Turkish Air Force: composition, strength, photo. Comparison of the Air Force of Russia and Turkey. Turkish Air Force in World War II

An active member of the NATO and SEATO blocs , Turkey is guided by the relevant requirements that apply to all armed forces in the combined European Union air forces. Taking into account the strategic and geographical location of the country (proximity to Russia and other postsocialist countries), for a long time already, in absolutely peaceful times for these territories, NATO has established a fairly powerful grouping of the Turkish Air Force here. This air group consists of twenty F-4C fighter bombers "Phantom" (USA) and 39th tactical air grouping. This is in addition to the Air Force of Turkey, units and units of which can provide active support to both the Navy and any other troops, including land forces.

During the periods of confrontation, the transfer of equipment with personnel and troops was conducted in all the limits of the theater of military operations. Hidden important strategic sites, conducted tactical reconnaissance for the armed forces of NATO and its command. Until a certain time, all these tasks were carried out by the Turkish Air Force.

Composition and organization

At the head of the country's air force is the commander, reporting to the chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces. It is located in Ankara, from where the management of all subordinate units, units and formations is produced. The Turkish Air Force Headquarters is in close cooperation with the OTAK (United Tactical Aviation Command) in Izmir.

In regular air forces the country has forty-eight thousand people, plus twenty-nine thousand - in reserve. The Air Force of Turkey, whose composition differs little from the air forces of other countries, is divided into two TWAs (tactical air army) with headquarters in Diyarbakir and Eskisehir. They also include the Nike anti-aircraft guided missile base, the transport aviation group and the airborne training command.

Squadron

The main combat unit of the Air Force of Turkey is considered to be an air squadron of eighteen aircraft. At the moment, work is underway to replace physically and morally obsolete F-104G, RF-84F and F-100C (and also D) aircraft with modern F-4E, F-104S and RF-5A. In the First TVA four bases of the Air Force of Turkey: Myrted, Eskishehir, Bandirma and Balikesir. Here are the squadrons F-100C and F-100D, F-104S and F-104G, as well as F-4E "Phantom", F-102A, F-5A and RF-5A. There are three airbases in the Second TWA, but the number of Turkish Air Force aircraft is not less. The Diyarbakir base contains a whole squadron of F-10GD, F-102A and RF-84F. In Merzifon there are two squadrons of F-5A, in Erhach - F-100D. Nineteen squadrons in total include bombers and fighter aircraft of Turkey.

Twelve air groups are attack planes, five are fighter aircraft, two squadrons are reconnaissance. Only three hundred and thirty combat aircraft, among them ninety - carriers of nuclear warheads. The transport air group has three squadrons with more than twenty aircraft. The missile base of the ZUR is equipped with two battalions of four squadrons, each with seventy-two launchers covering the whole Bosporus Strait. Turkish Air Force helicopters are not in large numbers - there are thirty of them: ten AB-204V, UH-19D and UH-11.

Preparation of flight and technical staff

Training is provided by the air command for all units and units. It has an academy, two airbases (in Konya and Chigli) and several Turkish Air Force technical and flight schools, the number of which varies quite often. The main educational institution is the school in Istanbul, where young men who have already graduated from the Air Force Lyceum and who received some knowledge about aircraft management are admitted. There are several such lyceums (special secondary schools) in the country. The cadets practice flying techniques in flying schools on T-37, T-33 and T-6.

The training is biennial, followed by internship at the air bases, where the real skills of controlling military aircraft TF-102A, TF-100F, TF-104G and F-5B are already acquired. After the internship, a military rank is assigned, and the direction to the operating squadron follows. The technicians (service personnel) are trained in the Izmir school: radar station operators, specialists in the posts and control centers, guidance, signalers, aerodrome and rear services for the provision of air forces also have the appropriate training facilities. The number of Turkish Air Force aircraft for training totals about one hundred and twenty units. Among them, not only T-6 and T-33, also fly T-34, T-37, T-41, TF-100F, TF-104G, TF-102X and F-5B.

