Air University Review, May-June 1982

To Save the Pilot’s Life--Soviet Air Rescue Service

The conflict in Southeast Asia prompted the growth and development of the Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service (ARRS) of the Military Airlift Command. The successful recovery of aircrews in combat in Vietnam was enhanced by improved rescue helicopters and tactics that integrated command and control aircraft, strike aircraft, and recovery helicopters. "Of those who ejected successfully, reached the ground alive, and established radio contact, more than 80% were recovered." ¹ Today ARRS continues to train and maintain its combat readiness as a vital part of combat support operations because we learned that "combat rescue saves fighting resources."² Has this use of the helicopter in a rescue role in Vietnam been as apparent to the Soviets as was the use of the helicopter in airmobile operations?

Although not as widely publicized as their airmobile forces, the Soviets have an established and active air rescue service. Their air rescue service appears to fit the description provided in their Soviet Military Encyclopedia:

59. Aviatsionnaya Poiskova-Spasatel’Naya Sluzhba (air rescue service). A special service that organizes and conducts search and rescue of crews and passengers on piloted airborne platforms. Its missions are: to search, to render assistance, and to evacuate crews and passengers on airborne platforms in distress; to provide crews with emergency rescue equipment and equipment for self-aid and mutual aid; to train the flight crews how to act during a forced landing or abandonment of an airborne aircraft and to use emergency rescue equipment; to organize a notification system of airborne platforms in distress and the sequence for transmitting and receiving distress signals. Search and rescue operations are performed by airplanes, helicopters, ships, vessels, and ground facilities equipped with radar search apparatus and rescue equipment, by ground search teams, and by parachute landing groups. Search and evacuation of cosmonauts and descending spacecraft modules can also be entrusted to the air service. For example, the United States has an aerospace rescue service intended for search and evacuation of astronauts and spacecraft as well as for search, rescue, and evacuation of the crews and passengers of aircraft in distress.³

The Soviets have only recently started to publish significant information about their air rescue service. The fact that military and civilian aircraft losses are not reported⁴ means that most of the information on the air rescue service comes from reports and articles on training procedures and training exercises.

"To Save the Pilot’s Life," by Lieutenant Colonel G. Serebrennikov, published in the October 1971 Soviet Military Review, has been the starting point for my research. Colonel Serebrennikov discusses ejection and parachute training in Soviet Air Force units. When describing the survival kit, he points out that a chemical dye that colors the water ". . . helps the air rescue service crews locate the pilot."⁵ He indicates that all Soviet Air Force units have a special parachute rescue service that provides annual egress-type training and supervises the parachute static training and the parachute jumps made by the pilots. Colonel Serebrennikov further states that "at regular intervals air force units conduct complex drills to teach the pilots the elements of the procedures from ejection to landing and operations by search and rescue teams and aircraft."⁶

Using the definition of the Soviet air rescue service quoted earlier and the tasks of this special parachute rescue service found in Soviet Air Force units, I aimed my research at defining what survival equipment was provided and what survival techniques were taught to Soviet Air Force crew members, what aircraft and helicopters were used by the air rescue service, where air rescue service fits into the Soviet military organization, how the Soviet air rescue service would execute a rescue mission to recover a downed pilot, and what operational techniques they used. Underlying all my effort was an attempt to determine the combat rescue role, if any, of the Soviet air rescue service.

Survival Equipment and Training

In the book MiG Pilot, Lieutenant Viktor Belenko tells of an event that occurred prior to his defection in 1976:

Sometime back a pilot had parachuted from a disabled plane into a remote wilderness, where he eventually died of privation and hunger. Hunters who came upon the skeleton many months later found a diary in which the pilot recorded his suffering and complained about the lack of any equipment that might have enabled him to survive in the wilderness. The last entry read, "Thank you, Party, for taking such good care of Soviet pilots." Soon combat pilots were issued pistols and their aircraft equipped with survival kits containing food, water, medicine, fishing gear, flares, matches, a mirror, and shark repellant.⁷

