio operator Guards Junior Sergeant Yuriy Uvarov
has also become a true master of the airwaves. And although the terrain was close
and the "enemy" had camouflaged himself excellently, not a single target remained
unnoticed on the "battlefield".
"Tanlcs ! "
The command came unexpectedly, but it did not catch Junior Sergeant Anatoliy
Siverin unawares. A second later his eye was on the sight.
Private Nikolay Ovchinnikov also worked e�ficiently. The Guards soldier would be
capable of replacing the gunlayer at any moment. But is he the only one? Viktor
Prygin is a young soldier who has been in the army for only 3 months, but he is
also mastering the complex specialty of the gunlayer. The crew is totally inter-
changeable.
Each paratroo~er is competent in an associated specialty. The high combat profi-
ciency of Guards soldiers and a well-chosen and well-equipped gun position afford
the paratroopers a possibility for holding on, and for keeping the tanks back.
Every hour spent in the field by the soldiers during the first day after their
landing was an hour of high courage and combat proficiency.
The "Southerners", who were unable to destroy the paratroopers on the move, tried
to encircle the landing force at all costs, and to cut it off from the approaching
main forces of the "North".
And so "North" moved motorized rifle divisions toward the place of "battle", attempt-
ing to join with the landing party and create a continuous front.
At this moment the co~nands of both sides committed their main forces to "battle".
The tank divisions advanced toward each other. Z'hey traveled under air cover.
Modern supersonic airplanes rushed over the "battlefield", over the hundreds of
menacing tanks and the thousands of combat vehicles.
A hard tank battle began. Hundreds of "Southern" tanks charged the defenses of the
paratroopers. But suddenly, as if out of nowhere, the indestructible defensive wall
of the parachutists rose up before them. The paratroopers not only opened intense
antitank fire, but they were also able to put their antitank mines, grenades, flame-
throwers, and smoke generators to use. In the course of the night, paratrooper
reconnaissance and sabotage groups knocked out more than 140 "enemy" tanks. Under
the cover of night, the paratroopers made their way to the tanks and drew little
parachutes on their wlnerable points.
The exercise leader gave a high score to the actions of the paratroopers in the
defensive "battle" and in the following counterattack.
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Both the "South" and the "North" displayed high proficiency--the "battle" in which
m~re than a thousand tanks had participated did not leave either of the opposing
sides with a decisive advantage. ~
A solemn review of troops that had participated in the "Dvina" maneuvers was held
on 15 March in Minsk. The composite regiment was headed by the commander of the
Chernigov Airborne Division. "Of that same division which displayed such excellent
combat skills in the maneuvers.... Much may be said about the courage, selflessness,
and proficiency of the paratroopers. Their profession requires outstanding physical
fitness and high m4ra1 and psychological preparedness. The best soldiers of the
division have the full share of these qualities"--this is what was written in
KRASNAYA ZVEZDA on 17 March 1970. And on 10 April the same newspaper noted the
following in its lead article: "Among those who were awarded Lenin Jubilee Honorary
Certificates, we naturally find those who performed so well in the'Dvina' troop
maneuvers. Such is the Guards Chernigov Red Banner Airborne Division, the brilliance
of which reflects the good airborne training of its personnel."
Great credit for this belongs to masters of airborne affairs such as G. P. Pan'kov,
V. M. Pashovkin, V. A. Lyakhov, M. V. Arabin, V. G. Belousov, P. A. Rudenko,
N. I. Solov'yev, and many other officers of the divisional and troop airborne
service.
Sol diers of the Red Banner Chernigov division also demonstrated excellent airborne
training, combat proficiency, and the ability to competently execute complex
missions deep in the "enemy" rear in subsequent years as well. They have parti-
cipated in many exercises in which they made actual airborne assaults in coordina-
tion with other branches of troops.
Chernigov soldiers greeted the 50th anniversary of the airborne troops with new
successes in military affairs. We can be persuaded of this by attending their
field exercises and field firing, and visiting their landing zones. Multiplying
the glory of their formation, the paratroopers are trying to constantly improve
their combat proficiency.
This is typical not only of the Chernigov division but also of the entire "winqed
guard". The airborne troops are confidently carrying the baton of military valor.
They are constantly ready to land wherever the motherland orders.
The Conquerors of the Heights
Army sp~rtsmen have made a substantial contribution to development of Soviet p~ra-
chute sports. They were the first to get into sports parachute jumping and to make
young people interested in it. It would be sufficient to recall to the reader that
most world and USSR records in the prewar years were held by sports parachutists oi
the air force.
During the war Soviet aviation made a great leap forward in its development. Tre-
mendous growth in the speeds and ceiling of airplanes imposed new, complex tasks
upon Soviet parachutists.
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Some of the record-holders of the prewar years were descrir,ed at the beginning of
the book. Now let us continue with a description of sports parachutists of the
postwar years.
In 1954 our sports parachutists took part in the second world championship in France,
and Ivan Fedchishin became the first Soviet parachutist to be an all-around world
champion. After Fedchishin, the exalted title of all-around world cham~iion in
parachute sports was won by army sportsmen Petr Ostrovskiy, Vladislav Krest'yannikov,
and Nikolay Ushmayev, and DOSAAF sportsmen Yevgeniy Tkachenko and Leonid Yachmenev.
^ Women earning the title included Nadezhda Pryakhina, Lidiya Yeremina, Tat'yana
Voynova, Valentina Zakoretskaya, and others.
Who were these first all-around champions am4ng army sportsmen who brought glory
to our parachute school?
Petr Ostrovskiy is an officer in the airborne troops, and a trainer of military
parachutists. He is a graduate of the Zaporozhets DOSAAF club. A long history of
sports lay between his first and three-thousandth jump. Born in the i~crainian
village of Malyy Yablonets, he is the son of a partisan that had been shot by the
fascists, and he remembers well that day when he first crossed the thr~eshold of
the aeroclub. At that time he was working as a railroad conductor. And he dreamed
of becoming a pilot. But Petr did not become a pilot. He joined the aeroclub and
- became a parachutist while continuing to work and study.
When the time came.to serve in the army Petr requested aviation. He had 35 parachute
jumps to his credit, and this predetermined his fate in the a~cny. He bECame a para-
chute packer, and he continued to improve his jumping, accumulating experience and
proficiency.
Petr Ostrovskiy took fifth place in the 1957 best air force parachutist competitions..
This was a great victoxy for the novice sportsman, and it served as a springboard
for him to the big leagues. In 1958 he was chosen for the combined USSR team. Inter-
national competitions were held in Ryazan'. Ostrovskiy took first place. A little
while later in that same year he enjoyed a brilliant victory in the fourth world
championship of parachute sports in Bratislava. Petr earned the title of all-around
world champion in parachute sports.
