Corruption, low rates of rearmament, inconsistency of reforms, lack of qualified personnel - the military topography in Russia approached its bicentenary with the same list of problems as the entire Russian army.

The sharp decline in army funding in the early 90s and subsequent personnel cuts had a strong impact on the ability of the military topographic service to carry out ongoing work and on re-equipment plans. The first to suffer was the most labor-intensive and, accordingly, financially expensive part of the work of topographers - updating maps.

Irreversible aging processes

According to Soviet instructions, updating maps of the most important inhabited areas should be carried out at intervals of six to eight years. For others – 10–15 years. The huge size of the country did not allow these standards to be maintained even in Soviet times. Only maps of the border regions of the Soviet Union were regularly updated. Strict requirements were imposed on the quality of their renovation. Control, in addition to the topographical units of the military district that carried out the work, was carried out by the Military Topographical Directorate of the General Staff and the headquarters of the border districts that were part of the KGB of the USSR. The areas of deployment and possible combat operations of foreign contingents of the Soviet army were also carefully mapped: Groups of Soviet Forces in Germany, Central (Czechoslovakia), Northern (Poland) and Southern (Hungary) groups of forces. The quality of these cards is still highly appreciated by professionals.

“Now anyone can purchase at least outdated, but officially still secret Soviet topographic maps via the Internet”

Maps of the interior regions of the country were updated at intervals of at best once every 10 years. In Soviet times, these included the entire territory of the European part of Russia, except for the Kaliningrad region and the section of the border from the Gulf of Finland to the Barents Sea, and the entire North Caucasus, including, for example, the territory of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. As for hard-to-reach remote areas, large-scale topographic maps for them were updated only by separate orders of the General Staff. At the same time, according to experts, the annual aging of a topographic map at a scale of 1:50,000 is up to three percent, and its discrepancy with the terrain over 10–15 years can reach 40 percent. Lack of funding in the 90s led to the fact that planned map updates were suspended.

The crisis of military topography clearly manifested itself just a few years after the collapse of the USSR - during the war in Chechnya.

Tourist scheme for military activities

By the beginning of the Chechen war of 1994–1996, the troops had a 1:50,000 scale map of the territory of the republic - the main working map for tactical officers. It was compiled based on the results of map updates carried out in the period 1982–1984. The next update was planned for 1992–1994. For obvious reasons (the general financial crisis and the transition of the Chechen Republic to the control of the separatists), it was not carried out.

With detailed plans of settlements the situation was even worse. The 1:5000 scale plan of the city of Grozny, available at the General Staff, was drawn up in 1979. It was missing many key objects built later, including the State Bank buildings, the complex of buildings of the Chechen Pedagogical Institute, the road junction on Oktyabrskaya Square (Minutka), etc. During the assault, a fierce struggle broke out for these objects. As a result, the most relevant cartographic material at the disposal of Russian troops for the city of Grozny was the tourist map of the city, released in 1987.

Of course, the high losses suffered by the federal group during the assault on the city are explained by a variety of reasons, primarily a general underestimation of enemy forces, poor combat training of Russian troops, and errors in planning the operation. However, some of the losses could have been avoided if the troops had modern maps. As the territory of the republic came under the control of federal forces, military topographers updated 1:50,000 scale maps of the territory of the Chechen Republic. It was completed by mid-1996. Thanks to this work, during the second Chechen war of 1999–2009, the troops had significantly fewer complaints about the quality of maps.

Topographers go into civilian life

In addition to the planned map updates, the technical re-equipment of the topographic service was also curtailed. Although geographic information systems developed for the needs of the military were tested, they did not appear in service in the 90s. The same fate befell automated topographic complexes.

Collage by Andrey Sedykh

The most ambitious project - the GLONASS system, originally created for military needs, was officially put into operation on September 24, 1993 with an orbital constellation of 12 satellites. In December 1995, the satellite constellation was expanded to its full complement of 24 satellites. However, in addition to the lack of funding, the technical disadvantage of Soviet satellites also affected - low resource. By 2001, the number of operating satellites was reduced to six and the system lost the ability to function effectively. In fact, GLONASS had to be deployed anew. There was no longer any talk of introducing satellite navigation devices into the troops - there were no funds to establish their mass production and purchase by the army. The main problem for the topographic service was the personnel problem.

The low level of wages caused a rapid outflow of highly qualified specialists into the civilian sphere. By the end of the 90s, the military topographic service in Russia had practically lost the ability to provide the army with modern cartographic information.

In contrast to military, civil cartography in Russia has developed quite successfully all these years due to the growing market demand for cartographic products. The emergence of private ownership of real estate has caused an increase in the need for large-scale cadastral plans of settlements. The development of cellular communication networks has entailed the need to digitize and partially update maps at a scale of 1:100,000 for the entire more or less inhabited territory of the country in order to plan the development of a network of base stations.

