Ronin_Gaijin

The Afghan epic of the Il-76 IL-76MD USSR-86740 lands at one of the southern airfields The Il-76 was one of the main "characters" in the introduction of troops into Afghanistan. Full-scale preparations for the upcoming operation began in mid-December. The main group of the 40th Army being formed was staffed by the Turkestan and Central Asian military districts, but the paratroopers were to carry out the first, most important, throw to occupy the most important objects in Kabul and other centers of the country. During the introduction of troops on December 25-27, 1979, VTA aircraft transferred the advanced forces of the 103rd Guards Airborne Division and the 345th Separate Parachute Regiment to Afghan airfields. The first plane with paratroopers took off on December 25 at 15:00 Moscow time (18:00 local time, when it was already dark). At 16:15 the aircraft landed in Kabul, and the last scheduled flight was completed at 14:30 on December 27, although individual flights continued to be carried out later, this time with the purpose of supplying the delivered troops and evacuating the injured. During the 47-hour operation, transport aircraft carried out 343 flights, including 76 Il-76s. In less than two days, 770 people, 894 units of equipment and 1,062 tons of various cargo were delivered to Kabul and Bagram. The tasks were completed with minimal losses. And yet, the transport operation was not without casualties - in its very first hours, an Il-76 from the 128th VTAP was lost in a crash. The loss occurred less than a month after the first Vitebsk crash involving an aircraft of this type, but this time in combat conditions, which is why it was initially considered likely that it was hit by enemy fire. On December 25, 1979, Captain V.V. Golovchin's plane was flying with vehicles and 34 paratroopers on board in another group of transport aircraft. At night and in difficult weather conditions, the plane crashed into a mountain near the Salang Pass on the approach to Kabul. Parts of the plane and flight recorders ended up in deep snow on both sides of the mountain range, and it was impossible to evacuate them from there. However, with the introduction of troops, the long and difficult work of the Military Transport Aviation in Afghanistan was only just beginning. In the winter of 1980, the 40th Army continued to be staffed with newly arriving units and provided with everything they needed - from equipment and ammunition to fuel and food. In addition, the winter that year was frosty and snowy, the roads through the passes became impassable and were constantly closed due to snowfalls and icing. This meant an even greater burden on the transporters who carried everything, since the command had set the task - the army's vital functions should be fully provided for by its own forces, without any recourse to local resources (and there was nothing to take there, even the Afghan army itself was increasingly fed by Soviet aid). The work during this period was carried out by a group of five or six Il-76s, which received cargo at the airfields of the TurkVO and delivered it to Afghanistan (and, of course, by local An-12 and An-26 from the Fergana and Tashkent air regiments). Of the Afghan airfields, of which there were 17 in the country, the "Seventy-sixths" landed only in Kabul, Shindand and Kandahar, which had normal "concrete" of an acceptable class and, what is no less important, a favorable approach scheme. Other airfields were mostly dirt or gravel, barely allowing for the work of lighter transport aircraft (An-12 and An-26), and the Il-76 base in Bagram was not used due to the proximity of mountains, which complicated the landing maneuver for a heavy aircraft, and the "Green Zone" approaching the airfield, from where shelling was frequent. During the entire Afghan campaign, Il-76 landings in Bagram could be counted on the fingers of one hand, and usually for some extraordinary reason. Usually, cargo for units stationed in Bagram, where the garrison was larger than in Kabul, was delivered to Kabul, and from there it was transferred to its destination by convoys or planes of the local 50th Air Regiment. When the flow of cargo increased, the Tashkent transport hub became like a "bottleneck". The capacity was limited by the lack of parking places, difficulties with refueling and preparing numerous aircraft. To relieve it, other border airfields of the TurkVO were used, mainly Fergana, Mary, Karshi and Kokayty. The last airfield, located near a small village on the edge of the desert, was the closest to the Afghan border, located some 30 km from it. In accordance with the increase in the scale of military operations, the workload of the military transport aviation increased from year to year. With the participation of the crews of the 196th regiment alone, 430 aircraft sorties were carried out in Afghanistan in 1983, transporting 3,496 tons of cargo and 16,238 people. The following year, 1984, 534 aircraft sorties