A native of the Bryansk region, head of army aviation, Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel General Vitaly Egorovich Pavlov

Army aviation dates back to 1948, when the first helicopter squadron was formed in Serpukhov near Moscow. Initially, helicopters performed only auxiliary tasks - delivering mail, reports, adjusting artillery fire, and aerial reconnaissance. Subsequently, with the improvement of tactics, methods of combat operations, helicopters and aircraft weapons, the tasks of army aviation expanded dramatically. Over the 70 years of its development, army aviation has repeatedly undergone radical changes in its organizational structure and direct subordination. At the initial stage of its development, it was part of the Air Force. At the stage of development and formation, it was transferred to the Ground Forces, and for many years it was part of them as the aviation of the Ground Forces - functionally providing direct air support for its troops at the forefront and in the tactical depth of the enemy. At the present stage, being part of the Aerospace Forces Air Force, army aviation solves a wide range of tasks - these are fire, airborne transport, reconnaissance and special missions. It is worth especially noting that no other type of aviation can solve so many different tasks. Moreover, being a highly mobile vehicle equipped with modern aviation systems, army aviation acts as one of the main means of achieving goals in armed conflicts. And in addition to combat and special ones, it also effectively solves problems of eliminating the consequences of natural and man-made disasters. Among the many selfless Heroes of the liquidation of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, it is impossible to overestimate the enormous, selfless and unique professional contribution of helicopter pilots...

The colossal experience and combat traditions of the winged brotherhood accumulated by our army aviation in military conflicts, the professional level of training of its flight personnel and aviation specialists, the entry into service of army aviation units of new aviation complexes, effective systems and high-precision weapons and control, allow army aviation to effectively solve combat and other missions in the most difficult modern conditions - when combat operations are characterized by high dynamism, surprise and unpredictability in enemy tactics, difficult or extreme climatic and geographical conditions, as well as the enormous diversity of tasks performed by army aviation. Combat command and control and interspecific interaction developed in Syria in a rapidly changing operational-tactical environment in a single information field (with a secure, ultra-fast digital format in real time) radically increased the combat effectiveness of army aviation across the entire range of missions. And on the basis of planned rotations, most of the army aviation flight personnel received combat practice in the fight against international terrorism.

This year, more than 100 tactical flight exercises of various levels were conducted with army aviation units - crews of attack, transport-combat and transport helicopters took part in almost all exercises of the Aerospace Forces, Ground and Airborne Forces, as well as in various international exercises , including “BARS-2018”, “Aviaindra-2018”, “Interaction-2018”, “Peace Mission-2018”, and others. For the first time, more than 150 army aviation helicopters were involved in the final exercises of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (in the Vostok-2018 maneuvers). The combat training plan has been completed in full, and the total flight time of the crews at the end of the year is more than 40 thousand hours. Moreover, more than 20 percent of flights were carried out at night.

Happy 70th anniversary of the Russian Aerospace Forces Army Aviation!

Army aviation is currently armed with new and modernized combat helicopters Mi-24, Mi-28N, Ka-52, transport and combat Mi-35M, combat training Mi-28UB, training "Ansat-U", as well as numerous versions multi-purpose helicopters of the Mi-8 family and the world's largest helicopter Mi-26T. Army aviation is constantly being replenished with new helicopter equipment. Thus, according to statements by the management of the Russian Helicopters holding, as part of the implementation of the state defense order for 2017, 72 new helicopters were produced and delivered at the holding’s enterprises in the interests of the Russian Ministry of Defense. At the end of 2018, the Ministry of Defense should receive another 60 new helicopters as part of the state defense order. Soon (according to the management of the holding company “Russian Helicopters in 2019”), army aviation will also have at its disposal a new transport and landing helicopter, the Mi-38T. It is expected to take to the skies for the first time in November 2018. The Mi-38 is a new generation medium multi-purpose helicopter, which in the future will occupy a niche between the Mi-8 multi-purpose helicopter and the Mi-26 heavy helicopter.

According to the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Lieutenant General Andrei Vyacheslavovich Yudin, “Modern army aviation is the most important component of the combat potential of the Air Force. Its combat strength has increased by a quarter over the past five years. The share of modern aircraft models exceeded 80%. This is the most advanced type of aviation in terms of equipment and condition of the aircraft fleet.” In continuation of the significant, capacious statement of the Air Force commander, we present a condensed retrospective assessment of the stage-by-stage changes in the organizational structure and control system of army aviation over the past decade and a half by the head of combat training of army aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Major General Oleg Mikhailovich Chesnokov:

“The controls and management system of army aviation have changed significantly since the transfer of this type of aviation to the Air Force in December 2003. Over the past 15 years, the system has been improved depending on the combat strength of army aviation, the list of assigned tasks and reforms carried out in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. This is also due to the formation of a new type - the Aerospace Forces. Today, I believe, the structure of the command and control bodies of army aviation is optimal and allows it to perform the functions assigned to it in full. This can be judged by the results of our work in recent years, which have led to a significant increase in the combat capabilities of army aviation. Thus, the combat strength and standard requirements of aviation equipment have been increased by a quarter. The share of modern aircraft models has increased to more than 80 percent. The survivability of helicopters has been significantly increased due to their equipping with modern personal protective equipment (electronic warfare and other defense systems). The structure of helicopter regiments has been brought to a standard form. For the first time in the history of army aviation, tactical formations have been formed - army aviation brigades.”

A pair of multi-purpose attack helicopters Mi-28N of the Berkut aerobatic team

Demonstration flights of the Mi-28N from the Berkut aerobatic team at the Army-2018 forum

Mi-28N flight of the Torzhok group "Berkuts"

Aerobatic team "Berkuts" at the International Military-Technical Forum "Army-2015"

Multi-purpose attack helicopter Ka-52 "Alligator" of the "Berkut" aerobatic team at the International Military-Technical Forum "Army-2018"

Ka-52 of the Torzhok group "Berkuts" over the air base in Kubinka during demonstration flights as part of the Army-2018 forum

Today, the training of army aviation pilots is carried out by the Syzran branch of the Military Educational and Scientific Center of the Air Force "VVA" - a real forge of future personnel. It is incredibly important that thanks to intense, enormous efforts, it is preserved, and, having become stronger, it is rapidly developing. With the improvement of the educational and material base, in 2017-2018 the flight instructor and teaching staff were qualitatively replenished. More than 20 teachers of the military aviation university in Syzran have experience of combat operations in local conflicts and have been awarded state awards for military distinction. This year, a group of teaching staff from the military departments of the Syzran branch of the Air Force Academy completed an internship in the Syrian Arab Republic. And now all its representatives pass on their accumulated combat experience to the cadets. More than 60 selected graduates joined the flight instructor staff, increasing the intensity of flight work by a third. The average flight time of university graduates has exceeded 150 hours, and its 12 departments are taught by 5 doctors and 47 candidates of science, 22 associate professors... Further improvement in flight skills and the level of professional qualities of flight personnel occurs directly in aviation units, during the conduct of technical trainings, participation in various joint exercises, as well as at advanced training courses (camps) at the 344th Center for Combat Use and Retraining of Army Aviation Flight Personnel. All the most modern Russian helicopters that are accepted into service by the Ministry of Defense first go to the Torzhok 344th Army Aviation Center for military testing and to organize flight training work. The Center's pilots performed important government tasks both in Russia and abroad in 30 countries around the world. The Center's personnel took part in UN peacekeeping forces in Kampuchea, Angola, Tajikistan, Yugoslavia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Chad, as well as in peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan. In 1992, the only aerobatic team in Russia and the world on combat attack helicopters, the “Berkuts,” was formed from the Center’s pilots. For many years, the Berkuts have successfully demonstrated to the world the power of Russian aviation, the amazing maneuverability of our combat helicopters and the admirable skill of the pilots. Having replaced the Mi-24 in 2012, the Berkuts now perform in fours and sixes on the Mi-28N, and also show phenomenal solo aerobatics on the Mi-28N “Night Hunter” and Ka-52 “Alligator” helicopters.

