JPRS-UAC-92-001 21 JANUARY 1992 i FOREIGN Broancast INFORMATION SERVICE PRS Report— Central Eurasia AVIATION & COSMONAUTICS No 5, May 1997 Central Eurasia AVIATION AND COSMONAUTICS No 5, May 1991 JPRS-UAC-92-001 CONTENTS 21 January 1992 [The following are translations of selected articles in the Russian-language monthly journal AVIATSIYA I KOSMONAVTIKA published in Moscow. Refer to the table of contents for a listing of any articles not translated.) Soviet Version of U.S. Raid on Supung GES in Korean War [Lieutenant-General of Aviation (ret) G. LObDOv; pp 16-17] ...ccccccccccccccccccecsccessceessceseessessessecseecenseeseasenseesenses | Design and Development History of Su-24 Tactical Bomber /L. Loginov, V. Yakovlev; pp 20-23) .......... 3 State of Practice Bombing Ranges Assessed /Lieutenant-Colonel I. Kovalenko; pp 28-30] ......c.cccccccccc0000 6 Lack of Flying Time Affecting Pilots’ Proficiency /Guards Major A. Gornov; p 30] ....ccccccccccccsecsssesseeeeeees 8 Causes of High Helicopter Accident Rate Analyzed /Colonel O. Churkin; p 31] coccccccccccccccccccsscsesesesseeseeees 10 Faults of Search-and-Rescue Equipment and Procedures Detailed /Colonel S. Shumilo; pp 32-33] ......... 11 WGF Pilot Saves Out-of-Control MiG-29 [p35] oocccccccccccccccccccccccccssseeceessecesseesssesseseescessesesesuenseeeseeeeenees 13 Survey of Development of Electronic-Warfare Tactics /V. Dubrov,; pp 40-41] oo....ccccccccccccccccccessesseseeeeeeees 14 New Officer’s Handbook and Flight Safety Book Reviewed /Lieutenant-Colonel A. Romanov; p 42) ...... 16 Use of Energy of Physical Vacuum as Propulsion System Proposed /Yu. Baurov; pp 42-43] ......c.cccc000 17 Attempts to Control Descent of Salyut-7/Kosmos-1686 Described [Lieutenant-Colonel V. Maksimovskiy; pp 44-45] ........cccccccccccccsesseeesecceessecessecessecsseseesecsecesaceeeeenseacuseeenees 19 AGUGERS POG TURRERBIOS ........ccccccccccccccsccsscssccccccccccccccscsssccccccccccccsccccsssccscccccsccccccescosccccsccscesccsecccsscccsscoccnccosassooes 21 Publication Data ...................cccccccccccsccccccsssccceccesceecccccceececececceccuceseeceeceeceeceueceeeeeeceesueeescceseseeucessucesesessueuereues 21 JPRS-UAC-92-001 21 January 1992 Soviet Version of U.S. Raid on Supung GES in One can clearly imagine what fate would have awaited Korean War those aircraft, which were unable to perform even simple 92U'M0063A Moscow AVIATSIYA | KOSMONAVTIKA defensive maneuvers with full bomb loads, in the event of an attack on them by our MiGs, Of course, the more in Russian No 5, May 91 (signed to press 10 Jun 91) pp 16-17 than 100 F-86s assigned to protect the strike aircraft would have tried to intercept the MiG-15s before they reached the fighter-bombers. They were, however, not [Article by Hero of the Soviet Union Lieutenant-General capable of performing that mission. The 64th Fighter Air of Aviation (Retired) G. Lobov under the rubnec “The Wing and the OVA, meanwhile, had considerably more ‘Blank Spots’ of History”: “In the Skies of North Korea”; aircraft at the Andong Air Center than the 208 indicated conclusion—for prior installments see Nos. 10-12 for by the Americans. A lesser portion of them would of 1990 and Nos. |-4 for 1991] course have been assigned to engage the F-86s in the [Text] event of a sortie, while the main forces would have been able to inflict heavy losses on the fighter-bombers and, Strike Against the Supung Hydroelectric Power probably, prevent the mass strike against the target or Plant—Truth and Conjecture reduce its consequences to a minimum. A striving for objectivity in the portrayal and evaluation So then, the chief question remains why we, with con- of events in the two-year period of the war in Korea siderable fighter forces at our disposal, did not send forces that the reader's attention be directed to another them up to repel the enemy attack. The Americans felt combat episode, around which disputes have continued that the MiGs did not come up to intercept for two up to the present day. The discussion concerns the reasons: either the Soviet pilots were frightened by the massive air raid by American aircraft against the hydro- numerical superiority of the enemy, or they were ordered electnc power plant [GES] at Supung, located on the to protect only Chinese industrial cities and airfields. Yalu River The journal says that the American pilots observed that Analysis of the results of the strike occupies quite a large as many as 208 MiGs located at the airfields around place in works by American authors devoted to combat Andong took off and headed in the direction of Man- air operations in Korea. They compare it with the largest churia, not one of them attacking the American air air operations of World War II. Aircraft from the Sth armada, leaving the Korean targets undefended Tactical Air Army, the Navy and the Marine Corps—a total of about 500 planes—took part in it simulta- Analysis of the weather conditions provides an answer to neously, according to data presented in those publica- this question. A powerful storm front with low cloud tions. cover and heavy rain had completely closed our alternate airfields in Manchuria by 1600 hours on 23 Jun 52 (the An editorial in the Amencan journal QUARTERLY strike against the Supung GES was carried out starting at REVIEW noted that this raid “proved the effectiveness 1601), was moving fast and was located directly at the of the planning, coordination and interaction of our Air Andong airfield. Our aircraft, had they gone up, had no Forces units in the Far East.’ It really should be chance of landing safely. All of the fighters of the 64th acknowledged that the overall operation was well Fighter Air Wing and the OVA that took off to intercept planned and executed from a purely military viewpoint the enemy would tn all likelihood have been lost Much better for the U.S. Air Force, in any case, than the tragic “Black Tuesday.”’ At least one gross error, how- In this situation the commander of the 64th and the ever, was made in the planning at the time and in the commanding general of the OVA made the difficult but course of executing this strike, which could have doomed sole correct solutton—the MiGs would not go up to repel the Americans to a major defeat had the MiGs sortied to the mass air strike. | would note that the information repel the raid regarding the fighters taking off and heading for Man- We will not analyze in detail the American plan for the churia is simply contrived, since not a single aircraft took off from the Andong airfield. There was no other raid, since it does not directly concern the MiG-1 5s. way out in this situation. Even had we been able to break which did not come up to repel the strike. I feel it off the enemy attack and defeat it at the price oft he loss necessary at the same time, however, to elaborate on the of the principal forces of the fighter air corps and the aforementioned error in order to refute the laudatory OVA, it would have been at a too-great and unwarranted statements of the QUARTERLY REVIEW cost. The enemy would in that case have obtained The journal reported that the start of the attack was complete freedom of action over the whole territory of preceded by operations to suppress the air-defense artil- the KNDR [Korean People’s Democratic Republic] for a lery.. while the fighter-bombers of the Air Force and prolonged period, and could have destroyed important Navy were waiting to turn onto the target bomb-run targets at any moment without encountering opposition heading in altitude-stacked formations (my) emphasis— in the air G.L.). The presence of the strike groups in close prox- imity was envisaged instead of their approach to the The correctness of this decision had to be proved at the target at a set time highest level. That was far from a simple matter when JPRS-UAC-92-001 21 January 1992 one takes into account specific features of the nature of 1 do not know the i: -gher political or military aims that the leaders of the USSR and the PRC at the time... would explain such actions. One may suppose, however, that there was a certain logic in this—a reluctance by the Many questions have remained as yet unanswered Opposing sides to broaden the scope of a regional! war. despite the antiquity of the events nonetheless. Why, for example, did the Americans make no attacks on the The combat operations continued nonetheless. | was major electric-power plants of the KNDR over the permitted to return to the Motherland in November of almost two years of war? Or why did the enemy not blow 1952, after almost two years of participation in the war. up the Supung GES as early as 1950, when he fled the I was invited to Peking before my departure. Marshal area in a panic under the onslaught of the Chinese Chu De reported at a meeting with the leaders of the troops? PRC that Mao Zedong was ill, and asked that heartfelt gratitude and best wishes be extended to all of the Soviet There are questions for our side as well. Why, for pilots in the name of the Chinese people. example, was only one Chinese 20-piece regiment of 76mm guns assigned for the air defense of the Supung I was awarded a special certificate signed by Mao Zedong GES? The commander of the 64th Fighter Air Wing at a reception given in honor of the Soviet fliers. | could not have reinforced the air defense of the Supung assume that the lofty assessment and warm words on my GES, since the missions of the larger air units and their modest contributions to the fulfillment of our interna- stationing were determined by the high command. The tionalist duty expressed in it can by all mghts pertain as corps commander had the opportunity of using only one well to all the Soviet pilots who made a large contribu- battalion of air-defense artillery. After the strike against tion to victory over the aggressor, the creation and the Supung GES, on the other hand, one of the available improvement in combat of the Chinese and Korean Air large air-defense units was brought up at once to cover Forces and the reinforcement of friendship between our the rebuilding work on orders from above. peoples. Fliers Awarded the Title of Hero of the Soviet Urion for Internationalist Aid to the Korean People in War of Patriotic Liberation of 1950-1953 % No. and name Year of birth Date of decree | Military rank and Combat sorties Aircraft shot down position® i 2 3 4 5 6 — 1. Stepan 1922 13 Nov 51 Major, deputy 166 11 Antonovich squadron Bakhayev commander 2. Arkadiy 1923 | 14Jul 53 Captain, deputy ” — Sergeyevich Boytsov | squadron | commander for polit- | ical affairs a - 3. Nikolay Gngo- 1921 22 Oct $1 Captain, flight com- 148 11 ryevich Dokashenko | | mander 4. Gngony 1916 | 10 Oct $I Captain, squadron about | 20 9 Ivanovich Ges | commander on +~ ————$_$$_$—__— + 5. Anatoliy Mikhay- 1922 | 14 Jul 53 | Major, deputy regi- about 50 5 lovich Karelin | | mental commander — = ieulenigueneenesioemennas 6. Sergey 1923 | 10 Oct $1 Captain, deputy 149 13 Makarovich Krama- | squadron renko | commander Nee + oe 7. Georgiy Ageyevich 1915 10 Oct $1 Mayor-general