Georgia. Sapper blades The events in Almaty were just the beginning. In the spring of 1989, events in Tbilisi became even more serious. On April 7, the first secretary of the Republican Central Committee, Jumber Ilyich Patiashvili, reported to Moscow that rallies were being held in Georgia, participants

Second essay on the military department.

1. Engineer troops, purpose

2. Tasks of combat engineering support

2.1 Engineering reconnaissance of the enemy and the area

2.2 Fortification equipment of positions, areas, control points

2.3 Construction and maintenance of engineering barriers, and destruction. Installation and maintenance of nuclear mines and landmines.

2.4 Destruction and neutralization of enemy nuclear mines. Making and maintaining passages in barriers and destruction. Arrangement of passages through obstacles. Demining of terrain and objects

2.5 Preparation and maintenance of routes for troop movement, transport and evacuation

2.6 Equipment and maintenance of crossings when crossing water barriers

2.7 Engineering measures to camouflage troops and objects

2.8 Engineering measures to restore the combat effectiveness of troops and eliminate the consequences of enemy nuclear strikes

2.9 Extraction and purification of water, equipment of water supply points

2.10 Other tasks

3. Structure of engineering troops units

3.1 Staff of the engineer-sapper company of the tank regiment (ISRT TP)

3.2 Staff of the engineer-sapper company of the motorized rifle regiment (ISR MSP)

4. Military engineering terminology

Bibliography

Introduction

The Engineering Troops are a very remarkable branch of the military. First of all, engineering troops are frontline troops. Engineering units go into battle simultaneously with motorized rifle and tank units, and often before them. It is no coincidence that in Peter’s Table of Ranks, officers of the engineering troops stood one rank higher than the infantry and cavalry.

Few people know that it was the engineering troops who were the first to master the latest means of warfare and introduce them into the army’s arsenal. From the engineering troops, railway troops, signal troops, automobile troops, tank forces. And it seems absolutely fantastic to say that aviation was born in the depths of the engineering troops. And yet this is so. The task of creating and combat use of first aeronautical and then airplane detachments was entrusted specifically to the engineering troops. Until the end of the First World War, aviation units remained under the jurisdiction of the Main Engineering Directorate.

Somehow unnoticed in the history of the Great Patriotic War is the fact that at the beginning of 1942 ten sapper armies were formed. One sapper army for each front. In 1943, the ranks of marshals and chief marshals were introduced not only for aviation, tank crews, artillery, but even for engineering troops.

The first military school in Russia for training officers was the Pushkarsky Prikaz school, opened in 1701. This school trained artillery and engineering officers. First in infantry and cavalry military educational institutions There will be cadet corps, which will open only 30 years later.

The engineering troops were born, based on the needs of the artillery, in the bowels of the artillery and until the beginning of the 19th century they were an integral part of them.

1. Engineer troops, purpose

Engineering troops are designed to solve combat engineering support tasks.

The Combat Manual of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces interprets the concept of “Engineer Troops” as follows:

"Engineering support is one of the types of combat support. Engineering support for combat operations of troops is organized and carried out with the aim of creating troops the necessary conditions for timely and covert advance, deployment, maneuver, their successful completion of combat missions, increasing the protection of troops and objects from all types of destruction, for inflicting losses on the enemy, and to hinder enemy actions.

Engineering support includes:

engineering reconnaissance of the enemy, terrain and objects;

fortification equipment of positions, lines, areas, control points;

installation and maintenance of engineering barriers, and destruction;

installation and maintenance of nuclear mines and landmines;

destruction and neutralization of enemy nuclear mines;

making and maintaining passages in barriers and destruction;

arrangement of passages through obstacles;

demining of terrain and objects;

preparation and maintenance of routes for troop movement, transportation and evacuation;

equipment and maintenance of crossings when crossing water barriers;

engineering measures to camouflage troops and objects;

engineering measures to restore the combat effectiveness of troops and eliminate the consequences of enemy nuclear strikes;

extraction and purification of water, equipment of water supply points.

Engineering support tasks are carried out by units and subunits of all branches of the military and special forces. They independently erect structures for firing, surveillance, sheltering personnel and equipment; cover with mine-explosive barriers and camouflage their positions and areas; lay and mark traffic routes; overcome barriers and obstacles; force water obstacles.

Engineer troops perform the most complex engineering support tasks, requiring special training personnel, the use of engineering equipment and specific engineering ammunition. In addition, they defeat enemy equipment and personnel with mine-explosive and nuclear mine weapons."

2. Tasks of combat engineering support

2.1 Engineering reconnaissance of the enemy and the area

The expression “It was smooth on paper, but they forgot about the ravines” is well known. This is not a general aphorism, but a sad reminder to many commanders of times past and present. Historical fact- one of the reasons for Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo was the death of the cuirassier division in a ravine on the way to their brilliant attack on the British flank. Wellington covered the army's flank with a ravine. Napoleon could not see this ravine, and he decided to take advantage of the fact that the English commander “stupidly” left his flank open for attack. At full gallop, the French cuirassiers flew into this ravine, and most of them were maimed and killed. The attack was thwarted.

One can cite hundreds of examples when neglect of engineering intelligence thwarted the most beautiful plans of commanders and turned advancing troops into a target for the enemy.

Engineering reconnaissance of the area is carried out in various ways and methods (studying the area using a map, aerial photographs, military-geographical descriptions; observation, engineering reconnaissance patrols, etc.).

The result of engineering reconnaissance of the area is the answer to the question of the terrain's passability for personnel and equipment, and the possibility of camouflaging personnel and equipment (both friendly and foreign). To do this, you need to obtain information about the terrain (for example, the steepness of the hills); availability and bandwidth roads; about the possibility of driving off roads (is the area swampy, is the snow deep, are there ravines); about the presence of water barriers (rivers, streams, lakes, flood zones); about the density of forests and their fire danger.

In general, the terrain on which fighting, you should carefully study and understand how it can affect the solution of combat missions. Without this, any of the most cunning battle plans will turn out to be just searches and the troops will be defeated.