The leading flight personnel of the army aviation acquires and improves the operational-tactical level of training at the Air Force Academy in Voronezh, studying for two years in the master's program. The knowledge gained within the walls of the academy allows one to manage and lead such aviation formations as a helicopter regiment and an army aviation brigade. In an interview with Krasnaya Zvezda on the occasion of the anniversary, the head of combat training of the army aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Major General Oleg Mikhailovich Chesnokov, noted that the training of the flight and engineering personnel of the army aviation has undergone qualitative changes. In particular, the determining level of flight training has increased significantly over the past few years, with an average helicopter pilot flying more than 100 hours per year. In May, after a long break, the first full graduation took place at the Syzran branch of the Air Force Academy - about 300 young pilots joined the troops. He added that more than 70% of the army aviation flight personnel took part in combat operations both in Russia and abroad. And almost half of military helicopter pilots were awarded various state awards for courage and courage shown in the performance of military duty.

Memorable meetings at the celebrations in honor of the 35th anniversary of the founding of the 344 Center for Combat Use and Retraining of Army Aviation Flight Personnel in the city of Torzhok, Tver Region, June 2014

On the significant anniversary holiday of the army aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces, with special respect and pride, we remember our fellow countryman, Colonel General, Hero of the Soviet Union Vitaly Egorovich Pavlov. The scale of Vitaly Egorovich’s personality requires lofty and meaningful words, because the whole life of General Pavlov is a bright, sincere and generous glow of a strong moral personality, a powerful, transcendental flight of an extra-professional, a feat of arms of an officer ready for self-sacrifice and the tireless, uncompromising military work of a highly spiritual figure . Vitaly Egorovich Pavlov is a selfless son of his people, their stronghold and backbone in combat work and state building. A responsible leader-commander, a person personifying the entire helicopter community of Russia and the post-Soviet space, he was the bond that united all helicopter pilots. In a difficult time of crushing changes, saving helicopter units, Pavlov organizationally united them into army aviation. His military, well-deserved authority is an example of military service for younger generations of helicopter pilots. On his courage, boundless love for the Motherland, caring and sensitive attitude towards his subordinate winged comrades, today the military-patriotic education of youth and, in a special way, vitally close to Vitaly Yegorovich, cadets of the Syzran branch of the Air Force Academy. He has forty years of service behind him, three wars - Afghan and two Chechen. And on each of them his name was a legend, in each he wrote his own page. In Afghanistan, Colonel Pavlov is one of the best regiment commanders, who personally flew hundreds of combat missions, lost only three helicopters in a year and a half of fighting, and was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for this war. In Chechnya, Colonel General Pavlov, commander of the Ground Forces aviation, when the situation required it, he himself lifted a helicopter into the sky and made his way through thick clouds and mountains to the advanced battalions, taking out the wounded. Among helicopter pilots, his surname is as legendary as the surname Margelov among paratroopers. Amazingly, Vitaly Egorovich managed to make a great personal contribution to the development of helicopter sports in our country, heading the Russian Helicopter Sports Federation from 2001 to 2007.

What Pavlov did to preserve Russian helicopter aviation in the 90s can, without any stretch of the imagination, be called a real feat. After the collapse of the Union, the collapse of the economy, he was able not only to preserve the core, the elite of helicopter pilots, who today can rightfully be called the best in the world, he preserved helicopter aviation as a unified system, saving it from being pulled apart among different types of troops, as the “reformers” tried to do " If this happened, even today in the Russian army a helicopter would become as exotic as an aircraft carrier. It was thanks to Pavlov that the helicopter industry survived. Pavlov, at the expense of cars sold abroad, fighting with financiers for every ruble, at the cost of incredible efforts, was able to provide it with orders for the repair and modernization of helicopters all in the same nineties - two thousand...

Amidst the grandiose collapse, decline and viscous decay of the nineties, into which Russia was slowly plunging, one after another the seemingly unshakable pillars of the state crumbled. Army, state security, police. Everything then became dilapidated, everything was worn down to rottenness by the jaws of the destroyers. And only rare stoics resisted these termites. They preserved and preserved what little was left. These people are the heroes of our time. Colonel General Vitaly Pavlov is one of them.

A simple village boy never thought that he was destined to become the first commander of army aviation. But from early childhood he tried to do everything perfectly. He was one of the best graduates, one of the best pilots and for many - the best friend and Person.

Vitaly Egorovich was born in the village of Belogolovichi, Trubchevsky district, Bryansk region on October 21, 1944. The first plane he saw in his life was the ubiquitous Po-2, which occasionally flew over Trubchevsk. He was then about five years old. At the age of 8, together with his younger brother and sister, Vitaly was left without a mother. In his book “Scorching Sky” he wrote: “A mother is a mother... You can have a lot of things: friends, orders, dachas, cars - ad infinitum, but a person has only one mother. Just like the Motherland..."

A difficult and hungry post-war childhood, life in a boarding school, strengthened his character and taught him to withstand blows. Only at sixteen Vitaly saw the train, when he went on it to his older brother near Kuibyshev to get a job at a factory. When he moved to Chapaevsk, he worked as a carpenter at a reinforced concrete factory, and completed ten years of school at a working youth school. There his independent life began and with trips to the Zvezda airfield of the Syzran flight school, out of passion, a love for aviation was born. And finally, a pivotal decision was made to become a pilot.

Their course at the Syzran School was the first to be recruited and trained in the helicopter pilot program. Before that, everyone started with airplanes. A helicopter was then something very exotic and frightening, like a flying saucer. The very first Soviet models Mi-1, Mi-4 have just gone into production. The “airplanes” shunned the new flying creation, calling it a “flying cucumber on a pencil.”

Therefore, for a long time the attitude towards the helicopter in our army was, to put it mildly, cool. Even helicopter schools have long been equated with secondary specialized schools. Everything changed radically after the Korean War, where the Americans massively used helicopters to transport goods into difficult terrain, land troops, and evacuate the wounded and those who were surrounded. It was there that the main advantage of a helicopter first appeared - the ability to fly in difficult to reach areas, take off and land on any piece of surface.

From the experience of the Korean War, our command drew the appropriate conclusions and helicopter squadrons appeared in the Soviet Army. And after the Arab-Israeli wars - fire support helicopters.

Today on the field, a helicopter is as common a military equipment as a tank or self-propelled gun. In the rear, huge Mi-26s are capable of transporting up to a company of infantry and a pair of infantry fighting vehicles in their bellies, and the Mi-8 “horses” can transport entire regiments to the front line overnight. Helicopters are the cavalry of the modern army.

The harsh army path was not a burden for cadet Pavlov, and flight training conquered his soul and inspired him throughout his life. Both in the audience and in the sky, Vitaly had only A's. He studied a lot himself and taught a lot to others. Brought up on the exploits of the military generation, he tried to take on the most difficult tasks. It has always been like this! This was revealed poignantly during his service in Afghanistan, where he commanded a regiment and personally participated in many dangerous operations. Surprisingly strong in their deep simplicity, sharpness of perception and clarity of understanding of the situation are the memories of Vitaly Egorovich Pavlov himself about his first combat mission in Afghanistan, which remained in his memory for the rest of his life.

...The informant reported that behind the duval on the outskirts of one of the villages there were two brothers who had returned from the mountains to rest - influential field commanders of local dushman gangs.

Three pairs of Mi-8s took off for the attack. He was the leader of the first - then the regiment commander, colonel. The goal is a little more than sixty kilometers away. The group flew up to the village just in the very afternoon heat, when all living things, hidden from the sun in the saving shade and coolness, indulged in rest.

He quickly got his bearings, found with his eyes the blower indicated by the agent and, descending sharply, approached the target.

The “Eight” quickly glided over the ground, reaching the line for launching the “nurses”. The duval, behind which the dushmans were located, grew larger and crawled onto the blister. The sentry on the roof has already become visible - a sure sign of the accuracy of the information. His fingers lay on the missile launch button, when suddenly his eyes caught a small figure in a colorful bright robe next to the sentry - a girl of about ten.

Launch milestone!

The sentry, who had just now noticed the helicopters emerging from behind the hills, began to rush about.

We must hit! But a girl?!

The sentry ran up to her and, picking her up under the arms, literally threw her off the clay roof of the building.

You can hit! But the blast wave, the fragments?..

And then he made a decision. Short command to the second pair. And his pair quickly flew over the target without opening fire, giving the child time to run away to a saving distance.