These initial survival kits were a permanent issue-type item. However, after a pilot used his pistol to commit murder, the pistols were recalled and only issued for the duration of the flight.⁸ Lieutenant Belenko does not provide an accurate time reference of the first survival kit issued to Soviet pilots, but in 1970 a Soviet article discussed survival kits in ejection-equipped aircraft and described the contents as follows:

The emergency ration includes food, medicines, radio, flares, and other means. A desert version includes a supply of water too. If the pilot is to fly over the sea, he will inevitably wear a life jacket carrying a special chemical dye that colours the water around the pilot in bright colours.⁹

In 1978, V. Volovich, candidate of medical science (and a prolific writer on survival equipment and training) described a survival kit that was very sophisticated compared to the one described by Lieutenant Belenko:

The personal suvival kit—the NAZ—has great significance to autonomous survival. It contains a radio set and signaling resources which help the pilot to establish communication quickly and transmit his location when search airplanes and helicopters arrive. ¹⁰

The NAZ, a "pilot’s portable emergency supply kit,"¹¹ comes in a land and water version. If over water, the life raft is inflated after ejection. A distress signal from an emergency beacon is also activated upon bail out. The emergency beacon can be turned off, and then the pilot selects two-way operations. "The emergency radio (receiver-transmitter) operates in the USW [ultra short wave] band and permits contacting search aircraft and helicopters at a distance of 70 km . . . . "¹² The NAZ* includes a PSND signal cartridge (day-night flare), grenade dischargers which propel a light signal 100 meters into the air, and uranin powder which is used as a sea dye marker or a snow dye marker. The food ration contains 3500 calories along with an average water supply of 2.5 liters. Water distillation kits for ocean and sandy soil are included along with a solar water-film condenser. Matches, fuel tablets, fishing gear, cartridges for personal weapon, compass, light filter glasses, mosquito netting, plastic canteen, and a blade-saw knife make up the other miscellaneous items. The medical kit has iodine, bandages, etc., with ". . . drugs for self-help colds, gastrointestinal illnesses and injuries and decontamination means."¹³ Volovich ends his discussion of the NAZ with an observation that pilots must know how to use the equipment and that they are taught ". . . in classes so that they can overcome any difficulties."¹⁴

*It is unclear whether or not the NAZ includes a mirror. However, V. Volovich states that the mirror is a daytime signal.

What we would call emergency egress and bail out (parachute) training is the responsibility of the parachute rescue service, the PDS. The Soviet Air Force units place great emphasis on procedures and actual parachute jumps, all led and supervised by the parachute rescue service in the Soviet Air Force unit.¹⁵

The fliers study the design, functioning and principle action of the survival aids during classes. They are also taught the rules governing the use of these means. After the pilots pass a test in theory they are permitted to train on a ground ejection seat trainer (developing 8-l2g). Here the pilots get a taste of impact loads during ejection developed by explosive charge. They acquire habits essential for the recovery procedure during ejection (removal of the canopy, firing the seat charge) and after ejection (opening the clasps of the strapping system, abandoning the seat and simulation of opening of the main parachute).¹⁶

Although the primary training emphasis in published articles is on the ejection and egress followed by a parachute descent, it appears that the responsibility for teaching proper use of the NAZ and its contents is also the responsibility of the parachute rescue service. I found no other organization or training structure for teaching use of the NAZ after successful bail out. The Soviets have also publicized the extensive survival training their cosmonauts receive to prepare for the contingency of a wilderness landing where they might have to live off the land until a rescue team could reach them. Cosmonauts were pictured using the signaling devices and being picked up by hoist from an Mi-8 helicopter (NATO designation Hip).¹⁷

Volovich, who writes extensively on survival techniques,* presents the same type of basic survival information that is familiar to U.S. Air Force crew members.¹⁹ However, in an article on air crew survival, Volovich also discusses training. "If an aircrew is to acquire the skills of using survival gear and rescue resources, it must undergo training."²⁰ Citing an incident of a Soviet pilot who took too long to secure himself to the hoist cable, he faults the training. Without openly criticizing the survival equipment training program, a three-stage program is advocated. The first stage is familiarization with operational areas, survival gear, and the information on search and rescue resources, The second stage consists of hands-on training and hoist training with nets, chairs, and belts. During the third stage, the air crew would practice in natural surroundings after a simulated force landing.²¹

* V. Volovich has published articles on desert-survival techniques, Taiga (wilderness) techniques, and use of the NAZ (survival kit).¹⁸

Much of the survival information published by Volovich seems to be information that air crews should know and receive during annual survival refresher-type training along with their parachute training. In addition, Volovich implies that a better survival training program is needed. My inference may be influenced by the bias in information I had available. The bias was in favor of the fighter pilot. Since the Soviet fighter pilot gets much more coverage in articles, it is difficult to be confident of the quality of survival training that transport and helicopter air crews receive. Based on the increased information available from Soviet military writers during the last five years, it is safe to say that Soviet concern with survival and recovery of pilots who eject or crash land successfully has increased.

Air Rescue Service
Aircraft and Helicopters

My research into the aircraft and helicopters used by the Soviet air rescue service produced nothing conclusive about the aircraft used, but all indications point to the Mi-8 as the helicopter recovery vehicle. The Mi-8 has been photographed providing training for cosmonauts and performing humanitarian rescue and resupply during flooding in western Byelorussia. These photographs have appeared in Soviet Life.²² A rescue hoist is part of the Mi-8 equipment:

The multipurpose Mi-8 helicopter has won recognition of specialists in many countries, thanks to its excellent performance characteristics and simplicity of operation. It can be used for carrying passengers. . . for executing rescue operations whereby people or cargoes are picked up with the machine hovering in the air. The Mi-8 is an all-weather helicopter which can fly at any time of the day or night.²³

The Mi-8 is a twin-engined transport helicopter with five main rotor blades and three tail rotor blades. It has nonretractable gear with a steerable twin-wheel nose gear. It is all-weather with rotor blade, engine, and wind screen deicing. The Mi-8 can accommodate 24 passengers or 12 litters along with the crew of three, two pilots and a flight engineer. It is equipped with a winch to aid in loading cargo, and an electrically operated hoist can be installed in the doorway for hoist recoveries. As a luxury item, the heating system can be exchanged for a full air-conditioning system. The Mi-8 is fully instrumented and has a four-axis autopilot. Standard communication equipment includes a high-frequency transceiver, very high-frequency transceiver, radio altimeter, and an automatic radio compass. Normal range is 289 miles with a normal hovering ceiling out-of-ground effect of 2625 feet. The Mi-8 is a heavily armed helicopter.²⁴ It appears that any available helicopter can be pressed into the rescue role, depending on the circumstances; and many helicopter pilots fly a variety of missions ranging from attack to rescue.²⁵

The Mi-8 is comparable in speed and hover capability to the HH-3E but approximately 20 percent heavier. The HH-3E, Jolly Green, is equipped for air refueling, thus making its range far exceed that of the Mi-8. Our HH-53, Super Jolly, also air refuelable, exceeds the Mi-8 in speed and hover capability. The Mi-8 can be much more heavily armed than can the ARRS Jollys. Although the Soviet air rescue helicopter is very capable, the specialized development such as seen in the HH-53 is lacking.

Even more lacking in the Soviet air rescue service is a comparable aircraft to perform high altitude search and command and control missions. An early 1975 article discussed the use of the An-l4 (NATO designation, Clod) as the search vehicle equipped with special homing equipment. The An-14 is 20 knots slower than the Mi-8 and 150 knots slower than the HC-130H used by ARRS.²⁶ The An-14 was mentioned in only one article; other articles discussed transport aircraft with special homing equipment, but no specific designations were given. I found many references to an aircraft on alert along with a helicopter, but I could not reach any conclusions about what types of aircraft were being used today by the air rescue service. However, the An-l4 is inferior in all respects (speed, search equipment, navigation capability, and command and control capability), to the HC-130.