~ Then followed one victory after another. In a stubborn fight, the senior sergeant
became the all-around champion of the air force, anc~ then of the Soviet Union.
This was in 1959. When the next Soviet championships rolled around, once agai.n
it was total victory!
Another all-around champion who brought glory to the Soviet parachute school was
Vladislav Krest'yannikov.
Champions of the Soviet Union, the union republics, various departments, the armed
forces, Moscow, and Leningrad convened in Fergana at the end of November 1973.
For the first time in the history of Soviet parachute sports, champion parachutists
competed for the Prize imeni International Class USSR Distinguished Master of
Sports Lieutenant Vladislav Sergeyevich Krest'yannikov. 7.'he name Slava Krest'-
yannikov or, as the sportsmen called him, the "peasant's son", is fami.liar to all
Soviet and foreign parachutists.
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Parachutists heard Krest'yannikov's name for the first time in 1963 at a training
rally in Tashkent when he was a junior aviation specialist in the air force and a
sergeant. Pavel Andreyevicn Storchiyenko, a distinguished trainer of the Soviet
Union and formerly a naval pilot and a lieu~tenant eolonel, said that this youf'ig
parachutist showed great promise.
Excellently developed physically, an outstanding gymnast and acrobat, this naturally
communicative lad quickly won the sympathy of all participants of the rally. The
country's main parachute trainer was certain that Krest'yannikov would become a
good aerial acrobat. And Storchiyenko was not wrong.
In just a year Krest'yannikov performed at a parachute landing field in the FRG.
Here the young master of sports achieved good results in both acrobatics and
landing accuracy.
This performance, his first abroad, gave him an opportunity to acquaint himself
with the proficiency of many top-class parachutists. It was here that he came to
sense especially deeply that a sportsman needs more than just good technical training.
His moral qualities, endurance, and will to win are important.
In one of his jumps Krest'yannikov suffered defeat, but he did not give up, and
he did not weaken. That was the nature of this lad from Tashkent, who was able to
keep a hold on himself even after suffering defeat. "It doesn't matter," he said,
"winning may not be everything, but I will never be beaten again."
I recall a sunny morning in August 1966 at Leipzig Airport. Our country's state
flag rose many times in the award ceremonies of~that world championship--our para-
chutists took home 25 gold medals out of 26. And the most precious among them
was the medal of the all-around world champion!
A handsome light-haired lad with an athletic bearing and a determined face stood
on the pedestal of honor. His eyes were fixed on the flagpole, at the top of which
the proud emblem of the motherland would be waving at any moment.
"The all-around world champion for 1966 is Soviet Union sportsman Vladislav
Krest' yannikov. . . . "
~.'here was a moment of silence. A light breeze stirred the light hair of the simple
Russian lad, wearing a sports suit with the letters "USSR" on its front, visible
from far away. A red flag--the banner of Great October--rose up the flag pole as
the anthem of the Soviet Union was played.
Then comrades in his team and other s~ortsmen ran up to him and began tossing him
into the air! It was a long time before Slava was allowed to land.
I can also recall our national chamQionship held in Ryazan' in 1970. At the conclu-
sion of the competition the three winners of the national championship rose into
the sky, three officers of the Soviet Army--Soviet Union all-around champion
Vladislav Krest'yannikov, best sniper of the competition and precision jump champion
Valentin Kudrevatykh, and the country's acrobatics champion Anatoliy Osipov.
Vladislav Krest'yannikov became the all-around champion of the Soviet Union for the
third time.
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It is extremely rare in the history of parachute sports that a sportsman is able
to wir~ the country's all-around championship three times. And an army sportsman
- was able to do so!
This multiple world record-holder is credited with 35 gold medals for setting
records in new parachute sports events and breaking old world records.
Vladislav Krest'yannikov, who represented our country m~ny times in international
competitions, jumped excellently day and night, from high and low a3titude, onto
ground and onto water. He was unexcelled in both precision jumps and acrobatics.
His name has been given to the honorary prize for annual competitions in the
. Turkistan military district, on the ground and in the sky of the republic which
gave him his start in the big leagues.
These competitions have become traditional. ~'hey are usually conducted at the end
of the sports sPason, and they provide a way for revealing the strongest sportsmen
to be added to the combined air force, Soviet Union, and republic teams, and for con-
ducting experiments and instructor training.
But as with life, sport~ do not march in ~lace. Eaeh year the requir~nnents grow
more complex, the proficiency of parachutis~s increases, and parachute technology
improves. But one thing remains constant--our paracYiute school invariably holds
the lead in the world, and great credit for this belongs to the army sports para-
chutists. A confirmation of this can be found in the traditional competitions imeni
Lieutenant Vladislav Sergeyevich Krest'yannikov.
Valentin Danilovich was known by many sports parachutists and pilots. He was a
master of sports; he held several world records, and he was a test parachutist.
A tragedy which occurred in the course of his official duties wrested him from the
ranks of Soviet aviation equipment testing engineers.
Engineer-Senior Lieutenant Valentin Danilovich lived only 34 years, half of which
he devoted to parachute jumping.
Valentin took his first steps in the sky in the Gomel' DOSAAF Aeroclub, and this
d~~termined his future profession--an aviation tes ting engineer. He made more tYian
a thousand parachute jumps, most of them being test jumps. He jumped first, and
- it is not always easy to be first: The first always walk on unexplored, winding
trails so as to make it easier for others.
= Jumps from the stratosphere, jumps at night, jumps onto water with the weapons and
gear of a paratrooper, tests of various resources for dropping people and military
cargo and, finally, catapulting from high-speed airplanes. This is what his work
consisted of, and it required courage, valor, and great knowledge and proficiancy.
Valentin Danilovich did more than improve jumping and make competent use of rescue
equipment. He also did much to make the largest possible number of people aware of
this remarkable form of sports, to make them love the sky and parachutes as much
as he. Valentin Danilovich was a good aerial still and m~tion picture photographer.
His unique photographs have decorated the covers and pag.es of many journals. When
_ Ivan Vladimirovich Lukinskiy, a director at the Studio imeni Gor'kiy, encountered
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~ difficulties in the shooting of the movie "Jump at Dawn", he invited Danilov
to garticipate in the aerial photogra~hy.
And now about the last chapter of his work--testing catapult chairs. Valentin
Ivanovich donned his high-pressure suit and helmet many times. The materials
and design of the catapult chair had been tested in a wind tunnel~ and automatic
catapulting of duman.ies had b een performed. And now came the final phase of the
test on the new equipment-- catapulting a human being! He knew how anxiously they
- waited for him on the ground, waited for what he would say on his return.
