On January 23, 1976, near Pskov, the Reaktavr system for landing military equipment was successfully tested for the first time with a crew of Major Alexander Margelov and Lieutenant Colonel Leonid Shcherbakov. After 20 years, both were awarded the title of Heroes of Russia for their courage in carrying out a risky task. The name of the Margelovs was forever associated with the history of the Airborne Forces.

Gaining time in combat

The crew landing system inside the airborne combat vehicle (BMD-1) on jet-parachute propulsion got its name from the words "jet centaur". "Centaur" was the name of the BMD-1 reduction system by means of a parachute landing platform. The experiment was carried out at the parachute track of the Tula Training Center of the 106th Guards Airborne Division.

No one has ever thrown military equipment from an aircraft along with the personnel inside. The idea belonged to the Commander-in-Chief of the Airborne Forces, Hero of the Soviet Union, General of the Army Vasily Margelov.

At that time, airborne equipment in the form of self-propelled artillery mounts, airborne combat vehicles, vehicles and engineering equipment was delivered to the ground in two ways: by means of parachute landing platforms and parachute-rocket systems. The latter, upon landing, in a fraction of a second extinguished the rate of descent of heavy loads and automatically released them from the suspension lines. The personnel descended by parachute separately.

But in order to take their places in combat vehicles, in a real battle, the crews sometimes need minutes, which the enemy may not provide. How to buy time? Margelov came to a paradoxical conclusion: the personnel must be parachuted in the technique itself!

Who will donate?

Risk? Yes, huge. Many in the military leadership of the country did not approve of this idea. Some of the multi-star generals even twisted their fingers at their temples: they say that the chief paratrooper of the USSR fantasized to the impossible. Others approved the idea in principle, but believed that it was not yet technically feasible.

Finally, daredevils were required - after all, no one could guarantee that they would not break upon landing. It is impossible to order in such a case. This is not a war - just an experiment, albeit a very dangerous one. When asked by the Minister of Defense, Marshal Andrey Grechko, who would be inside the descent BMD-1, Vasily Margelov firmly answered that he himself. Otherwise, he could not answer. He had to do everything so that the airborne troops reached a qualitative level. new level combat training.

One of the best

During the Great Patriotic War paratroopers proved to be one of the most persistent fighters of the Red Army. With battles, they retreated deep into the country at the beginning of the war, fought valiantly in the ranks of the defenders of Moscow and Stalingrad, participated in Battle of Kursk, took part in the capture of Vienna and the battles for Berlin.

But despite the fact that Soviet paratroopers repeatedly conducted airborne operations during the war, in most battles they fought as infantry, albeit very trained. Therefore, after the war, with the advent of the atomic era, the Airborne Forces faced new tasks: to become what is now called the rapid reaction troops.

Until 1954, the airborne troops of the country were in turn led by 7 generals, among whom one can note the first commander of the Airborne Forces, Twice Hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Glazunov, as well as Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Gorbatov.

Troops of Uncle Vasya

However, despite military merit, the commanders did not stay long in the post of commander-in-chief of the airborne forces. As a result, personnel reshuffling had a negative impact on combat training troops entrusted to them.

The fact that by the 80s of the twentieth century the Airborne Forces had become the most massive and combat-ready among their kind in the world is primarily the merit of the person who led them for many decades, General Margelov.

It is no coincidence that in the airborne troops the abbreviation of the Airborne Forces is still unofficially deciphered as "Uncle Vasya's troops." "Our Chapai," Vasily Filippovich's subordinates called him respectfully.

Like most previous commanders of the Airborne Forces, Margelov came from other branches of the military, but he was quite familiar with the airborne specifics - before his appointment he commanded the 76th Guards Chernigov Red Banner Airborne Division, and then was the commander of the 37th Guards Airborne Svirsky Red Banner Corps.

Paratrooper at 40

It is curious that he made his first parachute jump at the age of 40 - before taking command of the paratroopers. At the same time, he made a bet on several jumps with another newly minted airborne commander, Hero of the Soviet Union, General Mikhail Denisenko, who crashed during the next parachute jump in 1949. Margelov's fate kept - until the end of his life, he made more than 60 air landings.

During the battle for Moscow, he commanded the 1st Special Ski Regiment marines. Being the commander of the Airborne Forces, Margelov did not forget his brave sailors, introducing a vest into the form of paratroopers, as a sign of continuity from one brave branch of the military to another. Another striking difference between the paratrooper was the beret - first crimson (following the example of Western paratroopers), and then blue.

Margelov's reforms included not only changes in uniforms. The new commander of the Airborne Forces abandoned the outdated doctrine of using landing troops only as a means to hold bridgeheads until the main forces approached. In conditions modern war passive defense inevitably led to defeat.

New military equipment

Margelov believed that after the drop, the paratroopers should conduct active, offensive operations, preventing the stunned enemy from recovering, and counterattack them. However, in order for the paratroopers to be able to maneuver widely, they needed to be equipped with their own armored vehicles, to increase their firepower and upgrade the aircraft fleet.

During the Great Patriotic War, for example, winged infantry fought mainly with with the help of a lung small arms. After the war, the troops began to be equipped with special airborne equipment. By the time Margelov took over as commander, the Airborne Forces were armed with a light self-propelled artillery mount ASU-57 with modifications.

Vasily Filippovich instructed the military-industrial complex to develop a more modern assault artillery vehicle. As a result, the ASU-57 replaced the ASU-85, developed on the basis of the PT-76 light amphibious tank. On the battlefield, a transport and combat vehicle was also required for the movement of personnel in the conditions of a radioactively contaminated area. Army infantry fighting vehicle BMP-1 was not suitable landing troops due to the large weight (13 tons) during landing.

"Thunder" landing vehicles

As a result, at the end of the 60s, the BMD-1 (airborne combat vehicle) was adopted, whose weight was a little more than 7 tons, the armament was a semi-automatic gun 2A28 "Thunder", and the crew consisted of seven people. On the basis of the BMD-1, artillery self-propelled guns, fire control vehicles, reconnaissance and command and staff vehicles were developed.

Through the efforts of Margelov, the battered Li-2, Il-14, Tu-2 and Tu-4 aircraft were replaced by powerful and modern An-22 and Il-76, which made it possible to take on board much more paratroopers and military equipment than before. "Uncle Vasya" also took care of improving the personal weapons of paratroopers. Margelov personally met with the developer of the famous machine gun, Mikhail Kalashnikov, and agreed on the creation of a "landing" version of the AK, with a folding metal butt.