Soviet Air Rescue
Service Organization

I had difficulty determining exactly where the air rescue service fits into the Soviet Air Force organization. Although helicopters belong to Transport Aviation and Frontal Aviation, there is not a specific designation for air rescue service or for a search and rescue squadron:

The Soviets have organized their combat rotor-craft into Independent Helicopter Regiments which number two to three per Tactical Air Army (TAA). Four are located in Eastern Europe while the remainder are located in each Soviet military district.²⁷

Usually, helicopter regiments have assault and transport squadrons. The Tactical Air Army can be tailored for specific missions; thus, there is no specific organizational structure.²⁸

All TAA [Tactical Air Army] aircraft are VVS [Soviet Air Forces] assets employed in a direct support role. This integrated role with a subordinate helicopter command relationship is consistent with Soviet doctrine combined arms operations. This task organization is structured to take full advantage of the helicopter’s mobility and speed to achieve the ground commander’s objective.²⁹

The transport helicopter, in a direct support role as outlined earlier, appears to be subject to the desires of the Commander of the Air Army (or subordinate commanders) as to how an air rescue service will be organized and how it will function. Soviet articles have discussed a "search and rescue squadron" in the Central Asian Military District, while an article from the Moscow Air Defense District uses the generic term "unit." The regiments responsible for air rescue appear to have some flexibility in their organization to accomplish what appears to be a support mission of rescue. Although referring to SAR as a collateral mission, the previously referenced article indicated a requirement for both fixed-wing and rotary-wing resources to be on alert. I have no evidence as to how the fixed-wing assets are organized or from where they are tasked. The secrecy associated with aircraft incidents and the tailoring of the Tactical Air Army obscure the Soviet air rescue service organization.

The helicopter regiment designates a transport squadron (or crews from a transport squadron) to develop search and rescue expertise and operate some number of rescue-configured Mi-8 helicopters. The crews provide rescue alert coverage for military flying and civilian disasters. The fixed-wing complement is probably allocated by the Military District commander from airlift forces available to him. The fixed-wing assets provide high altitude search and control capabilities while sharing alert with the helicopters.

Soviet Air Rescue Operations

In describing a helicopter rescue training mission, Captain Yu Soldatenko writes, "The fighting men of the search and rescue service* are ready to come to the aid of persons in trouble whenever they receive the distress signal, in any weather, at any time of the night or day."³⁰ After that introduction, Captain Soldatenko describes a simulated distress message from a pilot to the command post followed by a helicopter search and rescue mission. The air rescue crew, carrying an emergency surgery brigade, was launched to an estimated ejection point. With low clouds and reduced visibility (one-half to three-quarter miles), the air rescue squadron commander proceeded toward the area and picked up the beacon of the downed pilots. En route the emergency medical care brigade (a neurosurgeon, an anesthesiologist, and an internist) set up anesthetic equipment and heart stimulation instruments. Approaching the area, guided by the directional finding compass, the air rescue helicopter descended through the clouds. After spotting a signal flare, the rescue helicopter recovered the pilots by hovering.

*Due to the various ways to translate or interpret Russian into a common U.S. military language, air rescue and search and rescue are interchangeable. Based on the Soviet encyclopedia's translation, I have used air rescue to provide continuity.

A special seat was lowered from the helicopter on a winch-operated line. The flight engineer quickly made the necessary switches on the control panel to operate the winch and lift the victims on board. Rescue work in the hover regime lasted just a minute.³¹

Although this air rescue squadron was recognized as having outstanding knowledge of the combat equipment and its use, the narrative gave no hint of any simulation of combat or use of combat equipment. No further mention was made of the medical care brigade after the pickup. Captain Soldatenko did state that the medical care brigade had performed operations and provided various medical treatments in the past. He also pointed out that the downed pilots were played by two experienced parachute jumpers with the rank of warrant officer in the Soviet Army.³²