And a few moments later the second pair’s nurses hit the duct.

Turning around and approaching the target again, he caught out of the corner of his eye a familiar colorful robe flashing in the field, far from the attack site.

"Alive!" - he still had time to think, and then his consciousness habitually cut off unnecessary thoughts, concentrating on combat work. The volley of the “nurses” fell directly into the blower that had already been collapsed by the second pair. The third pair leveled it to the ground, scattering the ruins with powerful bombs...

And one more detail struck him on that flight. Coming out of the attack, he noticed a man and a woman, farmers, waving ketmen in a field literally two hundred meters from the battlefield. They seemed not to notice or hear anything around, monotonously cutting down layers of red, dry earth with ketmen...

Then there were hundreds of sorties, attack attacks, evacuations, landings, but for many more months he dreamed of that white clay roof, a sentry and a girl in a colorful robe in the sights of the “nurses”... Maybe on that day someone there, in heaven, wanted to test Vitaly Pavlova. Test his strength, weigh his soul on the scales of humanity.

Let us present some entries from helicopter pilot Pavlov’s Afghan notebook and the author’s sparse comments to them, characterizing his highest flying professionalism...

“I have never seen him like this in my life and will never see him again,” - this is how Pavlov began his description of the episode in which he directly participated. The epigraph tells about the excited state of engineer Gerasimovich, who, as Pavlov figuratively explained, “made more movements on the ground than I did in the air, almost standing on his head.” And there was something for the engineer to stand on his head: in the mountains with an elevation of almost two kilometers above sea level, the Mi-8 helicopter piloted by Pavlov, for the first time in military history, lifted on an external sling and evacuated a similar vehicle.

One day, returning from a mission, Pavlov heard a request on the radio: to remove three people from the mountains and deliver them to the airfield. Urgently remove, urgently deliver. Fuel was running short, but the man who had the right to order asked, and Pavlov turned to the mountains. He sat down, loaded the people, gained altitude, looked at the instruments again and realized that he would not reach the airfield. Then he... turned off one of the two engines holding his Mi-8 in the sky. In the thin mountain air, horizontal flight on one engine is practically impossible, but he managed to calculate the forced descent, comparing it with the rest of the way to the airfield. “Four minutes felt like many hours for me, and the fuel gauge needle seemed to deviate towards zero a little faster than usual...” is the only entry in the notebook about the pilot’s experiences.

In the Pavlovs’ photo album, in the wall newspaper of combat helicopter pilots brought from Afghanistan, the note about Pavlov says how, when conducting pre-flight briefings, he traditionally ended them with the same phrase: “Today I take off first...” Pavlov took off first not only as a commander, but and by right a master, one of the best pilots of our helicopter aviation.

Photos from the archive of military albums of Vasily Aleksandrovich Prokhanov

Under the command of Vitaly Egorovich Pavlov, a mixed air group participated in a unique special operation, which significantly influenced the course of the Afghan war and ultimately saved the lives of many. Vitaly Egorovich recalled it this way:

“...I was nominated three times for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. However, only after returning to his homeland did he receive the Hero Star. They were awarded for military deeds. But in war, the command sometimes reconsiders its decision on awards. This happened to me too. In one case, I myself was one hundred percent to blame. I was the deputy head of the aviation operation. In addition to 140 helicopters, attack aircraft and bombers also took part in it. I also had 8 Su-25s subordinate to me, and during the operation itself I also supervised the actions of the fighter-bomber air regiment of Colonel Viktor Kot. The first four days, due to high tension and great responsibility, I myself led helicopters to land personnel in the gorge. And then, when the units were positioned along the sites, paths and the landing force began combat operations, the commander of the 40th Army Air Force, General Shkanakin, and I took turns flying non-stop on an An-26 repeater aircraft and directing the aviation actions in that operation. One day he flew for 8-9 hours, and then I flew for 5-6 hours with a load. On the second day we changed. We watched the progress of the operation directly from the air and directed the actions of the aviation. For this, in general, I was then first nominated for the title of Hero. The documents have already been reviewed by the USSR Ministry of Defense. The Panjshir operation soon ended. One lieutenant colonel, an engineer from a higher headquarters, gave a rash order and exposed the helicopter crews to anti-aircraft fire. It was his fault that people and equipment died. I couldn’t restrain myself and hit in front of everyone the culprit in the death of my subordinates, who showed themselves excellently in the battles in the gorge...”

The seventeenth of May eighty-second is a black day in Pavlov’s Afghan calendar. On that day, a military operation began to clear the Panjshir Gorge from the gangs of Akhmat Shah.

Long negotiations with Masud reached a dead end. His troops conducted active military operations against our troops and local authorities. Every day brought reports of new attacks and ambushes. And therefore it was decided to destroy Masud’s main bases.

On that day, the helicopter regiment landed landing groups on the slopes of the gorge. The leader of the first pair, as always, was “zero twenty-fifth” - regiment commander Pavlov.

Landing site. Paratroopers fell overboard like peas, scattered to the sides, and took up defensive positions. The sappers quickly deployed the mine detectors and twisted the probes. After the last paratrooper jumped overboard, the helicopters abruptly took off from the ground and went into the sky. And a second couple was already taking their place.

And suddenly, from the top of the mountain, almost point-blank, a Dushman DShK struck. The crew commander was killed on the spot, the wounded navigator tried to level the car and land it, but the next burst killed him too. The helicopter crashed onto the rocks and exploded. The wingman, the commander of the squadron, Major Sadokhin, descended sharply, landed troops lower down the mountain slope and, taking off, rushed to the rescue of the leader. The helicopter and the DShK dueled.
The helicopter pilots did not yet know that Masud had been preparing for defense for a long time. They didn’t know about the machine gun nests walled up in concrete and rocks. About turrets moving out of the tunnels on platforms. About twin DShKs. About dozens of other traps and obstacles.

A volley of “nurses” covered the “Dukhovsky” DShK. Sadokhin began to turn around to sit next to the fallen commander, but then a camouflaged Zushka hit him from the side, almost point-blank. Sadokhin was killed, the car caught fire, but the navigator was able to turn it to the side and land it on a slope. Then he pulled the flight engineer out of the burning car, rushed to pull out the commander’s body, and then the helicopter exploded.

It was a difficult loss. The entire command of one of the squadrons was killed in the battle - the commander, political officer, chief of staff and the army navigator flying with them. Two cars burned down at once. It was especially difficult because this was the first loss in the regiment in eleven months of fighting...

And a few days later, at an officers’ meeting, it was decided to appeal to the command, with a petition not to appoint anyone to the place of the political officer who fell in battle, who heroically rushed to the rescue of his comrades. So that his place in the ranks is always free. The command granted this request from the pilots.

The navigator also refused to be evacuated to the Union - wounded in a helicopter explosion, he fled from the hospital to the regiment.

...On September 10, 2001, two Taliban suicide bombers, posing as journalists, carried explosives in a video camera and blew themselves up along with Massoud. Pavlov outlived him by fifteen years...

Films have been made about Pavlov’s exploits, the latest of which is called “Legends of the Army.” The authors of the documentary are themselves amazed: how could a boy from a very poor village family, constantly hungry, without connections and cronyism, without much hope for the future, become the leader of the country's army aviation? And he knew how to make decisions. Take responsibility, respect and value every person. Not people “in general,” but everyone. Pavlov equally respected the private and the general, if there was a reason. He was strict but fair. And he had some incredible and rare quality: not to cause offense to himself.

Over the years of service, General Pavlov came to the firm conviction that the military glory, valor, and awards of any commander or superior belong, first of all, to his subordinates. To the soldiers and officers who heroically fulfilled their duty, who went with their commander into the fire and to death for their Motherland, “for their friends.” And therefore he had a special relationship with the Hero Star, which he was awarded three months after returning from Afghanistan. When talking about the award, he always remembered his pilots, technicians, and mechanics. This is their reward too. Their credit.