Naturally, the enemy is also studying the terrain and trying to complicate the actions of our troops. To achieve this, the enemy is carrying out a number of measures to worsen the movement capabilities of our troops. He destroys or prepares for destruction roads, bridges, dams, creates forest debris, tears off anti-tank ditches, sets up barricades, sets minefields, builds pillboxes, bunkers, armored caps, and tears off trenches. Engineering reconnaissance is required to detect these enemy activities and predict enemy actions.

The methods of conducting engineering reconnaissance depend on the type of battle or maneuver to be carried out (offensive, defense, retreat, march). To conduct engineering reconnaissance in units and subunits, engineering observation posts (IOP), engineering reconnaissance patrols (IRD), photographing posts (PF), engineering reconnaissance groups (IRG), deep reconnaissance groups (DRG), helicopter patrols (VD), can be organized in units and subunits. radar observation posts (RPN). To conduct engineering reconnaissance, vehicles specially created for this purpose are used, for example, the IRM engineering reconnaissance vehicle.

Typically, these posts and groups are created by engineering units of a motorized rifle (tank) division, corps, army, or front. In motorized rifle (tank) regiments and battalions, engineering reconnaissance tasks are usually assigned to ordinary reconnaissance posts and groups. For this purpose, soldiers or sergeants of the regiment's engineering company are included in the posts and groups.

A very simple example - on the path of the advance of a tank regiment there is a flat green field. The regiment commander is interested in whether the tanks will get through there. Engineering intelligence is obliged to give an accurate and unambiguous answer - yes or no. After all, under the green carpet of grass there may be anti-tank mines or an impenetrable swamp. It is not difficult to predict what will happen if intelligence makes a mistake. But how to reconnoiter if this field is under the gun of numerous enemy snipers and machine gunners, mortar and artillery fire? Sappers show ingenuity, risk their lives, suffer losses and, finally, give an accurate answer. Sappers, under enemy fire, make passages among enemy mines and lay a road through the swamp. The regiment is successful. All glory to the tankers. After all, they won the battle. What about the sappers? They were forgotten again, although the regiment largely owed its success to them.

2.2 Fortification equipment of positions, areas, control points

Fortification equipment is one of the most important elements of combat engineering support. This includes sections of trenches for riflemen, military equipment, equipment for shelters for equipment, shelters for personnel, communication passages (trenches), equipment for observation and command observation posts.

A significant part of the work on fortification equipment is carried out by personnel of motorized rifle (tank) units and units of other troops. The role of even the simplest fortifications in achieving victory in battle is very great. Suffice it to say that losses from enemy fire of covered infantry are 4-6 times lower compared to unsheltered infantry, and from nuclear weapons 10-15 times lower.

Work on fort equipment begins immediately after the unit occupies the given area and organizes the fire system. They continue as long as the unit occupies the area. These works are very labor-intensive and time-consuming. Suffice it to say that even a section of a machine gunner’s trench for prone shooting takes from 25 to 40 minutes. To extract a trench for a tank, it is necessary to move up to 28 cubic meters. land. If we consider that the tank crew consists of three people, then each of the tankers must move 9 cubic meters. soil. One person per hour, working in average soil, can move up to 1 cubic meter. This means that manually digging out a trench for a tank will take from 10 to 30 hours. But it's worth it. A tank in a trench successfully deals with three or four advancing enemy tanks.

In a number of cases (hasty defense, proximity of a suitable enemy, etc.) there is no time for this. To reduce the time required to equip positions, engineering troops are brought in. Thus, the engineer-sapper company of a tank regiment has nine BTUs (bulldozer equipment mounted on a tank) for these purposes, i.e. one BTU per tank company. This equipment allows you to dig one tank trench in 30 minutes (plus another 5 man-hours of shoveling). In addition, the engineer-sapper company has a PZM (regimental earth-moving machine) to dig out trenches, pits for dugouts, shelters, and shelter for equipment. It digs a trench at a speed of up to 300 meters per hour; when excavating pits, its productivity is 150 cubic meters. per hour (for comparison, an excavator is only 40). The capabilities of the division's engineer battalion are much higher. In addition, the front usually has one to three specialized battalions of fortification equipment. In particular, there are machines of the BTM type (Fig. 2), which tear off a trench at a speed of up to 900 meters per hour; MDK, which opens a trench for a tank in 8-10 minutes.

Fig.2 High-speed trench vehicle (HTM).

1- lifting winch; 2-buckets with teeth; 3-ground reflector; 4-conveyor;
5-tooth rack; 6- support roller; 7-stripping shoe (a device that clears the bottom of the trench); 8- rotor support roller; 9- slope former;
10- rotor; 11- gearbox.

To ensure the possibility of quickly constructing shelters for personnel, the engineering troops have not only earth-moving equipment, but also ready-made sets of elements for dugouts and shelters, as well as sawmills and forest processing tools for working at or near the front line. They also have the means and capabilities to construct these shelters and trenches directly under enemy fire. For example, a trench charge (OZ) allows, with the help of a directed explosion, in 2-3 minutes to explosively open a trench for a shooter to shoot while standing (1m.10cm deep).

In addition to trenches and shelters, a large number of other structures are being built in the defense area of ​​motorized rifle and tank units and artillery. These are, first of all, observation and command observation posts, which differ slightly from shelters and trenches (for example, a sheltered observation post is a dugout with a periscope installed inside; an open command post for a regiment commander is a section of a trench with cells for staff officers, several shelters for radio stations, one shelter).

2.3 Construction and maintenance of engineering barriers, and destruction. Installation and maintenance of nuclear mines and landmines.

The construction and maintenance of engineering barriers is one of the main tasks of the engineering troops. Everyone is somewhat familiar with this part of the combat activities of the engineering troops. First of all, this is the installation of minefields. Minefields play a very significant role in covering troop positions from enemy attacks. Many years of experience in warfare shows that mine danger can greatly influence the actions of the enemy. Mines do not cause real harm to the enemy as much as they affect the psyche of personnel. Experience shows that the detonation of two or three tanks by mines is enough to completely disrupt the attack of a tank company. The experience of the war in Afghanistan shows that it was enough for one car to be blown up by a mine on the road to reduce the speed of a convoy of our troops to 1-2 kilometers per hour. Then the speed of movement was determined by the ability of sappers to check the road for mines. In the combat manuals of a number of countries, the term “mine warfare” exists. The massive use of mines can almost completely paralyze any combat activity of enemy troops in a particular territory.

