Aviation of Russia and the USA: comparison. Strategic aviation of Russia and the USA
Throughout its history, humanitymodernized methods of warfare. This led to the fact that in the 21st century there are military technologies that, because of their power, carry a fairly serious threat to the whole world. But, as we understand, a similar level of development of the combat sector did not always exist. Some branches of the military in various countries have a long and rich history of formation and development. Those in most cases are the air force.
Today, powerful aircraft canboast countries such as the Russian Federation and the United States of America. For several years in a row, these states have been tacitly competing in the matter of better military equipment and power. In such a question, the Air Force is very often compared, because it is on this kind of troops in the modern world that a large number of tasks and functions are laid. But in order to conduct a comparative description of the aviation of Russia and the United States, it is necessary to consider these military sectors separately. This will highlight their strengths and weaknesses, as well as answer the question of which country occupies the air leadership today.
What is aviation?
For a long time, the armed forces of many countriesconsisted of artillery, infantry and cavalry. However, some types of troops had a fairly high level of development. But the appearance of the aircraft completely changed the concept of the structure of the armed forces. Already in the First World War, aviation was used as one of the methods of defeating the physical strength of the enemy. As the technology evolved, this military sector developed. By the end of the 21st century, aviation became the main element of the armed forces of any state. At the same time, the technical equipment of this kind of troops has become much more powerful and deadly.
Types of aviation
The technical development of military equipment, whichIt began at the end of the 20th century and continues to this day, in many respects it touched the air forces of all states. A large number of technical means of aviation makes it possible to identify its individual types, namely:
1. Strategic aviation - used in most cases for reconnaissance and special operations.
2. Frontline - is the power of the near action. They are used, as a rule, to defeat the main enemy forces in the process of military actions.
3. Transportation of equipment, personnel, provisions and other objects lies on the military transport aircraft.
4. An important role is played by air ambulance, through which the delivery of the wounded to the places of medical care is carried out.
Aviation of Russia and the United States, which will be comparedpresented in this article, endowed with the presented elements of the mentioned kind of troops. However, in each of these states it has its own specific features. It is on their basis that the Russian and US Air Forces can be compared, which is happening very often lately. After all, these countries are the most powerful militarily. For a detailed comparison, US and Russian aircraft should be analyzed separately. Because the kind of troops of these powers have their own characteristics.
Russian Air Force
Russian Aviation is a well-equippedbranch of service, which is part of the general Armed Forces. Until 2015, he was subjected to numerous structural reorganizations. The result was the creation of aerospace forces, the structure of which included aviation and air defense troops. The presented part of the army has a fairly rich structure. In the process of forming an independent Russia, aviation was not a novelty.
The baptism of fire new Soviet aircraft was held inSpain, during the civil war. The collapse of the Soviet Union marked the beginning of a new era. Russian aviation has become a priority area of state funding, which, of course, has affected the technical equipment of this type of troops.
Tasks and structure of the Russian Air Force
Aviation of Russia and the United States, which will be comparedpresented below, has its own structures and functional tasks. The Russian Air Force in this case implements the following activities of the armed forces, namely:
1. Reflection of air aggression.
2. State protection against air attacks.
3. Aviation support infantry.
4. The defeat of enemy manpower and other objects.
5. Protection of the most important objects of internal infrastructure of the state.
As for the structure of aviation in Russia, it consists of the elements presented earlier, which are inherent in the systems of many states with classical air forces.
General information about the US Air Force
It is necessary to take into account the fact that todayThe air forces of the United States of America are the most numerous, judging by the number of people involved and aircraft. As a separate branch of service, the Air Force began its existence in 1947. Up to this point, they were part of the US Army. In fact, the Air Force is an aircraft, because in America these concepts are related. Air defense belongs mostly to the army. Aviation has proven itself well over the entire period of its existence as one of the most combat-ready types of troops.
US Aircraft Structure
Given the large number of equipment and physicalthe forces involved in the activities of aviation, this branch of the military has a fairly extensive structure. To date, it includes, in addition to the Ministry of the Air Force, 11 more commands. During its existence, United States aviation has performed well in the following campaigns, namely:
- in operations for the delivery of homeless children from Vietnam;
- delivery of humanitarian aid to the CIS;
- delivery of humanitarian aid to countries affected by the 2004 tsunami;
- Somali humanitarian aid delivery.
However, even taking into account the presented features, the aircraft of the United States and Russia can be compared solely on the basis of the technical equipment that is responsible for combat power.