Son instead of father

After the Minister of Defense did not agree with the participation of the Commander-in-Chief of the Airborne Forces in testing the Reaktavr system, he offered one of his five sons, Major Alexander Margelov, to the crew. Alexander Vasilyevich was an employee of the Scientific and Technical Committee of the Airborne Forces, which was responsible for preparing equipment and personnel for landing.

The personal example of Margelov's son was to convince the Airborne Forces of the success of the new landing option. Another participant in the experiment was a colleague of Margelov Jr. in the NTC of the Airborne Forces, Lieutenant Colonel Leonid Shcherbakov.

On January 23, 1976, for the first time, landing was carried out from the An-12 BMD-1 military transport aircraft on parachute-jet traction. After landing, the crew immediately fired short blanks, demonstrating their readiness for battle.

During the tests of Margelov on command post continuously smoked his beloved "Belomor" and kept a loaded pistol ready to shoot himself in case of failure. But everything went well.

The world's first museum of airborne troops has opened a renewed exposition with a story about the history of parachuting and the secrets of successful landing of people inside the fourth generation airborne combat vehicles BMD-4M.

From September 24 to 26, Ryazan hosted the Rossiyskaya Gazeta festival, one of the stages of which was a visit to the Airborne Forces Museum, located in the former building of the Ryazan Theological Seminary of the early 19th century.

During the war years, a hospital was located under the vaulted ceilings of the old mansion, and in 1972, at the initiative of the commander of the Airborne Forces, General Margelov, a museum dedicated to elite troops was opened here. The date of creation of the Airborne Forces is considered to be August 2, 1930, when 12 military pilots simultaneously jumped with a parachute and landed successfully, while retaining their personal weapons. A few years later, the number of trained military paratroopers in our country exceeded 50,000 people, who made up the elite of the armed forces.

The world's first satchel-parachute was patented by the Russian inventor Gleb Kotelnikov in France in 1911. The product was named RK-1 (Russian Kotelnikovsky first). They say that Kotelnikov tested his invention in Paris, dropping eiffel tower a poor Russian student who, after landing, survived.

At first, the satchels were metal and not very comfortable. Superstitious pilots at first refused to use them. However, soon knapsacks began to be produced from more practical and plastic materials, saving the lives of pilots and passengers of balloons. In the second decade of the twentieth century, a parachute became an obligatory attribute of almost any pilot, while no one in the world invented a design better than that of Kotelnikov. All subsequent models were only improved replicas of the creation of our inventor.

The museum exposition contains unique footage 1930s showing the first skydivers jumping from the outer hull of an airplane. Now it’s scary to imagine how the paratroopers manage not to fall in flight at a height of 350 meters at a speed of 250 kilometers per hour, holding on to a single rope with their hand. Apparently, with this method of landing, there were many accidents. Having hit their heads on the metal body of the aircraft during the jump, the soldiers in the air lost consciousness. They could not open their parachute in time and crashed. Flight tragedies prompted designers to create mechanisms for the forced opening of parachutes, which subsequently saved many lives.

Ironically, the history of not only the parachute, but also the landing of heavy military equipment with the crew inside is connected with France.

The world's first landing of people inside an airborne combat vehicle (BMD-1) took place on January 5, 1973 at the training ground of the 106th Guards Airborne Division "Slobodka".

To protect the life of the crew members, somewhat modified analogues of the Kazbek-D space seats were installed inside the BMD.

The secret to successfully landing people inside the BMD lies in the use of special parachute systems. The complex was named "Centaur". Such landing significantly reduced the time for bringing the vehicle to combat readiness, - Vladimir Nemirovsky, a representative of the Airborne Forces Museum, told Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

Such a method of landing at times increased the combat capability of the army, giving it the possibility of a lightning-fast landing on a given territory and a swift strike.

On the eve of the exercises, the commander of the Airborne Forces, General Margelov, was so confident in the reliability and safety of the design of the machine that he wanted to participate in the first descent himself. However, Defense Minister Grechko categorically refused to risk the general. Then inside the car were a teacher of the landing school, Lieutenant Colonel Leonid Zuev and the son of General Vasily Margelov, Senior Lieutenant Alexander Margelov. The landing was successful. After that, the image of a centaur appeared on the emblem of the Tula Airborne Division.

Many countries dreamed of repeating the unprecedented combat success of the Airborne Forces, but there were no volunteers anywhere among the military. France was the only state that decided to take a similar step. According to the guide Vladimir Nemirovsky, after the military refused to participate in the experiment, the French government distributed an announcement among prisoners sentenced to death, promising a presidential pardon to the daredevil.

One convict agreed to the adventure. The offender was placed in combat vehicle and dropped by parachute from the plane. During the landing, the volunteer died. After that, the President of France fulfilled his promise by handing over to his relatives a decree on his pardon posthumously. But France decided not to carry out further experiments with the landing of people inside equipment.

Now the landing is carried out with the use of vehicles of not the first, but the fourth generation, - said Nemirovsky.

So, this year, tests conducted by the Ministry of Defense at a site near Ryazan confirmed the possibility of landing BMD-4M from IL-76 aircraft. According to the military department, during the exercises, a landing method called a train was used, in which the length of the landing is one and a half times shorter than the length of other methods of descent of the BMD.

In mid-July, a large-scale tactical exercise of the Airborne Troops and Military Transport Aviation took place near Ryazan. The Ryazan sky has not seen so many domes for a long time: over 2.5 thousand military personnel took part in the maneuvers, and several hundred units were involved military equipment, including 66 aircraft. Dome systems blossomed over 70 platforms with combat vehicles. One of the goals of the exercise was to test promising landing means: in particular, as reported by the Russian Ministry of Defense, during special flight tests as part of the Bakhcha-U-PDS development work, two BMD-4M and two BTR-MDM were landed, and in the last two there were crews. Powerful 14-ton vehicles, dropped from a height of almost two kilometers, landed successfully, showing their readiness to immediately engage in battle. About how in Russia they learned to parachute military equipment with crews inside, how complicated this process is and how our designers managed to make armor " flying", and her "flight" is safe, journalist Alexei Yegorov will tell in a new issue, coming out on a festive week for the "blue berets", three days after the Day of the Airborne Forces. From the sky - immediately into battle The idea of ​​dropping equipment by parachute with crews inside belongs personally to the legendary creator of the Airborne Forces, Hero of the Soviet Union, General of the Army Vasily Filippovich Margelov. Previously, cars were dropped separately, personnel - separately. On the landing site, the crews had to look for their cars, and they could sometimes be at an impressive distance. However, for the mass use of such a landing method, much was not enough, including the ejection seat system was not fully thought out. This method presented an impressive risk. And then the commander decided to send his son, senior lieutenant Alexander Margelov. On January 5, 1973, together with an experienced paratrooper, Lieutenant Colonel Leonid Zuev, they made a jump inside the BMD-1 on parachute platforms from the An-12 military transport aircraft. Three years later, in January 1976, the BMD-1 made a soft landing, landing on parachute-reactive system in the Reaktavr complex. Inside the car were also two crew members - Alexander Margelov (now a major) and. The landing was carried out at the risk of life, because the paratroopers did not have any individual means of salvation. However, the use of reactive systems made it possible to carry out this jump successfully. The new scheme made it possible to ensure the introduction of airborne divisions into battle not within a day, as before, but within hours and minutes. During the Cold War, this became a serious trump card for our country and its armed forces. In 1996, for the courage and heroism shown in testing, fine-tuning and mastering special equipment, both officers were awarded the title of Hero of Russia.
Naturally, our experiments soon became known abroad. Works on similar subjects started in the USA, France, England. But, as acknowledged CEO JSC "Research Institute of Parachute Engineering" Sergey Khursevich, to this day, no one in the world conducts such tests.