avia- | eee 4 Lobov | thon, commander of 64th Fighter Air — ao _—_|— —W ing —_+t 8. Mikhail Ivanovich 1923 | 14 Jul $3 | Captain, deputy [— _ Mikhin squadron | | commander it —_—— —-- --—---—- -———— _------- + — _— — -- + 9. Stepan Ivanovich 1920 14 Jul $3 | Mayor, deputy | _ = Naumenko | | squadron | at _ | commander | a 10. Bons Aleksan- | 1923 | 10 Oct $1 | Semor heutenant, | — — drovich Obraztsov | pilot | 11. Dmitny | 1919 13 Nov 5! | Mayor, regimental 150 14 (1) Paviovich Oskin | | | commander JPRS-UAC-92-001 21 January 1992 Fliers Awarded the Title of Hero of the Soviet Union for Internationalist Aid to the Korean People in War of Patriotic Liberation of 1950-1953 % (Continued) No. and name Year of birth Date of decree Military rank and Combat sorties Aircraft shot down position* 12. Gngoriy Uly- 1917 13 Nov 51 Captain, assistant 122 11 anovich Okhay regimental commander 13. Yevgeniy 1918 22 Apr 52 Colonel, regimental 108 20 Georgiyevich Pepe- commander lyayev 14. Mikhail 1920 13 Nov 51 Captain, squadron 140 14 Sergeyevich Pono- commander marev 15. Grigoriy 1918 22 Apr 52 Lieutenant colonel, 120 s Ivanovich Pulov regimental commander 16. Dmitny Aleksan- 1922 13 Nov 51 Senior lieutenant, 161 10 drovich Samoylov pilot 17. Aleksandr Pav- 1919 13 Nov 51 Lieutenant colonel, 191 15 lovich Smorchkov deputy regimental commander | 18. Yevgeniy 1923 10 Oct 51 Senior lieutenant, 15 | Mikhaylovich Stel- senior pilot | makh 3 _ 4 19. Serafim 1923 10 Oct 51 Captain, regimental = _— Pavlovich Subbotin navigator —-——__-. —-—— -— - + — 20. Nikolay Vasi- 1923 10 Oct 51 Captain, deputy about 150 21 lyevich Sutyagin squadron commander , Ten 13[ a 2S 21. Fedor Akimovich 1921 10 Oct $1 Senior lieutenant, about | 50 | 6 Shebanov pilot 22. Lev Kinillovich 1923 13 Nov 51 Captain, flight com- 212 | 1S Shchukin mander * Military rank and position given at time of awarding of title of Hero of the Soviet Union —** No precise data as yet —*** The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to General G. Lobov with regard for his services in the Great Patriotic War (346 combat sorties, 19 aircraft shot down personally and eight as part of a group).—/nformation prepared by Colonel (Retired) G. Plotnikoy, leader of the Korean Group of the Interna- tional Commission of Internationalist Soldiers of the Soviet War Veterans Committee. COPYRIGHT: “Aviatsiya i kosmonavtika”, 1991. bombers. It could also not be achieved through low- altitude flights at comparatively low speeds. Increased speeds close to the ground made piloting the aircraft Design and Development History of Su-24 virtually impossible with the control systems that existed Tactical Bomber at the time. The concept of overcoming air defenses at 92UM0063B Moscow AVIATSIYA I KOSMONAVTIKA the lowest possible altitudes with terrain following at in Russian No 5, May 91 (signed to press 10 Jun 91) maximum flight speeds in good and bad weather condi- pp 20-23 tions was nonetheless chosen by specialists after careful analysis. The assignment to develop a close-support tactical bomber, able to fly that way and replace the I-28 [Article by Deputy Chief Designer L. Loginov and NIO and Yak-28B, was issued to the Experimental Design [Scientific-Research Department] Chief V. Yakovlev Bureau imen: P. Sukhoy. under the rubric “Soviet Aviation Technology™: “The Su-24 Close-Support Tactical Bomber’ The new aircraft, combining the properties of a ground- attack aircraft and tactical bomber, was to make flights [Text] The time has come when it is possible to reveal one of the shining pages in the history of the Sukhoy OKB at both supersonic and subsonic speeds, conduct combat [Experimental Design BureauJ—to evaluate the Su-24 operations under good and bad weather conditions, day aircraft and the titanic labors that went into its creation. and night and at all altitudes, and defeat ground and naval surface targets with aimed delivery in manual and In the 1960s, when anti-aircraft defense had reached a automatic control modes. The performance of missions high level due to the appearance of effective means of to block the movements of a ground enemy and destroy detection and destruction, a simple increase in altitude roads, bridges, tunnels, operating radar stations, air- and speed could not now ensure the invulnerability of defense command-and-control posts, SAM _ launchers, JPRS-UAC-92-001 21 January 1992 aircraft at airfields, artillery, military-industrial facili- The Su-24 is a shoulder-wing aircraft executed according ties, railroad trains and other radar-contrasting targets in to a normal aerodynamic configuration with a mono- Operations principally at low altitudes was planned for it, coque fuselage (the shape that was chosen is to ensure as opposed to aircraft for the direct support of troops on maximum lift), two AL-21F3 turbojet engines developed the battlefield. by the design bureau led by A. Lyulka, with two non- controllable lateral air intakes, a variable-sweep wing, a It was also entrusted with the detection and destruction swept tail assembly and separately controllable stabi- of transport, communications, forward artillery spotting lizers. A ventral fence has also been installed in addition and other aircraft and helicopters, day and night, using to the vertical empennage in order to provide for direc- air-to-air missiles with heat-seeking homing heads in tional stability. good weather and using cannons with visual sighting in The whole process of creating a new airframe is intrin- the daytime, as well as the performance