1. From pishchali to multiple launch rocket systems.

2. The most complex combat complexes guarding the borders of the Russian Federation.

Russian history is rich in great achievements and discoveries in the military-technical field. The inquisitive mind of Russian masters penetrated the innermost secrets of nature, absorbed all the best from world practice and created their own, domestic, unique. Thanks to the selfless work of Russian scientists, engineers, and designers, our army has something to defend the freedom and independence of the Motherland.

1

When we talk about weapons, we most often refer to supersonic stealth fighters, anti-aircraft missile systems, nuclear-powered submarines, tanks, IFVs, and other complex combat systems. As a rule, we do not mention small arms. Meanwhile, no army could and will not be able to do without it in the foreseeable future.

For a long time in Russia, the main weapon remained the straight Russian sword, glorified by the storytellers of epics as a heroic weapon. Russian masters even managed to make changes to the traditional design of the sword, increasing its combat power. However, the fight against numerous opponents of Russia, who tried to seize its lands, required the improvement of weapons. And already in the chronicle of the Pusta of a certain Holy Trinity Monastery in 1378, it tells about " shooting fire and the deeds of the Spichkovs."

In Russia, firearms (both manual and artillery) were initially called the same-pishchal. A significant difference in the design arose only with the appearance of wick locks at the end of the XV century. Up to the 40s of the XIX century, the main type of small arms in Russia, as in most states, were smooth-bore muzzle-loading flintlock rifles, although since the XVI century, screw-threaded rifles (fittings) were also known. But they, having advantages in range and accuracy of fire, were inferior in rate of fire, cost more and required more careful care. Only with the advent in the second half of the XIX century of capsule locks and new bullets of the fitting began to be widely used in the infantry.

In 1856, in Russia, rifled weapons received the official name-rifle. But more than a decade passed before the Russian army switched to a five-shot three-line (7.62 mm) magazine rifle of the 1891 model, developed by the Russian designer Staff Captain S. I. Mosin. For the creation of this rifle, which was distinguished by excellent technical characteristics, he was awarded the Grand Mikhailovsky Prize - the most prestigious award for inventions in the field of artillery and weapons. The rifle really turned out to be so successful that it was successfully used in both the Russian and Soviet armies. Only in 1944, the production of the rifle was discontinued. Thus, more than 50 years passed from the first sample made at the Tula plant on April 16, 1891, to the last one. No small arms system in the world has ever known such longevity.

Because of the desire to further increase the rate of fire, the design idea turns to the creation of new weapons-machine guns and submachine guns. The founder of the Russian school of automatic weapons is considered to be V. G. Fedorov. He designed a 7.62 mm automatic rifle in 1912, and in 1916 the world's first 6.5 mm automatic rifle cartridge. Fedorov's automatic weapons were used in the First World War and the Civil War.

In the pre-war years, the Red Army received a series of machine guns made by Fyodorov's students: the heavy machine gun of V. A. Degtyarev and T. S. Shpagin - DShK, the submachine gun of Degtyarev-PPD, the submachine gun of Shpagin - PPSh.

The patriarch of Russian weapons is considered a talented and original designer F. V. Tokarev. He created about 150 different types of weapons. Interesting is the history of the creation of the TT pistol in the pre-war years. Design tests were conducted in 1931. Along with the domestic ones, 17 best foreign systems were tested. Colts misfired, Mauser barrels exploded, and the TT continued to shoot flawlessly. By all parameters, it was recognized as the best. But the main achievement in Tokarev's creative life is his automatic rifle. The designer worked on its creation for 30 years. In 1938, it was adopted by our army.

The A. I. Sudaev submachine gun (PPS) became widely known during the Great Patriotic War. It is considered to be the best submachine gun of the Second World War period. Not a single sample could compare with it in terms of simplicity of the device, reliability, trouble-free operation, ease of operation. Sudayevsky weapons were very much loved by paratroopers, tankers, scouts, and cross-country skiers.

During the war years, the talent of M. T. Kalashnikov was revealed, whose handiwork became a symbol of modern design ideas in the field of small arms. Simple, unpretentious and powerful AK, which is more than half a century old, and today eclipses the glory of foreign developments. Only officially, the AK - 47 was adopted in 55 countries of the world, it is depicted in the national coats of arms of 6 states. In total, about 100 million AK units were produced.

