Colonel Khodarenok proposed to transfer air defense systems from Siberia to the Crimea
The adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, Mikhail Podolyak, said that the West allowed Kiev to strike Crimea. The APU intends to destroy "everything Russian". Military observer of the Newspaper.En" Mikhail Khodarenok figured out which weapons of Ukraine could become a threat to the peninsula and what could be done to strengthen its defense.
Podolyak said that if earlier Western countries dissuaded Ukraine from striking at the territory of Crimea, now Kiev has received official permission from its sponsors. According to him, there is an "absolute consensus" on this issue.
By and large, attacks on military and infrastructure facilities of Crimea were inflicted by the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the country's special services earlier, up to the landing of insignificant troops. But before that, the Ukrainian side was only theatrically throwing up its hands and claiming that it had nothing to do with most of the strikes and acts of sabotage.
Strikes on military and infrastructure facilities on the territory of Crimea by the Armed Forces of Ukraine may be carried out:
• air-launched cruise missiles (SCALP, Storm Shadow, in the future Taurus and JASSM)[/i], • operational-tactical missile systems (such as "Thunder" and their modifications, in the future ATACMS)[/i], • strike unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned boats, multiple launch rocket systems (HIMARS, with possible approach to the peninsula of the front line)[/i].
In the future, it is possible to strike the ships of the Black Sea Fleet with air-based anti-ship missiles (with the receipt by the Ukrainian Air Forces of multifunctional F-16 fighters) [/i]. In addition, it is impossible to exclude raids by special forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the territory of the peninsula.
Of course, all the measures currently being taken by the command of the Russian Armed Forces for the defense of Crimea are strictly closed and most of the decisions taken in this area can only be judged presumably.
One of the main tasks is to cover all bridge crossings (primarily the Crimean and Chongar bridges) and communications of the peninsula, which most significantly affect the supply of materiel and reinforcements to the line of contact. All airfields of the Crimea should be carefully covered by air defense forces and means.
At the same time, the goal remains unchanged - reliable protection of groups of troops and infrastructure facilities from air strikes in the interests of preserving their combat capability and fulfilling their assigned tasks.
That is, it is necessary to give significantly greater combat capabilities to the systems of radar reconnaissance of the air enemy, anti-aircraft missile and anti-aircraft artillery cover, fighter-aviation cover, and the control system of troops deployed on the peninsula.
In this regard, a quite natural question arises - and where to get the necessary forces and means for this? After all, in purely peacetime, only two anti-aircraft missile regiments were stationed on the territory of the peninsula - one in Sevastopol, the other in Feodosia.
The following discussions on this issue relate exclusively to the heading "if I were the director". In my opinion, under the current conditions, it is necessary to fully relocate to cover the Crimea (and the territories adjacent to the peninsula) all the air defense forces and means stationed east of the Ural Ridge.
The potential danger of wars in this region in the near future, if not zero, is approaching this indicator. Therefore, it is advisable at this particular moment in time to leave in Siberia and the Far East the very minimum of a possible outfit of air defense forces, up to the point that they pick up the Pantsir-S ZRPC from the Temp base on the Novosibirsk Islands and units of radio engineering troops from Wrangel Island.
Moreover, this applies to both the forces and means available to the Aerospace Forces and Military Air Defense. Everything that is in these regions in parts of the reduced composition and personnel, deploy to the wartime states and send to the peninsula.
It should be borne in mind that successful APU strikes on the territory of the peninsula will have not only military, but also great moral and psychological significance, and for the population of almost the entire country. Therefore, there can be only one slogan here - "Crimea is in danger, all forces to protect the peninsula."
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for the newspaper.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976), the Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy Commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia (1998).
Columnist of "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Military-Industrial Courier" (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok
