Long-Range Aviation Day of the Russian Aerospace Forces

The beginning of our long-range aviation was laid by the Ilya Muromets squadron It was the world's first heavy bomber combat unit Nicholas II approved the decision to create it on December 23, 1914 During the First World War, the squadron flew four hundred combat missions In their entire history, the Germans managed to shoot down only one Muromets After the February revolution came the collapse of the army In September 1917, the planes had to be burned to prevent them from falling into the hands of the enemy At that time, the squadron included twenty aircraft The Bolsheviks also understood the importance of long-range aviation In 1918, a group of three “Murom residents” was formed A qualitative change came with the commissioning of the TB-3 model designed by Tupolev At the beginning of the 30s, several long-range aviation corps were created The thirties were marked by the creation of strategic aviation At that time, such formations did not exist anywhere in the world During these years there was a rapid development of aviation Several design bureaus worked on creating fundamentally new models of heavy bombers In parallel with this, organizational work was underway to form the structure of long-range aviation At the beginning of World War II, there were approximately one and a half thousand aircraft and about a thousand crews on combat duty The role of long-range aviation was evident from the first day of the war On June 22, planes bombed the Germans near Suwalki and Przemysl The next day - the enemy extinguished Danzig, Warsaw, Krakow and several other cities On the night of August 11, 1941, heavy aircraft bombed Berlin During the war, long-range aviation crews took part in all the most important operations They made more than 220 thousand sorties and dropped two and a quarter million bombs of various calibers Six servicemen became twice heroes of the Soviet Union, 269 people received the Hero Star In 1946, the Long-Range Aviation of the Armed Forces was created The basis for its creation was the 18th Air Army The war almost completely depleted the aircraft fleet In the late forties, it was decided to copy the American B-29 The Tu-4 entered service in 1947, and since 1951 these aircraft have been on combat duty with nuclear weapons The main reorganization of long-range aviation took place in the 60s and 80s At this time, a reform of management structures was carried out, new aircraft models were received It was in the 60s that our pilots first began to fly “around the corner” and the exploration of the Arctic began Aviation complexes Tu-22M3, Tu-160, Tu-95MS could strike with cruise missiles from any point on any target The collapse of the USSR deprived the Ukrainian Tu-160 regiment and tankers of long-range aviation At the end of the 90s, a gradual restoration of the number and financing of strategic units began 2001 was marked by the first appearance of our giants over the North Pole in ten years The combat readiness of the crews increased sharply In 2003, two 160s and four 95s make a unique flight to the Indian Ocean In the second half of 2007, regular flights to remote regions were resumed The country's areas of intense shipping and economic activity are currently being actively patrolled Long-range aviation has never had easy times But, despite the problems, military personnel fulfill their duty to ensure combat readiness On December 23, pilots and employees of support units receive well-deserved congratulations and awards