of incidental sically a chain of contradictions and compromises. The photo reconnaissance. The possibility of employing the aircraft naturally had to be made somewhat heavier, aircraft from dirt runways—as well as hard-surfaced using quite powerful tilting assemblies for the wings, but ones—of limited dimensions in order to function under the impact obtained dispelled any doubts. such conditions and be rapidly redeployed was envisaged to allow for the fact that an enemy, especially in the The wing of the bomber is one of its noteworthy features. initial phase of combat operations, would try to disable Each of the wing panels consists of an immobile portion, permanent airfields. fastened to the fuselage, and a tilting part. The latter are fastened with the aid of bearing assemblies to a load- The Su-24 was at first not very similar to what we see bearing beam oft he center section and are equipped with today, both outwardly and in design. It was created as a specially developed tilt pylons for hanging ordnance. vertical-takeoff aircraft with both lifting and cruising The design of the pylon, using a parallelogram mecha- engines and a fixed delta wing. One aircraft, which nism, makes it possible to keep the direction of the axis received the designation T6-1, was even built but never of the weaponry unchanged at any angle of wing tilt. saw the light of day, since many difficulties were discov- ered in the design engineering of the airframe and the A sweep angle of 16° was chosen for the leading edge in power plant and the resolution of aerodynamic issues. order to provide for the maximum bearing properties of the wing in takeoff and landing mode. The wing area is The concept of short takeoff and landing was thus increased therein, as are, naturally, its lift and the selected instead of vertical—which also proved not to be aerodynamic properties of the aircraft. Each tilt panel is very easy to realize, as did high-speed flight at low and fitted with four-piece leading-edge flaps and three-piece, very low altitudes. Flights at such altitudes and speeds double-slotted trailing-edge flaps deployed with the aid with conventional aircraft configuration are accompa- of screw drives. Spoilers have also been installed on the nied by alternating loads on the wings and by discomfort; upper surfaces of the wing panels. according to pilots who have encountered such phe- nomena, the feeling is like being dragged along a wash- A sweep angle of 35° is used at subsonic cruising speeds. board. An angie of 45° provides quite high bearing properties and aerodynamic quality when performing maneuvers. The high maneuverability makes it possible to escape an The designers who set to work in 1967 under the attacker and select a more “energetic” flight profile for leadership of P. Sukhoy and his closest assistant, Ye. approaching the target, including dive- or toss-bombing. Felsner, designated chief designer, were able to solve Flight at high subsonic and supersonic speeds (up to these problems using a tilt wing. Its area, and the loads Mach 1.35) is made at the maximum wing sweep of 69° on the wing accordingly, could be altered in flight by in order to provide for minimal frontal resistance. selecting the optimal value for various configurations. This also made it possible to achieve a decrease in the The lower portion of the fuselage has four pylons with frontal resistance of the aircraft. The variable-geometry assemblies to fasten stores racks, launchers, transfer wing was not being employed for the first time; the OKB pylons or pods, among others, as well as two speed had already tried it out on the Su-17. But whereas only brakes that are simultaneously the forward doors of the the wingtips deflected on that aircraft, it was almost the landing-gear strut bays. Another two pylons are installed entire outboard wing panels on the Su-24. under the center section with assemblies to attach var- ious racks. Two extra 3,000-liter external fuel tanks in One has to use the words “for the first time” a great particular can be mounted on the center-section rack many times when recalling the creation of the aircraft. assemblies oft he aircraft, along with one 2,000-liter tank The Su-24 is really one of the first third-generation on the ventral rack. aircraft. It is now a little obsolete, but twenty years have passed, after all. The aircraft can perform missions The concept chosen for overcoming air defenses completely successfully under contemporary conditions required the installation of a multi-mode radar system, a after upgradings. And all thanks to the progressive solu- new type of navigational equipment and provisions for tions inherent in its creation. automatic flight control of the aircraft. This forced a JPRS-UAC-92-001 21 January 1992 fundamental reconsideration of views on the organiza- It nust be said that the seats, making it possible to eject tion of design engineering and development of the air- even when on the ground, were first employed namely in frame. An integrated approach to the solution of tech- the Su-24. nical issues with the bombsight and navigational There were many difficulties with determining th. pro- equipment was realized for the first time in aircraft- cedure for forced ejections. The principle of “every man building practice. The name “aviation system"’ started for himself” was proposed first, followed by having the namely with ithe Su-24. Before that, after all, the aircraft pilot “eject” the navigator and be the last to quit the builders had operated