Brief entries from the combat log:

“... May 1982. The deputy regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Karpov, replaced the wounded flight engineer and navigator-operator... The deputy squadron commander, Major Surtsukov, replaced three helicopters riddled with bullets during the day, his wingman, senior lieutenant Naumov, replaced four... A group led by Major Zhukov restored two helicopters under rebel fire... May 19, 1982 year, Captain Kabdulin, “propping up” the top of the mountain with his nose wheel, hovered at an altitude of 2800 meters, picked up the wounded and dead, “dumped” the helicopter into the abyss and, having leveled off, escaped from the fire... During the operation, the regiment carried out 5460 sorties, destroying 214 fire points, 377 strong points, 33 camps, 54 caravans...".

Of the twenty-six pilots awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for Afghanistan, nineteen were helicopter pilots. This is the highest and most accurate assessment of the actions and importance of helicopter pilots in that war...

From 1989 to 2002, Colonel General Pavlov was the first and only commander of the aviation of the Ground Forces of the country's Armed Forces in the history of army aviation. At this time, our army aviation carried out peacekeeping missions as part of the UN in the countries of Africa and Southeast Asia. Over the years, the army did not lose a single pilot there, completing double or triple the flying hours. But Pavlov considered the most difficult task for himself to be the one given in his native country, when in September-October 1993, during a crisis, bloody confrontation between the branches of power in the capital, the military was ordered to participate in the dispersal of the Congress of People's Deputies and the Supreme Council. The “shooting of the White House” went down in Russian history not only as a turning point political event, but also as a day that broke the careers of many officers who did not want to use weapons. Vitaly Yegorovich clearly understood that reckless military actions were unacceptable, which would inevitably lead to a criminal split in the army and the outbreak of a crazy civil war. He removed the young pilot from the prepared helicopter and flew to the White House himself, but refused to shoot at him, telling the crew, “I take full responsibility.”

For this trait he was highly regarded by all with whom he served. He was an indisputable authority, as a first-class pilot, and as a thinking commander, with his soul and heart for the outcome of the operation, the fate of the soldiers. And many are proud to have been his students.

Let us cite an episode that is valuable for our understanding from the first Chechen war that began in 1994.

On January 10th, in the morning there was dense fog, and in Grozny, at the helipad, the seriously wounded were waiting for evacuation. He decided to fly. Walked along the railway poles. Visibility - seven pillars. A little more than three hundred meters, the lower edge is twenty meters. I've arrived. Sat down. The wounded are literally lying in the mud near the site. Everyone is wet, frozen, covered in blood. Somewhere ahead, very close, there is a battle. In order not to freeze the guys, I turned off the engines and went to help load them myself. The last to be carried on a stretcher was the senior lieutenant. The arm is torn off at the shoulder. An ordinary soldier's pillow was taped to the wound with bandages. While they were carrying him in, he supported the officer’s back so that he wouldn’t fall off the stretcher. He pulled out his hand - it was covered in blood. He sat down in a chair and asked the navigator to pour water from a flask on his hand to wash off the blood. “Sorry, Viktor Yegorovich, I gave everything to the wounded. Not a bit." They took off. We walked along the pillars again, almost blindly. Finally we sat down in Mozdok. I tried to open my palm and release the control stick, but it didn’t work. Blood had dried to its ribbed surface. I barely tore my palm off, but still couldn’t open it. The blood in the folds has dried, it doesn’t let...

By the end of the nineties of the last century, the ratio of helicopters between the United States and Russia became six to one. And between NATO and Russia it is ten to one. It could have been even greater, if not for the enormous efforts of General Pavlov and his staff, who literally fought for every regiment, for every squadron. But helicopters are the future of the ground forces and their irreplaceable, mobile and universal means. Without them it is now impossible to conduct successful military operations. The military doctrines of all developed countries strive to ensure that each infantry platoon has a combat or transport helicopter.

Pavlov knew how to resolve situations even when repression seemed inevitable. In many ways, thanks to the authority of Colonel General Pavlov, it was possible to defend the Syzran School, for which Vitaly Egorovich sincerely worried and did everything possible to preserve it...

In general, fair and able to ask stern questions, Pavlov took a significant part in the fate of many people. He helped someone make a military career, someone - to get a job for their son, someone - to get an apartment for their family, to get a rare medicine for their father, just to say the right word at the right time. He saved people who had stumbled from shame and resignation - and their lives were straightened out.

Having his own, special opinion as a professional and patriot, the will and courage to defend it, principled and inconvenient to many powerful enemies, Vitaly Egorovich Pavlov was forced to resign in 2002 - despite incredible merits. The immediate reason that provoked his resignation was the shooting down of a Mi-26 transport by a group of Chechen militants using an Igla MANPADS, which was approaching the airfield in Khankala on August 19 at an altitude of 200 meters. There were 147 people on board the helicopter. After the missile hit the area of ​​the right engine, the crew was able to make an emergency landing and the wrecked helicopter crawled “on its belly” for almost 180 meters. As the investigation showed, the rocket that hit the right engine completely destroyed it. It was immediately damaged and soon the left engine stopped working. A fire broke out on board, the hydraulics stopped working and other control systems began to fail. Flared fuel poured onto the passengers in the cabin from the broken tanks. As a result of the hard landing, subsequent explosions and fire at the crash site, 117 people died. Later, 10 more people died in hospitals. Moreover, most of the military personnel who managed to leave the collapsed helicopter ended up in minefields... Without waiting for the results of the investigation, Defense Minister Sergei Borisovich Ivanov (possibly at the insistence of the Chief of the General Staff Anatoly Vasilyevich Kvashnin and the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces Nikolai Viktorovich Kormiltsev) removed Vitaly Egorovich Pavlov from his post. At the same time, the Minister of Defense emphasized in an official statement that “the tough measure is not directly related to the most severe catastrophe.” In this regard, the media scandalously revealed how Pavlov, known for his tough and independent character, despite his ranks, fought against the plight of aviation. The collapse of the aviation industry, meager funding for the supply of new equipment and everything necessary to support the activities of the troops. Back in 1991, when the failure with updating equipment and weapons, the supply of spare parts and fuels and lubricants was just beginning, at a meeting of the High Command of the Ground Forces (in the presence of the then Secretary of State - Deputy Minister of Defense Andrei Afanasyevich Kokoshin and Chief of the General Staff Mikhail Petrovich Kolesnikov), the commander took an unprecedented step. He told Kokoshin, who was responsible for interaction with the defense industry at the Ministry of Defense: “First of all, you are to blame for this state of army aviation, and secondly, I am, as its commander.” Then he was promised that perhaps starting next year, the necessary supplies to Pavlov’s department would increase sharply... The media especially remembered Pavlov’s categorical refusal to fire at the rebellious House of Soviets in 1993. Soon, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, Nikolai Viktorovich Kormiltsev, made a sensational statement - army aviation would again become subordinate to the Air Force. After which Pavlov voluntarily resigned, expressing categorical disagreement with this and with the actions of individual superiors towards himself and his subordinates.

After being transferred to the reserve, Vitaly Egorovich worked for many years at the Rostvertol helicopter manufacturing plant. He is deservedly called the “godfather” of the famous “Night Hunter” Mi-28. It was Pavlov who was one of the initiators of work on the Mi-28, and under him the decision was made to produce it. And the Mi-28 squadrons, carrying out combat service in various regions of our country, fighting in Syria, are the best memory of the legendary helicopter pilot.

Mi-28N "Night Hunter" attack helicopter at the International Military-Technical Forum "Army-2018", August 2018

Mi-28N at the Kubinka airbase during preparations for the Victory Parade, May 2014

Mi-28N in Kubinka near Moscow, April 2015

Multi-role attack helicopter Mi-28N at MAKS-2013 in Zhukovsky

Mi-28N solo aerobatics at the Army 2018 forum

Vitaly Egorovich died on July 2, 2016 after a serious illness - at the age of 71 he was overtaken by leukemia (a malignant blood disease). Pavlov was buried at the Troekurovskoye cemetery in Moscow. When he died, for the funeral on July 6, to say goodbye to Vitaly Yegorovich, aviators from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok gathered, and not only aviators, but also ground forces officers - more than 3,000 people in total, including representatives of the top leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Vitaly Egorovich Pavlov ended his book “Scorching Sky” with the words: “For a serving man, a Russian officer, honor has always been above all else. Above life itself. I am proud that the vast majority of those with whom I have served believe and act this way.”

