Troops of National Air Defense (PVO)
The Troops of National Air Defense (PVO) became a separate armed service in 1948 and were given the mission of defending the Soviet industrial, military, and administrative centers and the armed forces against strategic bombing. Air Defense Forces were known as Voyska PVO Strany [National Air Defense Forces - Voiska Protivovozdushnoi Oborony Strany] from 1941 to 1982.
The Soviets responded to the US atomic threat by reorganizing their air defenses. During the Great Patriotic War, Soviet air defense forces had been organized into four fronts (the Western, Southwestern, Central,, and Transcaucasian) and six armies, In 1946 these were reorganized into air defense districts. At the same time, a commander of Soviet National Air Defense Forces (PVO Strany) was appointed. He was immediately subordinated to the commander of artillery of the armed forces of the Soviet Union. This relationship reflected the fact that tubed artillery still represented the dominant weapon of air defense.
The Air Defence Air Force (PVO Strany) became an independent branch in the area of air defence and antiaircraft systems in 1948. United under its command were interceptor aviation; antiaircraft artillery (AAA); and the Ground Observation Service, which included radar units, ground observers, searchlight units, barrage balloon units, and other specialized forces. The entire country was divided into border and interior regions. In this period, the conduct of air defense actions in particular regions came under the direction of the commanders of the various military districts.
The air defense forces, charged with defense against enemy air attack, include missile, air force, and radio-technical units. The strategic air defense operation focuses on defending friendly forces and contributing to air superiority.
Defensive tasks, in order of priority, include--
- Protecting administrative-political, military-industrial, and communications centers;
- Providing cover for air bases, missile troops, and major headquarters;
- Defending concentrations and deployments of major ground forces groupings, especially on main axes, and then of second echelons or reserves.
The Troops of National Air Defense (PVO) combined ground-based air defense assets with fixed-wing aircraft forces to provide an integrated air defense umbrella. Conflicting pressures for centralization and decentralization affected air defense control relationships. Factors favoring centralized control include the greater efficiency and effectiveness of centralized target detection systems and the increased ranges of modern SAMs. Decentralized control provides flexibility and shorter response times for supporting fast-paced operations by ground maneuver units.
The Soviet Air Force of the Anti-Aircraft Defence of the Homeland (Protivo-Vozduschniya Obarona-Strany or PVO Strany) ranked third in order of precedence in the Soviet armed forces after the Strategic Rocket Forces and the Ground Forces and became an independent arm in 1954. After Air Defense of Ground Forces was formed in 1958, the National Air Defense Forces focused on strategic aerospace and theater air defense.
The Commander-in-Chief of the PVO Strany, who operated directly under the Ministry of Defence in Moscow, had four main elements under his command. These comprised:
- Anti-Aircraft Artillery Troops (Zenit-naya Artilleriya)
- Anti-Aircraft Missile Troops (Zenitno-Raketmye Voiska)
- Fighter Aviation of the Air Force (Istrebitel’naya Aviatsiya)
- Radar Troops (Radioteknicheskie Voiska)
A major reorganization of Soviet Air and Air Defence Forces took place between 1978 and 1980, including Frontal Aviation, Long-Range Aviation, interceptor aircraft of the National Air Defence (IA-PVO) and Ground Force Troops of the Anti-Aircraft Defence (PVO Voysk). Since 1978 PVO [or P-VO] (Protivo-Vozdushnoi Oborony = National [Homeland] Air-Defense Forces) combined PVO-Strany (Strategic ADF) and PVO-Voysk (Ground Forces ADF). At the beginning of 1981 the name of the air defense force component was changed from "Troops of National Air Defense" (Voyska PVO strany) to simply "Troops of Air Defense" (Voyska PVO), but it maintained its status as an independent branch, and the main body of army air defence troops, including the military schools, were annexed to it. Voyska PVO gained responsibility for theater anti-aircraft systems of the Air Defense of Ground Forces. The Voyska PVO lost its separate command and control system in the reorganization and about half of the fighters and the majority of the flying training system was transferred to the Air Force.
In 1989 the Air Defense Forces had more than 500,000 personnel and operated the world's most extensive strategic air defense network. By the mid-1990s the air defense forces had a total of about 200,000 troops, of whom 60,000 were conscripts, with about 850 combat aircraft, including 100 MiG-23, 425 MiG-31, and 325 Su-27 aircraft.
As a part of the organizational reform aimed at increasing efficiency and cutting military personnel, the Air Defense Force was merged with the Air Force in 1998. On 11 August 2000 the Air Force commander-in-chief, Army Gen Anatoliy Kornukov, announced that Russian air defence missile units would soon stop being on a permanent combat duty for financial reasons. The units will be kept at a lower level of readiness, with primary air defense responsibilities being placed on fighter aviation.
As of mid-2003 Anatoly Kvashnin was said to be slated to be removed from position of Chief of the General Staff. To all appearances, everybody was tired of his inconsistent moves related to army reformation. By his proposal the combat arms of RVSN, the Space Forces and the Missile-Space Defense Forces were merged into the new force - the RVSN. By 2003 this phase of a military reform had been admitted fallacious and the Space Forces and the Space Defense Forces had again become independent forces. The RVSN had also lost its status of a force (it became an independent combat arm). The Ground Forces Main Command was disbanded in 1998. It was restored in 2001 and the status of the Main Ground Forces Commander was brought to the level of deputy defense minister. Kvashnin was the Chief of the Russian General Staff until 2004, when he was dismissed by President Vladimir Putin after seven years on the job.
Missile and Space Defense
In 1963-1964 the Soviet Troops of Defense (PVO) established two new commands: PRO and PKO (Protivo Kosmicheskoi Oborony). PRO, meaning anti-missile defense [Protivo Raketniya Oborony], was charged with detecting, intercepting, and destroying enemy ballistic rockets, while the PKO, meaning anti-space defense, was responsible for "destroying the enemy's cosmic means of fighting". On Oct. 1, 1992, the PRO and PKO Directorate was restructured into the Command of the Rocket and Space Defense (RKO). Colonel General Smirnov became officially the commander of the RKO forces. In 1997, the RKO forces, along with the Space Forces became the part of the Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN).
Missile and space defenses have been effective arms of the Air Defense Forces since the mid-1960s. In 1989 the Soviet Union had the world's only operational antiballistic missile (ABM) and antisatellite (ASAT) systems.
The Soviet Union deployed its first ABM defense system around Moscow in 1964. It consisted of surface-to-air missiles that could be launched to destroy incoming ballistic missiles. The Soviet leaders have continually upgraded and developed the capabilities of this initial system. A major modernization of interceptor missiles began in the late 1970s, and by 1989 the Soviet Union had up to thirty-two improved SH-04 (Galosh) launchers in operation and a fundamentally new SH-08 (Gazelle) interceptor missile under development.
In 1989 the Radiotechnical Troops operated eleven ground-based radars and numerous satellites to provide strategic early warning of enemy missile launches. They also manned six large phased-array radars for ballistic missile detection. These radars could also serve as target acquisition and tracking radars to guide ABM launchers as part of a nationwide defense against ballistic missiles. In 1989 the Soviet Union was building three additional sites for phased-array radars.
The Soviet Union had an operational ASAT interceptor system that in wartime it would launch a satellite into the same orbit as an opponent's satellite. The ASAT satellite would then maneuver nearby and detonate a conventional fragmentation or a nuclear warhead to destroy its target. Thus, the interceptor system posed a threat to an adversary's command, control, and communications, navigation, reconnaissance, and intelligence gathering satellites in low-earth orbits, a capability that would be critical in wartime.