It was the last few minutes before the launch. He had a packed parachute on.
Perhaps it would not even be needed. Then came the moment of concentration of
all of an individual's phys ica~., moral, and psychological strengths.
An inscription lit up on the instrument panel: "Get Ready to Jump!". He released
the safety on the triggering mechanism with his left hand. Next he pressed a
button bearing the inscription: "R~ady!". He pressed his head agai.nst the back
of the chair and his elbows against his body. A lamp turned on--"Ejection!".
And instantly he felt as if something very heavy had fallen upon his shoulders,
forcing him into the back o f the chair. Then the tester was airborne. The chair
separated automatically from the fast-flying airplane. The next automatic opera-
tion followed--the parachute opened.. Meanwhile the airplane continued on its way.
Sky, nothing but blue sky. '.'.nd in the sky was tester Valentin Danilovich.
Danilovich tested parachute, paratrooper, and rescue equipment, and life-support
systems, arid he was one of the main engineers testing airplane emergency egress
systems. Space suits, special gear, pressurized suits--it is difficult to list
all that went through his hands.
Valentin Danilovich was ordered to test a new catapult, the result of great achieve-
ments in rescue equipment design. The catapult had to work trouble-free from
ground zero to the stratosphere, and from the speed of an airplane on its take-off
run to supersonic speed.
Calculations, wind tunnel tests, and work with dummies and a testing stand all
indicated that everything was normal, but the final evaluation of the catapult
unit had to be made by the tester.
"As an engineer, I never have doubts about what I do. But the risk? What can I
say, of course it is there.... It is inherent to our profession. But we the
testers would not have it any other way...," said Valentin.
He wanted to be the one who opened the door to the catapult's new life. He wanted
it to be reliable for the pilots. And as always, he consciously accepted the risk.
His entire life and all of his works are an example of faithfulness to his pro-
fession. He took risks eve ry day. He risked his life in behalf of saving the
lives of thousands. He jumped with new parachutes from low and stratospheric
altitudes. From airplanes, from helicopters. No instrument can say as much about
a jump and a parachute as can man. What sort of accelerations were there? Is
the chair controllable in the air? Is the individual's initial posture in the chair
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safe? And in every ejection he remembered each tiny detail, each movement, so
that it could all be reported on the ground.
He.had a family, and he loved his wife and two daughters very much. But then Came
the day that was to separate them forever.
But the work did not stop. It had to go on. And others, just as fearless and
brave, devoted to their work and loving it, carried it on.
Z'he engines of supersonic airplanes roar once again, and testers sit down in the
- catapult chairs once again. The signal panel lights up. Catapults are activated.
There are moments of terrifying accelerations, moments of counting the seconds.
Everything is in order--the new chair can now be used at supersonic speeds as well.
Life goes on. And the memory of Valentin ivanovich Danilovich will live on. In
his 34 years he did a great deal, and future ger.erations of pilots and parachutists
will be deeply grateful for what h,e had done.
Soviet parachutists were the first in the fight for altitude. In September 1945
Colonel Vasiliy Grigor'yevich Romanyuk, a well-known parachute tester and presently
a Hero of the Soviet Union and distinguished master of sports, abandoned his air-
plane at an altitude of 13,108 meters. He flew toward the ground for almost 3
minutes without deploying his parachute. Later in his book "Zametki parashyutista-
ispytatelya" (Diary of a Parachute Tester], he wrote: "...I am falling, turning
haphazardly, and I extend my arms and legs to the sides, wanting to assume a stable
attitude, but...I c~o not experience the customary resistance. Immediately the
thought comes to my head that the absence of resistance is the consequence of the
- highly rarefied air in the stratosphere....
"It is difficult for me to keep a stable attitude. I note that even at high
altitude I am able to control the position of my body, but this requires tremendous
strain.
"I cannot see the ground. Fluffy clouds block it from view...it is 8,000 meters
from these clouds to the ground. I am once again rolled over on my back....
"I break into the clouds, and there is nothing but boundless whiteness around me.
I free-fall in this way for 5,000-6,000 meters. I leave the zone of low air pressure
and low temperatures. 'I'he oncoming flow of air becomes warm and gentle. This is
the very time for me to assume a stable attitude and look at the ground...."
The sports commissars checked the barogram after the airplane landed. Vasiliy
Grigor'yevich Romanyuk left his airplane at an altitude of 13,108 meters, having
free-fallen 12,141 meters.
In 1947 this outstanding parachute tester's name was once again heard around the
world. Under his guidance a group of army sports parachutists--N. Gladkov,
A. Koloskov, P. Ishchenko, A. Petkevich, I. Savkin, V. Skrypnir, and P. Storozhenko--
jumped from an altitude of 11,200 meters.
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E'urther improvements in aviation technology and new achievements in science afforded
parachutists a possi.bility to penetrate even more deeply into the stratosphere. The
, official record existing today for free-fall time was set in 1962 by testing officers
Yevgeniy Nikolayevich Andreyev and Petr Ivanovich Dolgov. They rose in a stratosphere
balloon to an altitude of more than 25,000 meters. Andreyev fell without deploying
his parachute for 24,500 meters at an a.verage speed of 90 meters per second.
Petr polgov left the gondala after him and immediately deployed his parachutes, as
was required by the testing program. But his anti-G suit sprung a leak. Dolgov
died in the air. The valorous parachutists were awa~ded the Hero of the Soviet
Union title for this record jump.
Achievements in the equipment and methods of parachute jumping, arrived at and
generalized through the creative inquiry of the senior generation, and by veterans
- and pioneers of Soviet parachute science, have become available to young parachutists.
They now allow them to master this tremendous experience and knowledge in short time,
and help many of our capable sports parachutists b~come international masters.
Soviet parachutists have played a leading role in all world achievements in para-
chute sports for several decades, and our army sportsmen have made their contribu-
tion to this achievement.
In 1965, following meticulous medical selection, a group of girls belonging to the
Central Sports Parachute Club began high-altitude training at one of Moscow's
suburban airfields under the guidance of an experienced trainer, high-altitude
parachutist Ye. N. Andreyeva. The girls prepared to establish new records in
stratospheric jumps.
Slow rises to altitude and swift returns to the ground in a pressure chamber, study
and preparation of personal and built-in oxygen apparatus, parachutes, and the
techniques of making jumps at high altitude and low temperature--all of these items
were included in the training of the girls. This program required considerable
effort, and much physical and psychological exertion, but not a single parachutist
washed out.