Currently, the danger of mines is intensified by the fact that the development of technology and electronics makes it possible to create almost intelligent mines. It is a reality that a mine does not react to a soldier of its own army, a civilian, but is instantly triggered when an enemy soldier approaches and explodes at the most advantageous moment. In addition, today there is not a single sufficiently reliable method for detecting mines, and even if a mine is detected, there are no ways to reliably neutralize them. Mines can have sensors that recognize whether it is a target or a mine trawl, they can recognize the significance of the target, they can have a multiplicity device (miss a certain number of targets and explode under the next one). Mines can be transferred to a combat or safe position by radio signal, or self-destruct. To install minefields or individual mines, it is not at all necessary for a sapper to be present at the installation site. Mines can be placed remotely (throwing even non-enemy territory with the help of artillery or aviation). Minami can be very short time cover very large areas of the front. If in the early sixties a sapper company could lay one kilometer of a minefield overnight, now it takes an hour to lay 10-15 kilometers.

In the recent past, to install mines in front of their front line, sappers had to crawl out into no man's land at night and lay mines under enemy fire. Now this can be partially avoided through remote mining systems. However, these systems place mines on the ground, allowing the enemy to frequently detect and destroy the mines.

Minefields must not only be installed, but also maintained. The maintenance of a minefield includes monitoring its condition, installing new mines to replace the ones that exploded, protecting the field from being cleared by the enemy, fencing the field with signs so that mines do not blow up their vehicles or personnel, timely removal of these signs, converting the minefield into a combat zone. or a safe state (if the given minefield is set as controlled), opening and closing passages in the minefield, allowing friendly troops through the passages.

Motorized rifle and tank units can install some minefields themselves, but this type of combat operations is too specific, requires special knowledge, and therefore, as a rule, only engineering troops are engaged in minefields. To carry out this task, the engineer-sapper company of a motorized rifle (tank regiment) has a sapper platoon, which is armed with three trailed minelayers (PMZ) and three Ural or KAMAZ vehicles. A platoon is able to lay an anti-tank minefield one kilometer long in 15-20 minutes. The engineering troops are armed with anti-tank mines, anti-personnel mines, object mines (for mining buildings and other structures), automobile mines (for mining roads), railway mines, anti-landing mines (for mining water obstacles), anti-aircraft mines (mining airfield runways), booby traps, mines -surprises.

A special type of engineering mines are nuclear landmines. The engineering troops are armed with portable nuclear land mines weighing about 60 kg. and capacity from 500t. up to 2 thousand tons TNT equivalent. By using nuclear landmines It is no longer tactical, but major operational-strategic tasks that are being solved. With their help, continuous strips of nuclear mine barriers are created, very large bridges, dams, waterworks, and railway junctions are destroyed.

However, it is not limited to mines combat use engineering troops. The engineering troops also construct non-explosive obstacles (barbed or cutting wire, anti-tank ditches, scarps and counter-scarps, barricades, road blockages, waterlogging and flooding areas), and carry out various destructions to impede the enemy’s advance (destruction of roads, bridges, blockages on roads); destroy infrastructure (destruction of buildings, railway and road structures, water supply systems, gas supply, electricity supply, fuel tanks, oil fields). To carry out these tasks, the engineering troops have various explosives and special engineering ammunition (charges of varying power and methods of activation).

The engineering troops solve the problems of destruction and mining not only on their own territory when preparing the area for defense, but also on the enemy’s territory in order to complicate the enemy’s combat operations, inflict losses on him, complicate or make it impossible for him to maneuver (withdrawal, transfer of units to threatened areas, transportation ammunition, approach of reserves).

Very often, the main task of subunits and units of airborne troops or special forces units is precisely to create conditions for the engineering troops to successfully carry out the tasks of causing harm to the enemy. For example, special forces capture and hold an important bridge for several hours so that sappers can blow it up.

2.4 Destruction and neutralization of enemy nuclear mines. Making and maintaining passages in barriers and destruction. Arrangement of passages through obstacles. Demining of terrain and objects

All these activities are the exact opposite of those mentioned above. Actually, this is what a direct clash of engineering troops of opposing armies consists of. Some mine, others clear mines; Some are blocking, others are looting.

In general, the idea of ​​​​using nuclear mines was born within the walls of NATO in the late sixties and early seventies. Brilliant operation Soviet army on the occupation of Czechoslovakia in August 1968 showed that the USSR was able to carry out a “blitzkrieg”; that NATO troops will not have time to react in the event of a strike by the Soviet Army, that it is capable of secretly concentrating a strike force in a very short time, and making a rapid advance to any point in Europe.

In order to be able to delay the advance of the Soviet Army and give NATO troops time to deploy, it was proposed to create a so-called nuclear mine belt along the borders of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was meant that if all the charges of this belt were detonated simultaneously, a zone of radioactive contamination would be created, which would make it possible to delay the advance of Soviet troops for two to three days. This time is quite enough for the deployment of NATO strike groups.

The task of neutralizing or destroying enemy nuclear mines was assigned to the engineering troops. By the way, it was precisely in connection with this that the very rapid creation of special forces units in the Soviet Army began. They were originally created solely for the purpose of reconnaissance of nuclear mine installation sites, destroying the personnel of control posts, and providing the engineering troops with the opportunity to destroy or neutralize nuclear mines.

Currently, the task of both installing and destroying nuclear mines has lost its relevance. The use of nuclear mines by both sides is a big question. However, the engineering battalion of the tank (motorized rifle) division still includes a platoon for reconnaissance and destruction of nuclear land mines (VRUYAF).