“This is a very complex technical event, and the Russian school of parachute construction is the only one that provides the proper level of reliability of parachute equipment and technologies,” says the head of the research institute.
In recent years, landing systems that allow military equipment with crews inside to be thrown from the sky have undergone tangible changes. According to the host researcher Scientific Research Testing Center for Aerospace Medicine and Military Ergonomics of the Central Research Institute of the Air Force of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, Doctor of Medical Sciences Professor Yuri Moiseev, among the adjustments is the rejection of the use of jet engines. Used in braking systems, they could fail. Reactive brakes have replaced inflatable shock absorbers, which provide a much softer landing. A special sensor, displayed on the monitor inside the combat vehicle, allows the crew to control the compression of the filling of the shock-absorbing system. Airplanes first If for paratroopers the key task is to make a jump, then for pilots of military transport aviation the main thing is to raise future paratroopers to the required height. The Commander of the VTA, Lieutenant-General Vladimir Benediktov, at the past large-scale exercises, personally checked the readiness of people and equipment for this task. In total, more than seven dozen rose into the sky then aircraft- these are not only airplanes, but also helicopters, drones. The commander's special concern is for the pilots to bring their aircraft to the drop point with an accuracy of seconds, and this is not easy, given that the aircraft take off from the airfields of Ryazan, Ivanovo, Ulyanovsk, and the Tver region.
“The way to control the flight crew is called “walking flight,” General Benediktov notes. - This is when particularly complex and responsible sections, especially in mixed formation, are subject to a raffle. So that each crew understands the role and place in any order, at any time, be able to respond correctly in the event of any introductory and emergency situations.
The aviators also control the loading of armored vehicles intended for landing. There are enough difficulties here. For example, the BMD-4M occupies the interior of the IL-76 almost completely: the distance at the narrowest point is only 26 centimeters. Such tiny gaps, as the pilots say, are real headache. Indeed, in the event of an emergency during a reset, the combat vehicle can come off the rails and jam in the opening. And if a cargo parachute is also released ... Such unpleasant situations have already occurred, fortunately, there were no serious incidents. That is why every little thing is thought through. For example, to exit the BMD-4M from the cargo compartment, special “skis” are provided, which, in turn, roll along the cargo deck on rollers. In this case, the caterpillars do not touch the floor - distortions or derailment from the guides are excluded. Test of characters IN Russian army The 929th State Flight Test Center named after V.P. Chkalov is, in fact, entrusted with testing everything related to the sky, with flights. A department for flight tests of parachute equipment was even created here, and it was its employees, acting officers of the Russian army, who participated in the landing inside combat vehicles at that very exercise near Ryazan. Before the jump, all the equipment was carefully checked again, the equipment was adjusted. In falling from the sky, the weakest link in the human body is the spine. If a person sits, as in a regular chair, when the back is held vertically, then the load on the spine will be maximum. Associate Professor of the Research Institute of Aerospace Medicine and Military Ergonomics of the Central Research Institute of the Air Force of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, Candidate of Medical Sciences Nikolai Olenev notes that the current landing technologies inside equipment are akin to space ones. “Remember how you worked with astronauts: a lodgement was made for each,” he notes. - Shape, shape. They had overloads of up to 12 or more units. Here, in general, there will be an overload, and in a good way, of course, there should be a lodgement.
Everything is provided inside the combat vehicle for a special jump. The testers are fixed with six attachment points: on the toes of the legs, above the knee, the head and hands are also fixed. The innovation of the current test was the use of an updated chair. If in previous cases chairs of the Kazbek type were used, which were suitable only for landing, and when the BMD needed to be put into a combat position, then it was necessary to put ordinary, full-time seats, then the current chairs are unified. From the landing position to the working state, they are transferred very quickly. An important point: in the event of an emergency, the crew of the vehicle is provided to leave the vehicle right in the sky. To do this, each paratrooper carries a PZ-81 reserve parachute. The minimum safe height at which it can be used is 150 meters. Of course, this is an emergency situation. It can occur if, for example, the amortization system sensor mentioned above informs about a failure, and then the car will have to be left by individual landing. history of the Airborne Forces no more than 60 people passed the jump inside the military equipment. In June 2003, seven officers performed such a landing, and in the winter of 2010, six paratroopers landed on three BMD-2s. On the ground, the heroes were personally met by the then commander of the Airborne Forces, Lieutenant-General Vladimir Shamanov: he handed each one a nominal watch, and also announced the decision to present military personnel - officers, sergeants and privates - to be awarded the Order of Courage. At the current exercise, not only people, but also new equipment of the Airborne Forces. For example, the BMD-4M is a completely new generation of airborne combat vehicles, a reliable all-terrain vehicle equipped, moreover, with powerful weapons. The gun of this BMD is akin to a tank gun, it has a caliber of 100 millimeters. Moreover, it can shoot not only shells, but also guided missiles. The BTR-MDM "Shell" is also famous for its cross-country ability. "Military acceptance" about this car, arranged for her testing off-road, water, snow. The exam was passed flawlessly.
According to the commander of the Russian Airborne Forces, Colonel-General Andrey Serdyukov, an ostentatious tactical exercise with a practical drop airborne assault turned out to be the largest in recent years in its scope and was successful. One of the goals of the maneuvers, according to the general, was to test advanced landing equipment for modern models of equipment supplied to the Airborne Forces. “The testers coped with the task, their courage is admirable!” - stressed Andrey Serdyukov after the completion of the exercise. The headquarters of the Airborne Forces also believe that the successful demonstration of the landing of the BTR-MDM with testers inside the vehicle allows us to say that a full-fledged Combat vehicles, capable of performing the widest range of tasks in the interests of the "winged infantry".