Back in 1985, by order of the USSR Minister of Defense dated April 4 No. 104, Pavlov was enrolled as an honorary cadet of the 2nd helicopter training squadron of the Syzran regiment; later Vitaly Pavlov became an Honorary Citizen of two cities, Syzran and Trubchevsk, and an honorary veteran of SVVAUL. “We are proud that such a person exists in the history of Syzran, in the history of the Syzran VVAUL. After all, all of Russia rests on people like Pavlov!”- said on October 21, 2017 (on Vitaly Yegorovich’s birthday) at the opening of a bronze bust of Pavlov near the building of the flight training department in the Syzran branch of the Air Force Academy, the head of Syzran Nikolai Mikhailovich Lyadin.

Here are the key milestones in the amazing military life of Vitaly Egorovich Pavlov...

In 1962, he entered the Syzran VAUL for the first targeted helicopter pilot course for the school. In 1965, after graduating from college, as one of the best graduates, he was retained in the Pugachev Regiment (Saratov Region), where he successively served as an instructor pilot (1965-1970), a senior instructor pilot (February-October 1970), and a flight commander ( 1970-1971) and deputy squadron commander (1971-1973) of the 626th training helicopter regiment. At the same time, he graduated from the Higher Military School in absentia and in 1973 entered the Air Force Academy.

In 1976 he graduated from the Air Force Academy named after Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin, returned to his native school as a commander in the Syzran regiment, from where in 1977 he was transferred to the Carpathian Military District to the position of deputy commander of the 340th separate helicopter regiment (Kalinov garrison near the city of Sambir outside Lvov ). In May 1979 - July 1981, he served as commander of the newly formed 513th separate helicopter regiment on the basis of an old airfield abandoned after the war (also in the Carpathian Military District - in Berdichev). In Transcarpathia, Vitaly Egorovich first flew out at night to save people. The overflowing Stryi River flooded the quarry in which work was being carried out, and in the middle of the seething lake, on a patch of one and a half by twenty meters, fourteen people found themselves cut off from land. The water was rising. Military helicopter pilots were alerted. At night, in the rain, in a strong side wind, Pavlov managed to descend and rest his front “leg,” as helicopter pilots say, on the edge of the island. Without turning off the engines, freeze a few centimeters above the water and drag everyone who was on the island on board. A few minutes after takeoff, the island disappeared under the icy, seething water... From July 1981 to December 1982, he performed international duty in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, where, commanding the 50th OSAP, he showed high organizational skills, leadership talent and exceptional flying skill. He personally participated in many dangerous operations, showing an example of courage, bravery and the ability to fully use the combat capabilities of the helicopter and weapons. He made 307 combat missions and logged 567 flight hours (on Mi-8T, Mi-24V helicopters and the An-26 repeater aircraft). By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated March 3, 1983, for the courage and heroism shown in providing international assistance to the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, Colonel Vitaly Egorovich Pavlov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin (No. 400359) and the Gold Star medal (No. 11492) . From November 1982 to June 1984 - commander of aviation of the 1st Guards Tank Army in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany.

In 1986, the brave helicopter officer graduated from the Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR named after Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov. In the same year he was appointed 1st deputy commander, and in August 1987 commander of the Air Force of the Red Banner Volga Military District. From July 1989 to October 2002, Vitaly Egorovich Pavlov was the first and only commander of the aviation of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of the USSR in the history of army aviation, and since 1992 - of the Russian Federation. Participant in combat operations in Chechnya (in 1994-1996 and 1999-2002), where he made 156 combat missions. He coordinated the actions of Russian helicopter pilots during armed conflicts in Transnistria, Abkhazia, Tajikistan, personally participating, organizing and providing flights for army aviation units as part of UN peacekeeping missions in Angola, Cambodia, Sierra Leone... By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 464 of April 19, 1993, awarded military rank of Colonel General. After his dismissal from the ranks of the RF Armed Forces in 2002 and until his last days, he worked as Deputy General Director of Rostvertol OJSC. Vitaly Egorovich “Honored Military Pilot of the USSR”, sniper pilot, Honorary Citizen of the city of Syzran, Honorary Veteran of the Syzran VVAUL, Honorary Citizen of the city of Trubchevsk. He was awarded 8 orders and 20 medals of the USSR, the Russian Federation and other countries, including the Order of Lenin, the Order “For Service to the Motherland in the USSR Armed Forces”, III degree, the Orders of the Red Star and the Order of Military Merit. In 2001-2007 he was president of the Russian Helicopter Sports Federation.

Until the very end, Vitaly Egorovich Pavlov lived with confidence in the revival of army aviation, pondered and proposed optimal ways to recreate this powerful branch of the military. And when rebuilding army aviation, Vitaly Yegorovich considered the most important personnel problem, which his alma mater was called upon to solve. In 2013, General Pavlov wrote in Krasnaya Zvezda: “The capabilities of the only remaining Syzran helicopter school in the country allow us to graduate a maximum of 200 lieutenants per year. But we need 400.” And now, five years later, the team of the former SVVAUL brought the training of combat and transport-combat helicopter pilots to 300-400 graduates. This is the most important step in solving the personnel problem of the newly created modern army aviation.

For 8 years, the head of the army aviation department of the 5th and 2nd Guards Combined Arms Armies, retired sniper pilot Colonel Valery Aleksandrovich Kostitsyn, now a deputy of the meeting of representatives of the military town of Roshchinsky, served under the direct command of General Pavlov. The “last Mohican” of rotary-wing aviation in the Volga region, a 70-year-old peer of army aviation, on the eve of his professional holiday, said in an interview with a correspondent of the Russian Ministry of Defense:

“It is now much more difficult to revive army aviation units than to create this branch of troops at the end of the Soviet years. Now it has been decided to form a separate helicopter regiment in the combined arms armies, with the supply of new types of army aviation equipment to them. Full-fledged graduations of young officers have begun at the Syzran Military Pilot School.”

The 70th anniversary of army aviation in Syzran was symbolically celebrated with a truly turning point, the first large graduation of helicopter pilots. We are pleased to congratulate Syzran graduates, all personnel and army aviation veterans on their anniversary! And we join these words of the Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces, Hero of the Russian Federation, Colonel General Sergei Vladimirovich Surovikin:

“Modern army aviation is the most important component of the combat potential of the Aerospace Forces. Military personnel and civilian personnel of army aviation successfully solve assigned tasks, while showing the highest responsibility, loyalty to military and civil duty, professionalism...

I thank military personnel, civilian personnel, and veterans for their impeccable service and military work. I wish you and your families good health, happiness and prosperity, high achievements in military service and labor in order to ensure the defense and security of the state, and increase the aerospace glory of Russia.”

In conclusion, we present the parting words of Vitaly Egorovich Pavlov, spoken on one of the anniversaries of army aviation: “I wish those who serve in army aviation today to become real masters of their wonderful rotary-wing machines and sacredly honor the glorious traditions of their predecessors, who honorably carried out the tasks of the Motherland in different points of our planet."

Mi-28N of the Berkuty aerobatic team salutes with a volley of heat traps at the International Military-Technical Forum "Army-2015"

“Military acceptance. Aviation in Syria. Helicopters. Part 6"

“Helicopters First” - Channel One documentary, 2015

Vitaly Egorovich Pavlov(October 21, 1944 - July 2, 2016) - Soviet and Russian military leader, Colonel General, Hero of the Soviet Union.

Biography

Born in the village of Belogolovichi, Trubchevsky district, Bryansk region.

He graduated from secondary school (SHRM) No. 3 in the city of Chapaevsk, Kuibyshev region. He worked as a carpenter at a reinforced concrete factory.

He graduated from Syzran VAUL, where he studied in 1962-1965. As one of the best graduates, he was retained as an instructor pilot in military unit 93836 (city of Pugachev). Later he graduated from the Air Force Academy. Yu. A. Gagarin (1976).

Member of the CPSU since 1965.

From July 1981 to December 1982, he performed international duty in Afghanistan, where he commanded a combat helicopter regiment. He personally participated in many dangerous operations, showing an example of courage, bravery, and the ability to fully use the combat capabilities of aviation equipment and weapons. He flew 307 combat missions, flying 567 hours.

Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR named after K. E. Voroshilov (1986).