The main task of the engineering troops in this area, as during the Second World War, is to make passages in enemy minefields and obstacles, clear debris and destruction to ensure the movement of friendly troops, clear mines from areas, buildings, roads, airfields, railway stations, streets and so on.

This is precisely the side of the combat activity of the engineering troops when they say: “For the engineering troops, the war never ends.” After the end of the war, a huge number of minefields, mined objects, unexploded artillery shells, and bombs remain. All this creates a threat to the lives of civilians and makes it impossible to use objects and terrain. In peacetime, one of the main tasks of the engineering troops is to eliminate this danger. Its implementation has been delayed for many decades.

In combat conditions, it is the engineering troops who begin the attack. They make passages through the enemy's barriers in front of his front line and in the depths of the defense, providing motorized riflemen and tankers with forward movement. During the Great Patriotic War, perhaps the only way to make passages in minefields was to manually remove mines by sappers the night before the attack. It was the capture of a German sapper on the night of July 5, 1943 that allowed Marshal Zhukov to determine the exact hour of the start of the Nazi offensive on the Kursk Bulge.

Currently, there are a number of ways to make passages in enemy minefields. So, to make passages, the engineering company of a tank regiment has three KMT-5M (roller) trawls and 27 KMT-6 (knife) trawls. These trawls are hung on tanks, which can overcome minefields, and other tanks follow in their wake.

In addition, the division's engineering battalion has UR-67 and UR-77 mine clearing installations. They are lightly armored vehicles carrying missiles with attached hoses filled with explosives. Before launching an attack, these vehicles fire rockets that throw explosive hoses onto the minefields. When these hoses explode, the mines detonate and create passages. Next, the mine clearance installations advance in the combat formations of the tanks and, when minefields are detected in the depths of the enemy’s defense, they make passages into them.

To overcome anti-tank ditches and water obstacles up to 20 meters wide, the engineering troops have MT-55 tank bridgelayers. This is a vehicle based on a tank, which has a 20 m long metal bridge on top instead of a tank turret. In 2-3 minutes, the crew of the vehicle installs the bridge without leaving the vehicle.

For wider barriers, the engineering troops have a heavy mechanized TMM bridge (Fig. 3). These are 4 KRAZ-255 vehicles, with 10 meters of bridge with rigid supports placed on each of them. In 20 minutes, TMM can install a bridge 40 meters long.

Fig.3 Heavy mechanized bridge laying machine (TMM).

1 - initial position of the bridge layer; 2.3 - sequential opening of the folding bridge.

To make passages in the rubble, the regiment's engineering and sapper company has one powerful BAT-2 bulldozer. It is capable of laying a column track at a speed of up to 5 km/h.

2.5 Preparation and maintenance of routes for troop movement, transport and evacuation

The existing network of roads built in peacetime, as a rule, does not satisfy the needs of the troops. Firstly, this network is known to the enemy, which means it is under constant surveillance, targeted, and the structures on it are destroyed. Secondly, the directions of the roads often do not correspond to the location of the troops and their tasks. For example, the regiment’s defense sector, according to the regulations, has a frontal length of 10-15 kilometers. To ensure the supply of food, ammunition, evacuation of the wounded, and maneuver of units, the regiment requires one rokada (road) along the front at a distance of 4-6 kilometers from the front edge, 15-18 km long, and a regimental frontal road (from the rear to the front edge) 10-10 km long. 15 km. In addition, roads to battalion defense areas and company strongholds are required.

These tracks are prepared and maintained by the engineering troops. Of course, these are not the roads that people are used to in peacetime. More often, these are simply directions of movement marked on the ground with arranged transitions through difficult-to-pass places (crossings through ravines, streams, smoothed steep ascents and descents, passages in rubble). The laying and maintenance of traffic routes becomes especially important in winter. Also, a great difficulty in solving the problem of maintaining traffic paths is the camouflage of these paths. The opening of the network of routes by the enemy means the opening of the entire defense system of our troops.

To solve this problem, the regiment's engineering company has a BAT-2 track-laying machine, chain saws and other tools.

It should be borne in mind that these works are carried out in the zone of artillery, mortar fire, and often small arms fire from the enemy. In cases of active enemy influence, IMR vehicles from the engineering battalion of the division can be used to solve these problems. The base of this machine is a tank with powerful bulldozer equipment and a manipulator (mechanical arm) with a lifting capacity of 2 tons.


2.6 Equipment and maintenance of crossings when crossing water barriers

One of the most difficult tasks during an offensive is crossing (overcoming) water barriers (rivers, lakes, reservoirs). They are usually used by the enemy as the basis of a defensive line. Very often, the offensive of troops began by crossing water barriers, or it ended with access to the water barrier.

With the advent of amphibious armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles in our army's arsenal, the task of crossing water barriers, especially wide ones, has not become any easier. The troops have a lot of equipment that is not capable of swimming, but without which it is impossible to carry out a further offensive (tanks, artillery pieces, vehicles, etc.). And river banks do not always allow floating vehicles to go down to the water or drive out to the shore.

Engineering troops are involved in solving problems of equipment and maintenance of crossings. For these purposes, there are crossing and landing battalions, pontoon-bridge battalions and regiments, bridge-building battalions and regiments.

The transport and landing battalions are armed with PTS-2 tracked amphibious transporters. This vehicle is capable of transporting 72 infantrymen, or a gun with a caliber of up to 203 mm, or a Ural-type vehicle at a speed of 10 km/h across a water barrier of any width. The carrying capacity of PTS-2 on water is 10 tons. This machine is also able to sail on seas with waves up to 4 points.

To cross water barriers of tanks, self-propelled guns and other tracked vehicles weighing up to 52 tons, there are GSP tracked self-propelled ferries (Fig. 5).

Fig.5 Crawler self-propelled ferry (GSP).

1- ramp of the right semi-ferry; 2- boat of the right semi-ferry; 3-driving engine of the right semi-ferry; 4- wave breaker shield; 5- transported equipment.

These vehicles march in a tank column and solve the problem of crossing heavy equipment. Speed ​​afloat 10 km/hour. The tank on the ferry can fire.