In the first half of the last century, the “motorized mechanization” of landing forces was mainly due to cars, off-road motorcycles and small tanks. The experience of the Second World War forced, if not to change these views, then to shift the emphasis somewhat.

For all the specificity of airborne armored vehicles, its range is quite wide, and we will limit ourselves to the history of the unique domestic BMD-BTR-D family, especially since its progenitor, the BMD-1, turns 40 in 2009.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Airborne Forces went through a massive rearmament. Including they received off-road vehicles and the first sample of armored vehicles designed specifically for the Airborne Forces - an airborne self-propelled artillery mount. However, this was clearly not enough.

In the first half of the 1960s, an infantry fighting vehicle was being developed for motorized rifle units, and naturally the question arose of the same vehicle for airborne troops. Then behind enemy lines would be not "light infantry", but highly mobile mechanized units capable of operating in conditions of both conventional and nuclear war. However, much here depends on the capabilities of military transport aviation. The aircraft determines the requirements for weight, speed of loading, fastening, unloading or landing, the dimensions of its cargo compartment and hatch - the dimensions of the machine. BMP-1 (then still an experienced "object 765") did not fit into them. Firstly, the combat weight of 13 tons allowed only one BMP to be transported by the main An-12 military transport aircraft of that time. Secondly, the An-12 provided the landing of one monocargo (a model of weapons with landing equipment) weighing up to 10 tons, so that the mass of the sample itself could not exceed 7.5-8 tons. It was necessary to create a transport-combat vehicle for the Airborne Forces (VDV).

OKB-40 of the Mytishchi Machine-Building Plant, headed by N.A. took part in the competition. Astrov, who already had experience in creating ACS-57 and SU-85, the design bureaus of the Volgograd Tractor Plant (VgTZ), headed by I.V. Gavalov and Leningrad VNII-100 (later VNIItransmash). An important role in the fate of the car was played by the "penetrating power" of the commander of the Airborne Forces, General of the Army V.F. Margelov, who was supported by the Deputy Minister, and then the Minister of Defense, Marshal A.A. Grechko. A number of designers of armored vehicles, representatives of the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense considered it almost unrealistic to create a vehicle with such a weapon system that fits within strict limits in terms of weight, dimensions and overload during landing (up to 20 g). There was no clear idea: to make a car from scratch or to use the units of mass-produced cars to the maximum? But Margelov, convinced after meetings with the designers and leaders of the VGTZ in the practical possibility of creating a combat vehicle, raised the headquarters and the Scientific and Technical Committee of the Airborne Forces, heads of military branches and services, connected several ministries to work. VgTZ received an assignment to develop a machine, which received the designation "object 915". It is interesting that in 1942 in Stalingrad the paratroopers of the 13th guards division A.I. Rodimtsev, and it was in this city that a quarter of a century later a combat vehicle for paratroopers appeared.

This car was required: high cross-country ability, as large an average technical speed over the terrain, confidently overcoming water barriers without prior preparation (due to their own buoyancy reserve), as well as landing from military transport aircraft using their own parachute system and placing an armament complex and several paratroopers with their weapons. It was natural to use the same main armament for the "object 915" as on the BMP - a smooth-bore 73-mm gun "Thunder" in a turret, supplemented by a machine gun and an ATGM "Malyutka". The car was also supposed to serve as a base for a family of armored vehicles (from light tank to the tanker). What was implemented, we will find out further.

New armor and new suspension

The designers went to use a number of fundamentally new for domestic armored vehicles solutions. One of the main was the widespread use of aluminum alloys - great job here did the Moscow branch of VNII-100 (later VNII steel). Aluminum armor alloys are more expensive than steel, but they provide a number of advantages. Aluminum armor with less weight requires a greater thickness of armored parts, so that the rigidity of the hull is higher than that of a hull made of relatively thin sheets of steel armor. And when we are talking about bulletproof protection, the hull is lighter than with steel armor of equal resistance.

With the help of specialists from VNIItransmash, an individual hydropneumatic suspension was developed for the new machine. More precisely, this is an air suspension (gas serves as an elastic element) with the transfer of force through a liquid. Each suspension unit serves as both a spring and a shock absorber, the suspension is compact, and through the pressure adjustment, you can change the clearance of the car over a wide range. The latter allows you to place the car on the means of landing, "pull" the undercarriage to the hull when moving afloat, and makes it easier to shelter the car on the ground.

In addition, the vehicle received a very dense layout, the capacity was limited to seven fighters, compensating for this by their “active” placement: in addition to the gunner in the turret, two machine gunners sitting on the sides of the driver could fire, three more paratroopers had ball mounts for their machines. To move afloat, the car received two water cannons.

The commander of the Airborne Forces did everything to speed up the progress of work. Already on April 14, 1969, the BMD-1 (“airborne combat vehicle”, or “airborne combat vehicle”) was adopted for service. Its production unfolded at VgTZ. BMD still surprises with its compactness, comparative ease of maintenance and reliability (it is understandable - the landing force does not have rear services and workshops at hand), excellent driving performance.

Since 1970, KB VgTZ was headed by A.V. Shabalin, and further work on the BMD-1 and its modifications was under his leadership. Soon the BMD-1K command and command vehicle BMD-1KSh "Sinitsa" appeared for the battalion command level, in 1978 - BMD-1P and BMD-1KP with ATGM 9K111 "Fagot" instead of "Baby", a year later, some of the vehicles received smoke grenade launchers for quick setting of smoke screens.

What would you drop it on?

In parallel with the creation and development serial production BMD was working on the means of its landing: only a single complex "combat vehicle - vehicle - landing equipment" could ensure the effective use of a new combat weapon. At the first stage of operation of the BMD-1 and BTR-D, parachute platforms PP128-5000 were used for their landing, and later P-7 and P-7M with multi-dome parachute systems. During the combined arms exercise "Dvina" in March 1970 in Belarus, together with more than 7,000 paratroopers, more than 150 units of military equipment were thrown out - using multi-dome parachute systems and landing platforms. According to them, it was during these exercises that General Margelov expressed the idea of ​​dropping the crew along with the BMD. Usually the crews leave the plane after "their" BMD so that they can watch them in flight. But the crew is scattered within a radius of one to several kilometers from their car and, after landing, spends a lot of time searching for the car, preparing it for movement, especially in fog, rain, at night. Marker radio transmitters on platforms solved the problem only partially. The proposed joint landing complex, when BMD and crew with personal parachutes were placed on the same platform, was rejected. At the beginning of 1971, Margelov demanded to work out the landing of the crew inside the car in order to reduce the time between the drop and the start of movement - the time of the greatest vulnerability of the landing.