were carried out, delivering 4,690 tons of cargo and 11,589 people. This year, the fighting army undertook a number of major operations aimed at defeating the “counter-revolutionary forces” - 51 of them were carried out in the first half of the year alone, including the famous Panjshir operation to eliminate Ahmad Shah Massoud’s formations and “strengthen the people’s authorities" on the ground. Since the Il-76 had a much better speed, altitude and rate of climb, this made it a safer means of transport, and the presence of a sealed and heated cargo cabin favorably distinguished it from the Spartan conditions of the An-12. The final argument in favor of the Il-76 was the modifications carried out with the installation of jamming blocks and an inert gas system, which significantly reduced the vulnerability of the aircraft. Since 1986, taking into account the greater safety and security provided by the Il-76, all air transportation of personnel to the DRA and home began to be carried out only on these aircraft, which is why for the majority of those who fought in Afghanistan and returned to their homeland, it was the most welcome machine. As a result, out of 880 thousand people transported during the years of the Afghan war by military transport aircraft, 780 thousand (89%) were transported with the help of the Il-76. It is not surprising that for most of the "Afghans" both the meeting with Afghanistan and the return home were connected with the flight on the "seventy-six". The work of the "seventy-sixes" in Afghanistan continued in the same routine manner until the last months of the war. When the deadline for the final withdrawal of troops approached, the volume of work for the transporters increased significantly. The VTA coped with the task. The last unit of the 40th Army left Kabul on February 4, 1989. The remaining small forces from the 103rd Airborne Division were tasked with protecting the Kabul airport, where transport planes continued to fly. They left Afghanistan on February 14 with the last group of military personnel, advisers and diplomatic workers. In total, during the Afghan war, VTA planes carried out 26,900 sorties in Afghanistan, transporting 880 thousand people and 426 thousand tons of various cargo. Of this number, the Il-76 accounted for 14,700 sorties (54.6% of the total, or slightly more than half), but they delivered 89% of all personnel and 74% of cargo - more than indicative figures, especially considering the almost one and a half year break in 1984-1985, which required modifications to the aircraft's protection. After the fall of the Najibullah government in April 1992, a decision was made to evacuate the Russian embassy staff from Kabul. Along with Russian citizens, diplomats from India, China, Indonesia and Mongolia, a total of more than 150 people, were to leave Afghanistan. Three Il-76s from the 110th VTAP with the crews of regiment commander Colonel E. Zelenov, political officer Lieutenant Colonel A. Kopyrkin and Major V. Malov were sent to evacuate the people. On the evening of August 27, 1992, they landed at the Kokayty airfield. According to the plan, at dawn the next day, the group was supposed to fly to Kabul, with cover provided by two dozen paratroopers on board the planes. After loading people, diplomatic cargo, and the bodies of two dead Russian citizens at the Kabul airport, the Il-76 of the lead E. Zelenov took off and headed home. At that time, the mujahideen, attracted by the excitement at the airfield, began a rocket attack. Nevertheless, the second Il-76 of Lieutenant Colonel A. Kopyrkin managed to complete loading and began taxiing for takeoff. There were still 56 people at the parking lot, along with Ambassador E. Ostrovenko and his wife, heading for Major Malov's plane. Another rocket hit the wing of the Il-76 and the plane caught fire. The pilots and paratroopers began to jump out of the burning machine, ready to explode at any moment, running around the parking lot. The crew of A. Kopyrkin's plane, which had already taken off, saw the Il-76 burning in the parking lot, stopped taking off and, turning around, taxied to the rescue of their comrades. Under incessant shelling, he picked up Malov's crew, the paratroopers and some of the passengers who had managed to run up to the plane. Another explosion near the Il-76 pierced several of its wheels with shrapnel, but the crew managed to taxi onto the runway and lift the heavy machine into the air. The landing in Kokayty had to be done "barefoot", with the rumble of brake drums on the concrete, but the hardy Il withstood this test too. IL-76MD at the airport in Kokayty. The border airfield often served as a trans-shipment base for the delivery of goods to Afghanistan. The aircraft is equipped with blocks with heat traps in the rear of the fuselage. The aircraft technician escorts the Il-76 that is taking off. Airfield Tashkent-Vostochny, April 1987 From the book "Il-76. Hero of Kandahar" by Viktor Yuryevich Markovsky