this way: first an airframe was aircraft... These methods led to the loss of valuable created, and then the bombsight system, weapons- seconds, however, the price of which is the lives of the control system and navigational equipment were stuffed in... They should not be reproached for this, as the task fliers. They thus ultimately came to this version: who- of integrating them is exceedingly complex and could be ever makes the decision to eject, the preparation system resolved only on the basis of fundamentally new tech- is actuated, the crew members are pulled fast to the seats nology and the organization of operations in a new way. and the necessary commands are completed. The system rules out aerial collisions of the pilot and navigator in The appearance of on-board computers made it possible ejection. to adopt this approach. Ye. Zazorin was designated deputy general designer for equipment. He combined the The bomber overcomes the resistance of enemy air efforts of the chief designers of ali 13 subsystems, and defenses through the use of an individual protection together with the specialists of the OKB he created a system and good tactical performance characteristics, as unified bombsight and navigational system (PNK) for well as a whole set of design-configuration and special the aircraft. This made it possible—aside from the large measures for combat viability. The iatter include protec. economy of mass—to eliminate redundancy and raise tion against weaponry for the crew member, and fuel the precision and operational effectiveness of the PNK tanks, the presence of two engines, the installation of two considerably. stations for controlling the aircraft (for the pilot and the navigator), system redundancy, the placement of the Much was done for the first time. There were, of course, control lines in a back fairing and a minimal number of difficulties with the creation of both the digital computer joints between fuselage panels. itself and its programs and the fine-tuning of the system. The effective destruct’ on of targets is ensured by the Communications between aircraft systems, ground high-accuracy PNS [bombsight and navigational system] equipment and the pilot now began to be so complicated and a broad range of arms, with the possibility of that it was exceedingly difficult to ascertain, for example, employing various types of them in a single sortie. Some the reason for a missed target. The programs also had to of the weaponry was developed especially for the Su-24. take into account the possibility of such an analysis. Why The aircraft is also equipped with a built-in 23mm aerial not a hit? Was it the result of imperfections in aircraft cannon. Another three cannons can be mounted on design, pilot error or something else? The creation of a fasteners in special pods. sufficiently precise and productive system for objective monitoring and the processing and documenting of OKB test pilot V. liyushin took the plane up for the first information was required. time in May of 1970. One of the most difficult and crucial stages—the flight and final adjustment testing— The navigational equipment of the Su-24 provides for was then entrusted to Deputy Chief Designer (today precise and reliable air navigation and the possibility of General Designer) M. Simonov. His organizational tal- approaching the target area in autonomous navigational ents, broad technical outlook and energetic lifestyle were mode according to a pre-programmed routing. The revealed to the full in that work. bomber is controlled from the pilot’s and navigator’s The flight and final adjustment testing of the Su-24, stations, located side by side in the same cockpit, either which was conducted by test pilots V. Ilyushin, Ye. manually or with the aid of automated equipment. This Solovyev, V. Krechetov, S. Lavrentyev (died during redundant control panel makes it possible to get by testing) and N. Rukhlyadko along with test navigators N. without a special two-seater aircraft during the training Alferov, V. Belykh, L. Smyshlyayev and L. Rudenko, process; it is enough to install a traditional stick at the showed that the specialists of the OKB and other orga- navigator’s station. nizations had created a good aircraft that conformed to the world standards of the time, and especially to the The pressurized cockpit with an air-conditioning system American FB-!11 of analogous purpose. The aircraft was and oxygen equipment facilitates normal crew opera- put into series production in 1972, after the elimination tions in high-altitude flight suits across the whole range of the drawbacks noted in testing. Its heavy service had of altitudes. The canopy of the cockpit consists of one begun. fixed part and two flaps that swing back and to the side independently of each other. The two K-36D ejection A continuous search for new principles for the utilization seats, as well as the interlocking system for jettisoning of airframes and improvcments in their equipment and the swinging part of the canopy, provide for the separate weaponry is underway around the world, however. Mil- forced abandoning of the aircraft by the crew members. itary hardware must be improved constantly in order not JPRS-UAC-92-001 21 January 1992 to lag behind a likely enemy in development. The OKB Wheelbase of landing gear, 8.510 thus set about further improving the Su-24 aircraft and meters raising its combat effectiveness in 1975. Guided weap- Takeoff mass, kg: onry with laser and television homing systems was developed, and the