He was appointed deputy commander of the Air Force of the PriVO. Since 1987, Commander of the Air Force of the PriVO. In 1989-2002 - Commander of the Army Aviation of the Ground Forces of the Russian Armed Forces.

He was relieved of his post in connection with the crash of a Mi-26 military transport helicopter in Chechnya in August 2002, which resulted in the death of more than 120 military personnel.

“Chief of the General Staff Kvashnin and Commander of the Ground Forces Kormiltsev did not want to see me in a leadership position. Apparently, they reported their thoughts to Minister Ivanov. He, having not yet figured out the reason for the crash of the Mi-26 helicopter near Khankala, removed me from my position,” Vitaly Pavlov explained the reasons for his voluntary resignation in November 2002.

He worked as deputy director of the Rostvertol helicopter manufacturing plant.

Retired Colonel General V. E. Pavlov lived in Moscow.

He died on July 2, 2016 in Moscow after a serious illness. Buried on July 6 at Troekurovskoye Cemetery

Family

Was married. Two children.

Awards

• By decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces of March 3, 1983, Colonel Vitaly Egorovich Pavlov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the successful completion of the task of providing international assistance to the DRA, the courage and heroism shown.
• Awarded the Order of Lenin, the Red Star, “For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR” 3rd degree and many medals; personalized weapons and the Order of Courage - for fruitful operations in Chechnya, the Order of Military Merit.
• Honored Specialist of the Armed Forces of the USSR (08/18/1989).
• Sniper pilot.
• Honorary citizen of the city of Syzran.
• Honorary veteran of the Syzran VVAUL.

On July 2, Vitaly Pavlov, a 1965 graduate of the Syzran VVAUL, passed away. So far the only one among helicopter pilots, he rose from lieutenant's shoulder straps to the rank of colonel general of Russia, led army aviation as part of the country's Ground Forces for 13 years, became an honored military pilot and Hero of the Soviet Union. “The lump of a man,” as the Syzran pilots call him, is a man of national stature and great love for people, for his country and for the Syzran pilot school.

Fellow officers, without diminishing the merits of the city authorities, admit that it was largely thanks to the authority of Vitaly Pavlov that the Syzran school was preserved. Several years ago, thanks to the “optimization program” of Defense Minister Serdyukov, SVVAUL was actually planned to be closed.

The death of Vitaly Egorovich is a huge loss for the pilots of the former Soviet Union. He alone united us all,” Viktor Rudikov, Chairman of the SVVAUL Veterans Council, finds it difficult to find words. – I will even say more: we have not yet fully realized the scale of the loss suffered. The Russian helicopter community is orphaned. We, the pilots of Syzran, were orphaned. Pavlov was always a welcome guest at his school. The last time, I remember, he was in Syzran for the 75th anniversary of SVVAUL in May last year. You can't imagine HOW people were drawn to him. At the hotel on the days of his arrival, the doors of his room were not closed until late at night. And he found time, the right words and help for everyone.

In a modest civilian suit with a Hero's star, next to the commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force is Vitaly Pavlov.

An amateur photo of one of Vitaly Pavlov’s last visits to SVVAUL.

Briefly, the path of Vitaly Egorovich Pavlov can be described as follows: a guy from a simple rural family in the Bryansk region, he studied at a school for working youth, graduated from SVVAUL. He was left as an instructor pilot in the Pugachev Regiment. But these were the first steps of the future Hero of the Soviet Union and commander of the Army Aviation of the Ground Forces of the Russian Armed Forces. Pavlov managed to raise the importance of helicopter aviation to new heights and unite disparate helicopter units into a single Army Aviation of the country. In essence, Pavlov created a new branch of the military, since previously helicopters were considered as a “rescue service” on the scale of the Armed Forces scattered throughout the garrisons of our great country.

“Beyond the river”, in Afghanistan

Afghanistan has proven the vital need for small-engine technology. In those years when our pilots performed their international duty in warring Afghanistan, no one would have thought of closing SVVAUL. Vitaly Pavlov commanded a combat helicopter regiment for a year and a half, from July 1981 to December 1982, perfectly used the combat capabilities of aviation equipment, but most importantly, he took care of the pilots. No one can blame Pavlov for wasting people’s lives: he would rather give his own life than put someone else’s at risk. During a year and a half of combat service “beyond the river,” the regiment commander made 307 combat missions. 307! Every other day, or even more often, the regiment commander sat at the helm of a combat vehicle if he saw that the task was difficult for a young pilot, that the boy might not return from battle.

“I was a deputy commander in Bagran,” Afghan war veteran Alexander Silantiev recalls his acquaintance with Pavlov, “and Pavlov’s regiment was stationed in Kabul. We carried out a joint operation at our air base. Pavlov personally drove the car. He landed a capture group. The task of the landing was to knock out the dushmans of Ahmad Shah from the site. He was a thug, of which there were few even in that war, and the “spirits” of Ahmad Shah fought boldly. While entering the site, Pavlov's navigator was killed. Almost immediately the crew of the political officer was shot down. We heard calls on the radio: “We need to leave!” But Pavlov, without cover, managed to carry out the operation competently. This was a pilot from God. And the person is the same. He did not offend the pilots, without dividing them into “us” and “strangers”. Even then, all army aviation was “his own” for him. He set tasks judiciously and competently, and people were not afraid of his “scolding”, although he knew how to ask strictly, people were afraid to let him down, to disappoint him. He was a fair man.

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in 1983, Vitaly Egorovich Pavlov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In 1985, pilot Pavlov was enlisted as an honorary soldier in the lists of Syzran unit No. 15566, where he served as a squadron commander; later Vitaly Pavlov became an Honorary Citizen of two cities, Syzran and Trubchevsk, and an honorary veteran of SVVAUL. Later there were two higher military educations, including the Military Academy of the General Staff, and the Air Force Command of the PriVO. Later there were the Order of Lenin, the “Red Star”, other military (military!) orders and medals - a total of 27 awards. Later there were secret flights to Angola, Cambodia, Sierra Leone, and military trips to Chechnya. New awards: personalized weapons and the Order of Courage for operations in Chechnya, personally - rescuing the wounded from fire.

“What kind of guy in camouflage protected us from fire?”

156 combat missions in Chechnya! - says a comrade from his youth, Honored Military Pilot of Russia, Chairman of the Syzran Veterans Council Vladimir Razenkov. “He himself flew to the most dangerous places.” He himself loaded the bloody wounded into the “turntable.” Then the soldiers asked: who was this guy in camouflage who saved us and tried to protect us from fire? Is this Pavlov?! Hero of Russia?

In 1993, military officer Pavlov was awarded the rank of colonel general. And a little earlier, in 1989, SVVAUL graduate Pavlov headed the Army Aviation of the Ground Forces of the Russian Armed Forces. 13 years in this position changed the attitude towards helicopter aviation. Later, when the management of Army Aviation was abolished, Colonel General Pavlov said in an interview with Red Star:

In my opinion, there is a need for a single body responsible for the combat training of army aviation. Today, the combined arms army does not have its own aviation, and there is no guidance group in it either. In short, in many respects we have returned to the end of the 70s, and the problems, I believe, must be resolved without delay. The motto of helicopter pilots is: “Without us, no one, ever, anywhere!” – even from the newspaper lines it is clear how worried Vitaly Pavlov was about the strange decisions of the Ministry of Defense, which led to the elimination of the unified command of army aviation. - Life dictated that without knowledge of the tactics of combat by units of the Ground Forces, it would be difficult for helicopter pilots to enter into its rhythm and design. On the other hand, poor knowledge of army aviation tactics by commanders of ground forces and airborne forces leads to mistakes in interaction with pilots. And these mistakes, especially in a combat situation, result in losses.

Losses: this is what this man of great statesmanship could not allow. Vladimir Razenkov told how much Colonel General Pavlov did for army aviation; told what kind of person he was:

Everything that he achieved remained in the affairs of his comrades, recalls Vladimir Fedorovich. – Vitaly was an open, direct person, he did not play around with anyone, for which he often received rewards. He was not some kind of cunning, “diplomat” - no, he walked forward, and it was impossible to stop him. He could stand up for himself and for his subordinates. He somehow knew how to combine goodwill and strict demands, self-esteem and incredible simplicity in communicating with his subordinates.

