Aviation of Russia and the USA: comparison. Strategic aviation of Russia and the USA

Throughout its history, mankind has modernized the ways of conducting military operations. This led to the fact that in the XXI century there are military technologies, which because of their power are quite a serious threat to the whole world. But, as we understand, such a level of development of the fighting sector did not always exist. Some types of troops in these or those states have a long and rich history of formation and development. Such in most cases are the air force.

To date, powerful countries such as the Russian Federation and the United States of America can boast. For several years now, these states are tacitly competing in the matter of better military equipment and power. In such a question, the Air Force is often compared, because it is to this kind of army in the modern world that a large number of tasks and functions are laid. But in order to conduct a comparative description of aviation in Russia and the United States, it is necessary to consider these military sectors separately. This will highlight their weaknesses and strengths, as well as answering the question of which country holds the upper hand in the air today.

What is aviation?

For a long time, the armed forces of many states consisted of artillery, infantry and cavalry. At the same time, some branches of the armed forces had a fairly high level of development. But the appearance of aircraft completely changed the perception of the structure of the armed forces. Already in the First World War, aviation was used as one of the ways to defeat the enemy's physical strength. As the technology evolved, this military sector developed. By the end of the 21st century, aviation had become 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, which began at the end of the 20th century and continues to this day, largely affected the air forces of all states. A large number of technical means of aviation makes it possible to distinguish its separate types, namely:

1. Strategic aviation - used in most of the cases for conducting reconnaissance and special operations.

2. Frontline forces are short-range forces. They are used, as a rule, to defeat the main enemy forces in the process of military operations.

3. The transportation of equipment, personnel, provisions and other facilities rests with the military transport aviation.

4. An important role is played by sanitary aviation, through which the wounded are transported to places of medical care.

The aviation of Russia and the United States, the comparison of which will be presented in this article, is endowed with the elements of the mentioned kind of troops represented. However, in each of these states it has its own specific features. It is on their basis that the air forces of Russia and the USA can be compared, which is very often happening recently. After all, these countries are the most powerful in the military plan. For a detailed comparison, US and Russian aviation should be analyzed separately. Because the kind of troops of these powers have their own characteristics.

Air Force of the Russian Federation

Aviation of the Russian Federation is a well-equipped army, which is part of the general Armed Forces. Up to 2015, he was subjected to numerous structural reorganizations. The result was the creation of the Air and Space Forces, which included aviation and air defense troops. The represented part of the army has a fairly rich structure. During the formation of independent Russia, aviation was not a novelty. The air force existed in imperial times. They were formed in 1910. All aviation at that time was divided into separate units. During the existence of the USSR, the Air Force reaches its peak of power.

Baptism of fire the new Soviet aircraft took place in Spain 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 undoubtedly affected the technical equipment of this kind of troops.

The tasks and structure of the Russian Air Force

The aviation of Russia and the USA, the comparison of which will be presented below, has its own structures and functional tasks. The Russian Air Force in this case implements the following areas of the armed forces' activities, namely:

1. Reflection of air aggression.

2. Protection of the state against air attacks.

3. Aviation support for infantry.

4. Defeat of the enemy's manpower and other objects.

5. Protection of the most important objects of the internal infrastructure of the state.

As for the aviation structure of 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 should be borne in mind that to date the United States Air Force is the most numerous, judging by the number of people and aircraft involved. As a separate type of troops, 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 aviation, because in America these concepts are contiguous. The air defense belongs for the most part to the army. Aviation has not bad proved itself for all time of existence as one of the most efficient combat arms.

Structure of US aviation

Given the large number of equipment and physical forces involved in aviation, this type of troops has a fairly branched structure. To date, it includes, in addition to the Ministry of the Air Force, 11 additional commands. During its existence, United States aviation has proved itself in the following campaigns, namely:

• In the operation 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;
• Delivery of Somali humanitarian aid.

However, even taking into account the presented features, US and Russian aviation can be compared only on the basis of technical equipment, which is responsible for combat power.