On 20 June the future record-holders flew to the Volga, to the launch point. The
- last preflight instructions and training were provided here, this time aboard an
An-12 military transporter. 'I'he girls were divided into two groups: Nine of them
were to deploy their parachutes immediately after jumping, and nine were to open
their parachutes later. Masters of sports sergeants 0. Rukosuyeva and A. Kensitskaya
and sportswomen lst rank G. ~rudinina and T. Sukhareva were certified for solo day
and night jumps.
The jumps were made in difficult meteorological conditions that were, furthermore,
unusual in terms of air support. The problem was that the crew had to raise a
conventional, series-produced transport airplane to an altitude unusual to it,
beyond its official ceiling. Therefore every kilogram counted. The airplane was
stripped of everything it would not need in the air.
The first attack on the stratosphere was made on 25 June. Sergeants A. Korovochkina,
A. Zalusskaya, G. Grudinina, Ye. Chepelova, N. Pankova, T. Sukhareva, T. Duganova,
N. Goldobina, and S. Karo made a daytime jump from an altitude of 11,500 meters,
in which they deployed their parachutes immediately.
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The airliner slowly cl.imbs. Girls Werewearing fur-linedpressure suits, aviator's
boots, protective helmets, and insulated face shields. They were to jump from
the airship at an altitude where the temperature is minus 60 degrees. Half of the
girls' faces were concealed behind oxygen masks. They began breathing oxygen
before take-off, on the ground. This is called "desaturation". It must be con-
tinued for about an hour, so as to remove excess nitrogen from the body. Only
after this can they climb to a record altitude.
At high altitude, nitrogen, which is a principal contributor to the atmospheric
pressure of air, may separate from blood in the form of gas bubbles. And if the
appropriate precautions are not taken, these bubbles would cause a pathological
~state similar to that experienced by divers who are raised quickly to the surface
from great depths. A person may die from this. This is why an attempt must be
made to remove nitrogen dissolved in blood from the body when climbing to high
_ altitude. When a person breathes pure oxygen, all nitrogen leaves the body in
an hour. This is known as desaturation.
The attitude gradually increases. The 11,000 meter mark has been passed. A few
hundred meters more. The altimeter reads 11,500. A record figure!
Yevgeniy Andreyev held up a pad with "How do you feel?" written on it for the
last time. All of the girls gave an O.K. sign.
The hatch covers opened. Z'he parachutists stood up, quickly approached the thres-
hold, and without hesitation they fell into the blue abyss. The parachute canopies
appeared instantly as white clouds in the boundless expanses.
The girls dropped for about 30 minutes. A helicopter appeared about the landing
zone. It dropped to the ground here and there, picking up the joyaus, excited
parachutists. Happy, smiling, with bouquets of wildflowers in their hands, they
embrace and kiss one another. They joke, and they laugh. The joy of the girls is
understandable. After all, they had just broken world records!
On the night of 26 June another group of nine--sergeants N. Pankova, S. Vlasova,
A. Kensitskaya, L. Masich, N. Grishchenkova, O. Rukosuyeva, A. Malysheva,
L. Kuleshova, G. Sarygina, and N. Basova--successfully completed a free-fall group
jump from an altitude of 12,080 meters, free-falling for 11,280 meters and deployinq
the parachutes at an altitude of 800 meters.
On this same night the first group of girls, consisting of eight persons (N. Pankova
remained aboard the aircraft due to a ma.lfunction in her oxygen supply) made a
- high-altitude jump in which they deployed their parachutes immediately. They
reached an altitude of 12,200 meters.
On the night of 29 June Master of Sports 0. Rukosuyeva made a free-fall jump, leaving
the airplane at an altitude of 12,500 meters. She fell 11,900 meters without de-
ploying her parachute. Following her, G. Grudinina climbed 50 meters hiqher and
deployed her parachute im�nediately. Master of Sports Antonina Kensitskaya set a
new world free-fall record from an even greater altitude. She jumped from the air-
plane at 12,834 meters. A young sportswoman named Tat'yana Sukhareva jumped at
the same altitude, deploying her parachute imanediately. Both girls became world
record-holders. In all, the woman parachutists earned 39 gold medals in these
June days. �
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Two months later a group of parachutists belonging to the "Polet" Aviation Sports
Club of the Ministry of Aviation Industry took to.the skies on a high-altitude
challenge under the guidance of testing engineer, Distinguished Master of Sports
Aleksandr Petrichenko.
On 21 September O1'ga Komissarova, a young parachutist, was given a send-off into
the air. RFSFR Distinguished Trainer Sergey Kiselev tells the story: "The huge
fuselage of the airplane was bubbling with activity--the sportswoman needed
assistance in putting on the parachutes, the oxygen supply gear, and two cumber -
some barographs. Only two assistants were required, but everyone wanted to say
some sort of good parting words, and do whatever they could, no matter how insigni-
ficant. Thus practically the entire group of sportsmen--there were 20 of them--
were in attendance. Incidentally, however, there was no confusion or disorder.
Slava Tomarovich, who was checking out the oxygen apparatus, and Sasha Petrichenko,
the group chief and trainer, were bustling about Ol'ga. Everything was in readiness.
The last farewells and handshakes, and all of the people left the airplane. Ol'ga
remained alone.
"The Tu-104's wheels separated from the concrete. The search group took off for
the landing area. Just 45 minutes later pilot Vladimir Kryzhanovskiy reported
attainment of the required altitude--14,000 meters. Not a single female parachutist
- had ever climbed to such an altitude in the world. The air temperature was minus
60 degrees outside. The airplane was flying at about 850 kilometers per hour.
Somewhere up there, she was to jump from the airplane at this moment. We were all
beside the radio station, silent. A light crackle could be heard in the earphones.
Eyes were directed toward the sky. We could see the airplane, a silver toy flashing
in the sun. And it is even somehow hard to believe that out there, in the deep blue
- of the sky, there is a person, a frail girl, who is going to fight a one-on-one
duel with the air. By this time she had left the airplane, and the pilot immediately
reported this to us. It was futile to search for the tiny human figure in the
boundless expanses with the unaided eye.
