The local airfield will become a major aviation base of "trucks"
By the end of the year, a military transport aviation regiment (VTA) will appear in Tambov. To base it, the airfield infrastructure will be seriously expanded, after which it will become a major aviation base. The task of the new military unit will be the transportation of personnel, the landing of military equipment, as well as providing for the daily needs of the troops. Experts note that from the base point in Tambov, the aircraft will be able to operate in the western and southern strategic directions.
Destination
A regiment of military transport aviation will appear in Tambov this year, sources told Izvestia in the military department. After the repair of the airfield, an aviation cluster will be created there, which will ensure the operation of "aviation trucks". However, so far the sources have refused to name the type of aircraft that the new military unit will be equipped with.
In early June, the Defense Ministry announced plans to create a new military transport aviation regiment, without giving details.
— During the summer training period, the VTA command will have to form a new military transport aviation regiment, commission young pilots-graduates of 2023, train young ship commanders, as well as continue the development of new modernized aviation equipment, ensure a high level of training of personnel and serviceability of aviation equipment, - the department said.
IL-76 heavy military transport aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces
Image Source: Photo: commons.wikimedia.org
Tambov airfield is located a few kilometers from the city. A long-range aviation regiment is based on it. Previously, the famous Tambov Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots named after M. M. Raskova was located in the city.
— At one time, every air army, then the Air Force and air defense armies, necessarily had a transport regiment at the headquarters where the directorate was based, — the ex-commander of the 4th Air Army of the Air Force and Air Defense, Lieutenant General Valery Gorbenko, told Izvestia. — A transport regiment is necessary for solving tasks, managing its units over long distances. The airfield will be repaired there, I don't know what condition it is in now. It will be normal for the western and southern directions that aviation will be based in Tambov. Transport boards fly far, their action ranges are large.
In battles and in peaceful life
Military transport aviation plays a special role in the Armed Forces. So, in January last year, she evacuated Russian citizens from Kazakhstan, which was gripped by unrest. And with the beginning of a special military operation in Ukraine, the VTA planes continuously transport personnel and equipment involved in combat operations. On June 20, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a meeting of the department's board that since the beginning of the operation, the intensity of flights has more than doubled, the AN-124 and IL-76 aircraft have performed more than 10 thousand flights. According to him, the volume of military air transport is increasing annually.
— The planes transported 2,300 pieces of equipment, more than 300 thousand military personnel and 160 thousand tons of cargo, and the A-50 and Il-22 aircraft carried out almost 5 thousand special sorties, — the minister cited the data. He also stressed that the VTA aircraft provide assistance to the regions of Russia and foreign countries in extinguishing forest fires and eliminating the consequences of natural disasters.
As Izvestia wrote, the Ministry of Defense began working on the creation of new regiments of the VTA in 2021. By the end of the decade, new parts should receive over a hundred Il-76 aircraft, both rolled off the assembly line and upgraded.
A-50 Taganrog long-range radar detection and control aircraft at the Alabino training ground during the joint preparation of foot crews and a mechanized column to participate in the Victory Parade on May 9 on Red Square. 2019
Image Source: Photo: TASS/Valery Sharifulin
In recent years, military transport aircraft have been actively involved in operations abroad.
For example, in November 2020, they were used for the emergency transfer of the Russian peacekeeping brigade and its equipment to Nagorno-Karabakh during the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.
VTA transported a detachment of Russian military medics and specialists in radiation, chemical and biological protection to Italy after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to help fight the disease. For the same purpose, Russian transport planes flew to Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Armenia and Kazakhstan.
Since 2015, the BTA has been providing uninterrupted supplies to the Russian group in Syria. Also, transport planes arrive at the Khmeimim Airbase almost daily. According to the defense ministry, in the first three years of the operation, the VTA performed more than 2,785 flights, transported more than 90 thousand people and more than a thousand pieces of weapons and military equipment.
IL-76 heavy military transport aircraft at the Russian Khmeimim Airbase
Image Source: Photo: TASS/Marina Lystseva
Russian transport planes delivered and parachuted dozens of tons of food and medicines into Syrian cities and towns blocked by terrorists. Most often, VTA planes flew to the Deir ez-Zor area in 2016-2017.
About 250 planes and helicopters are currently in service with military transport aviation. Most of them have remained since the Soviet Union. In 2019, according to the Ministry of Defense, the serviceability of the fleet of cars was increased to 90%.
The main aircraft in the fleet of the VTA of Russia is the IL-76. It has been used in the army since 1976. The maximum speed is 800 km/ h, the crew is 6-7 people. It is armed with two GSH-23L guns of 23 mm caliber. It can carry 140-225 soldiers, or 126 paratroopers, or up to 47 tons of cargo.
In recent years, the Ministry of Defense has received aircraft of the latest IL-76MD-90A modification. The wing was completely redesigned for them. The weight is reduced by three tons without reducing the strength. New PS-90A-76 engines are being installed on the aircraft. They consume less fuel, which allowed to increase the flight range by almost 20%. Increased from 48 to 60 tons and the maximum load capacity.
IL-76MD-90A military transport aircraft at Aviastar-SP aircraft Manufacturing Plant in Ulyanovsk
Image Source: Photo: TASS/Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
The AN-12 military transport aircraft, depending on the modification, accommodates from 5 to 6 crew members. The maximum take-off weight is 61 tons: up to 90 soldiers, or 60 parachutists, or 20 tons of cargo. The maximum speed is 777 km/h.
The AN-26 is a multi—purpose transport aircraft that accommodates a crew of five people. Its maximum speed is 540 km/h, and its maximum take-off weight is 24 tons. It can carry 40 paratroopers, or 24 wounded, or 5.5 tons of cargo. The first flight on it was made on May 21, 1969, in service — since 1975.
The AN-124 superheavy class aircraft is a leader in the market of air transportation of bulky and superheavy cargo and a large number of military equipment. The combination of such flight characteristics as the volume of the cargo cabin, the flight range, the ability to load without special equipment, makes it the only aircraft at the moment capable of taking on board cargo weighing more than 120 tons. Its maximum speed is 865 km/h.
Julia Leonova
Roman Kretsul