accuracy of bombing and strafing —normal (combat load of one 32,260 ton) systems was increased. The electronic equipment was upgraded, and an on-board individual-protection system —maximum 39,700 appeared that gave the crew information on the illumi- Fuel mass, kg: nation of the aircraft by enemy radar and the use of — integral tanks 9,850 missiles against it. —external tanks 6,590 An aerial refueling system was created to increase the Maximum engine thrust, kgf 2x 11,200 range of the aircraft, which made it possible to expand Maximum ordnance load, kg 8,000 \ the tactical capabilities of the aircraft. Close-support Flight speed at ground, km/hr 1,380-1,420 tactical bombers could not be refueled in flight before the Su-24. What does that operation provide? When the Maximum Mach 1.35 maximum takeoff mass is restricted by conditions of Takeoff run, meters 850-900 wheel strength etc. and it is necessary to have a full Landing runout, meters 800-850 ordnance load on board or provide for greater flight range, it can take off with a less-than-full load and have COPYRIGHT: “Aviatsiya 1 kosmonavtika”, 1991. the tanks refueled in flight. The variation that received the designation Su-24M (Su-24MkK in its export version) State of Practice Bombing Ranges Assessed was put into series production in 1978. An Su-24 aircraft with a standard UPAZ-A unit mounted under the fuse- 92UM0063C Moscow AVIATSIYA | KOSMONAVTIKA lage is also envisaged as the refueling aircraft. in Russian No 5, May 91 (signed to press 10 Jun 91) pp 28-30 Work on the tactical bomber continues. The operational feasibility of the aircraft is being improved constantly. A [Article by Lieutenant Colonel I. Kovalenko under the large number of proposals from specialists in line units rubric “For High Combat Readiness”: “It Does Not was collected according to the results of developer's Seem Possible to Close the Ranges’’} follow-up oversight. Many of them have already been [Text] Flights with weapons delivery are becoming, as realized. We are clarifying the time periods for the they say, more and more of a rare holiday for pilots— performance of servicing procedures and the periods there are not enough practice ranges. Their number will between those servicings along with increasing the ser- decrease by another third with the withdrawal of our vice life and reliability of the aircraft and its constituent aircraft from the Eastern European countries. This is elements, especially the bombsight and navigational making ‘‘range starvation’—and, consequently, the system. problem of how and under what conditions a rise in the level of aerial-firing proficiency among the crews can be The long-lived aircraft that at one time laid the founda- achieved—considerably more acute. It would seem that tions for today’s triumph of the Su-24, still in service, is the acuity of the problem could be abated if each flight to able to perform many missions. According to the state- the air-combat training range were made at maximum ment of foreign specialists the Fencer, as they call it, is effectiveness. And it must be looked at from more than closer to Western models of aircraft in its class in above for that characteristics, combat load, equipment and armaments than other Soviet aircraft. That assessment coincides It is difficult for a person far removed from army life to with ours. evaluate the role of practice ranges in the combat training of the troops. How ready the pilot is to employ the weaponry entrusted to him in battle, at what level the Principal Characteristics of the Su-24 Aircraft % fighting ability of a squadron or regiment is as of today Length, meters 22.670 and, as a result, the defensive capability of the country, Height, meters $.920 meanwhile, all depend on their qualitative condition. Wingspan, meters Unfortunately, not everyone understands this. Thy —al wing sweep of 69° 10.366 stream of letters addressed to the head of state with demands to take away or eliminate the military practice —al wing sweep of 16° 17.640 ranges 1s testimony to this. The Semipalatinsk range has Wing area, m* been “frozen,” and now on to a new offensive. And none —al wing sweep of 69° 51.024 of the arguments oft he military defending the lands that were once allocated to them by law are taken into —al wing sweoefp 16 ° 55.168 account—close them, and that’s that. Such are the real- Width of landing gear, meters 3.310 ities of our life today JPRS-UAC-92-001 21 January 1992 1 must be acknowledged that we are also somewhat centralized fashion from our defense enterprises. But guilty, in the swirl of everyday troubles, of inattention to there is no one to wait for help from. We thus have to the needs of those who are “stuck’’ day and night at the display our own initiative and even, if you wish, enter- remote “points,” “notwithstanding all of the burdens prise. and deprivations,” who ensure the prescribed rhythm of combat training for the flight units. And the personnel of Lieutenant Colonel Yu. Boldyrev made a deal with the practice-range service are on this long list of the representatives of one of the local enterprises of heavy “forgotten.” It must be owned that only a few fliers have industry to exchange scrap metal (about 56 tons of any conception of its work. ferrous and 2.5 tons of non-ferrous were collected on the range over the last year alone) for modern computer The chief of the practice-range service of one of the equipment. How can one fail to value the efforts of the weapons-delivery centers, Lieutenant Colonel Yu. chief