Superiority of numbers

The number of military equipment is one of the criteria on the basis of which the aviation of Russia and the USA is analyzed. A comparison of the air forces of these countries showed that America has been the leading state in the sky for several years in a row. The number of US aircraft, according to the bulletin for 2015, is about 2,700 units of military equipment. At the same time, Russian aviation lags far behind in this respect. The gap is calculated not by hundreds, but by thousands of pieces of equipment. Thus, the US Air Force in a real war can bring a lot of trouble to Russia. In simple terms, American pilots will be "crushed by numbers".

To date, there are 1,400 aircraft in the Russian Federation, which puts the state in third place after the United States in the world aviation rating. At the same time, such a gap in the number was observed almost always. For example, the aviation of Russia and the USA in 2013 was also subjected to comparison. The index of numbers testified to the advantage of Americans in half.

Operational efficiency of aviation

Aviation of the Russian Federation and the USA, the comparison of the number of which showed the advantage of the last criterion, should also be analyzed from the point of view of efficiency. The bulky arsenal of US military equipment was not such a formidable weapon if America did not have a large number of airbases around the world. That is, the level of operational response of American aviation is quite high due to the extensive network of military points. This positive moment is due to America's participation in the NATO bloc. Ironically, the Russian Federation also does not lag behind in this respect. At the same time, the absence of airbases 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, which positively affects its military sector.

Strategic aviation of Russia and the USA: comparison

One of the most significant advantages of the US Air Force is the strategic sector, which is represented by fighters. Today, this type of machine is the basis of the combat power of US aviation. Their main feature is that practically all American technology of strategic purpose is designed to carry out ultra-accurate attacks against targets on the ground. That is, in the conditions of performing special operations, US fighters are irreplaceable.

Russian aviation can not boast of such a boast. These kinds of possibilities are assigned mainly to front-line bombers, for example: Su-24, Su-34, Su-25. Thus, the strategic aviation of Russia and the United States, which is compared 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, a "arrival" of new strategic bombers of the PAK-DA type is expected in the Russian Federation. At the same time, the United States of America extended the activities of its military equipment until 2030. This indicates a gradual aging of the US aviation sector.

Thus, the strategic aviation of Russia and the United States is characterized by the presence of a large amount of equipment and the gradual updating of the Russian air force, which certainly will give us an advantage over the Americans in a few years.

Separation in quality for today

Aviation of Russia and the United States, the comparison of which often speaks about the superiority of the latter, shows the backwardness of domestic technology in terms of the quality and novelty of aircraft. Even in spite of the fact that the Air Force rejuvenation program launched in 2010, which was already mentioned earlier, has been launched, America's planes are several times greater than the machinery of the Russian Federation at the technical level. This is an extremely negative factor, because it jeopardizes the outcome of any hostilities with America for our country. The problem is that today in Russia all aviation is represented by devices of the 4th generation. The United States achieved this technical progress in the 80s of the last century.

Thus, the aviation of Russia and the United States in comparison shows the advantage of the quality of American aircraft. In addition, on the territory of the Russian Federation, technical equipment development has long been under development, which should become an analogue of the famous American "B-2" ("Stealth"). At the same time in the United States on the basis of the already presented aircraft, a new technology is being developed.

"Reserve" in case of war

It is worth noting the fact that all the technical developments started, both in the US and in Russia, require huge sums of money. Their absence significantly slows down the process of updating the fleet. Therefore, in case of full-scale hostilities, the main confrontation will occur using 4th generation aircraft on both sides of the barricade.

The Americans will use F-15, F-16, F-18 fighters, and the Russian Federation - Su-2 5 attack aircraft and MiG-28, MiG-35 fighters , etc. When the Russian and US aviation 2014 was compared, then the analysis showed the same characteristic of the fleet. Therefore, in the near future, we do not foresee any significant changes, as we understand it. All shifts are calculated for at least 5 years.

Conclusion

So, the article analyzed military aviation of the USA and Russia 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 combat use of aviation in both countries. The main comparison will be possible only with a direct clash of the United States and the Russian Federation, which, we hope, will never happen.