"Nevertheless we searched for her, our heads raised toward the open sky. But there
was nothing to be seen. Time stood still. It seemed as if at least a good 5-7
mi.nutes had already passed, but the stopwatch impassionately read just two. About
as much more time passed. Where was she? What happened? It would seem that she
should have opened her parachute by now! And although everyone remained silent,
- everyone had the same thought: '~She should have deployed her parachute by now!'�
"And suddenly, 2 or 3 kilometers away from us, close to the ground, hung a little
parachute, and a few seconds later a signal flare was ignited near it. Everything
was O.K.! The helicopter landed on the flat field, and a minute later we were
flying home, showering the record-holder with questions. Thirteen thousand five
hundred meters of free-fall--that was Olyga Komissarova's achievement, one greatly
surpassing the previous world record." �
On the next day nine USSR masters of sports--A. Petrichenko, V. Rayevskiy, B. Nemtsov,
V. Galayda, A. Isanin, V. Tomarovich, V. Prokopov, E. Sevast'yanov, and V. Pugachev--
made a daytime free-fall jump from an altitude of 14,400 meters. They remained in
free fall for 13,900 meters. This was the highest jump ever made without a special
pressure suit. But the preparations for this jump took almost half a year. 'I'he
sportsmen made simulated training jumps in a pressure chamber, and then from an
An-12, gradually climbing to record altitude.
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The warm clothing, parachutes, and instruments weigh a total of 40 kilograms. Even
on the ground, it is not easy to get around with all of this weight. And at alti-
tude, it is many times more difficult. The extremely low air pressure has an
effect. Every movement takes a great deal of effort. Each step requires consider-
able exertion of muscles and will. It was only after they learned to endure high
loads and to do hard physical work at an altitude of 11,000-12,000 meters that
plans were made for the record jump. On that day, when the group led by
Petrichenko made its jump, the air temperature at an altitude of 14,000 meters was ,
minus 64 degrees.
The girls did not fall behind the boys. On 23 September parachutist Yelena
Danilovich, the wife of Senior Lieutenant Valentin ivanovich Danilovich, a world
record-holder and a parachute tester, climbed to an altitude of 14,000 meters.
She deployed her parachute immediately on leaving the airplane, and landed 32
minutes later. This new women's daytime record significantly surpassed the previous
world records, which were held by our girls as well.
On that same day a group of girls consisting of Master of Sports A. Skopinova
and sportswomen lst rank L. Sokolova, R. Voronkova, L. Soldatova, I. Mikhina,
S. Savitskaya, N. Vershinina, 0. Komissarova, and Z. Romanova jumped from an alti-
tude of 14,200 meters, free-falling for 13,700 meters.
Girls are setting one record after another. Alla Skopinova made a free-fall night
jump from 14,000 meters. This was on 29 September. On that same night Lyudmila
Sokolova set a new record for women by jumping with a deployed parachute from that
same altitude.
And on 30 September Aleksandr Petrichenko and Valeriy Rayevskiy climbed to the
Tu-104's ceiling--14,800 meters. Rayevskiy deployed his parachute just 400 meters
from the ground.
Thus in 10 days, from 21 September to 2 October 1965, sportsmen of the "Polet"
Aviation Sports Club set 13 world records.
It was 1967. The half-century jubilee of the Country of the Soviets. Sports
parachutists of the airborne troops, and all Soviet people, wanted to present their
motherland a gift. Prior to this time, there had been world-record jumps of varying
difficulty, but no parachutists in the world had ever landed on high mountain slopes.
Soviet sportsmen were the firsc.
On a clear August morning a heavy An-12 transporter appeared above Communism Peak
in the Pamirs.
One circle, and then another, and something separated from the airplane and hurled
downward. This was a sighting parachute holding up some sort of container.
Another pass--multicolored parachute canopies burst open in the dark-blue sky above
the high mountains, to remain suspended there above the eternal snow, crevices,
and inaccessible cliffs; 2-3 minutes later six parachutists landed on the Pamir
plateau with amazing accuracy. Moscow mountain climbers marched toward the para -
chutists from be law. Mountain masters from the Moscow "Burevestnik" Voluntary Sports
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Society helped the parachutists bring in their parachutes, loaded their gear into
backpacks, and began their highly difficult return tireks: Ahead lay hard, slippery
ice with a slope of up to 50 degrees, and cliffs of loose rock that would not
retain even a long ice hook. Unaccustomed to walking in the mountains, the para-
chutists found this difficult. Descending down steep cliffs lined with loose rock
was the most dangerous.
By the evening of 15 August all six parachutists had made it safely down to the
helicopter landing pad.
This record group jump was preceded by considerable preparations. The aerial
sportsmen trained hard and long in order to achieve a closely grouped landing within
a limi.ted zone. They also undexwent training in mountain climbing. Special para-
chutes made of denser fabric, with larqer than usual canopies, were designed as
well. ~
The parachuting part of the expedition was headed by International Class Distinguished
Master of Sports Aleksandr Petrichenko, and the mountain climbing part was under the
charge of International Class Distinguished Master of Sports Aleksandr Ovchinnikov.
Master of Mountain Climbing Sports Viktor Galkin, a former paratrooper, served as
group coordinator.
The group included A. Petrichenko, V. Bessonov, V. Prokopov, E. Sevast'yanov,
V. Chuzh, and V. Tomarovich.
On 27 July 1968 36 paratroopers landed on the "roof of the world"--on Pamir, at an
elevation of 6,100 meters, to commem4rate the SOth anniversary of the Leninist
Komsomol. They were followed by 10 aces of parachute sports, who landed on
Lenin Peak at an elevation of 7,134 meters! The high-altitude parachute expedition
was headed by Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Petrichenko this time as well; he was now
an engineer-lieutenant colonel in the airborne troops, and a State Prize laureate.
The Pamir landing was not simply just another record of the parachutists. It was
the birth of a new sport. It could perhaps be called mountain parachute jumping
or aerial mountain climbing. It is difficult to overstate its significance. Assume
an airplane crashes in a mountainous region, or mountain climbers suffer disaster,
or geologists must be rescued--climber-parachutists could provide immediate assis-
tance to them.
Army sportsmen set new high-altitude world reccrds in parachute sports in 1977.
In October, Master of Sports of the Airborne Troops E1'vira Fomicheva made a free-
fail jump from the upper layers of the stratosphere, from an altitude of 15,496
- meters. She deployed her parachute after falling 14,800 meters.
El'vira Fomicheva was accompanied by another 10 female paratroopers and masters of
sports in the airplane: R. Burlaka, V. Bukhtoyarova, N. Vasil'kova, Z. Vakarova,
N. Gritsenkova, Ye. Yegorova, N. Pronyushkina, Z. Salmina, L. Fisher, and M.
Chernetskaya. This "fabulous ten" left the airplane at an altitude of 14,846 meters
and deployed their parachutes at just 600 meters above the ground. This was a new
world record for high-altitude group jumps.
