Automobile Troops of the Russian Federation (official abbreviation AB Russian Armed Forces) are an association in the Armed Forces. They are intended for the transportation of personnel, the supply of food, fuel, ammunition and other materiel that are necessary for the conduct of hostilities. In addition, automobile troops are used to evacuate the sick, wounded, and equipment. They also transport other units that do not have their own transport.
The automobile troops of Russia consist of formations, units, institutions, and administration. They can be part of units and structures of a combined arms nature, types of armed forces, types of troops, or form separate automobile formations and units.
History of Automobile Troops: Tsarist Russia
The first automobile teams of the Russian imperial army appeared in 1906. They became part of the engineering troops. It was they who served as the prototype of the modernautobat. Four years later, on May 29, 1910, the first educational author was created in St. Petersburg. Today this date is celebrated as the Day of the Automobile Troops. A few months later, an automobile department of the Department of Military Communications of the Main Directorate of the General Staff was created. The first regular autorots appeared in the spring of 1911, at the same time the first truck rally was organized, which was planned to be put into service. Passenger cars were tested the following year.
World War I
Before the start of the war, in 1914, the Russian army consisted of five autorots, armed with 418 trucks and 259 cars. Despite their small numbers, as well as disgusting roads, motor transport played a big role in this war. As a result, the automobile troops were able to prove their worth. They were used to deliver military supplies, the wounded, personnel, as well as mobile machine-gun and artillery points. At the same time, vehicles began to wear armor. So the first armored cars appeared. In the Russian army, there were 400 units, they were consolidated into 50 armored detachments, which successfully fought on the battlefields. By the beginning of the October Revolution, there were about ten thousand vehicles in the army, which amounted to 22 autorots.
Soviet time: civil war
Automotive equipment was widely used during the civil war. So, in August 1918, the Council of People's Commissars adopted a special resolution, as a resultof which half of the country's cars were transferred to the military department. By the end of the year, the Red Army numbered four thousand vehicles, and in 1920 - seven and a half thousand. Some of them were automobile detachments, and some were transferred to the troops. Replenishment of the fleet occurred at the expense of trophies. The main task of this type of troops was the transportation of goods over long distances and for the operational transfer of personnel. In addition, weapons were often mounted on cars - cannons and machine guns. In addition, vehicles were used as an ambulance, headquarters and for radio communications.
Red Army: before the Second World War
After the end of hostilities in the Red Army, the renovation of worn-out vehicles begins. The first domestic car that entered the troops was the AMO F-15 truck. During the same period, training motor transport battalions (consisting of five companies) began to form in each military district. In 1933, the first mechanical corps was created, which became the world's first mobile unit, all weapons and equipment of which had mechanical traction. Statewide, it provided for more than two hundred cars. And by 1936, four such corps had already been formed as part of the Red Army.
Industrial Revolution
Industrialization took place at a fast pace in the young Soviet state, among other things, old automobile plants were reconstructed and new ones were built. After updating the technical base of the AMO and renaming it to the plant named after. Stalin, it produces three-ton trucksZIS-5. At the same time, the production of the legendary GAZ-AA lorry began at the new Gorky plant. As a result, the automotive troops are equipped with modern technology, in addition, service management is being improved in them. Initially, they were subordinated to the Main Military Engineering Directorate, in 1924 the GVIU was transformed into the Military Technical Supply Directorate of the Red Army, and in 1929 the Directorate of Motorization and Mechanization was created under the People's Commissariat of Defense. In 1935, the next reorganization of the UMM into the Armored Directorate takes place, and in 1939 - into the Main Armored Directorate.