After a series of experiments (first with dogs, and then with human testers), on January 5, 1973, on the basis of the 106th Airborne Division, they carried out the first reset of the Centaur system - BMD-1, equipped with two Kazbek-D chairs (simplified version of the astronaut's chair "Kazbek-U") on the P-7 platform. The crew of the BMD-1 was Lieutenant Colonel L.G. Zuev and Senior Lieutenant A.V. Margelov (youngest son of the commander). The results clearly showed that the crew would not only survive, but also maintain combat readiness. Then, drops on the "Centaur" with military crews were carried out in each parachute regiment.

The Centaur system showed a high degree reliability, but remained unique, purely Russian. It is known that in 1972, when the USSR was preparing for the first drop of people on the Centaur, the French decided to conduct their own experiment. A prisoner sentenced to death was put into a combat vehicle that was dropped from an airplane. It crashed, and in the West for a long time it was considered inappropriate to continue development work in this direction.

Strapless systems were the next step. The fact is that preparations for landing BMD on the platform from the ISS also required a lot of time and money. Preparation of platforms, loading and mounting military equipment on them, transportation of equipment on platforms to the airfield (at a very low speed), concentration to aircraft parking areas, installation of a parachute system, loading into aircraft took, according to the experience of the exercises, up to 15-18 hours. Strapdown systems significantly speed up the preparation for landing and the preparation of the vehicle for movement after landing. And by the beginning of the 1980s, the PBS-915 strapdown parachute system for the BMD-1P and BMD-1PK was worked out at the Feodosia branch of the Research Institute of Automatic Devices. And on December 22, 1978, at Bear Lakes, the first reset of the Centaur-B system took place on a strapdown system with lining depreciation. The army was rightfully proud of the strapless system, so already in 1981 it was shown, as if by chance, in the famous movie "Return Move".

It is customary to store infantry fighting vehicles in parks with a landing system laid on the hull - this reduces the time between receiving a command and loading vehicles ready for landing into an aircraft. The main strength of the landing force is surprise, and this requires a quick reaction.

An important step in the development of landing equipment was the emergence of parachute-reactive systems (PRS), in which instead of a parachute platform with several domes, one dome and a solid-fuel jet brake engine were used. The main advantages of the PRS are the reduction in the time of preparation for landing and the landing itself (the rate of descent of an object on the PRS is about four times higher), after landing, there is no “white swamp” around the car from huge parachute panels (domes and lines, it happens, are wound on rollers and caterpillars). For landing the BMD-1 and vehicles based on it, the PRSM-915 system is used. Abroad, as far as is known, serial analogues of our ORS and strapdown systems have not yet been created.

The PRS also became the basis for landing the crew inside the vehicle. The project was named "Reactavr" ("jet "Centaur"). On January 23, 1976, the first drop on the PRSM-915 of the BMD-1 vehicle with a crew took place - Lieutenant Colonel L.I. Shcherbakov and Major A.V. Margelov. After landing, the crew brought the vehicle to combat readiness in less than a minute, then performed BMD firing exercises and driving over obstacles. It should be noted that by 2005 more than 110 people had landed inside the equipment (for comparison, about four times as many people have been in space since 1961).

Family extension

The BMD-1 changed the face of the Soviet Airborne Forces, giving them qualitatively new capabilities, but with limited capacity and carrying capacity, it alone could not solve the problem of increasing the mobility of landing units with units - anti-tank, anti-aircraft, control and support. For the installation of a variety of weapons and controls, in addition to the BMD-1, a more spacious armored vehicle was required. And on May 14, 1969 - just a month after the adoption of the BMD-1 - the Military-Industrial Commission of the Council of Ministers of the USSR decided to create prototypes of an armored personnel carrier and a complex of command and staff vehicles for the Airborne Forces.

Design Bureau VgTZ based on the BMD-1 developed an amphibious armored personnel carrier, which received the designation "object 925" (in parallel, a civilian version was developed - "transporter 925G"). In 1974, it was put into service under the designation BTR-D (“amphibious armored personnel carrier”) with the task of transporting personnel, evacuating the wounded, transporting weapons, ammunition, fuel and lubricants and other military cargo. This was facilitated by the lengthening of the chassis - by one roller from each side - and the increased dimensions of the hull with the wheelhouse. Capacity increased to 14 people (or two crew members and four wounded on stretchers).

On the chassis of the BTR-D, a family of armored vehicles was developed to equip almost all branches of the military and services that are in the Airborne Forces. In addition, the BTR-D and BTR-ZD were supposed to serve as tractors for the 23-mm ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun, but during the exercises, the paratroopers began to install the ZU-23-2 directly on the roof of the hull. So, despite the objections of the representatives of the manufacturer, an anti-aircraft self-propelled gun appeared. The ZU-23-2 is installed on the roof on stands and secured with cable braces and can fire at air or ground targets. In their own way, such “home-made” military operations in Afghanistan and Chechnya were “legalized”, where the cars accompanied the columns. There was also a factory version of the installation with a more durable fastening of the memory on the body, as well as with the option of armor protection for the crew.

Finally, in 1981, on the same chassis, they created a 120-mm self-propelled gun 2S9 "Nona-S" and an artillery reconnaissance and fire control point 1V119 "Rheostat" for Nona batteries, as well as their upgraded versions 2S9-1M and 1V119-1 .

The BTR-D and vehicles based on it underwent a number of upgrades, including the replacement of old communications equipment in the second half of the 1980s. For landing the BTR-D, the PRSM-925 parachute-reactive system is intended, for the Nona-S - PRSM-925 (2S9).

BTR-D with anti-aircraft installation ZU-23-2

"Beemdeha the second"

In the early 1980s, BMDs confirmed their good driving performance in the mountains of Afghanistan, when vehicles with troops and cargo on armor took relatively steep climbs that were inaccessible to the BMP-1 and BMP-2. But small elevation angles and effective range firing 73-mm guns did not allow effective fire on the mountain slopes. Work on the rearmament of the BMD was already underway, but the experience of Afghanistan accelerated their implementation. As a result, the BMD-2 appeared with a 30-mm 2A42 automatic cannon and a coaxial machine gun in a single-seat turret and a Fagot and Konkurs ATGM launcher. A number of changes were made, and in 1985 the BMD-2 ("object 916") was adopted by the Airborne Forces, in 1986 - the commander's BMD-2K.