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Our parachutists also hold records in group jumps from minimum safe altitudes. On
1 March 1968 50 parachutists of the Central Sports Parachute Club of the airborne
troops jumped from their airplane at an altitude of 100 meters! Reserve parachutes
are not needed in such jumps, and so those were left on the ground. It was only
13 seconds from leaving the aircraft to landing on the snow-covered airfield.
Thirteen seconds of bravery!
This group included nine girls headed by their com�nander, Master of Sports, Warrant
Officer Lyuba Masich. USSR Distinguished Master of Sports, Lieutenant Colonel
- Vladimi.r Morozov trained the record-holders and jumped together with them. Later
he also took part in the Pamir landing.
We have been talking about high-altitude jumps and jumps from minimum altitude.
But there is yet another form of parachute jumping in parachute sports, one which
requires not only courage but also exceptionally high accuracy and finesse. I am
referring to solo precision jumps. The sportsman jumps from the airplane at an
altitude of 1,00 meters, and somewhere below, in a landing circle, he is awaited
by a 10-centimeter disc, or, as it is called, a"washer". This is the target on
which he must land. And deviations from the center of the"bull's-eye" are measured
in centimeters.
On 1 January 1980 the names of two Soviet masters of sports were entered into the
table of world records for solo precision jumps: warrant officers of airborne
troops Z. Kuritsyna and A. Beloglazov. Zina had hit the "washer" 81 times, and
Aleksandr had hit it 106 times!
I would also like to mention the unofficial records that imply the unusual bravery
and will of our army sportsmen. International Class Distinguished Master of Sports
Anatoliy Osipov jumped from an airplane 1,000 times in 1979! This is the number
of parachute jumps made by most masters of parachute sports in.10 years. On the
eve of the celebrations of the 62d anniversary of October, Captain Osipov was the
first to make his ten thousandth jump. A member of his club, Warrant Officer
Yuriy Baranov, was the second to reach the ten thousand mark.
An army sportswoman also holds the world record for the number of jumps among
women parachutists: International Class Distinguished Master of Sports Valentina
Zakoretskaya. By the end of 1979 she was credited with 7,750 parachute jumps!
On 1 Janaury 1980 the International Aviation Federation entered 38 parachute records
into the table of world achievements; of these, 24 were possessed by the USSR.
Throughout the entire history of Soviet parachute jumping. our sportsmen set and
beat 822 all-union records, 715 of them being world records!
In the difficult struggle of international parachute jumping, sportsmen of the
Soviet Union earned the all-around world champion title 13 times (out of 27). And
Soviet parachute jumpers have dominated the team records for world championship
jumps: Women have taken first places in seven championships and men have taken
first in five, taking home more than 260 medals.
These are the results with which the Soviet parachute school greeted its 50th
anniversary. And there can be no doubt that Soviet sportsmen, including army
sportsmen, will make their contribution to further development of world parachute
jumping.
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Clear Skies for You, Lieutenants!
In fall of 1941, in a difficult time for all of the Soviet people and their armed
forces, the paratrooper school was created out of the Kuybyshev Infantry School.
Initially it was very difficult for both the instructors and the students--there
were neither a special base, nor the training manuals required, and they had to
do everything for themselves. There were not enough parachutes in the school, and
it did not possess its own airplanes or balloons.
Jumps were the beginning of that long and hard road of courage which the student,
the future officer, had to walk. As now, the young students took their exami.nation,
qualifying them for the paratrooper servi.ce, in the sky. The first steps showed
whether or not they would become commanders of "winged infantry" platoons and
co~anies.
The years passed. Now, veteran paratroopers visiting the Higher Airborne Twice-
Awarded Red Banner Command School imeni Leninskiy Komsom~l in Ryazan' describe
the birth of the school and its first steps in the hard years of the Great Patriotic
War to the students. And it is with joyous amazement that they observe ~e
astounding changes that had occurred in the school--so different is the present
school from that of the war years.
The airborne school nurtured the combat and international traditions of the schools
of the war years--all of the best which the Soviet .Army's Guards airborne troops
had acquired in their half-centuxy history. Paratroopers participated in the
battles of the Great Patriotic War, fighting selflessly on the front and in the
_ enemy rear.
The har3 times passed. The countenance of the Soviet Armed Forces, including
the airborne troops, has changed beyond recognition. They have transforroed inta
a powerful branch of troops capable of independently executing major operational-
tactical missions. The role of the officer-organizer, the combat and political
indoctrinator of paratroopers and of the one-man commander, has grown immeasurably.
The city in which the school is located knows and loves the courageous and modest,
valorous and even, smart-looking and well-proportioned cadets in their blue berets.
By tradition, the Higher Airborne Schoal starts off all military parades and
national holidays. People come to get an eyefull of the young men and women.
Each summer, at graduation time, many mothers come to collect their daughters for
the long road: The "Ryazan' Madonnas" leave for all corners of the country, tying
their fate in forever with that of their husband-paratroopers.
Difficult is the development of the officer-paratrooper. The moral and fighting
qualities of the cadet--the future officer--are developed and improved in classroom
lessons, in the fields, in training camps and training exercises, at airfields and
parachute landing sites, at tank driving ranges and firing ranges, in practical
work with combat equipment, and at tactical exercises requiring actual jumps. It
is at this time that their ideological convictions, their unshakeable confidence
in the victory of communism, and their implacable hatred of the enemies of the
motherland form.
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The collective labors persistently to fulfill the task of training the officers,
posed by the party and government. Commanders and instructors gain their =
support for successful completion of this task from party and Komsom4l organizations.
In 1935, at the mpment a group of outstanding masters was being presented government
awards, Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin said: "You yourselves understand that it is one
thing to become a parachutist performing in one's own country, and it is an entirely
different thing to be a parachutist who must operate in foreign territory. It is
one thing to jump from an airplane in your own country, where you are greeted with
applause and where the popular masses receive you with delight, and it is another
thing to descend onto foreign soil.
"Under these conditions the ability to get one's bearings and to make the best deci-
sion has the greatest significance. This is why our comrades must do everything
they can to develop these capabilities."
The school's graduates continue to develop and multiply the glorious combat traditions
of wartime years in peacetime. The school has produced distinguished USSR masters
of parachute sports, and testers of aviation and parachute equipment--Heroes of the
Soviet Union Petr polgov and Yevgeniy Andreyev. Nikolay IQzarlamov was awarded the
lofty title of Hero of the Soviet Union for bravery and valor displayed in postwar
years.
- Colonel Petr Ivanovich Dolgov, a State Prize laureate who died during a stratospheric
test jump with a parachute, has had his name perpetually inscribed in the rolls of
the school's lst Company. Igor' Dolgov, a graduate of the airborne school, is
continuing on the road traveled by his father in the Great Patriotic War and in
peacetime. The sons of Colonel Aleksandr Ivanovich Solnyshkin also chose their
father's road. They successfully graduated from the school, and they are now serving
in the airborne troops.