To cross water obstacles up to 227 meters wide, the engineering troops have a PMP pontoon fleet. From the set of this fleet, transported on 32 Kraz vehicles, a floating bridge with a carrying capacity of 60 tons and a length of 227 meters or a floating bridge with a carrying capacity of 20 tons and a length of 382 meters is assembled in 15-30 minutes. To ferry troops across wider barriers, ferries of various carrying capacities (from 10 to 300 tons) can be assembled from these pontoons. To tow these ferries, the pontoon battalion has 12 boats.

For the construction of stationary crossings and crossings over obstacles where the use of floating equipment is impossible, USM bridge construction installations are used, which allow the construction of a wooden 60-meter bridge. bridge on pile supports at speeds of up to 60 meters per hour.

There are pontoon parks (PPS) in the engineering troops, which make it possible to build pontoon railway bridges across rivers.

In peacetime, all these units of the engineering troops are constantly involved in rescuing people and material during floods.

2.7 Engineering measures to camouflage troops and objects

Camouflage is a set of measures designed to hide from the enemy the presence and location of our troops, the actions and intentions of our troops, or to mislead the enemy regarding the number, actions, location, and intentions of our troops. The purpose of camouflage measures is to force the enemy to position his troops in the most unfavorable way for him, in the most unfavorable places for him, to force the enemy to strike at empty places, to expose the enemy to the attacks of our troops.

Camouflage can often play a decisive role in achieving success in battle, in winning the entire battle. When the command of the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War was able to fully appreciate the role of camouflage and widely deploy camouflage measures in preparation for combat operations, it was able to achieve decisive successes.

Thus, the measures taken managed to hide from the Germans the construction of a railway on the left bank of the Volga to Stalingrad, which made it possible to quickly transfer and concentrate a large number of troops near the city. The German command regarded the reports of their intelligence officers about the concentration of Soviet troops near the city as disinformation. They knew that the Red Army command had nothing to transfer many troops there, and the new Railway, along which the transfer took place, was reliably hidden from German aerial reconnaissance.

When preparing the defense on the Kursk Bulge, the engineering troops created a huge number of false objects (trench lines, tank trenches, airfields, roads, places of concentration of troops, tanks, artillery). German intelligence officers and aerial reconnaissance, encountering these false objects along with genuine ones, reported to their command, and the Wehrmacht High Command decided that the Red Army, guessing that the Germans intended to strike near Kursk, was trying to mislead them and create the impression that the Soviets had a sufficient number of troops near Kursk. Meanwhile, the Red Army actually created a large group of troops there, but it was hidden among huge number false objects.

Therefore, camouflage is divided into strategic, operational and tactical. The engineering troops carry out only their part of camouflage measures. For this purpose, the RGK (main command reserve) has camouflage battalions. One such battalion, using the means available to them, can be deployed to a false tank corps.

For example, up to 20 inflatable rubber tanks are transported on one vehicle. Such a rubber tank is inflated in 5-7 minutes from a car compressor and becomes indistinguishable from a distance of 200-300m. from the real one, and the metallic paint gives exactly the same mark on the locator screen as from a real tank. The same vehicle can tow these inflated tanks behind itself, creating the impression of two tank companies moving forward. The simulator installed on the same vehicle creates on the air the impression of a lively radio exchange of a tank column.

Camouflage networks are gradually becoming a thing of the past. The fact is that modern means of even optical reconnaissance make it possible to very clearly distinguish artificial greenery from the natural background and it is no longer possible to hide objects behind nets. Moreover, it is impossible to hide a pontoon bridge on the river. But it is relatively easy to deploy several false bridges and hide the real one among them. The enemy will be forced to disperse his forces to destroy all the bridges in a row, which will sharply reduce the effectiveness of the strikes.

The engineering troops are armed with various simulators of radio operation, simulators of infrared radiation from objects, radar reflectors, and easy-to-assemble sets of decoy objects (equipment, buildings, bridges). For example, a camouflage airfield platoon with its own resources in unprepared terrain in 1-2 days deploys a false military airfield with an imitation of basing a fighter air division on it. Moreover, not only ground objects and aircraft on the ground are simulated, but also aircraft flights near the airfield.

In general, combat is not only a confrontation between offensive and defensive means, but also a confrontation between reconnaissance and camouflage means. If you don’t know where to strike, and the enemy knows where your strength is, then you will probably lose the battle.

2.8 Engineering measures to restore the combat effectiveness of troops and eliminate the consequences of enemy nuclear strikes

Fortunately, the engineering troops never had to perform this task. To some extent, its implementation can be compared with the work of rescuers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in areas of earthquakes, floods, large fires, landslides, avalanches, man-made disasters plus radioactive contamination of the area. But for a more accurate comparison, you need to imagine all these events as happening simultaneously. But these tasks must be completed in combat conditions and under conditions of severe time pressure.

If we decompose these tasks into their components, then the implementation of these components includes: engineering reconnaissance of the enemy, terrain and objects; restoration and maintenance of engineering barriers; making and maintaining passages in barriers and destruction; arrangement of passages through obstacles; restoration and maintenance of troop movement, transport and evacuation routes; restoration and maintenance of crossings over water barriers; engineering measures to camouflage troops and objects; and so on. tasks.

2.9 Extraction and purification of water, equipment of water supply points

In fact, this is more likely the task of the rear services, but all attempts to transfer the solution of this task to them immediately led to a disruption in the supply of water to the troops. This happened in 1939 in the battles on the Khalkhin Gol River, during the Soviet-Finnish War of 1940, and this happened in 1945 during the movement of Soviet troops through the Gobi Desert. In the end, it was decided that supplying troops with drinking water was not a matter of logistical support, but of combat support, because the lack of water by the end of the third day led to large losses in personnel.