While that exercise in the Central Asian Military District was accomplished with a single helicopter, the next example of air rescue involved a helicopter and a SAR (search and rescue) team and took place in the Moscow Air Defense District:

. . . even if there is an unforeseen emergency situation, the airmen must be sure that somebody will immediately come to their assistance. While flights are in progress, a SAR aircraft or helicopter is on alert at the airfield.³³

Launched from alert, the air rescue helicopter crew used direction-finding equipment to proceed directly to the area with the training mission of locating the survivors. The survivors’ parachute canopies had been arranged as a triangle to signal a need for food and warm clothing. Quickly spotting the panel, the air rescue commander relayed the information to the command post and then ". . . skillfully guide[d] the regiment’s SAR team to the site. . . ."

The unit pays a great deal of attention to improving the expertise of the crews participating in SAR operations. Special drills and training sessions are conducted on a regular basis here. The airmen learn to locate the site of an "accident" accurately and quickly and they learn to make a skilled assessment of it. During their training, the trainees acquire skills for rendering first aid. For example, they must be able to make an improvised lean-to out of the materials at hand and they must be able to prepare hot food.³⁴

These "airmen" may be members of a rescue group that is a part of the Soviet air rescue service. Some support is provided by Volovich:

Today’s search and rescue service is outfitted with sophisticated resources ensuring a quick search for disaster victims and delivery of rescue groups [SAR team] to the place of the incident to render assistance [first aid, build lean-to, prepare hot food] and evacuate the group.³⁵

Engineer-Colonel V. Frolov described a rescue group as being composed of a doctor and two experienced parachute jumpers.* Frolov's article was about a sea rescue in which a helicopter dropped an inflatable boat to the downed pilots, and then the rescue group jumped down to help them. All were recovered by the helicopter using the winch.³⁶

*The rescue mission that Captain Soldatenko reported used parachute jumpers to play the role of downed pilots.

The third type of air rescue mission is one in which fixed-wing aircraft provide high-altitude electrical search while the helicopter provides low-altitude visual (and electronic) search. This training exercise, reported by Lieutenant Colonel I. Osokin, began with a distress call to the command post. The search and rescue airplane was launched from a nearby field where it was on alert. Poor visibility and cloudy weather were reported by the airplane, which had climbed above the weather. The airplane located the beacon and provided coordinates to the helicopter. Because of poor visibility, the helicopter experienced navigation difficulties and arrived later than it should. Colonel Osokin described the homing capabilities of both the airplane and the helicopter used to locate the survivors’ position. He discussed the relationship between altitude and ability to receive the beacon signal. Visual search was reported as best at an altitude of 200 to 300 meters, and night visual search was conducted using special lights at an altitude of approximately 250 meters.³⁷

Colonel Osokin went to great lengths to explain how the helicopter could be directed to the survivors’ position by homing on the airplane’s radio signal transmitted when the airplane flies over the survivors’ position. This homing procedure works in weather conditions, day or night. Helicopter crews are required to familiarize themselves with the area so they can land anywhere at night in all weather conditions.³⁸

These four search and rescue training exercises present nothing new or surprising, but they do outline some standard characteristics of the Soviet air rescue service units portrayed. The aircraft radio direction-finding equipment and the helicopter recovery procedures seem similar enough to be part of a larger air rescue service. There is no indication of how these air rescue forces would be used, if used at all, in a combat role. Most likely they will be used as existing conditions permit.

Before drawing any conclusions about Soviet air rescue, one must remember that we are dependent for information on what the Soviets have cleared for release in journals for the free world. The recent increase in the number of articles indicates a desire to gain a favorable public image from the humanitarian efforts as well as provide confidence and motivation for Soviet Air Force aviators.

Traditionally, each Soviet military aircraft’s crew is charged to assist (and to rescue, if possible) the downed crew of a friendly aircraft. However, Military Districts’ Aviation Commands probably establish, organize, and task the air rescue forces from the Tactical Air Army helicopter regiments and from the airlift forces. The recovery helicopter, the Mi-8, is quite capable of performing the rescue role. The exact position of the Soviet air rescue service in the military organization within the Military District is obscured. It is part of the Military Districts’ Aviation Command structure.