An entire cohort of masters of airborne affairs, known throughout the country, grew
up in the first postwar years--Mikhail Arabin, Vasiliy Lyakhov, Nikolay Solov'yev,
Georgiy Sergeyev, Leonid Oparichev, Sawa Shagalov, Vladimir Poshovkin, Boris
Simonkov, and others. Their sons also became officer-paratroopers. There are
many such paratrooper dynasties in our troops.
Only people with a great force of will who are physically strong and who possess
high moral and fighting qualities can become paratroopers. All of their army
service proceeds beneath the canopy of the parachute, irrespective of age and rank.
The officer-paratrooper and his men boldly and confidently stride over to the open
hatch of an airplane, they are excellent marksmen and combat vehicle drivers, and
they are experts in all forms of hand-to-hand c;ombat. They never ~~ompel their
subordinates to do what they cannot do in exemplary fashion themselves. "Do as I
c3o, and do better than me!" is the law of the commanders and indoctrinators of the
winged Guard.
Paratroopers are poli tically competent, ideologically persuaded soldiers wholly
devoted to their socialist fatherland and to the great cause of communism. This
is why disciplines such as scientific comanunism, the history of the CPSU, philosophy,
and political economics are the main ones taught in the school. Students deeply
study the decisions of the party and government, and current politics.
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The level of modern equipment require~ that officers possess deep special knowledge
and high engineering training. Today's cadet is a future coiaanander, one who has
perfect mastery of combat and airborne equipment,~ and one who is able to drive
tanks, self-propelled guns, and various vehicles.
The entire training process nurtures high moral and fighting qualities in the
cadets. Special training of parachute jumpers--airborne training--rightfully holds
the leading place. The cadets take joy in learning the art of parachute jumping,
which develops their boldness and valor, their courage and self-control, their
coolness and r.esoluteness, and their firm will and decisiveness. Moreover they
study an entire co~plex of complex airborne and airlift equipment, responsi.ble for
ferrying all forms of modern equipment into the enemy rear.
The school possesses a good training material base, outstanding classrooias, and
well-equipped airborne training complexes for lessons in paratrooper training.
- The students have access to a rich library.
Much attention is devoted in the school to parachute sports.
Graduates of the school--people with enviable courage who broke many records and
earned championships in the world, the country, and the armed forces, have made a
substantial contribution to development of parachute sports in the airborne troops.
They include Yuriy Belenko, Yevgeniy Babkin, Vladimir Volkov, Valentin Kudrevatykh,
Vladimi.r Bessonov, Vyacheslav Krylov, Boris Korobko, Vladimir Morozov, Robert
Silin, Boris Prokhorov, Petr Ostrovskiy, and many others.
It would be difficult to list all graduates who had brought fame to their school
and to the airborne troops, but each of them, having undergone a hard school of
courage, is worthy of the greatest praise.
Every paratrooper is a marksman. The school has a good training material base in
fire traininq. Classrooms providing instruction in infantry weapons materiel,
special arms, and firing theory, and the automated and electrified shooting
galleries and firing ranges are well equipped.
Much attention is devoted in the school to the physical fitness of the cadets.
They have at their disposal a gymnasium and swimming pool, weight training camps
and confidence courses, a water training station, and the broad expanses of
Ryazan' fields and forests. They train, they harden themselves, and they strengthen
their muscles! The school has taken first place in mass sports many times in compe-
tition with armed forces military training institutions.
The paratrooper's song is beautiful and enthusiastic. Each year on 9 May, a holiday
of songs is held in Ryazan'. This unique sing-off is opened by the paratrooper
cadets. Perfect ranks, a crisp, bold step, and youth�ul bearinq distinguish the
paratrooper-cadets. They hold prizewinning places in singing on the march among
other schools and military units!
The ability of the officer-paratrooper to act confidently on the battlefield has
many components. This ability is acquired through tactical traina.ng.
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1
The cadets use miniature practice ranges and terrain models to ga.in their initial
habits of organizing their combat activities and controlling subunits~in combat.
But the military proficiency of the officer is based mainly on field training.
Zt is mainly in the field, in conditions made as similar as possible to those of
combat, that the future~commander's tactical thinking matures; it is precisely
here that the abilities and habits required of a commander are developed, and that
the most important principle of training-="teaching soldiers to do that which they
would need in war"--is implemented.
Capitalizing competently on the terrain and on engineering obstacles, making wise
use of antitank resources, and displaying boldness, valor, and resourcefulness,
the cadets master the tactics and art of fighting tanks in Y,attle in a special camp.
Tactical maturity, physical endurance, and the abilities and habits acquired in
lessons are tested and improved at tactical exercises involviny parachute jumps.
Militazy parachutists demonstrate their high combat proficiency in exercises and
in aerial parades. These functions are attended by hundreds of officers, graduates
of the Higher Airborne School, ones who have earned government awards for excellence ;
in military labor.
The party and government have given a high evaluation to the school's efforts to
train "winged commanders". .
It was awarded its second Order of the Red Banner on the 50th anniversary of the
Soviet Army and Navy. In fall 1968, in response to a petition from the comanand of
the airborne troops, it was awarded an honorary title--imeni Leninskiy Komsomol.
The training of cadets at the school is thorough. .Intense combat training is compe-
tently combined with sensible relaxation. Group attendance of theaters and the
movies, athletic competitions, meetings with interesting people, and amateur nights
filled with enthusiastic singing, nimble dancing, and happy army jokes are far from
a complete list of the forms of recreation provided to the school's students.
Firm friendship binds the cadets with Komsomol members of many cities and oblasts.
Thus for example, the SMENA, SmQlenskaya Oblast's newspaper, was the initiator of
a march of Red scouts--junior paratroopers--to the places of combat glory of airborne
troops. The editor's office of the newspaper appealed to secondary school students
with the following letter: "Dear young student! It will not be long before the
parting bell will sound in your school, and the long-awaited certificates of
maturity will be in your hands. Childhood will be behind you. A long and beautiful
road of life will await you. It is to you that this letter from the 'Search' staff
of the editor's office of the oblast youth newspaper SMENA is addressed, to you who
are to begin this great and glorious life, who are standing on its threshold.
"As with every Soviet youth, you.naturally dream of difficult and heroic deeds,
and you are attracted by romantic and courageous professions. You are acquainted
with the names of heroes, many of whom you strive to imitate, in the hope.of be-
coming the continuers of their causes. You, the romanticists and dreaa~ers who
love your people and your Soviet motherland deeply, have many thousands of roads
open to you for valor, for heroism, and for qlory. One of the most romantic,
courageous, and noble professions is, without a doubt, that of the Soviet officer-
paratrooper.
