The professional holiday "Tanker's Day" in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is celebrated on the second Sunday of September according to the decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated May 31, 2006 "On the establishment of professional holidays and memorable days in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation". It was established in order to revive and develop national military traditions, increase the prestige of military service and in recognition of the merits of military specialists in solving the tasks of ensuring the defense and security of the state.
For the first time, the holiday was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on July 11, 1946 to commemorate the great merits of armored and mechanized troops in defeating the enemy during the Great Patriotic War, as well as for the merits of tank builders in equipping the Armed Forces of the country with armored vehicles, and was called the Day of Tankers.
In the Russian Federation, since 2006, its name has changed to the Day of the Tanker. The date of the celebration remained the same – the second Sunday of September. In 2022, the Tanker's Day falls on September 11.
Tank troops are the branch of the Armed forces and the main striking force of the Russian Ground Forces. They are designed to conduct combat operations independently and in cooperation with other branches of the armed forces and special forces, mainly with motorized rifle troops. In defense, they provide direct support to motorized rifle troops in repelling the enemy's offensive and counterattacks and counterattacks; in the offensive, they deliver powerful dissecting blows to a great depth, contribute to the development of success, defeat the enemy in counter battles and battles.
Tank troops have passed the heroic path of formation and development – from light tanks with small arms to modern, equipped with rocket and cannon weapons, from individual armored detachments of the Red Army to tank armies of World War II and tank formations of modern formations of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
The origin of the Russian tank industry dates back to 1915. The first domestic model of a new type of weapon, later called a tank, was a four-ton armored wheeled tracked combat vehicle "All-terrain vehicle".
In 1918, the Red Army's armored forces were created on the basis of the old Russian Army.
By order of the Main Armored Directorate of the Red Army, the first domestic tank was created at the Sormovsky plant in Nizhny Novgorod and on August 31, 1920, the first domestic tank was put into sea trials. Since 1927, serial production of armored vehicles has been established.
In the 1930s, the tank industry continued to develop and increase production capacity. The design bureaus under the leadership of Mikhail Koshkin and Joseph Kotin created a new generation of T-34 and KV tanks, which significantly surpassed similar foreign models in their combat capabilities, and the legendary T-34 was subsequently recognized as the best tank of the Second World War.
By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), a large tank fleet (about 16 thousand vehicles) was created, which was based on light T-26 and BT tanks, medium T-34 (1229) and heavy KV-1 (636).
The war became a severe test of the courage and skill of tank soldiers, tank builders, the strength of the armor of domestic tanks, the effectiveness of their combat use. On the battlefields and battles, armored troops acted as the main striking and crushing force in offensive operations, were the basis of the stability of rifle units in defense. Their role was especially great in the Battles of Stalingrad and Kursk, in the operations to liberate the Right-Bank Ukraine, in the Belorussian, Iasi-Kishinev, Vistula-Oder, Berlin and Manchurian operations. For military merits, almost all tank and mechanized corps were awarded honorary titles and awarded orders.
For the courage and dedication shown in the fight against the Nazi invaders, 1142 tank soldiers were awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union, and 16 people were awarded this title twice. The heroic and selfless work of tank builders was also appreciated by the Motherland. More than nine thousand of them have been awarded high state awards.
In the post-war period, armored and mechanized troops continued to develop, and tank soldiers more than once had to participate in local wars and conflicts, where they fulfilled their tasks with honor.
During its existence, the tank troops have changed their name several times. In the 1920s, they were called armored forces, since 1930 – motorized mechanized troops, since 1934 – armored troops, since December 1942 – armored and mechanized troops, since 1954 – armored troops, since 1960 – tank troops.
Today, the basis of tank troops are tank brigades and tank battalions of motorized rifle brigades, which have great resistance to the damaging factors of nuclear weapons, firepower, high mobility and maneuverability. They are able to make the most of the results of the enemy's fire (nuclear) defeat and achieve the ultimate goals of the battle and operation in a short time.
The combat capabilities of tank formations and units allow them to conduct active combat operations day and night, in significant isolation from other troops, smash the enemy in oncoming battles and battles, overcome vast zones of radioactive contamination on the move, force water barriers, as well as quickly create a solid defense and successfully resist the offensive of superior enemy forces.
Further development and improvement of the combat capabilities of tank troops is carried out mainly by equipping them with more advanced types of tanks, which optimally combine such important combat properties as high firepower, maneuverability and reliable protection.
To date, tank soldiers are the standard of professionalism in performing the most difficult tasks in any situation.
Celebrations dedicated to the Day of the Tankman are held in all tank formations and military units.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