The Great Patriotic War
The Great Patriotic War became a new stage in the development of automobile troops. The rapid change in the operational situation, the growing dynamism of the conduct of hostilities necessitated the transfer in the shortest possible time of a large amount of materiel and army personnel. All this required an increase in the number of automobile troops and a more perfect form of their organization. As a result, in July 1941, a road administration was created, which was subordinate to the rear of the Red Army. Such departments are created under the administrations of all fronts. The number of vehicles in the ranks of the Red Army during this period amounted to 272,600 units. They were based on passenger cars GAZ-61 and GAZ-M1, as well as trucks and special vehicles based on GAZ-AA, GAZ-AAA, GAZ-MM, ZIS-6 and ZIS-5. In the first months of the war, the automobile troops suffered catastrophic losses both in personnel and in materiel. These losses were partly offset bymobilization of equipment from sectors of the national economy, and partly through the production of new ones, however, due to the occupation of the industrial regions of the country, the total production was low. In addition, the recruitment of detachments occurred as a result of the supply of equipment from abroad. In addition, captured vehicles were widely used (in the period from 1942 to 1943, the Red Army got 123 thousand cars as trophies). All this made it possible to significantly increase the possibilities of military transportation. Immediately after the end of hostilities, there were more than 664,000 vehicles in the army, of which 33 percent were Lend-Lease equipment, and 10 percent were captured. During the Second World War, tens of thousands of battalion fighters were awarded state awards, and many received the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Post-war
After the end of the Second World War, the issue of equipping the army with all-wheel drive vehicles, including special-purpose vehicles, became acute. In this regard, from the end of the forties, Soviet industry began producing army vehicles that had a 6x6 ZIS-151 wheeled platform. In 1953, the first ZIL-157 and ZIL-164 rolled off the assembly lines of the Likhachev plant, and the Gorky plant began production of the GAZ-53. In the period of the sixties - seventies of the twentieth century, work continues on equipping the automobile troops with new types of equipment. So, UAZ-469, Ural-375, GAZ-66, ZIL-131 are coming into service. In 1975, an automobile service was created in the Soviet army, which was colloquially nicknamed "autobat" almost immediately. In the sameyear, the first representatives of the Kama Automobile Plant, KAMAZ-5310, enter the troops.
Afghan war
At the beginning of this military conflict, the transportation of materiel to the troops of the fortieth army was carried out by thirteen automobile battalions. Thus, delivery was carried out by automobile columns, which included flatbed trucks (up to fifty units) and support vehicles (up to ten units). In addition, they included refrigerators. Movement was carried out only during daylight hours. The columns were guarded by infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers and ZSU. During the period of hostilities in Afghanistan, a lot of cargo was transported by autobattalion, the total weight of which amounted to more than ten million tons. In 1987, another reorganization took place, and the automobile troops became subordinate to the Central Automobile and Road Administration of the Ministry of Defense (TsDA). They have a fairly branched structure. Now the military units of different branches of the armed forces have received their units, which provide transportation of personnel and military cargo. The most powerful means of transporting vehicles on an operational and strategic scale have become special automobile brigades, which are under front, army and central subordination.
New time
In 2000, by order of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Day of the military motorist was established. This holiday is celebrated by autobat soldiers throughout the country. In St. Petersburg, in Moscow and other cities of Russia, the automobile troops accept congratulations on May 29. On this daysoldiers-motorists hear words of gratitude from their relatives and command. In addition, it is customary to congratulate reserve officers and veterans who served in the autobattalion of the Russian Federation on the Day of the military motorist. In 2010, this branch of the military celebrated its 100th anniversary. An exhibition was timed to coincide with the holiday in the city of Bronnitsy (Moscow Region). Here were presented cars that today are in service with modern parts of the autobat.
Is autobat service easy?
Today, many conscripts seek to get into this service, and most of them for some reason consider it easier compared to other military units. However, repaying a debt to the Motherland in an autobat is not at all easier, and at times much more difficult, than in other troops. Not everyone can withstand the frequent marching of military transport columns, in addition, one should take into account the main direction of the type of troops to which this automobile unit is attached. For example, an autobattalion as part of the engineering troops is constantly involved in building pontoon crossings, and this is a very difficult task.
Training of officers for the automotive troops is carried out in military engineering schools and academies, because a special school for the automotive troops simply does not exist. In addition, six civilian universities in Russia have military departments specializing in this area.
The emblem of the Russian automobile troops and other paraphernalia
The uniform of this type of troops is combined arms. Distinctivebadges are chevrons and buttonholes and the emblem of the automobile troops. The photo provided in this article demonstrates this attribute. The flag of the automobile troops is a black panel, on which a chevron emblem is applied, framed by a St. George ribbon, as well as the motto: “The automobile troops are always ready to throw.”