One should not think that the issue of water extraction and purification plays a significant role only in desert conditions in the summer or in Arctic conditions in winter. People who are accustomed to the fact that at any moment they can open a tap and clean drinking water will flow out, or, at worst, take buckets and go to a well with them, find it difficult to imagine the problem of drinking water. But imagine a village with one well, into which a regiment entered. One soldier requires from 8 to 15 liters of drinking water per day. The regiment consumes about 8-10 tons of clean water per day. The well will be empty in the first half hour, but people need to drink, eat, and wash. Where can I get water? But we need not just water, but clean drinking water.

To solve this problem, the engineering troops have a large arsenal of technical means for extracting and purifying water. To extract water from underground, there are drilling rigs for small units hand-held devices(MTK) for drilling wells up to 8 meters deep and pumping water from them. There are mechanized devices for drilling wells up to 200 m deep, and various means (pumps) for raising water. To purify water, there are small-sized filters that can provide clean water small units directly in positions.

To provide the regiment with water, the engineering company includes a field water supply department, which is armed with a MAFS or VFS-2.5 vehicle. The MAFS machine is capable of purifying 5 tons of water in an hour, regardless of its initial contamination (it also purifies water from radioactive contamination). For areas where there is no dirty, but unsalted water, there is a POU machine capable of desalinating up to 400 liters sea ​​water in an hour.

2.10 Other tasks

In addition to solving the immediate tasks of combat engineering support, the engineering troops are entrusted with the task of providing other branches of the military with entrenching tools, electrical equipment (from flashlights and batteries to mobile nuclear power plants), and providing units with electricity. For this purpose, the engineering troops have mobile power plants with a capacity of 500 watts to 5 megawatts.

3. Structure of engineering troops units

Currently, the engineering troops of the Russian Army consist of subunits and units that are part of motorized rifle (tank) regiments and divisions; engineering units that are part of army corps, armies, districts, as well as engineering units and formations subordinate directly General Staff Russian Armed Forces.

A motorized rifle (tank) regiment has a combat engineer company (ISR).

The motorized rifle (tank) division has an engineer battalion (ISB). The army corps also has an engineer battalion, but its staff and capabilities are somewhat wider than those of the HMB division.

An army, depending on its composition and combat missions, depending on the theater of military operations, may have one or more HMB or an engineer regiment (ISR). In addition, the army may have a pontoon-bridge battalion (OPOMB), several specialized battalions.

However, most often specialized engineering battalions and regiments, as well as brigades, remain under district or central subordination, located on the territory of the districts. These engineering units are usually deployed in those areas where their use is most possible. These are pontoon regiments (OPOMP), airborne crossing battalions (ODESPB), engineering assault and barrage battalions (IBSHIR), engineering barrage battalions (OIZB), camouflage battalions (OMB), bridge-building battalions, road battalions, control point equipment battalions (OBOPU) ), engineering fortification battalions (OIFB), field water supply battalions and companies; platoons, companies and battalions of special mine clearance, units and units of mine clearance, units and units of special use.

In some cases, engineering units are combined into engineering teams. There are currently no formations larger than engineering brigades in the engineering troops, and their existence is inappropriate. For example, an engineering team for eliminating the consequences of nuclear accidents is stationed near each nuclear power plant.

3.1 Staff of the engineer-sapper company of the tank regiment (ISRT TP)

The engineering and sapper company of a tank regiment belongs to the combat support units and is designed to perform engineering support tasks for the regiment's combat (Diagram 1).

The direct commander of the company is the head of the regiment's engineering service, who in turn reports directly to the regiment commander. Fortification - a branch of military engineering that deals with the theory and practice of improving terrain for combat using engineering methods.

Military fortification - the main means of fortification equipment of the area.

Trench called an open earthen structure for firing. A trench can be used for a rifleman, a machine gun, a grenade launcher, a mortar, a gun, a tank, an infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), an armored personnel carrier (APC), an anti-aircraft gun, etc. A word for everything that can shoot. Very often, a tank trench is mistakenly called a caponier. This is completely wrong. This word came into literature from the times of forts and fortresses. A caponier is a concrete or brick structure adjacent to the fortress wall and intended for firing along the walls of the fortress to destroy enemy soldiers who broke through directly to the walls. If the caponier allows you to fire not in two directions, but in one direction, then it is called a semi-caponier.

For non-firing equipment (cars, communication vehicles, field kitchens, ambulance transport, etc.), personnel are being built shelters . Their difference from trenches is that it is impossible to fire from them. In some cases, covers may also come off for firing equipment. Thus, a shelter for a tank differs from a trench for a tank only in its depth (the tank is hidden in the shelter to its entire height).

Various shelters are also being built to shelter personnel. But, if all shelters for equipment are called “shelter”, then for personnel their names differ.

Gap used to cover a motorized rifle squad (and other small units). Outwardly, it looks like a short section of a trench. The gap can be open or covered (covered on top with thin logs (knurling) and sprinkled with a 30-60 cm layer of earth). The gap must accommodate at least 1/3 of the squad personnel.

Dugout It is a completely buried structure made of logs, panels, or corrugated iron elements, covered with earth. The dugout is covered from above with one or several rows of knurling and covered with a layer of earth of at least 1m.20cm. Inside, bunks are equipped for personnel to rest, a heating stove is installed, and electricity can be installed. Very often, a dugout is mistakenly called a dugout. This is fundamentally wrong. Dugouts, unlike dugouts, are a surface structure, located in the rear areas; they are not intended to shelter personnel from enemy fire. Dugouts are intended for long-term accommodation of personnel and are something like large huts made of logs, covered with a thick layer of turf. Dugouts can have a capacity of up to 100 or even 200 people, while a dugout can accommodate up to 13 people. According to the standards, one dugout is equipped per platoon and must accommodate 1/3 of the platoon's strength. The dugout is not intended for firing. Structures similar to a dugout, but equipped with one or more embrasures are called bunkers (wood-earth firing point) or DZOS (wood-earth firing structure). The same structure, but made of concrete, is called a bunker (long-term firing point) or DOS (long-term firing structure).

Asylum similar to a dugout, but larger, goes deeper into the ground than a dugout, has a thicker protective layer of earth and is completely sealed. Those. toxic substances cannot penetrate inside the shelter, incendiaries. The shelter is equipped with a filter and ventilation unit; in a shelter you can be in a poisoned zone, a zone of radioactive contamination, without wearing gas masks. The shelter is equipped with one per company and must accommodate at least 1/3 of the company’s personnel.