But the design idea does not stand still. Since 1993, the technical intelligence of the US Marine Corps has been making efforts to unravel the secrets of the AN - 94 assault rifle. The creator of this truly unique weapon, G. N. Nikonov, managed to increase the effectiveness of fire in comparison with the Kalashnikov several times. If we consider that an increase in efficiency of even a few percent is considered a great achievement, then it is clear how confused the technical intelligence services of many countries are. In the near future, the Russian army will receive this" superautomat " of the XXI century. And in the design bureaus of Tula, Izhevsk, Kovrov, Klimovsk, the development of new shooting complexes continues.

Russian artillery has a remarkable history, the appearance of which is associated with the name of Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy. It was under him that the cannon and foundry business was born. The chronicle mentions that when defending Moscow from the hordes of Tokhtamysh (1382) from the walls of the Kremlin, the enemy was beaten with "mattresses" (firearms that shoot stone or metal shot) and cannons.

In the middle of the XV century, under Grand Duke Ivan III, "cannon huts" - foundries - were organized in Russia, and in 1488-1489 a Cannon Yard was built in Moscow. In the workshops of the Cannon Yard, the remarkable cannon and bellmaker Andrey Chekhov cast the largest cannon in the world in caliber in 1586. The Tsar Cannon is still located on the territory of the Moscow Kremlin.

At the beginning of the XVII century, Russian craftsmen made a three-inch bronze squeaker with cuts in the barrel channel. The squeaker was loaded from the breech and closed with a wedge bolt. It was the world's first rifled gun, more than 200 years ahead of the development of artillery technology in other countries.

A major contribution to the development of Russian artillery was made by P. I. Shuvalov. Under his leadership, Russian artillery officers M. Danilov, M. Zhukov, M. Martynov, I. Meller, M. Rozhnov in 1757 - 1759 developed several samples of smooth-bore howitzers for firing flat and mounted fire. These weapons with the image of a mythical beast with a horn in its forehead were called "unicorn". Unicorns were adopted by a number of European countries and have been in service for over 100 years.

In 1872-1877, artillery engineer B. C. Baranovsky created the first rapid-fire artillery gun and used it to load cartridges. None of the foreign guns could surpass the domestic three-inch cannon of the 1902 model, created according to Baranovsky's ideas by Professor N. A. Zabludsky of the Mikhailovsky Artillery Academy.

Artillery was called the "God of war" during the Great Patriotic War. Soviet designers of artillery systems before the war created quite powerful and sophisticated guns and mortars. Professor Wolf, Hitler's artillery consultant, considered the 76-mm gun designed by V. G. Grabin to be "the best 76-mm gun of the Second World War" and one of the "most ingenious designs in the history of barrel artillery". Under Grabin's leadership, a 57 - mm anti-tank gun was created before the war, which knew no equal, as well as a powerful 100-mm anti-tank gun. The 152-mm howitzer designed by F. F. Petrov was very effective during the war.

Undying glory during the war years covered themselves with Guards mortar units, which were armed with BM - 13 rocket artillery combat vehicles ("Katyusha 9"). High efficiency, the characteristic sound of volleys of new weapons at that time terrified the enemy. At the origins of the creation of this powerful weapon were N. I. Tikhomirov and V. A. Artemyev. In 1939, it was first used in the form of aviation rocket shells. On July 14, 1941, a rocket launcher mounted on the chassis of a ZIS - 5 truck was given a baptism of fire near the city of Orsha.

After the Great Patriotic War, A. N. Ganichev revived and defended multiple launch rocket systems, in the effectiveness of which at some stage few people believed, A. N. Ganichev. He proposed new approaches and original technical solutions in the design of unguided rockets, new technologies for creating jet engines and warheads. In 1963, our army adopted the Grad divisional rocket system with a firing range of more than 20 km, a caliber of 122 mm and 40 guides. It gave an impetus to the intensive development of multiple launch rocket systems not only in our country, but also around the world. However, Ganichev's creative thought was directed to the future. Even when the production of "Grad" was just beginning, the designer proposed a highly efficient 200-mm army system "Hurricane" with 16 guides. He also had ideas about creating a 300-mm MLRS with a range of up to 70 km. However, Ganichev's student, G. Denezhkin, had to complete work on Smerch. Today, this system has no analogues in the world. Its salvo of 12 rounds covers an area of 800 by 900 meters and is capable of completely destroying a motorized infantry company in the area of concentration.

Modern missile systems, multiple launch rocket systems and artillery systems "Smerch", "Uragan", "Grad", "Meta", "Hyacinth", "Acacia" - a terrible warning to our likely opponents.