Air rescue service procedures for recovering downed pilots appear normal. One item stands out, however, and that is the highly qualified medical team that accompanies the rescue helicopter, a luxury indeed in any nation. The parachute rescue service, common to all Soviet Air Force units, is responsible for training flight crews in ejection, parachuting, and survival. The base command post provides launch and mission control for the air rescue service. Included in the air rescue service are parachute landing groups that provide medical aid and assistance to the downed crew members. All of the missions of the Soviet air rescue service, as outlined by the Soviet Military Encyclopedia, are being performed by the air rescue service.

The positive influence to morale and spirit when a unit’s pilots are successfully rescued in a combat environment is hard to quantify, but the return of an experienced pilot is clearly measurable. The Soviet Air Force may be experiencing some of these positive influences in Afghanistan today. The Soviets certainly have an air rescue service organization to provide a combat recovery capability in operations such as Afghanistan. The first Soviet military pilot given the highest award of the "Hero of the Soviet Union" in Afghanistan was a helicopter pilot who rescued his comrades from a downed helicopter in a combat situation. Whether they have dedicated the resources to provide rescue coverage for Afghan forces remains to be seen. The secrecy of their activities in Afghanistan prevents the free flow of information that would confirm or deny, at the unclassified level, that the air rescue service is part of the Soviet forces deployed in Afghanistan.

Although not nearly so advanced as our Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service, the Soviet air rescue service has a potential for use in combat. The Soviet Air Force armed helicopters could provide short-range escort that would be extremely effective. The availability of combat escort and a functional air rescue service that is presently supporting military and civilian emergency recoveries makes Soviet combat rescue feasible, and, as noted earlier, apparently a part of combat activities in Afghanistan. It is possible to extrapolate a Soviet combat rescue capability that would be well-suited for a European conflict, but to do so at this time would be conjecture.

1. Tactical Air Command Manual 2-1, Tactical Air Operations (Langley AFB, Virginia: Headquarters Tactical Air Command, 15 April 1978), pp. 5-10.

2. Ibid.

3. "Air Rescue Sevice," in Soviet Military Encyclopedia, vol. I, translated by Air Force Intelligence Service, Directorate of Soviet Affairs (Boiling AFB, D.C.).

4. "High-ranking Soviet Officers Said Killed in Crash," Montgomery Advertiser, February 14, 1981, p. 4.

5. Lieutenant Colonel G. Serebrennikov, "To Save the Pilot’s Life," Soviet Military Review, October 1971, p. 29.

6. Ibid.; Lieutenant Colonel Y. Romanov, "Flyers Are Eager Athletes," Soviet Military Review, October 1975, p. 64.

7. John Barron, MiG Pilot: The Story of Viktor Belenko (New York: Reader’s Digest Press, 1980), p. 5.

8. Ibid.

9. Serebrennikov, p. 29.

10. V. Volovich, "In Unpopulated Terrain," Aviatsia I Kosomonavtika, September 1978, pp. 42-43, translated in Translations on USSR Military Affairs (JPRS), no. 1391, "Air Crew Survival Training Examined," 30 October 1978, p. 104; V. Volovich, "This Is Important to Know: Landing in the Taiga," Soviet Press Selected Translations, September 1979, p. 352.

11. V. Volovich, "Important Things to Know: A General-Purpose Means," Aviatsiya I Kosmonavtika, February 1978, translated by Air Force Intelligence Service, Directorate of Soviet Affairs (BoIling AFB, D.C.), pp. 44-45.

12. Ibid.

13. Ibid.

14. Ibid.

15. Y. Romanov, p. 64; Captain P. Seymov, "In an Extraordinary Situation," Aviatsiya I Kosmonavitka, September 1978, p. 21, translated in Translations on USSR Military Affairs (JPRS), no. 1391, "Parachute Rescue Training for Pilots," 30 October 1978, pp. 94-97.