Message moves - these are trenches connecting the trenches of units or trenches leading to the rear (for removing the wounded, delivering ammunition, food, replenishment). Also in the defense area, shelters are being built for the wounded, for medical stations, communications facilities, water supply points, field warehouses, food points, etc.

Engineering ammunition , explosive means, explosive charges (HE), mines, pyrotechnic devices and other items of engineering weapons filled with explosives and pyrotechnic compositions. The means of explosion are blasting caps, electric detonators, electric igniters, fuses, detonating and fire cords, incendiary tubes, fuses, etc. Explosive charges are used to cause destruction, construct obstacles and perform other tasks related to engineering support for military operations of troops. The main means for these purposes are mines, as well as projectiles from engineering cable launchers (devices for throwing cables), and in some armies - nuclear mines.

Staff of the engineer company of the tank regiment
Soviet army
(isr tp)

The engineering and sapper company of a tank regiment belongs to the combat support units and is designed to perform engineering support tasks for the regiment's combat.

The direct commander of the company is the head of the regiment's engineering service, who in turn reports directly to the regiment commander.

Structure of an engineering company

There are only 59 personnel in the company. Of these, 4 officers, 3 warrant officers, 12 sergeants and 40 privates.

Service engineering equipment of the company:

Service engineering equipment of the company:

Entrenching tool:
-small infantry shovels - 21;
-large sapper shovels - 35;
- two-handed saws - 10;
- carpenter's axes - 20;
- pickaxe - 5;
-lomov - 5.

Lighting means:
- rechargeable flashlights AMF-8 - 1;
- battery-powered flashlights KSF-4;

Means of mining and demining:
- IMP mine detectors (RVM, RVM-2) -9;
- demining kits KR-I - 3;
-miner cord - 9;
- device for fixing minefields - 1;
- actuator for minefield control KRAB-IM - 1.

Camouflage means:
- camouflage kits type MKT - 22;
- camouflage overalls - 24.

Watercraft:
- life jackets - 16;
- swimming suits MPC - 2.

Means of demolition work:
- demolition machine KPM-1 -1;
-set 77 - 1;
-ohmmeters M-57 (linear bridge LM-68) -2;
- miner-demolition bag - 9.

Means of water extraction and purification:
-reservoir RDV-1500 -1.

Surveillance and reconnaissance equipment:
- range finder sapper DSP-30 -1;
- night work device PNR -1;
-periscope PIR - 1;
--binoculars -3.

Carryable ammunition:
- anti-tank mines - 600 pcs.;
- anti-personnel mines - 8000 pcs.;
- TNT in checkers - 500 kg.

From the author In total, the company has 28 different vehicles and 15 trailers. For comparison, there are 10 tanks in a tank company and not a single other vehicle! How many military specialties are there in the company?

After all, each soldier must be trained separately. In a tank company there are all specialties: tank commander, gunner, driver, loader. And the position of the commander of a sapper company, like the commander of a tank company, is a captain’s. And the salary is not a ruble more. No, it’s a thankless task to be the commander of an engineering company. 113. In positional defense

An engineer company (platoon, squad) builds up obstacles during a defensive battle by installing minefields, primarily anti-tank ones, installing one or two nodes of obstacles, installing groups of anti-tank, anti-personnel, anti-vehicle and object mines and destroying road structures at nodes barriers and on the roads between them.

114. A company (platoon) of engineering barriers, equipped with minelayers, during the course of defense operates in the POS in cooperation with the anti-tank reserve (ATR) or independently.

When assigning a mission to a company, the following are indicated: the combat strength of the POZ, the tasks for which to be prepared, one or two directions of action, the main and reserve mining lines in each direction, the advance routes to the mining lines, the main and reserve concentration areas, the assembly area after the installation of obstacles , readiness dates, place and time of deployment of the command and observation post.

Barriers are set up at planned or newly designated mining lines that block the direction of the enemy’s attack (breakthrough).

After receiving the task to prepare for actions in the POS, the company moves to the designated concentration area and prepares to carry out the tasks. The company commander, together with the platoon commanders and together with the commander of the PTR (combined arms formation, unit, subdivision), conducts reconnaissance of mining lines, advance routes to them, objects to be destroyed (mined), passages left in the obstacles for the passage of departing units, the location of the charging point in the assembly area after the installation of barriers and the route of advance to the assembly area.

Upon receipt of a signal (command), the POS moves to the specified mining line together with the PTRez or independently. For reconnaissance of the enemy, advance routes and mining lines, an engineering reconnaissance patrol can be sent from the company. The company commander constantly maintains contact with the commander of the PTR (combined arms unit or subunit) and clarifies with them the mining line, the route to it, the order and signals of interaction at the mining line.

Upon reaching the mining line, the POZ commander clarifies with the commander of the PTRez or combined arms military unit (unit) the location of the minefields, objects for destruction and mining, the readiness time of barriers, the locations of passages, their designation and signals for closing, covering the POZ actions with fire from the PTRez or combined arms military units (units). After this, the company commander clarifies the tasks of the platoons, the deployment order and the route of advance to the charging point after the installation of barriers. At the mining line, minefields are installed by engineering platoons of obstacles and sections of roads, road structures and other objects are prepared for destruction (mined) by forces of a platoon of controlled mining. The company commander directs the actions of the platoons, being at the head barrier. If it is necessary to temporarily maintain objects prepared for destruction and abandoned passages in barriers, crews are allocated from the mobile barrier detachment.

The POZ commander reports on the construction of barriers to the PTRez commander, the commander of his formation and the head of the engineering service. The activation of the prepared destruction is carried out by dedicated crews at the command of the commander of the PTRez (combined arms military unit), with whom the mobile obstacle detachment interacts. After the destruction is carried out and the passages are closed, the crews go to the charging point (collection area) on their own. After loading the minelayers, the full company is located in the assembly area in readiness to perform the following tasks.