In general, the fate of the vehicles of the BMDBTR-D family was such that for their intended purpose - airborne vehicles - they were used only in exercises. Combat landing on December 25-26, 1979 at the Kabul airfield took place by landing method. "Beemdashki" allowed the paratroopers and special forces to quickly advance to the objects and block them. In general, BMDs worked like "ordinary" infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers. The experience of Afghanistan has given rise to a number of changes in the design of machines. So, on the BMD-1P and BMD-1PK they removed racks for launcher ATGMs, and instead of them, the 30-mm AGS-17 “Flame” automatic grenade launcher, which became popular in mountain warfare, was mounted on the roof of the tower - the paratroopers repeated such “additional armament” of the BMD-1 during the Chechen campaign. Other popular weapons were also installed on the BMD - the NSV-12.7 heavy machine gun.

At checkpoints, BMDs were often put in cover, and when attacked by dushmans, this very mobile vehicle quickly rolled out to an elevated point, from where it opened fire. The allocation of BMD to escort relatively slow-moving convoys turned out to be ineffective: light armor and low mine resistance do not correspond to such tasks. The small mass made the car very sensitive to close explosions of land mines. Another problem came to light - when a mine exploded, the aluminum bottom, bending like a membrane, hit the ammunition rack located directly above it, which caused the self-liquidator of fragmentation grenades to cock, and after eight seconds the ammunition detonated, leaving no time for the crew to leave the car. This hastened the withdrawal of the BMD-1 from Afghanistan.

The aluminum rims of the road wheels did not last long on stony and concrete roads, and the roller had to be completely replaced. I had to replace the aluminum track rollers with steel ones with an aluminum bushing. Dust from the air often entered the fuel system, which required the installation of an additional fine filter.

And soon the paratroopers in Afghanistan generally moved from the BMD to the BMP-2, BTR-70 and BTR-80 - primarily because of the high vulnerability of the BMD during explosions.

After Afghanistan, the BMD and the vehicles based on it had to fight on their native land. Politicians threw paratroopers (as the most combat-ready units) to extinguish interethnic clashes and separatist riots. Since 1988, the paratroopers have been actively involved in more than 30 operations, commonly referred to as "resolving national and military conflicts." BMD-1, BMD-2 and BTR-D had to patrol the streets and guard objects in Tbilisi in 1989, in Baku and Dushanbe in 1990, in Vilnius in 1991 and even in Moscow in 1991 and 1993 . At the end of 1994, the first campaign began in Chechnya, and here again the BMD-1 was driven into battle. To enhance protection against cumulative grenades and bullets heavy machine guns boxes of sand, additional spare parts, etc. were laid and hung on the BMD-1. In September 1999, the BMD-1 and BTR-D participated in the battles in Dagestan, and immediately after that, the second Chechen campaign began.

As for the BTR-D and vehicles based on it, they remained the true "workhorses" of the Airborne Forces. Moreover, the vehicles are designed for delivery by military transport aircraft and heavy helicopters, they are excellent "pull" even in difficult road conditions and in the mountains, they are reliable. "Nona-S" and BTR-D with ZU-23 solved the tasks of direct fire support for units.

BMD-1 was delivered abroad to a limited extent (to Angola and Iraq), unless, of course, BMD left in the now “independent” republics (Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova) are not counted. Iraqi BMD-1 in 2003 fell into the hands of the American invaders.

Results of the second campaign in Chechnya, experience Russian peacekeepers in Abkhazia, they confirmed the long-standing demands for increasing the firepower and security of the BMD.

Time of heirs

By the end of the 1970s, it became clear that the possibilities of upgrading the BMD-1 and BTR-D to accommodate more powerful weapon systems and special equipment were generally exhausted. At the same time, the Il-76 military transport aircraft, which became the main one for the Airborne Forces, and new landing equipment “softened” the requirements for the mass and dimensions of vehicles - landing of monocargoes weighing up to 21 tons from the Il-76 was practiced.

The vehicle, which became known as the BMP-3 with a new weapon system (100-mm and 30-mm cannon, machine guns, guided weapon system), was originally developed for armament ground forces, Airborne Forces and Marine Corps. This was manifested, in particular, in the design of the undercarriage with variable ground clearance and in limiting the mass of the machine to 18.7 tons. However, the airborne career of the BMP-3 did not take place. In 1990, the 13-ton BMD-3, created under the leadership of A.V., entered service with the Airborne Forces. Shabalin at VgTZ.

The armament complex of the machine was not immediately determined, but in the end they settled on a combination of a 30-mm 2A42 automatic cannon and a 7.62-mm machine gun coaxial with it in the turret, a launcher for ATGM 9M113 (9M113M) on the turret, and also - 5.45 -mm machine gun and 30mm automatic grenade launcher in front of the body. The appearance of the installation under 5.45 mm light machine gun characteristically - the paratroopers have long asked to put a mount for a light machine gun on their combat vehicle. There are three installations in the sides and for assault rifles. Disembarking from the car is still done up and back - along the roof of the engine compartment. The tower became double: the commander, located next to the gunner-operator, received best review and can take control of weapons. Equally important is the automation of the transmission and a number of mechanisms. At first, the BMD-3 caused a lot of criticism (which is usually for a new car), but those who had a chance to operate it noted that it was much easier to control than the BMD-1 and BMD-2. The control levers here were replaced by the steering wheel.

In the chassis of the BMD-3, Volgograd tank builders returned to single-sided road wheels - hollow rollers increase buoyancy and stability afloat. The suspension is also hydropneumatic.

The movement of the machine afloat required a number of special solutions. The fact is that the Chelyabinsk diesel, corresponding to the task for most of the characteristics, exceeded the required mass by almost 200 kilograms. Afloat, this gave a large trim to the stern. In addition to other inconveniences, this did not allow firing afloat along the coast along the water's edge. To “raise” the stern, the opening angle of the water cannon dampers was limited so that a vertical component of the reactive force was created, and the spare parts boxes installed on the stern were turned into floats.

Simultaneously with the BMD-3, the PBS-950 strapdown system with the MKS-350-12M parachute system based on universal canopies was created for its landing. On August 20, 1998, during the exercises of the 104th parachute regiment of the 76th airborne division, a BMD-3 was dropped on the PBS-950 system with the crew and troops in full force. A parachute drop of the BMD-3 (without a crew) from an extremely low altitude was also tested, although this method of landing equipment is not popular.

Meanwhile, the BMD-4 appeared on a modified chassis. The main novelty was the combat module developed at the Tula Instrument Design Bureau with a turret installation of twin guns - 100-mm 2A70 and 30-mm 2A72 - similar to the BMP-3 weapons complex. The 100-mm cannon can fire a high-explosive fragmentation projectile or 9M117 (9M117M1-3) ATGM. The most controversial reviews can be found about the capabilities and quality of the BMD-4: some indicate that the chassis of the vehicle as a whole has been finished, and the BMD-4 weapon system needs to be improved, others are completely satisfied with the weapons and instruments, but require improvement of the chassis. However, the number of BMD-3 and BMD-4 in the troops is relatively small and the experience of their operation has not yet gained sufficient "statistics". In general, experts agree that the BMD-3 and BMD-4, as new generation vehicles, require more qualified personnel for their operation (and this, with a decrease in the level of education, is a problem for the modern Russian army).