16. Serebrennikov, p. 28.

17. "Operation Survival: A Spaceship’s Emergency Landing," Soviet Life, April 1978, pp. 4-5.

18. V. Volovich and V. Uskov, "When Surrounded by Snow and Ice," Aviatsiya I Kosmonavtika, No. 11, November 1978, translated by Air Force Intelligence Service, Directorate of Soviet Affairs (Boiling AFB, D.C.), pp. 46-47; Volovich, "Landing in the Taiga," pp. 351-54; Volovich, "A General-Purpose Means," pp. 44-45; V. Volovich and V. Uskov, "If You Find Yourself in the Desert," Aviatsiya I Kosmonavtika, No. 8, translated by Air Force Intelligence Service, Directorate of Soviet Affairs (Boiling AFB, D.C.), pp. 36-37.

19. Volovich, "A General-Purpose Means," pp. 44-45; and "Landing in the Taiga," pp. 351 -52; Seymov, "In an Extraordinary Situation," p. 21; Volovich, "In Unpopulated Terrain," pp. 42-43.

20. Volovich, "In Unpopulated Terrain," pp. 42-43.

21. Ibid., p. 105.

22. "The Flood: Rivers Break Loose in Byelorussia," Soviet Life, November 1979, p. 5; "Road to Infinity," Soviet Life, August 1978, p. 16.

23. "Helicopters Doing Civilian Jobs," Soviet Military Review, December 1976, pp. 20-21.

24. John W. R. Taylor, editor, Jane’s All The World’s Aircraft 1979-80 (New York: Franklin Watts, Inc., 1980), pp. 199-200.

25. Major A. Yurkin, "The Routes of Salimgareyev," Krasnaya Zvezda, 5 November 1977, in Translations on USSR Military Affairs (JPRS), no. 1331, "Helicopter Unit Tasks and Training Considered," 16 February 1978, pp. 3-4.

26. John W. R. Taylor, editor, Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft 1979-80, pp. 176-77.

27. The Military Balance 1979/80, cited by Captain Thomas J. McNamara, "The Soviet Helicopter Threat: Personnel, Organization, Equipment and Employment," Military Intelligence, July-September 1980, p. 22.

28. Ibid.

29. Ibid.

30. Captain Vu Soldatenko, "The Rescuers Carry on the Search," Krasnaya Zvezda, 30 June 1977, translated by Air Force Intelligence Service, Directorate of Soviet Affairs (Bolling AFB, D.C.), p. 4.

31. Ibid.

32. Ibid.

33. Lieutenant Colonel V. Seledkin, "At the First Signal," Krasnaya Zvezda, 19 March 1980, translated by Air Force Intelligence Service, Directorate of Soviet Affairs (Boiling AFB, D.C.), p. 1.

34. Ibid.

35. Volovich, "In Unpopulated Terrain," p. 104.

36. Engineer-Colonel V. Frolov, "Help Comes from the Air," Aviatsiya I Kosmonavtika, no. 9, 1975, translated by Air Force Intelligence Service, Directorate of Soviet Affairs (Boiling AFB, D.C.), pp. 26-27.

37. Lieutenant Colonel I. Osokin, "To the Rescue of a Crew," Aviatsiya I Kosmonavtika, no. 1, 1976, translated by Air Force Intelligence Service, Directorate of Soviet Affairs (Bolling AFB, D.C.), pp. 40-41.

38. Ibid.

Lieutenant Colonel Johnnie H. Hall (USAFA; M.A., Troy State University) is Chief, National Security Forum at the Air War College. His previous assignments include plans and tactical officer at McClellan AFB, California, and operations officer at the Osan AB, Korea. Colonel Hall is a graduate of Squadron Officer School, Air Command and Staff College, and Air War College.

The conclusions and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author cultivated in the freedom of expression, academic environment of Air University. They do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, the United States Air Force or the Air University.

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