115. The obstacle engineering department, equipped with a minelayer, operates in the POS as part of a platoon. At the mining line, the squad sets a number of mines. The squad leader directs the actions of his subordinates, controls the correct movement of the minelayer, the size of the mining step and the quality of mine placement. After installing the mine ammunition, the platoon squad goes to the charging point, and after loading the minelayer, at the command of the platoon commander, to the collection point.

116. A company (platoon) of engineering barriers, equipped with engineering means of remote mining (destruction), sets minefields on identified directions of action of enemy troops in front of it, or directly on its battle formations. When mining, demolition shells can be used in conjunction with remotely deployed mines to create craters and render road and bridge structures on road routes inoperative.

117. The engineering positional company carries out tasks of fortifying positions, defensive lines in the depths of defense, operating in full force, where it prepares standard defense areas for battalions and standard positional areas for missile and anti-aircraft missile divisions.

118. An engineering company (platoon) of control point equipment operates independently in full strength or as a platoon. In order to timely complete tasks related to fortification equipment in the areas where control points are deployed, the company, as a rule, is reinforced with personnel from control point maintenance units or from motorized rifle units.

Upon an established signal or upon receipt of a combat order, the company moves to a new mission area and begins engineering equipment for the control point deployment area in accordance with the instructions of the reconnaissance group officer.

The company (platoon) erects structures for the protection and work of the operational personnel in the combat command group, pits for shelters for command and staff vehicles before the operational personnel arrive in the area.

If there is time, the improvement of the fortification equipment in the area where the control point is deployed is carried out by digging out pits by a company (platoon) for shelter for communications vehicles and hardware vehicles, for transport equipment at the communications center and in the support group.

119. The road engineering company maintains the routes for advancing formations (units) to the lines of counterstrikes (counterattacks), and also prepares the routes for advancement to the unplanned line of counterstrikes (counterattacks).

To advance a motorized rifle (tank) battalion to the counterattack line (firing line), paths are prepared from the starting line to the line of deployment into platoon columns, then the directions of movement to the line of transition to the attack are designated.

120. When preparing the routes for the second echelon to launch a counterattack, the road engineering platoon operates as part of the road engineering department and the mechanized bridge department. The paths are prepared for one-way traffic. To overcome obstacles and damage on the tracks, bypasses are prepared, and if this is not possible, crossings are equipped using mechanized bridges, installing decking (gates) through weak areas of the terrain, or filling them in using track-laying machines.

121. During defense, a field water supply company (platoon, department) maintains and, if necessary, equips water extraction and purification points in new areas.

When a defense is broken through and the enemy penetrates, as well as when conducting maneuver defense, field water supply units move from the main areas of equipment for water production and purification points (areas) to reserve ones.

The commander of a company (platoon, squad) can receive an order to move by radio or in writing from the officer of the department of the chief of engineering troops (NIV) of the formation, the head of the engineering service (NIS) of the formation.

In the reserve area, the commander of the field water supply unit organizes the implementation of the task of equipping and maintaining water production and purification points (areas), as in the main areas.

122. During the defense, power supply units for troops operate as part of control point equipment units or independently. Contain power supply points and cable networks, paying attention to Special attention power supply to responsible consumers.

123. When conducting maneuver defense units of engineering troops carry out tasks to ensure the timely and covert deployment of units and their maneuver with the consistent conduct of defensive combat from line to line, firmly holding the final line, and inflicting losses on the enemy with engineering ammunition.

124. An engineering company (platoon, squad) lays minefields in front of maneuver defense lines, strong points, in the spaces between them and on the flanks, mines and prepares sections of roads and road structures for destruction. The first and final lines are most tightly covered with engineering barriers. In order to create a fire pocket, minefields are installed in front of cut-off positions (lines) and in front of fire ambush positions.

On the escape routes, controlled minefields or obstacles are installed in the second stage of readiness, passages are left, which are closed after the withdrawal of friendly troops.

125. An engineer company (platoon) of obstacles operates in POS. When units are maneuvering to the next line, the POZ, together with the PTRez or independently, covers their withdrawal from the rear or flanks with barriers.

A feature of the PZ's actions is the increased consumption of engineering ammunition due to the increase in the number of mining lines. This requires clear organization of the supply of engineering ammunition to replenish the ammunition loads of minelayers.

126. An engineering position company (platoon) at positions (in defense areas) of units digs trenches and communication passages, foundation pits for trenches for tanks, infantry fighting vehicles (armored personnel carriers) and other fire weapons, for dugouts and shelters, and erects structures at control points and medical posts.

Defensive positions are most fully equipped at the final line of defense, where battalion defense areas are connected by trenches and communication passages, and reserve and decoy defense areas are equipped.

Depending on the situation, the availability of forces, means and time, the fortification equipment of successively occupied lines (positions) is improved, the structures of industrial structures installed in the areas where control points are deployed at the previous line are removed from the ground, if necessary, repaired and installed in the new area where the point is deployed management.

Company strongholds prepared for all-round defense, as well as fire ambush positions, are set up at cut-off positions. Ambushes and positions for roaming units are set up for air defense units.

127. The road engineering company (platoon) prepares and maintains frontal routes throughout the entire depth of defense from the first brigade road route to the road route at the final position. In the brigade's area of ​​responsibility, frontal routes are prepared for the withdrawal and maneuver of first and second echelon battalions, command posts and brigade subordinate units. In addition, to ensure the maneuver of the first echelon from line to line, routes to the final line of defense are prepared on the flanks of the brigade’s area of ​​responsibility.

For the maneuver of brigade control points, artillery, air defense military units, and logistics units, a brigade frontal path and brigade road routes are prepared - one behind the first defensive position, the second at the final defensive position.

128. A pontoon, ferry landing company (platoon), a company (platoon) of amphibious transporters equips and maintains crossings over water obstacles on the escape and maneuver routes. With the completion of the crossing, the crossing means are removed, and in the event of a threat of capture by the enemy, they are destroyed, existing bridges on the water barrier are destroyed, and fords are mined.