He knew things about people that they did not know about themselves. And he had HIS opinion, and this, you know, is not always welcomed by his superiors.

The price of your opinion

Not always welcome? Oh, yes... In 1993, during the “October Putsch”, the military was ordered to participate in the dispersal of the Congress of People's Deputies. The “shooting of the White House” went down in Russian history not only as a political event, but also as a day that broke the careers of many officers who did not want to go against the government elected by the people. As Vitaly Yegorovich later told his friends, he removed the young pilot from the car and flew to the White House himself. He flew out, but refused to shoot at him. He referred to the fact that there were many civilians around who were worried about the outcome of the confrontation. The opponents of Colonel General Pavlov understood that they had nothing to reproach the Hero of the Soviet Union, a combat pilot and a brave man, and hid for a while. But in 2002, taking advantage of the fact that a transport helicopter with 120 servicemen on board was shot down in Chechnya, “well-wishers” provoked the resignation of the head of the Army Aviation.

“Chief of the General Staff Kvashnin and Commander of the Ground Forces Kormiltsev did not want to see me in a leadership position,” Vitaly Pavlov said in an interview. - Apparently, they reported their considerations to Minister Ivanov. He, having not yet figured out the reason for the crash of the Mi-26 helicopter near Khankala, removed me from my post. This was in Chechnya. Ivanov himself told me about this. I voluntarily resigned.

After his resignation, Vitaly Pavlov worked as deputy director of the Rostvertol helicopter plant (famous Russian Helicopters). He demonstrated to the plant’s major partners the advantages of the best Russian technology and, as he himself said, partially contributed to the fact that the new model of the Russian attack helicopter Mi-28N “Night Hunter” was put into production. The former commander was worried about the fate of Russian aviation until his last day.

He alone united all the helicopter pilots of the former Union,” said the chairman of the regional public fund for helicopter pilots, Vladimir Erema. “I don’t know another person who could replace Vitaly Yegorovich for us.”

Pavlov took part in the fate of many people. He helped someone make a military career, someone - to find a job for their son, someone - to get an apartment for their family, to get a rare medicine for their father, just to say the right word at the right time. He saved people who had stumbled from shame and resignation - and their lives were straightened out. Neither the Dushman's bullet nor the militant's missile caught up with him in the North Caucasus. At 71, he was struck down by leukemia, a malignant blood disease. On July 2, Colonel General Vitaly Egorovich Pavlov passed away.

On July 4, a funeral meeting took place in SVVAUL. Seven wreaths were taken to Moscow by funeral participants, colleagues and friends of the late commander: from the personnel, command and veterans of the school, from city authorities, from veterans of the Air Force of the PriVO. Pilots from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok, and not only pilots, but also ground forces officers, gathered for the funeral. At the funeral, according to various testimonies, there were more than 3,000 people, including representatives of the top leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense, the commander-in-chief of the country's aerospace forces, Colonel General Viktor Bondarev, the commander of the Russian Air Force, Lieutenant General Andrei Yudin, Colonel General Sergei Mayev, Hero Soviet Union, a legendary pilot in Afghanistan and Pavlov’s colleague who shared his retirement, Colonel Alexander Railyan. People came to see Pavlov off on his last journey, their names firmly inscribed in the golden books of Russia’s military successes. Funeral fireworks, helicopters in the sky over the grave... But why are all the honors given to him now? He discusses his flights with someone who is immeasurably higher than all earthly leaders.

Vitaly was a great friend,” said Vladimir Razenkov. – We knew each other for 50 years, he loved life very much, he loved the sky - he loved EVERYTHING. And he never left those who were dear to him in trouble.

Vitaly Pavlov was buried at the Troekurovskoye cemetery in Moscow. At the funeral meeting at the cemetery early. branch of the VUNTS Air Force "VVA", Colonel Asanov proposed to name the school after the Hero of the Soviet Union, a graduate of the Syzran school Vitaly Pavlov. This is the least we can do for his memory.

Vitaly Egorovich Pavlov(October 21 - July 2) - Soviet and Russian military leader, colonel general. Hero of the Soviet Union .

Biography

He graduated from secondary school (SHRM) No. 3 in the city of Chapaevsk, Kuibyshev region. He worked as a carpenter at a reinforced concrete factory.

From July 1981 to December 1982, he performed international duty in Afghanistan, where he commanded a combat helicopter regiment. He personally participated in many dangerous operations, showing an example of courage, bravery, and the ability to fully use the combat capabilities of aviation equipment and weapons. He flew 307 combat missions, flying 567 hours.

He was appointed deputy commander of the Air Force of the PriVO. Since 1987, Commander of the Air Force of the PriVO. In 1989-2002 - Commander of the Army Aviation of the Ground Forces of the Russian Armed Forces.

He was relieved of his post in connection with the crash of a Mi-26 military transport helicopter in Chechnya in August 2002, which resulted in the death of more than 120 military personnel.

He worked as deputy director of the Rostvertol helicopter manufacturing plant.

Retired Colonel General V. E. Pavlov lived in Moscow.

He died on July 2, 2016 in Moscow after a serious illness. Buried on July 6 at Troekurovskoye Cemetery

Family

Was married. Two children.

Awards

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Notes

Links

. Website "Heroes of the Country".

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Excerpt characterizing Pavlov, Vitaly Egorovich

- White! white!
This meant that Tikhon did not give him the vest he wanted. Another time he stopped and asked:
- And will she give birth soon? - and, shaking his head reproachfully, said: - Not good! Keep going, keep going.
The third time, when Prince Andrei was finishing the description, the old man sang in a false and senile voice: “Malbroug s"en va t en guerre. Dieu sait guand reviendra." [Malbroug is getting ready to go on a campaign. God knows when he will return.]
The son just smiled.
“I’m not saying that this is a plan that I approve,” said the son, “I just told you what it is.” Napoleon had already drawn up his own plan no worse than this.
“Well, you didn’t tell me anything new.” - And the old man thoughtfully said to himself in a patter: - Dieu sait quand reviendra. - Go to the dining room.

At the appointed hour, powdered and shaved, the prince went out into the dining room, where his daughter-in-law, Princess Marya, m lle Burien and the prince’s architect, who, by a strange whim, was allowed to the table, was waiting for him, although by his position this insignificant person could not count on such an honor . The prince, who firmly adhered to the differences in status in life and rarely allowed even important provincial officials to the table, suddenly proved to the architect Mikhail Ivanovich, who was blowing his nose into a checkered handkerchief in the corner, that all people are equal, and more than once inspired his daughter that Mikhail Ivanovich was nothing worse than you and me. At the table, the prince most often turned to the dumb Mikhail Ivanovich.
In the dining room, hugely high, like all the rooms in the house, the household and waiters standing behind each chair were waiting for the prince to leave; the butler, with a napkin on his hand, looked around the table setting, blinking at the footmen and constantly running his restless gaze from the wall clock to the door from which the prince was supposed to appear. Prince Andrei looked at a huge, new to him, golden frame with an image of the family tree of the Bolkonsky princes, hanging opposite an equally huge frame with a poorly made (apparently by the hand of a home painter) image of the sovereign prince in a crown, who was supposed to come from Rurik and be the ancestor Bolkonsky family. Prince Andrei looked at this family tree, shaking his head, and chuckled with the look with which one looks at a portrait that is ridiculously similar.
- How do I recognize him all over here! - he said to Princess Marya, who approached him.
Princess Marya looked at her brother in surprise. She didn't understand why he was smiling. Everything her father did aroused in her a reverence that was not subject to discussion.
“Everyone has their own Achilles’ heel,” continued Prince Andrei. - With his enormous mind, donner dans ce ridicule! [give in to this pettiness!]
Princess Marya could not understand the boldness of her brother’s judgments and was preparing to object to him, when the expected steps were heard from the office: the prince entered quickly, cheerfully, as he always walked, as if deliberately, with his hasty manners, representing the opposite of the strict order of the house.
At the same instant, the large clock struck two, and others echoed in a thin voice in the living room. The prince stopped; from under hanging thick eyebrows, lively, brilliant, stern eyes looked at everyone and settled on the young princess. At that time, the young princess experienced the feeling that the courtiers experience at the royal exit, the feeling of fear and respect that this old man aroused in all those close to him. He stroked the princess's head and then, with an awkward movement, patted her on the back of her head.
“I’m glad, I’m glad,” he said and, still looking intently into her eyes, quickly walked away and sat down in his place. - Sit down, sit down! Mikhail Ivanovich, sit down.
He showed his daughter-in-law a place next to him. The waiter pulled out a chair for her.
- Go, go! - said the old man, looking at her rounded waist. – I was in a hurry, it’s not good!
He laughed dryly, coldly, unpleasantly, as he always laughed, with only his mouth and not his eyes.
“We need to walk, walk, as much as possible, as much as possible,” he said.
The little princess did not hear or did not want to hear his words. She was silent and seemed embarrassed. The prince asked her about her father, and the princess spoke and smiled. He asked her about mutual acquaintances: the princess became even more animated and began to talk, conveying her bows and city gossip to the prince.
“La comtesse Apraksine, la pauvre, a perdu son Mariei, et elle a pleure les larmes de ses yeux, [Princess Apraksina, poor thing, lost her husband and cried all her eyes out,” she said, becoming more and more animated.
As she perked up, the prince looked at her more and more sternly and suddenly, as if having studied her sufficiently and formed a clear concept about her, he turned away from her and turned to Mikhail Ivanovich.
- Well, Mikhaila Ivanovich, our Buonaparte is having a bad time. How Prince Andrei (he always called his son that in the third person) told me what forces were gathering against him! And you and I all considered him an empty person.
Mikhail Ivanovich, who absolutely did not know when you and I said such words about Bonaparte, but understood that he was needed to enter into a favorite conversation, looked at the young prince in surprise, not knowing what would come of it.