In NATO

Aircraft of the Turkish Air Force are placed at the disposal of NATO and are part of the whole system of command and control of the combined forces. The combat training of units and units of the Turkish Air Force supports them in combat readiness. The exercises are organized according to NATO requirements and on the basis of operational plans drawn up in the same place. There are also competitions in which the coordination of the work, the flight skills of the crew, and the quick reaction to the conditions of the air situation of the staff officers are being improved. On combat readiness and combat readiness regularly, at least once a year, all airbases are checked, and during the tests each crew gets its own task: it's interception of targets at high and low altitudes, and bombing for small targets, and conducting air reconnaissance both in Simple, and in difficult weather conditions.

The entire Turkish Air Force regularly participates in NATO command and staff exercises and military exercises, which are held in the south of Europe. This and "Deep Farrow," and "Don Patrol", and "Express." The command of the Turkish Air Force has to take into account the bitter experience of the 1974 military actions on the island of Cyprus, and therefore it pays much attention to the interaction of the ground forces, naval forces and aviation. They also train to destroy small surface targets. The most significant place is given to actions from advanced airfields and dispersion of airplanes.

Politics and the Air Force of Turkey

In the Second World War, the government of the republic was almost completely neutral, skillfully maneuvering between two blocs, opposing each other. At the end of February 1945, Turkey finally decided to declare war on Germany. The fighting did not touch her, all support was based on a diplomatic position. Turkey controlled the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, the straits that warships followed in the Black Sea, it had an army, but the balance of forces on the southern Soviet-German front and in the Mediterranean did not try to change.

Since 1939, Ankara has maintained the Anglo-French bloc because it feared strengthening Italy, but after the surrender of France in 1940, Germany became much closer: it supplied strategic raw materials there (chrome, for example), let German and Italian military vessels through the straits. In 1941, Turkey declared neutrality, but did not stop, however, to develop the prospects for participation in the war with the Soviet Union on the side of Germany. On the borders of the Soviet troops, it was impossible to weaken the attention: twenty-six Turkish divisions were stationed directly at the borders, and constant maneuvers were carried out by the Turkish Air Force. In Transcaucasia, the USSR was compelled to hold a large group of troops precisely for this reason.

Eastern cunning

Only after the Battle of Stalingrad, Turkey was convinced of the inconsistency of Germany's plans to defeat the Soviet Union, and immediately resumed various agreements with the allies, but only in August 1944 all diplomatic relations with Hitler were over. Hitler had to declare war on fear of the fact that the Dardanelles and the Bosporus would be controlled by members of the anti-Hitler coalition. The British in vain armed the Turks in Lend-Lease - they did not participate in the war.

However, as a result of declaring war, Turkey became a member of the UN. And a member of NATO too, since 1952. Due to the geographical location, this is a very valuable member for this organization. In 1972, the Turkish government adopted a program to modernize the aircraft fleet. Technically, all units and units were re-equipped, while the Turkish Air Force (neither the park, nor the personnel) practically increased. Turkey does not deal with aircraft construction, the emphasis was placed on the purchase of the most modern technology. Terms of transactions, of course, preferential - NATO always supports its participants.

Specificity

The contract with the United States gave Turkey in 1972 forty fighter-bombers "Phantom" - F-4E, which were replaced by obsolete ones. Turkish pilots and technicians mastered new weapons in the US, and then a training center was established. In 1974, Italy entered into a contract with Turkey and supplied her with fifty-four F-104S fighters manufactured under the American license. Germany gratuitously handed over to the Turkish Air Force ninety training aircraft TF-104G, which are also produced under a US license. Moreover, the Germans' efforts in Kayseri built an aircraft factory - fifteen transport workers a year. Naturally, as a result of the renewal of the aircraft fleet and the training of Turkish military specialists, the combat capabilities of the air force increased significantly.

The long-running conflicts in the Middle East definitely show that Turkey is pursuing an aggressive foreign policy. And special emphasis is placed on military aviation. It is worth remembering the military conflict in Syria and the attacks of Turkish units on Russian military aircraft. Now the relations between the two countries are taking shape of a shaky world, nevertheless Turkey's dominant position will not succeed. His hegemonic aspirations in the Asian space fueled NATO membership, but after a strange attempt at a military coup, the Turkish leadership is no longer so trusting towards the coalition. Official Ankara still relies on the role of its combat aviation in the foreign-policy struggle, but ceased to be an anti-Russian ram in the hands of NATO. Anyway, for a while.