2

Very interesting is the history of the creation of the tank. It is noteworthy that Russian engineers and designers also contributed to the development of this type of weapon. So, in 1911-1915, V. D. Mendeleev, the son of a great Russian chemical scientist, proposed projects for an armored combat vehicle. He developed several variants of "land cruisers"in detail. In 1915, the Russian designer A. Porokhovshchikov built and tested a prototype of an all-terrain vehicle armed with two machine guns placed in a rotating turret. Since then, Russian tank builders have successfully competed with foreign ones in creating armored combat vehicles.

On December 19, 1939, the legendary T-34 was adopted in our army. Who would have guessed that this tank would become the most massive armored vehicle in the world! The T-34 turned out to be the only type of tank that, being created before the war, was not morally obsolete throughout the Great Patriotic War, moreover, it remained a first-class combat vehicle even after the war. The legendary thirty-four participated in the defeat of the Kwantung Army of militaristic Japan. As part of the armed forces of the DPRK and China, it successfully fought in Korea in 1950-1953, took part in the Arab-Israeli wars in 1956 and 1967, in the Indo-Pakistani wars in 1965 and 1971, and at various times fought in Cuba, Angola, Libya, Vietnam, and Afghanistan.. And the creator of this miracle machine was a team of designers led by M. I. Koshkin. By the optimal combination of combat properties - firepower, armor protection and mobility, as well as by simplicity of design, manufacturability - the thirty-four has become a role model for many years.

Together with the T-34, our KB and IS heavy tanks also successfully operated against the enemy. The creator of these wonderful machines was J. Y. Kotin. It is significant that the German command did not recommend tank crews to enter into direct fire contacts with the IS-2.

In the post-war years, under Kotin's leadership, the LT-76 floating tank was created, as well as a whole family of tracked chassis for transporting missiles. The development of a new generation tank was also started, which was completed later by the creation of one of the best modern T-72 tanks. This tank, which has become a whole epoch in the domestic and world tank building, was developed and put into mass production by the heads of the design bureau L. Kartsev and V. Benediktov. T-72 in many local conflicts confirmed the status of one of the best and almost a quarter of a century dominates the armies of many countries of the world.

The new Russian tank developed by the team of the design bureau under the leadership of V. Potkin is the T-90s rocket and gun. "Umnitsa", "Sniper" - this is what tankers sometimes call this car. It incorporated all the best engineering solutions embodied in the T-72 and T-80. At the same time, each of its nodes and systems has a new quality. According to some media reports, the Americans at one of the weapons exhibitions refused to put up their vaunted Abrame for a full-time "duel" against our tank.

Russia's achievements in the field of aircraft construction are widely known around the world. Back in 1876, the researcher and inventor of heavier-than-air aircraft, A. F. Mozhaisky, publicly demonstrated the flights of his models. And in 1882, he built an" aeronautical projectile " in full size, which was more than 10 to 15 years ahead of foreign competitors.

The use of aviation during the First World War determined the importance of the aircraft as a new, powerful combat vehicle. And even then, German aircraft were not recommended to engage the Russian Ilya Muromets alone. With the creation of the "Russian Knight", "Ilya Muromets", "Svyatogor", Russia won the right to be called the birthplace of multi-engine aircraft.

The talent of our aircraft designers was revealed with special force during the Great Patriotic War. Soviet designers S. V. Ilyushin, S. A. Lavochkin, A. I. Mikoyan, V. M. Myasishchev, V. M. Petlyakov, P. O. Sukhoi, A. N. Tupolev, A. S. Yakovlev and others played a great role in achieving victory over the enemy. In many respects, the machines they created were superior to the aircraft in service with Nazi Germany.

The real masters of the sky at the last stage of the war were the famous La-5, La-7, created in the design bureau of S. A. Lavochkin. The fighters of A. S. Yakovlev performed well. So, the pilots of the famous squadron "Normandie-Neman" from the proposed American, British cars chose the Yak-3.The" Black Death " was called by the Fascist invaders the famous Il-2 attack aircraft created by S. V. Ilyushin. And his Il-4 bomber became the main machine of Soviet long-range aviation. It was these planes that bombed Berlin, Danzig and other German military facilities in 1941.

In the post-war years, our designers actively worked on the creation of jet aircraft. Their talent and energy created powerful and surprisingly beautiful, high-altitude and all-weather, with huge speeds, capable of overcoming long distances aircraft that brought glory to our Fatherland. Far beyond its borders, the famous MiGs and Su are known today.