Major changes that should have been communicated. Thank you for letting me know.

Changed in what way?

It's been a year. With Timur Apakidze. Part of a pilot dream team and together with Pugachev, Apakidze, Garnaev to name a few. With Igor Tkachenko (former Russian Knights pilot and Commander of the 237th Centre for Display of Aviation Equipment)

9.12 had the Biryuza.

This customisable EWR system already exists and it is called EWR script. ED if they wanted, they could implement it into DCS code in 30 seconds.

Biggest one that we are missing is missile tone. This will need to be implemented as well. Also Lazur-M has 4.5 seconds while Biryuza has 5 sec.

Название Fulcrum было дано НАТО

Soldiers and officers of the 276th Pipeline Brigade at the cenotaph in memory of a fallen comrade. The brigade served along the Termez-Kabul highway and provided fuel delivery to almost all military units in eastern Afghanistan. Permanent service along this road, one of the main targets for ambushes and sabotage by the mujahideen, was tense and no less dangerous than raid operations and service at distant outposts.

Thank you very much!

"I will not betray the Navy! I am deeply convinced that the Soviet Union must have aircraft carriers. After graduating from the Yeisk Flight School, I will return to the fleet and fly from an aircraft carrier...", - these fiery lines were once written by Nakhimov graduate Timur Apakidze, who addressed at his own risk personally to the Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Navy, Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Sergei Georgievich Gorshkov with an unusual request: to send him to study at a military pilot school. And although the youthful message is already several decades old, every time you read it, you come to the only conclusion: these lines were all Timur Avtandilovich - from the first capital letter to the full stop...

He fought for survival during the worst period for Soviet/Russian Naval aviation. Men like him are one in a billion. Thank you for sharing.

Timur Apakidze - Cobra of the Oceans!

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the armed forces members that were serving the former member countries had to make a decision. To stay in the country they were at the time, or "return" and serve the Russian federation. In the speech he gave to the regiment, back in 1992, apart from the magnificent ethos he showed towards his fellow soldiers, he made a very important prediction. "I hope that whatever the politicians do, we will not have to see each other in the crosshairs"