Air Force Comparison

Russia and Turkey have something to remember together. Throughout the history of relations between the two countries, the war began twelve times, and local conflicts in this number are not included. The last war was a hundred years ago - the First World War. However, in 2016 the danger of a direct military confrontation was again high. This was the destruction of our Su-24, the response to which was very tangible for Turkey. Despite this, military operations did not begin. Russia almost destroyed the Turkish business by prohibiting the rest of the Russians in this country. And even professional professionals spoke about a possible military clash: generals and diplomats. In light of this, despite the fact that the conflict is sorted out and apologies are brought, it makes sense to find out the potential of the Turkish and Russian armies in comparison.

The most likely place of a clash between the aviation of the two countries is northern Syria, where Syrian bandits receive Turkish support. Due to what Ankara is so confident in itself that it is not afraid of retaliation from the Russian aviation? The basis of the Air Force of Turkey - the American fighter of the fourth generation - F-16 (one of them and shot down our bomber with a blow in the back), Turkey has two hundred and eight of them. To them, you can add various modifications to the obsolete American fighter NF-5 (1964) - they have a Turkish Air Force forty one piece. Compared with the first - quite a workhorse, although also old - this fighter is an indispensable replacement.

Our VCS (Aerospace Forces) certainly surpasses the Turkish ones. There are ground-attack aircraft, strategic and front-line bombers Tu-160 and Tu-95, which proved themselves well in the fight against the terrorist organization IGIL, banned on the territory of the Russian Federation. We have three hundred and thirty fighters of different modifications of Su-27, sixty Su-30s, forty Su-35S, about two hundred MiG-29, one hundred and fifty MiG-31 and the most combat-capable fighters of new construction - Su-30 and Su-35, with On-board radar. They significantly exceed everything that exists in aviation today.

Aircraft of defeat

Corrected air bombs KAB-500-S and KAB-1500, which are in the arsenal of the Russian Air Force, plus cruise missiles X-555 and X-101, which are also a good means of defeating the enemy, are quite effective. The problem of medium-range air-to-air missiles still requires work, but it is gradually being solved. The main rocket of this class in our VKS is a very old R-27, which has a semi-active radar head for homing. The pilot is quite difficult to drive it to the target, because you can not maneuver for an exact hit. And in a tense and changeable fighting situation, this is not a very good position. With a sharp maneuver, the warhead may not hit the target.

The work is underway, the P-27 is subjected to a sophisticated modification, receiving a thermal homing. This function will free the pilot from the need to fly a missile, but even such an improvement will not make this weapon advanced. Here, the Turkish Air Force is still in priority, as they are armed with US AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles, which can be put on target and forgotten about them. They will find the goal. The pilot's capabilities for maneuvers are much larger than those of Russian fighter pilots . It remains to rely on the best skills and training of our crews, since this is what determines the outcome of each air confrontation.

Results

Since Russian military aircraft have, in addition to multi-purpose fighters, front-line bombers and strategic ones for destroying the most important targets in the enemy's infrastructure, and in much larger numbers, the advantage over comparison on the side of our air force. And other types of flying machines (bombers, ground-attack aircraft, helicopters, military transporters) are represented in us immeasurably more. The advantage is undeniable. Although Turkey has integrated into the NATO air defense system, and the American Patriot has a range of up to eighty kilometers, Russia is armed with the latest S-300 and S-400 systems, which have a detection range of almost five hundred kilometers.

Having placed these complexes in the Syrian Latakia, Russia saw with its own eyes that Turkey is nervous, since a significant part of the south-east of the country has come under control. Summarizing the comparison between the Russian and Turkish air forces, it must be recognized that in the event of war, Russia will have the advantage, since its airplanes are more efficient, their quantity and quality continue to grow, rearmament is in full swing, replenishing aviation with new and more advanced combat vehicles. However, the battles will not be easy, as it can not be called the weak air force of Turkey (photo shows it). So, it would be better if no war at all happened.