What the Su - 30K can do in the air delights and surprises even seasoned pilots. Under the guidance of Chief Designer E. Yemelyanov created an aircraft that has no equal in the world. It is even difficult to compare it with a specific foreign aircraft. He alone can solve the tasks that are solved by the F-15 fighter, the F-15E fighter - bomber, the A-10 attack aircraft, and the F-111 bomber. The capabilities of the Su-35 multirole fighter are also unique. The chief designer of this machine is N. F. Nikitin. Suffice it to say that no fighter in the world carries as many missiles as the Su-35 - fourteen, and its bomb load reaches 8 tons.

55 world records of speed, altitude and rate of climb, many of which are not surpassed, are set on aircraft created at the A. I. Mikoyan Design Bureau. Almost 200 MiGs of various classes and purposes were designed with the direct participation of the General designer of ANPK "MIG" R. Belyakov. Two decades have passed since the creation of the MiG-29, and it still meets the best world standards. It is impossible not to recall the handsome MiG-AT-a new generation training aircraft. According to experts, it is 5 - 8 years ahead of the world level in this class. The unique characteristics of the machine allow you to train pilots to pilot almost any fighter in the world.

There are many other developments in aviation technology in Russia that we can be proud of. So, only our country has ekranoplanes. The unique equipment created in the design bureau of R. E. Alekseev has a displacement of more than 500 tons and a flight speed of 400 - 500 km/h. The ekranoplane is capable of delivering cargo and carrying out landing operations, conducting rescue and research work.

Our Ka-50 anti-tank helicopter, called the "Black Shark", also has no analogues in the world. Created under the guidance of general designer S. Mikheev, it is capable of detecting and destroying a tank-type target at night at a range of up to 5,000 meters. Kamov has also created a number of other promising rotorcraft: the multi-purpose, all-weather, two-seat Ka-52 Alligator, for fire support, rapid delivery of paratroopers, weapons, ammunition and other cargo to the combat area-the Ka-60 Kasatka for early detection of low-flying targets and surface ships at long-range borders Ka-31. These helicopters will take their rightful place among the army aviation vehicles. They have indisputable advantages over the best foreign models.

With the advent of aircraft, the armed forces of the warring parties faced the task of repelling the enemy's air attack, covering their troops from air strikes.

A. A. Raspletin's role in the development of defensive air defense systems is comparable to the role played by Kalashnikov in the development of small arms. Under his leadership, the first Russian S-25 anti-aircraft missile defense system was created in a short time. In May 1955, it was put into service. Raspletin at this time hatched plans to create a new, even more modern S-75 complex. It was he who destroyed the U-2 high-altitude spy plane piloted by American pilot Powers on May 1, 1961. The S-75 air defense system performed well in Vietnam. In total, during the Vietnam War, this complex hit more than 4,000 US Air Force aircraft, including several dozen B-52 strategic bombers.

Then there were the S-725s, S-200s, and S-300s. Work on the multi-channel S-300 air defense system had to be completed by Raspletin's colleagues and students. First of all, B. V. Bunkin. The S-300PMU - 1 anti - aircraft missile system makes it possible to effectively deal with all enemy means of attack, including "invisible" and "tomahawks". The S - 300V complex, developed by the Electromechanical Research Institute headed by V. Yefremov, has even higher technical and combat characteristics. This air defense system can fire up to 24 targets with up to four missiles aimed at each from two installations. A high degree of automation allows you to start combat work within 5 minutes after the march. This system will surpass its foreign counterparts for a long time, but the S-400 is already on the way. It demonstrates its enormous capabilities during state tests. The system has good noise immunity and mobility. The S-400 is a high-end defensive weapon of the 21st century.

Unfortunately, the volume of the article does not allow us to tell about all the outstanding scientists, designers and their wonderful creations, which we can be proud of. Among them are the world-class Tu-160 supersonic missile carrier, the A-40 Albatross amphibious aircraft, the Piranha ultra-small submarine, the Tor-M! air defense system of the Ground Forces, and many, many others. Our ship and rocket builders deserve a separate discussion. But even this short story clearly shows how rich our country is with talented people. Their asceticism and selfless work allow us to have such models of weapons and military equipment that no other army in the world has.

The task of the soldiers of the army and navy is to study these weapons in good faith, so that the Russian army enters the new century mobile and strong, capable of performing any tasks to protect the interests of our state.