of the range service to get things moving to solve Boldyrev, and I were a little more than two hours enroute the somehow problem of automating the process of from the principal base to the Moiseyev “operation” by supporting weapons-delivery flights? However... The “UAZik’’. Our choice was not accidental; even though stamp of prohibition was placed on this initiative for the there is another range much closer, the trip to the umpteenth time. “target”’ headed by Major V. Moiseyev, in the words of Major Moiseyev recalled the difficulties he had encoun- Yuriy Ivanovich, was an excellent opportunity to tered when he decided to refit one of the targets using his become more closely acquainted with the achievements own manpower—a circle for night bombing. Need forced of the ranges, as well as the misfortunes. him, as they say, to take on this difficult work. What kind When Vladimir Yuryevich learned the purpose of my ofa target was it? All very simple, it turned out—iiquid visit, he admitted with inconcealable irony that he did fuel burns in flat dishes placed around the circle. But not have enough fingers on his hand to list all of the here is the bad luck: a pilot on a combat heading is problems. And he proposed that I myself become sometimes unable to perform precise aiming at the end engrossed in the operational dynamics of his subordi- of a prolonged night shift—the greater portion of the nates with the start of flights at the airfield and, if there containers are already going out by that time. They have was time, to take a look at the “operation” from the to be relit, diverting people to it in the face of an acute viewing area. shortage. The practical way out of this situation 1s to electrify the Going up to the third floor of the command post, | targets. But whe e to get the funds? They had to resort to pressed the eyepiece of the binoculars against my eyes. I the tried-and-true method—the “contract” method— admit that had it not been for Moiseyev’s help, I would that is to say, get everything for themselves. They col- not have been able to find the targets set out across the lected bits of scarce cable, bought lights using their own firing and bombing range. The “enemy” is clever, what- money... ever you say, he is camouflaged as he should be. It was easier to get oriented by looking at a diagram of the And they did not have to wait long for the results; some target layout. Here was the “airfield,” there the “nuclear- 62 tons ofd iesel fuel were saved over the year alone. And missile battery,” the “column of armored vehicles” and that was at a single range! What about on the scale of all the “‘air-defense facility...” And all done by the hands of the Air Forces? The realization oft his proposal, after all, subordinates of Major V. Moiseyev. Only recently have is not Only a step toward toward the economy of material the “wooden” aircraft been replaced by Su-7s that have resources, but also a substantial contnbution toward outlived their time, and the rest are all mockups that raising flight safety. And one should not forget that have to be patched up constantly; the flights are literally in a day, after all. Far from last place in an objective assessment of the quality of weapons delivery 1s assigned to methods of Yuu sometimes hear in the flying environment from determining the coordinates oft he points for the burst of time to time that our ranges are not up to modern the ordnance. We will take a look at how that process requirements. The principal reproach therein is transpires in the course of the daily flights. expressed on the score of the immobility of the target layout. Well, yes, one can agree with that, but only partly, Say a pilot has carried out precision bombing. The since I would remind you that there are tactical ranges, azimuth of the blast point of aerial bombs is fixed from apart from the firing ranges, for training pilots in finding two, or ideally three, observation posts. The information targets and carrying out an attack without the delivery of thus obtained is transmitted to the command post. where ordnance. The combination of the two types of ranges the results of the bombing are determined on a map into one with the ensuing practice of all the tasks facing plotting table of the target layout. It is not difficult to frontal aviation on it, which is just what is being pro- guess how well it corresponds to reality using such a posed sometimes, is unfortunately unrealistic in the face method of measurement. The reliability and operability of our technical backwardness, when virtually everything of the whole “pilot-aircraft™ system, after all, are later has to be done by hand. Such equipment, however much judged according to those results. And if no errors are it may be desired, cannot be manufactured homemade in revealed in the pilot's aiming according to the objective the unit or in a workshop. It should be supplied in monitoring system but the evaluation received was tar JPRS-UAC-92-001 21 January 1992 from a high one anyway, they try to pass off all of the sins conditions of its drops; and, expand the possibilities for onto the bombsight and navigational system (PNK) of automating the statistical processing of available results the aircraft. And they drag the “‘offender’’ off to the of bombings and strafings conducted on the scale of TECh [technical maintenance unit] for extra adjustment squadrons and regiments. The projected future fitting of of the sight. the system with passive infrared instruments will make it possible