March 4, 1954 (71 years ago) was the birthday of the commander of the 57th mixed naval division of the Northern Fleet Air Force (from November 1994 to April 1998), deputy commander of the Naval Aviation of the Russian Navy for flight training (from 2000 to August 2001), Honored Military Pilot of the Russian Federation, Military Pilot-Sniper, Hero of the Russian Federation, Major General Timur Avtandilovich Apakidze. He is one of my most respected men that have ever spread their wings in the clouds. A true idol. Here is my small tribute to him. Born March 4, 1954 in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR (now Georgia). Georgian. At the age of one, he moved with his mother to the hero city of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), where he grew up and attended school until the 8th grade. Beginning of a military career. In 1971, on the eve of graduating from the Leningrad Nakhimov Naval School, he sent a telegram to the Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Navy with a request, as an exception, to send him to the Yeisk Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots (EVVAUL) named after V. M. Komarov and gave a commitment to return to the fleet, was supported by the head of the school, V. G. Bakarjiev, and received the consent of Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union S. G. Gorshkov.null In 1975, after graduating from the Evvaul, Lieutenant T. A. Apakidze was sent to the Baltic Fleet as a pilot of the Separate Guards Naval Assault Aviation Regiment (Su-17M). By 1983, he was deputy commander of the Separate Guards Naval Assault Aviation Regiment. Service in the 100th Naval Fighter Regiment In 1986, he graduated from the A. A. Grechko Naval Academy and was appointed commander of the 100th Naval Fighter Regiment of the Naval Aviation Center (base airfield - Saki, Crimea), and later the head of the Center. On July 11, 1991, one of the first serial Su-27K-T-10K-8 was lost due to a failure of the remote control system. Apakidze, who was piloting it, ejected. On September 26, 1991, he was the first Russian naval pilot to land on the deck of the heavy aircraft carrier Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov on the first Russian serial carrier-based fighter Su-27K, which is now known as the Su-33. For this, in October 1991, he was nominated for the title Hero of the Soviet Union. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he played a key role in preserving the aircraft carrier Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov in the Russian Navy. Due to the fact that the Ukrainian side could make claims on this ship, on December 1, 1991, it was urgently and secretly withdrawn from Sevastopol and transferred to the Northern Fleet. Along with him, about eighteen pilots and a hundred engineers and technicians from the 100th Regiment were transferred to the North. According to the pilots' recollections, "Apakidze had the idea of raising the regiment and taking it to Russia in its entirety. But when Kravchuk was shown on TV kissing Yeltsin in Yalta, he realized that he shouldn't let people down and become a hostage to corrupt politicians." When he was re-sworn to the new state of Ukraine, Apakidze refused to do so. Until June 1992, he served as the head of airborne fire and tactical training of the aviation regiment in the city of Saki, after which he was transferred to the Northern Fleet to the Severomorsk-3 military airfield and appointed head of airborne fire and tactical training - senior pilot of the mixed naval aviation division of the Northern Fleet Air Force. However, in those years, the Russian army did not have the funds to maintain carrier-based aviation, conduct training flights, build new aircraft, and personnel was being reduced. Under those conditions, Apakidze was tasked with landing aircraft on the deck, otherwise the aircraft carrier would have to share the fate of unfinished ships of the same class - go to the scrap yard. After graduating from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in 2000, Major General Apakidze was appointed Deputy Commander of the Navy Aviation. In total, he flew more than 3,000 hours on 13 types of aircraft. Apakidze has 300 landings on the deck of a cruiser in the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic and the North. He was one of the five pilots who mastered the world-famous "Pugachev's Cobra" and "Bell". He was one of the first among the Northern Fleet aviators to be awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation (August 17, 1995). Apakidze was the first of the combat pilots to land on the deck of the heavy aircraft carrier Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov on September 26, 1991. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992, the head of the VOTP (air fire and tactical training) - pilot of the 1063rd CBP (CA) of the city of Saki, Colonel T. A. Apakidze refused to take the oath of allegiance to Ukraine. He also refused the offer to lead the Georgian Air Force. He led a group of fighter pilots who achieved a transfer (with a demotion) from Crimea to the Northern Fleet. Timur Avtandilovich played a huge and important role in the development and preservation of naval aviation in Russia. A bust of the Hero of the Russian Federation, Major General T. A. Apakidze, was installed in the Museum of the Northern Fleet Air Force in the village of Safonovo. In 2018, the honorary proper name "Timur Apakidze" was assigned to the Su-33 fighter, tail number "88", from the 279th separate shipborne fighter Red Banner Smolensk Aviation Regiment named after twice Hero of the Soviet Union Boris Feoktistovich Safonov of the Northern Fleet Air Force. In 1975, after graduating from EVVAUL, Lieutenant Apakidze was sent to the Baltic Fleet as a pilot of the 846th Separate Guards Naval Assault Aviation Regiment (on Su-17M and Su-7U aircraft). By 1983 he was the deputy commander of an aviation regiment. After graduating from the Naval Academy, Apakidze headed the 100th Shipborne Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 33rd Center for the Combat Use of Aviation of the Navy, where his qualities as an organizer and teacher were fully manifested. He himself selects pilots for the regiment. After two air accidents, he is demoted, but he continues to serve in the 1063rd Naval Aviation Combat Training Center, where he is caught by the collapse of the USSR. Independent Ukraine invites the pilots of the regiment to take the Ukrainian oath, and some officers agree to stand under the "zhovto-Blakyt" banners. But not Apakidze, who reacted extremely harshly: “I swore an oath to my homeland a long time ago. The military does not swear the second time ... ". Since March 1993, Timur Apakidze has been the deputy division commander. And from November 1994 to July 1998 - the commander of this unit. After graduating from the Academy of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces in 2000, Major General Timur Avtandilovich Apakidze was appointed Deputy Commander of Naval Aviation of the Russian Navy. He mastered the course of combat training in full. On September 26, 1991, naval aviation pilot T.A. Apakidze made the first landing of the first Russian carrier-based fighter SU-27 on the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov. Maj. General Apakidze was awarded the highest awards of the Motherland: orders “For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces” of the 3rd degree, “For Military Merit”. On August 17, 1995, Timur Avtandilovich Apakidze was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation for the courage and heroism shown during the testing and development of new aviation equipment. One of the most important videos that share a small glimpse of his life is this: Форсаж - Afterburner Here are some photos of '88 Red' before and the after the honorary naming.

On February 15, 1989, the last Soviet serviceman crossed the Friendship Bridge at 16:21 on the Taktabazar border detachment section. The withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan was complete. This date is symbolic. It reflects loyalty to the oath, service duty, and the front-line brotherhood of soldiers and officers who gave the most precious thing on earth — life — while defending the interests of their country.

Could you please share the link for this beautiful livery?

A map of Afghanistan with all air bases in service as of the 1980s with Mary and Termez (Kokaydi) airbases clearly shown. (Map by Tom Cooper) Source: Rooks in Afghanistan by Andrey Korotkov

MiG-29 fact 'Aircraft 901' coded '01 Blue', was the first flying prototype of the MiG-29 (note the '901' on the dielectric fin caps). This aircraft differed from all subsequent MiG-29s in having a longer wheelbase in an attempt to enhance the aircraft's directional stability on the ground. The nose wheels are located well ahead of the air intakes, hence the large mudguard enclosing the nose wheels. No ventral fins are fitted yet. Note the three-tone camouflage, the one-piece curved windscreen, the original narrow-chord rudders and the 'beaver tail' fairing between the engine nozzles.

This guy how did you call him, Ronin_Gaijin? He must be a d1ck for posting all these photos. The nerve. Pffff

Daily MiG-29 Polish 9.12A

Daily MiG-29 Naked (!!!) 9.47