Heroes of the Soviet Union

Pavlov Vitaly Egorovich

Vitaly Egorovich Pavlov - Soviet and Russian military leader, Colonel General. Hero of the Soviet Union. Vitaly Egorovich was born on October 21, 1944 in the village of Belovolovichi, Trubchevsky district, Bryansk region. From an early age he experienced hard peasant labor. He graduated from the 10th grade of secondary school for working youth No. 3 in the city of Chapaevsk, Kuibyshev, now Samara region. He worked as a carpenter at a reinforced concrete products factory. In the Soviet Army since 1962. In the same year he entered and in 1965 graduated from the Syzran Military Aviation School of Pilots. As one of the best graduates, he was retained as an instructor pilot in the aviation unit of the city of Pugachev.

In 1972-76 studied at the Air Force Academy named after Yu.A. Gagarin, after graduating from which he returned to the Syzran regiment of his native school as a squadron commander. Then he was appointed deputy commander of a helicopter regiment in the Kalinov garrison near the city of Sambir outside Lvov in the Carpathian Military District. And then in 1979 he was appointed commander of the newly formed helicopter regiment in Berdichev on the basis of an old airfield abandoned after the war.

The airfield was located 8 kilometers from the city, and the regiment commander lived at the other end, on Red Mountain. But at 7 o’clock in the morning Vitaly Yegorovich was already at the unit’s location.

In the new regiment he was met by only 8 servicemen in military uniform, and about 80 people were in civilian clothes. They were called up for service from the Smolensk Polytechnic Institute, and they were already retraining as various technical specialists.

The regiment was actively formed, replenished with people and equipment. Only the commander and chief of staff knew that the regiment would be stationed south of Chita in the Trans-Baikal Military District in Khatbulak. He flew out there and was amazed by what he saw. In the field there is one hundred-meter barracks barracks, the roof of which has already sagged from old age and bad weather.

After completing the formation and training of personnel, it was ordered to conduct exercises with two squadrons during the day and one at night. The equipment in the regiment was simply excellent - Mi-8T and newer Mi-24V. Soon, Air Marshal Kutakhov thanked for the formed military unit and set the task of relocating it to Khatbulak in the distant ZabVO. And then the war began in Afghanistan. And Vitaly Egorovich was offered the position of regiment commander in the 40th Army in Afghanistan.

The command gave us two days to complete the tasks in the regiment and fly to Tashkent. He called his wife and said that he had received a new assignment to the Central Asian Military District.

Since July 1981, Colonel Vitaly Egorovich Pavlov has been the commander of the 50th mixed (“Kabul”) aviation regiment as part of the 40th Army of the Red Banner Turkestan Military District - a limited contingent of Soviet troops in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Commanding this regiment, he showed high organizational skills, talent as a military leader, and exceptional flying skill. He personally participated in many dangerous operations, showing an example of courage, bravery, and the ability to fully use the combat capabilities of aviation equipment. He has the highest degree of combat qualification - a sniper pilot. He flew 307 combat missions, flying 567 hours.

Vitaly Egorovich recalls:

“...I was nominated three times for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. However, only after returning to his homeland did he receive the Hero Star. They were awarded for military deeds. But in war, the command sometimes reconsiders its decision on awards. This happened to me too. In one case, I myself was one hundred percent to blame. I was the deputy head of the aviation operation. In addition to 140 helicopters, attack aircraft and bombers also took part in it. I also had 8 Su-25s subordinate to me, and during the operation itself I also supervised the actions of the fighter-bomber air regiment of Colonel Viktor Kot. The first four days, due to high tension and great responsibility, I myself led helicopters to drop personnel into the gorge. And then, when the units were located on the sites, paths and the landing force began combat operations, the commander of the 40th Army Air Force, General Shkanakin, and I took turns flying non-stop on the An-26 repeater aircraft and supervised the actions of aviation in that operation. One day he flew for 8-9 hours, and then I flew for 5-6 hours with a load. On the second day we changed. We watched the progress of the operation directly from the air and directed the actions of the aviation. For this, in general, I was then first nominated for the title of Hero. The documents have already been reviewed by the USSR Ministry of Defense. Soon the Pandshir operation was completed. One lieutenant colonel engineer from a higher headquarters gave a rash order and exposed the helicopter crews to anti-aircraft fire. It was his fault that people and equipment died. I couldn’t restrain myself and hit in front of everyone the culprit in the death of my subordinates, who showed themselves excellently in the battles in the gorge...”

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated March 3, 1983, for the courage and heroism shown in providing international assistance to the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, Colonel Vitaly Egorovich Pavlov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. After being replaced from Afghanistan in 1982, he was appointed commander of aviation in the group of Soviet forces in Germany.

In 1986, the brave helicopter officer graduated from the Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR named after K.E. Voroshilov. He was awarded the rank of general and in the same year appointed commander of the Air Force of the Red Banner Volga Military District.

From 1989 to 2002, Colonel General V.E. Pavlov was the first and only commander of the aviation of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of the USSR and, since 1992, of the Russian Federation in the history of army aviation. On behalf of the Government of the USSR, the Russian Federation organized and ensured the participation of Army Aviation units in the UN peacekeeping mission in Angola, Cambodia, Sierra Leone and served there itself. Over the years, Army Aviation has not lost a single pilot there, completing double or triple flying hours.

He was relieved of his post in connection with the crash of a Mi-26 military transport helicopter in Chechnya in August 2002, which resulted in the death of more than 120 military personnel.

He was repeatedly noted by the command and the government for his services to the Motherland. Awarded 8 orders and 20 medals of the USSR, the Russian Federation and other countries, including the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Star, “For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR” 3rd degree. By order of the USSR Minister of Defense of April 4, 1985 No. 104 V.E. Pavlov was enrolled as an honorary cadet of the 2nd training helicopter squadron of the Syzran regiment.

Awarded the title "Honored Military Pilot of the USSR." Honorary veteran of the Syzran Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots named after the 60th anniversary of the USSR.

Honorary citizen of the city of Syzran, Samara region.

Colonel General of the Reserve Pavlov V.E. lives in the hero city of Moscow. Married, two children.

Vitaly Egorovich made a great personal contribution to the development of helicopter sports in our country and headed the Helicopter Sports Federation. Russia in the period from 2001 to 2007.

At the conference of the FMS of Russia in 2007, Vitaly Egorovich was unanimously elected Honorary President of the Federation.

Currently works as Deputy General Director for Technical Cooperation at the Rostvertol aircraft plant.