to increase the precision of the measurements But that is not so serious. If the pilot carries out the firing even more in flights under any weather conditions, day using aerial rockets or cannon, then... The last word in or night. determining the results belongs to the flight supervisor on the range. He eyeballs, as they say, the accuracy of the It is entirely obvious that the adoption of the PTASOK is firing, sometimes informing the pilot by radio right the behest of the times, a real step forward in solving the away—‘not bad” (“good”), “a little off" (‘‘satisfac- problem of raising the quality of the combat application tory’’). Those are the evaluations... Other evaluations are of aircraft weaponry against ground targets. So there sometimes put into the reports, it is true, according to exists the idea and the customer—the Air Forces. But the the ranks of those who did the firing, as they say. But all search for an enterprise of the Ministry of the Defense of that happens, remember, on the routine daily flights. Industry that could take on the production of such necessary equipment has reached a dead end. Respond, It is another matter when they are conducting perfor- whoever is not indifferent to the state of combat readi- mance evaluations of regiments at the air bases. Here the ness of our Air Forces, extend a helping hand! results of weapons delivery are now determined in a different manner—the target is either destroyed or it is And another question that cannot escape our attention. not. And right here is where the clear discrepancy often Our country stands at the threshold of market and land arises between His Majesty the average rating, according reform. To what extent will their coming affect the lands to which we are accustomed to evaluating the aerial that are being used by the Ministry of Defense? It is still firing proficiency of the fliers, and its true condition. difficult to answer that with definite clarity; either the army will be released from paying for the land, or some Such is the picture that takes shape. Does it suit sort of concessions will be instituted; one way or another everyone? I am sure it does not, since the solution of the it should acquire a solid legal footing. problem has finally moved from a standstill. And I say But the letters are still coming in from people's deputies this because I have been able to see the work of a technical innovation—the practice-range automated tar- and citizens to the USSR Cabinet of Ministers with the get-monitoring television system (PTASOK)—in the proposal to eliminate the military practice ranges. The aviation command has had to limit the caliber of the course of the flights with my own eyes. Its development, ordnance used on training flights and alter the directions manufacture and installation on the range was a result of the labor of staffers at one of the scientific-research of approach to the targets in reply to those appeals... However you look at it, these measures have a negative institutes of the Air Forces and specialists at the range. It effect, to some extent, on the “cardiogram” of the is Not my aim to describe the operating principles of the combat training of the fliers and are sometimes detn- system. | would only note that the first year of operation of its experimental prototype showed that the accuracy mental to combat readiness. “It does not seem possible of measurement of the coordinates of weapons blasts to close the ranges” in order to keep it from decreasing, increased five-fold' The automation of the process made to preserve it at the required level. A painstaking search for ways of raising the effectiveness of their utilization it possible to free up some of the personnel who had been active in making those measurements. And that 1s a fact must be performed under these difficult conditions. of no little importance. The roads of the range are also COPYRIGHT: “Aviatsiya 1 kosmonavtika”, 1991 wasteland in the wasteland that is the range—sometimes in the off seasons, when all the roads to the target have Lack of Flying Time Affecting Pilots’ Proficiency gone sour, an observer can get to the station only by air, by helicopter. An expensive convenience, isn't 11? 92UM0063D Moscow AVIATSIYA | KOSMONAVTIKA in Russian No S, May 91 (signed to press 10 Jun 91) In talking about the innovation, however, one cannot fai! p 30 to dwell on the prospects for its development. The integrated utilization of the PTASOK along with the [Article by Combat Pilot Ist Class Guards Major A. aircraft PNK and its standard on-board equipment. as Gornov under the rubric “Combat Training: Experience, well as ground-based electronics, will make it possible to Problems” “Prohibition-Mania”™’] increase flight safety markedly when the crews are per- forming airborne weapons delivery (ASP) through the [Text] Words that are, in my opimon, noteworthy are availability of information on the parameters of aircraft written on one of the displays at the headquarters of our flights on the combat heading and in maneuvering over air squadron: “Flight safety 1s achieved not through the range to the flight supervisor, increase the reliability oversimplification, but through high proficiency.” of the results of the combat application of ASP. achieve Unfortunately | do not know the author. But | can a considerable economy of ordnance through the execu- declare with confidence that this was said by a person tion of tactical bombing with documentation of the who knows the specific nature of flight operations very