Now VgTZ has entered the Tractor Plants concern, which also includes the manufacturer of the BMP-3 Kurganmashzavod. And in 2008, at Kurganmashzavod, they demonstrated a BMD-4M vehicle with the same weapon system, but on a different chassis based on BMP-3 units and assemblies. For which of the "fours" the future is still unclear.

Analogues and relatives

Landing armored vehicles, which are in service with our army, do not yet have direct analogues abroad, although work in this direction has been going on for more than a year. So, in Germany, the Wiesel and Wiesel-2 amphibious assault vehicles are in service. But these are machines of a different class: "Wiesel" - a kind of revival of a tankette with a crew of 2-3 people, a self-propelled platform for the "Tou" ATGM, 20-mm automatic cannon, short-range air defense systems, radar or special equipment - to choose from; "Wiesel-2" - a semblance of a light armored personnel carrier of limited capacity and a platform for heavier weapons. The closest to the idea of ​​the BMD-BTR-D came the Chinese, who not so long ago presented their own airborne combat vehicles WZ 506.

As for the modern fleet of combat vehicles of the domestic airborne forces, the BMD-2, BTR-D and BMD-4 are considered the main ones. But it is assumed that the "old women" BMD-1, for well-known reasons, will remain in service until 2011.

Illustrations by Mikhail Dmitriev

This day in history:

January 5, 1973 For the first time in history, at the Slobodka parachute track near Tula, for the first time in world history, the idea of ​​landing people inside an airborne combat vehicle (BMD-1) was put into practice -complex "Centaur". The idea and practical implementation of landing people inside combat vehicles belongs to the legendary commander of the Airborne Forces, General of the Army Vasily Margelov, who sent his son to the first tour of the Centaur. The first crew included - Leonid Gavrilovich Zuev and Alexander Vasilyevich Margelov
Not a single army in the world has mastered this method of landing.
January 5, 1973! This day can be considered the "Beginning New Era"in the history of our Airborne Forces !!!
The son of our Bati became a "airborne cosmonaut"!Nobody except us!!!

Hero of Russia Alexander Margelov. Retired Airborne Colonel. The son of the founder of modern airborne troops, General of the Army Vasily Margelov. In January 1973, during the test of the Centaur complex, he was the first in history, together with Lieutenant Colonel Zuev, to parachute from an aircraft while inside an airborne combat vehicle.
The crew, consisting of commander lieutenant colonel Leonid Zuev and gunner-operator senior lieutenant Alexander Margelov, using the advanced parachute system - combat vehicle - man complex, codenamed "Centaur", parachuted from the sky onto the head of a mock enemy, while inside the BMD-1 combat vehicle The landing was carried out from the An-12 aircraft using a multi-dome parachute system and the P-7 parachute platform.The crew inside the combat vehicle during the landing was in special space seats of the Kazbek-D type.The world's first landing of people inside military equipment was preceded by a series of tests and reliability checks of the "Centaur" complex, including the landing of animals inside the BMD.
Already two years after the first successful experiment in the Airborne Forces in January 1976, also for the first time in world practice, together with Lieutenant Colonel Shcherbakov, he landed inside the BMD, testing the new Reaktavr complex without personal rescue equipment, the landing of the entire crew of the combat vehicle was carried out inside the BMD. the number of 6 people on a parachute-reactive system without the use of a parachute platform.
Only after 20 years for the courage shown during the testing of military equipment, Alexander Margelov was awarded the title of Hero of Russia. In the photo: One day before the experiment. Guard Crew Commander Lieutenant Colonel A.G. Zuev and gunner-operator lieutenant A.V. Margelov


Humorous photo collage by V. Romanov on the theme of the Centaur


A group of participants in the first "Centaur" after a successful experiment


Airborne Forces - “two hundred options are possible”, one of them is “up with caterpillars”. The crew of the "Centaur-5" with honor passed the test. 1974, Gaizhunai, Lithuanian SSR


Without a crew, this is not a "Centaur", but simply a BMD-1 before loading into an IL-76


"Centaur" descended to the ground. The commander's "counter" is on - only 2 minutes are allowed for mooring


The KSD is in the air... Major A.A. Petrichenko, Honored Master of Parachuting, “floats” nearby, having separated from the complex in accordance with the assignment

Why is the project named "Centaur"? Because the driver does not look like this character is one with the car.


The Elgin Marbles are a mythological battle between the Lapiths and the Centaurs. Greece, Parthenon. 440 BC


In August 2011, A.V. Margelov "Airborne Forces Cosmonauts" . *
This book-album tells about how various systems for landing equipment for our airborne forces were developed and tested.

For the first time in the history of the Airborne Forces published in one book - a photo album and memoirs of the Hero of Russia, Colonel Alexander Vasilyevich Margelov, the only paratrooper officer in the world who participated in the landing in 3 different complexes: "Centaur", "KSD", " Reaktaur". The Bronnitsa branch of the all-Russian public organization "Combat Brotherhood" under the leadership of combat veteran Patrushev Nikolai Vladimirovich prepared a gift for the legendary paratrooper Hero of Russia A.V. Margelov, in honor of his 65th birthday (born October 21, 1945) - a book of memoirs about the daring projects of Army General V.F. Margelov, who was the first in the world to develop and carry out landing combat vehicles with a crew.