Superiority of numbers
The number of military equipment is one ofcriteria on the basis of which the aircraft of Russia and the United States are analyzed. A comparison of the air forces of these countries showed that America has been the dominant state in the sky for several years in a row. The number of US aircraft, according to a report for 2015, is about 2,700 units of military equipment. At the same time, Russian aviation lags far behind in this regard. The gap is not in the hundreds, but in the thousands of pieces of equipment. Thus, the US Air Force in a real war can cause a lot of trouble to Russia. In simple terms, the American pilots "crush the number."
Today, there are 1,400 in the Russian Federationaircraft, which brings the state to third place after the United States in the world aviation rating. At the same time, such a gap in numbers was observed almost always. For example, Russian and US aviation in 2013 was also compared. The number indicator showed the advantage of Americans twice.
Aviation efficiency
Aviation of the Russian Federation and the United States, which compareshowed the advantage of the latter criterion, must also be analyzed from the position of efficiency. The bulky arsenal of US military equipment was not such a formidable weapon if America did not have a large number of air bases around the world. That is, the level of operational response of American aviation is quite high due to an extensive network of military points. This positive moment is determined by the participation of America in the NATO bloc. Oddly enough, but the Russian Federation is also not lagging behind in this regard. At the same time, the absence of air bases around the world is compensated by the presence of a large territory of the state itself. In fact, Russia is the largest country in the world in terms of area, which has a positive effect on its military sector.
Strategic Aviation of Russia and the USA: Comparison
One of the most significant benefits of AmericanThe Air Force is a strategic sector that is represented by fighter jets. Today, this type of machine is the basis of the combat power of US aviation. Their main feature is that almost all American strategic technology equipment is designed to carry out ultra-precise strikes against targets on the ground. That is, in terms of performing special operations, US fighter jets are indispensable.
Russian aviation does not boast on such a scalecan. Such opportunities are assigned mainly to front-line type bombers, for example: “Su-24”, “Su -34”, “Su-25”. Thus, the strategic aviation of Russia and the United States, which they are trying to compare everywhere, shows the advantage of America in this case. However, it is worth noting that Russia began in 2010 an active program of modernization and rejuvenation of its Air Force. As a result, by the year 2025 in the Russian Federation a “arrival” of new strategic bomber of the PAK-DA type is expected. At the same time, the United States of America extended the activity of its combat vehicles until 2030. This indicates a gradual aging of the US aviation sector.
Thus, the strategic aviation of Russia andThe United States is characterized by the presence of a large number of vehicles and the gradual renewal of the Russian Air Force, which will certainly give us an advantage over the Americans in a few years.
The gap in quality today
Russian and US aviation, which is often comparedspeaks about the superiority of the latter, shows the backwardness of domestic technology in terms of quality and novelty of aircraft. Even despite the fact that the program of “rejuvenation” of the Air Force started, started in 2010, as mentioned earlier, America’s planes are several times better than the Russian machines at the technical level. This is an extremely negative factor, because it threatens the outcome of any hostilities with America for our country. The problem is that today in Russia all aviation is represented by 4th generation vehicles. The United States achieved this technical progress back in the 1980s.
Thus, Russian and US aviation comparedshows the advantage of quality American aircraft. In addition, on the territory of the Russian Federation, technical equipment has been developed for a long time, which should become an analogue of the famous American B-2 (Stealth). At the same time, in the USA, a new technology is being developed on the basis of the already presented aircraft.
"Reserve" in case of war
It is worth noting the fact that all startedtechnical developments - both in the USA and in Russia - require huge sums of money. Their absence significantly slows down the process of updating the fleet. Therefore, in the case of full-scale hostilities, the main confrontation will occur with the use of 4th generation airplanes on both sides of the barricades.
Americans will use class fightersF-15, F-16, F-18, and the Russian Federation - attack aircraft "Su-2" 5 and fighters "MiG-28", "MiG-35", etc. When the aircraft of Russia and the United States in 2014 was compared, analysis showed the same characteristics of the fleet. Therefore, in the near future, special changes, as we understand, are not expected. All shifts are designed for at least 5 years.
Conclusion
So, the article analyzed the militaryUS and Russian aviation, taking into account different - qualitative and quantitative - criteria. In conclusion, it should be noted that the presented characteristics are based on dry statistics and individual episodes of the combat use of aviation in both countries. The main comparison will be possible only in a direct collision between the United States and the Russian Federation, which, hopefully, will never happen.
