Air Defense - Early History
Air defense systems appeared as soon as airplanes were spotted over the battlefields of the Great War. The development of the Air Defense Forces and the means of fighting the air enemy was associated with the emergence and combat use of aircraft in the Great War, 1914-18. It is still not clear who was the first in Russia to use military planes and how successfully, but by 1915 all the warring countries had airplanes in their arsenals.
In 1913 in France, and then in 1914 in Russia and Germany guns were developed for firing at air targets. The Russian army also began to adapt field guns and machine guns in special installations for this. In 1915, aviation, aerial barriers and antiaircraft searchlights began to be used to cover the troops and air defense of some large centers of the country. The first anti-aircraft system in Russia was created to protect Petrograd [St. Peterburg], the Russian capital at the time. As was no special anti-aircraft technology at the time, 75-mm navy canons were adapted to shoot at the sky and thus defend the city.
In the Russian army, the first battery of 75-mm naval guns, adapted for shooting at planes, was formed in October 1914, and in 1915 anti-aircraft guns of sample 1914 were made and the world's first RBVZ-16 fighter aircraft was built . Antiaircraft batteries of antiaircraft artillery and fighter aviation squadrons are being created for the air defense of the major centers of the country (Petrograd, Odessa, etc.), as well as troops and front-line rear facilities. For the detection of enemy aviation, monitoring its actions, warning air defense forces and equipment, as well as the population of cities about air danger, an air surveillance, warning and communication (ATR) system was being created.
The Russian defenders' first success occurred only after a year, when an anti-aircraft unit under the leadership of Captain V. Tarnavsky shot down a plane for the first time in Russian history, a German one. On Dec. 13, 1915 General Alexeyev, head of the Supreme Headquarters, signed a decree on the formation of four separate light batteries "for firing on military airplanes."
In October 1917, several anti-aircraft batteries were formed on railway platforms, which were called the "steel anti-aircraft division," which became one of the first air defense units in the Red Army. By the spring of 1918, there were 12 aircraft fighter units and more than 200 anti-aircraft (anti-aircraft) batteries, which performed the task of air defense of Petrograd, Moscow, Astrakhan, Baku, Kronstadt. The training of commanding personnel for artillery gunners, observers and signalers was carried out directly in the air defense units, in special courses and in schools. The first school of command personnel of antiaircraft artillery was created in 1918 in Nizhny Novgorod. In Moscow, Petrograd, Tula, and other cities, instructor training teams were organized to train gunners, observers, and telephonists.
During the Civil War of 1918–20, on the basis of the combat experience of the Great War, the tactics of the Air Defense Forces were further developed, principles for constructing air defense of major points of the country were developed, elements of the operational art of the Air Defense Forces were born. In connection with the rapid development of bomber aviation in the large imperialist countries, the Communist Party and the Soviet government took a number of measures to strengthen the country's air defenses.
In 1924-28, the organizational development of anti-aircraft artillery was developed. In 1924, in Leningrad, the 1st regiment of anti-aircraft artillery of the Red Army was formed from separate divisions, and in 1927 the 1st anti-aircraft artillery brigade was formed. The basis of the organizational structure of the air defense of the 1920s. constituted air defense stations that were part of the air defense sector in the territory of the border military districts, the command of which was responsible for air defense within the district. In the same period, a network of VNOS posts was created in the border strip and around the largest centers of the country. In 1932 the Soviet Union began developing a single anti-aircraft system. In 1927, a department was created at the Headquarters of the Red Army, and in April 1930, the Air Defense Directorate, which, from 1932, was directly subordinate to the People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs. It carried out the general leadership of air defense throughout the country, and also united the activities of civil departments, institutions and public organizations in this area. Local air defense command was carried out by the command of military districts. The air defense sectors were abolished.
In July 1934, the first head of the Air Defense Directorate of the Red Army was appointed commander of the 1st rank S. S. Kamenev. a department was created, and in April 1930, the Air Defense Directorate, which since 1932 was directly subordinate to the People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs. It carried out the general leadership of air defense throughout the country, and also united the activities of civil departments, institutions and public organizations in this area. Local air defense command was carried out by the command of military districts. The air defense sectors were abolished.
In the 1930s the air defense forces were equipped with new combat equipment, their numbers increased, and highly qualified personnel of command and engineering staff began to train. New units and air defense units are being developed, their organizational structure and principles of combat use are being improved. Anti-aircraft artillery received new domestic models of anti-aircraft guns - a 76.2-mm model in 1931 and 1938, an 85-mm and automatic 37-mm model in 1939, PUAZO-2 artillery anti-aircraft fire control devices in 1935 and PUAZO -3 in 1939. Fighter aircraft was equipped with domestic aircraft I-15, I-16, I-15 bis, and since 1940 more advanced types - Yak-1, MiG-3 and in 1941 LaGG-3. In 1939, the VNOS service received the first domestic radar detection stations RUS-1, and in 1940 - RUS-2.
From 1934 to 1939 the anti-aircraft artillery fleet has almost tripled, and fighter aviation, by about 1.5 times. A single organizational structure of air defense units and subunits was established, in 1932 anti-aircraft artillery divisions were created. In 1937, for the defense of the largest centers of the country, corps, divisions and separate air defense brigades were created. In the years 1940-41 the entire border area of the country was divided into air defense zones (by the number of military districts), which were divided into air defense areas. Troops anti-aircraft artillery and fighter aircraft, dedicated to the air defense of important centers of the country, were not part of the air defense zones. In 1940, the Red Army Air Defense Directorate was transformed into the Main Air Defense Directorate and headed by Colonel-General N. N. Voronov.
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