Among the glorious pages in the history of the Airborne Forces, the development BMD landings with the crews stationed inside, takes its rightful place. And how could it be otherwise? It was in the Airborne Forces that this daring, incomprehensible to many, and therefore terrible, idea was born to put the guards in the BMD without parachutes and other personal means of salvation. This ambitious task was set by the Commander of the Airborne Forces, Hero of the Soviet Union, General of the Army Vasily Filippovich Margelov in the early 1970s, immediately upon admission to the BMD-1 Airborne Forces. The idea was supported by his like-minded paratroopers, those who realized what it meant to quickly bring combat vehicles, and, consequently, landing units, into readiness for battle after landing.
The task turned out to be daunting. But the Soviet defense industry and military specialists successfully coped with it in the shortest possible time. In the combat compartment of the BMD-1, space chairs (in a somewhat simplified version) "Kazbek-D" were installed, military doctors (State Research Institute of Aviation and Space Medicine) studied all stages of landing and gave recommendations on how to overcome overloads.
Despite the solution of the technical problem, the GosNII VVS im. Chkalov, who conducted state tests of landing equipment. He motivated this by the fact that there are no means of individual crew rescue in the combat vehicle.
The Commander had to work hard to convince Minister of Defense A.A. Grechko give permission for the first landing. Marshal did not agree to any, fearing for the lives of people. The commander proposed his candidacy for participation in the experiment, but received a categorical refusal.
- In this case, Comrade Minister, my son Alexander, a paratrooper officer, an employee of the Scientific and Technical Committee of the Airborne Forces and a master of parachuting, a teacher of our landing school, Major Leonid Zuev, will jump. Alexander is engaged in an experiment at the NTC, and Zuev has already begun to experiment at the school, for which he was "honored with a slander" from political workers. Well, I took him to prepare personally for this unique jump.
- But why is it still a son? Grechko asked.
- I have seen many tears of mothers mourning their dead husbands and sons. And since the case is new and very risky, where anything can happen, I personally bear all the responsibility and answer with my head for the outcome of the experiment.
Complex "parachute-car-crew" was named "Centaur". For the first time in world practice, the experimental landing of two crew members inside the BMD-1 from the AN-12 aircraft took place on January 5, 1973 on the basis of the 106th Guards. VDD near Tula. The crew of Lieutenant Colonel Leonid Zuev and Senior Lieutenant Alexander Margelov actually confirmed the correctness of the research results and technical solutions domestic science and military medicine. After this landing, the Centaur appeared on the coat of arms of the Tula division ...
They say that in the West they tried to repeat a similar experiment. In France, a prisoner sentenced to death was planted in a combat vehicle. The car crashed - "the sentence was carried out." Much later, the experiment was carried out in the United States. However, the result was so deplorable that no one else made attempts in the West.
Then in the USSR there were other experiments and regular landing of crews of combat vehicles and artillery crews inside and together with military equipment of the Airborne Forces.
Among them, an unparalleled jump with a personal parachute from the descending joint landing complex (KSD) of the NTC officer Alexander Petrichenko occupies a worthy place. As in the Centaur complex, the KSD combat vehicle landed on parachute-platform means, but a cabin for four people was attached to the end of the platform, which made it possible to accommodate six crew members at once. Theoretically, these four people, if necessary, could leave the complex on personal parachutes. This is what the Commander decided to check during military regimental exercises on August 26, 1975. This was not the first landing of the CSD among the troops, but such a jump was performed for the first and last time! In the latter, because the honored master of parachuting A. Petrichenko, after leaving the complex, with difficulty avoided falling under the equipment, dangling under the platform on metal cables. After receiving a negative opinion from an experienced paratrooper, the KSD were used for some time by the troops for landing howitzers and cannons with crews, until all the artillery was transferred to the base of tracked combat vehicles. A. Petrichenko accomplished a truly feat, which was never appreciated.
At the request of the Commander, already during the preparation of the first "Centaurs", the development of a parachute-reactive system began. The work, which lasted more than one year, was crowned with success - such a system (PRSM-915) was created! Its advantages were obvious: only one dome of 540 sq. m (instead of 4-5 to 760 sq. m. on KSD and Centaur) and a block of soft landing jet engines (plus additional equipment) were placed directly on the body of the machine, which, under its own power, advanced with the crew to the airfield and loaded into the aircraft under its own power. Moreover, the rate of descent of such a system reached 25 m/s (on the ISS - 5-6 m/s), which made it practically invulnerable from enemy fire.
January 23, 1976 based on the 76th Guards. Airborne Forces near Pskov conducted a historic experimental landing of the Reaktavr complex with two crew members: commander - Major A. Margelov, driver - Lieutenant Colonel L. Shcherbakov. Winter time was not chosen by chance - the calculation was for deep snow on the landing site, which was supposed to soften the landing. However, the testers were properly “attached” to the rolled icy road, so that the overload went through them to the fullest. Fortunately, this did not particularly affect the subsequent actions of the crew: the elements of driving and shooting were carried out clearly, in accordance with the task. The Airborne Forces received a new means of landing, significantly increasing their combat capabilities. The crew members were presented with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but only 20 years later they became Heroes of Russia.
Later, the plant "Universal" created strapdown landing gear, combining the reliability of parachute systems, lightness and maneuverability, as when using the PRS. In the presence of the Commander of the Airborne Forces, near the village of Medvezhye Lakes near Moscow, on December 22, 1978, an experimental landing of the Centaur was carried out on strapdown landing gear (ZP-170) - crew commander Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Brazhnikov, driver - guardsman military service Vasily Kobchenko. The landing showed the high reliability of the ZP-170 system and confirmed the excellent performance characteristics that are not inferior to the parachute-rocket system. Furthermore, the most difficult issue of eliminating the overturning of the combat vehicle during the lateral demolition of the system was constructively solved. Until now, the ZP-170 is the only system that allows you to land a combat vehicle on the water. However, Commander Margelov did not have time to adopt the ZP-170 system into service with the troops.
Work on the implementation of the ideas of General V.F. Margelov continued. Landing of armored vehicles on land and on water with winds up to 15 m per second, landing of military equipment and cargo from ultra-low altitudes (albeit without crews), and finally, landing of a full crew inside the BMD-3 were worked out.
On August 20, 1998, during demonstration tactical exercises of the 104th Guards. PDP 76th Guards. airborne troops for the first time in military practice, paratroopers took part in the landing: 22-year-old senior lieutenant Vyacheslav Konev (crew commander), junior sergeants Alexei Ablizin and Zamir Bilimikhov, corporal Vladimir Sidorenko, privates Denis Gorev, Dmitry Kondratiev, Zurab Tomaev. And as always in such cases - volunteers.
The landing took place on the new PBS-950 strapdown parachute system developed by the same Universal plant (now the Moscow design and production complex Universal). The new system was directly created by specialists from the 9th department of the plant (now the 2nd department) under the leadership of the head of the department Petkus Genrikh Vladimirovich, whose signatures were on the readiness sheets of the first and subsequent "Centaurs".
A little time has passed, and the newly appointed new commander of the Airborne Forces, Lieutenant General Alexander Kolmakov, is present at the next landing of a full crew inside the BMD-3. This happened during the Central meeting of the leadership of the airborne services of the Ministry of Defense on September 24, 2003 at the base of the 106th Guards. vdd.
In total, at the end of 2004, about fifty landings of crews and artillery crews were carried out in various systems landing, in which more than 110 people took part. Many participants in the preparation and conduct of such landings - scientists, engineers, officers, generals - became laureates of the USSR State Prize, were awarded orders and medals, and received academic titles. Honor and praise to them, to the patriots of Russia, especially to those who still, despite all the troubles that have fallen, hold high the banner of Soviet Russian Science and cherish the Honor of the defender of the Motherland and the paratrooper!