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"You know a great deal about this profession from our newspaper. You know about
the unprecedented heroism of soldiers of the IV Airborne Corps, which destroyed
fascist garrisons in the territory of Smolensk, in the enemy rear in winter 1942.
In summer of the past year detachments from eight of the oblast's secondary schools
toured, under the escort of military paratroopers, the battle sites of the
IV Airborne Corps, places which added many famous faces to the list of its acts
of heroism. Ones about which you had read in the newspaper SMENA.
"You also know a great deal about the modern paratroopers. Firm, unbreakable
friendship now binds paratroopers with the population of Smolenskaya Oblast. They
are frequent and welcome guests of Smolensk soil. And as it has always been between
real friends, they say to the people of Smolensk: 'Please join us, the airborne
trooops: We await you--patriots, romanticists, seasoned and courageous people!'
"Today an entire subunit of Smolensk residents are training to become officer-
paratroopers at the Ryazan' Higher Airborne Command Zt~vice-Awarded Red Banner School
imeni Leninskiy Komsomol. They are being trained by officer-paratroopers who are
rightfully the pride of all Soviet people.
"A new class will soon be entering this remarkable school. And of course, the resi-
dents of Smolenskaya Oblast await then~ with impatience. ~,nd they await you.
- "It is not easy to gain the honor of becoming a school cadet. One must finish school
with good grades, be a bold and seasoned individual, and have unlimited love for the
motherland. Dear friend! If you wish to do bold, heroic deeds, if you are a
romantic and want to dedicate your life to service beneath a parachute canopy, you
can be recommended by the Komsomol for the Ryazan' school, where you will be able
to master the heroic profession of officer-paratrooper, so necessary to our country."
The years pass quickly in the school. The words of the solemn oath of faithfulness
to the motherland, given before the Battle Pennant are still fresh in the memory,
but the time of solemn parting is already near.
It is with great agitation that~the young officers part with the Battle Pennant beneath
which they undAzwent their years of training, having traveled the difficult road of
a cadet, full of bravery and romanticism. Now they are officer-paratroopers. We
wish you clear skies, lieutenants!
* *
*
Years have passed, but the terrible days of war are not to be forgotten. Local
residents and young soldiers visit the monuments and obelisks erected at places of
battle, and the graves of their brothers. They are visited also by participants of
the battles, their heads grayed by the years. Z'!ie veterans will always remember
their comrades-in-arms, with whom they marched to the death, and tasted both the
joy of victory and the bitterness of defeat.
The names of other soldiers who had died in battles for the motherland are becoming
known to us as well. Many Soviet people are conducting fruitful research. By will
of conscience, and by an attraction of the heart, they take on this honorable and
difficult work. It is the duty, the sacred obligation of all who remain alive to
imirortalize the names and deeds'of fallen warriors.
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It is a great credit that the names of many formerly unknown heroic paratroopers
have now become known, and this credit belongs to the veterans of the Great Patriotic
War. Frequently, a former veteran would snend his leaves traveling the combat road
of his regiment together with his children or grandsons, speaking before young
people and local residents. Veterans devote much effort and attention to military-
patriotic indoctrination of the Soviet youth.
War veterans are united by the difficult war years. Their frontal brotherhood was
tested and strengthened by military labor, by the bitter loss of comrades, and by
their great love for their motherland.
Can we possibly forget those who shared their last rations and who marched with us
into enemy fire?
M~eetings with veterans helped to revive the memories of the difficult roads of war,
the battles, and the comrades. Such meetings are being held in many cities of our
country. As an example veterans of the Svir' Red Banner Airborne Division of the
XXXVII Guards Corps meet in Moscow and in Nbscow suburbs where the airborne brigades
had formed up and left for the front.
One of the meetings was held in U1'yanovsk, at the Lenin Memorial Great Hall. It
began with the showing of the documentary film "Our Regiment".
This film chronicle returned them to a time moze than 30 years ago. And the viewers
were astounded by the continual heroism of the Soviet soldiers.
Guard paratroopers were always ready for heroism. Bleeding, they would not leave
their machineguns; they blocked enemy firing slits with their bodies; they laid
down beneath tanks with their last grenades, and they threw themselves into icy
water under enemy fire. So it was in Karelia, at Balaton, and in the Austrian Alps.
Andrey Alekseyevich Yevdan, the regiment's former deputy comanander and presently
a retired major general, spoke at the meeting. He is not a poet, but he expressed
his agitation and his joy in the meeting with th,ese poetic lines:
My graying peers,
We are firmly bound by fate.
The number of your advancing years
Are revealed by your cautious gait.
At Svir" beneath a layer of dust
I see your footprints from the war...
Forget you not that which we were, ~
Forget you not that which we are!
Vladimir Vasil'yevich Kuz'min, the graying former commander of a machinegun company
in lst Battalion, was sitting next to Boris Nikolayevich Kozlovskiy, a former
machinegunner.
"Do you see that lieutenant?" Vladimi.r Vasil'yevich said. "The second to the riqht
of the pennant? That's my son! He graduated from the airborne school. He is now
commander of a parachute platoon."
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Hero of the Soviet Union ivan Kirillovich Pan'kov also came to the meeting together
with his son.
"I~et me introduce you to Vsevolod Ivanovich Pan'kov, deputy con�nander for political
affairs in an outstanding company. He graduated.from the Higher Border Milit~ry-
Political School, uut he has asked to serve in his father's regiment."
' The meeting with the past brought back memories of what had been. Someone recalled
the paratrooper's song written by the poet Konstantin Ya}covlevich Vanshenkin, also
a paratrooper in the past:
Boys of seventeen,
Looking death in the eye,
Scouts and riflemen.
I hear their voices.
The young lads went out on their missions,�
Never to be seen again....
So passed our early youth
In the airborne troops....
Today's paratroopers are entering new pages of bravery and combat proficiency into
the chronicle of our troops. Standing shoulder to shoulder with soldiers of other
branches of troops, they are in the same formation with the defenders of our socialist
motherland.
Together with all Soviet soldiers, the paratroopers are performing their sacred
duty to the people, stubbornly mastering combat proficiency and undergoing para-
trooper training. Surrounded by the attention and concern of the Communist Party
and the people, they are untiringly striving for more and more successes, raising
their combat readiness, and honorably fulfilling their missions.
COPYRIGHT: Voyenizdat, 1980
11004
Cso: 1801/262 END
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