"Portable" market capture

Due to the stagnation of the GLONASS program, the Russian market has been captured by portable navigation devices based on the American GPS system. To create navigation maps for them, in 2005–2011, 1:25,000 scale maps of all settlements were converted into digital format, and road graphs were drawn up for almost the entire road network of the country. The demand for the creation of other types of modern cartographic products has also increased - digital orthophotomaps, three-dimensional terrain models, etc. In accordance with market demands, civilian companies have been technically re-equipped. Firstly, geographic information systems (GIS), such as Panorama, which were originally developed for the military, were adapted for civilian needs. Over the 90–2000s, the GIS “Panorama”, without any government investment, underwent significant evolution and today is practically not inferior in capabilities to the best Western GIS developed by ERDAS. Geodetic companies have received modern equipment: high-precision satellite geodetic devices Javad GNSS, phototheodolites, laser range finders, electronic total stations, laser scanning devices, high-resolution digital aerial cameras, hyperspectral cameras, thermal imagers, etc. Civil companies have the opportunity to purchase high-resolution satellite images from Western suppliers. The technical equipment of the military topographic service of the Armed Forces remained at the level of the 80s at best.

This has led to the fact that the capabilities of civilian private mapping companies in terms of creating modern digital maps and three-dimensional terrain models have significantly surpassed the capabilities of the military topographic service. This state of affairs raised the question of the direction of further development of military topography.

Purely Russian version

The development of military topography could take several paths. Or, at the cost of significant financial costs, the military topographic service is restored to its Soviet level, that is, with thousands of employed military personnel performing the entire range of work on topographic and cartographic support of the Armed Forces. Or development follows the principles adopted in the armies of Western countries, when the military department orders maps from civilian private companies and their regular updating. Military topographical units of the army are engaged in working only directly with military information. This includes putting tactical and operational information on maps, topogeodetic alignment of artillery and missile forces, topogeodetic preparation of troop bases, and preparation of special maps. As a result, the third, purely Russian option was chosen - the production of cartographic products for law enforcement agencies would be concentrated in the hands of a specially created state corporation.

The leadership of the Ministry of Defense, apparently, did not have any expressed position on the issue of cartographic support. The determining factor for making such a decision was the position of officials of the Federal Agency of Geodesy and Cartography (Roscartography), which in 2009 became part of the Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography. This structure, which dates back to the Main Directorate of State Survey and Cartography of the NKVD of the USSR, issues licenses for cartographic activities. Despite the fact that private companies currently have all the capabilities to provide the army with high-quality cards at an affordable price, government agencies have managed, using the leverage they have, to retain control over the production of cards for the Armed Forces.

The first lever was the secrecy of topographic maps.

Secretly around the world

Until now, any topographic map at a scale of 1:50,000 or larger is classified as secret. A company working with these maps is required (in addition to a license from Roscartography) to obtain a license from the FSB to work with documents that constitute state secrets. To receive it, the company must have the first department that controls access to cards. The loss of a map of a scale of 1:50,000 or larger is a crime under Article 284 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Loss of documents containing state secrets”, punishable by up to three years in prison (in Soviet times, a similar article provided for up to seven years in prison). In modern Russia there are a number of precedents when this article was applied. At the same time, topographic maps of the entire territory of the USSR were stored in the headquarters of military districts located outside of Russia, for example, the Carpathian and Kyiv. After 1991, the leadership of Ukraine and Belarus did not have to maintain secrecy on the maps of the territories that had become foreign, and topographic maps of the entire territory of Russia appeared on free sale abroad. Now anyone can purchase at least outdated, but officially still secret Soviet topographic maps via the Internet.

An even more amusing situation has arisen with high-resolution satellite images. In our country, any space image with a resolution of more than 10 meters was considered secret. In order to use it in Russia, the company, having purchased such an image from a Western (!) supplier, had to order a procedure for its “declassification” from the FSB. The absurdity of the current state of affairs became obvious to everyone with the launch of the Google Maps project in February 2005. Color photographs with a resolution of up to several meters of previously top secret objects such as the Zapadnaya Litsa submarine base have become publicly available. It is worth noting that in all Western countries, not area, but object secrecy is used: the free distribution of large-scale topographic maps and photographs of strictly defined objects - military bases, training grounds, ship moorings, areas of military operations - is prohibited. For some time in the professional community, the option of abolishing secrecy on topographic maps at a scale of 1:50,000 and larger was discussed. However, officials insisted on maintaining the secrecy of all topographic maps. This allowed them to retain in their hands the financial flow generated by issuing licenses to carry out cartographic activities and work with secret documents. Of course, private companies working in the field of cartography have, over the years of their existence, found a lot of ways to circumvent these restrictions, but in general, maintaining the institution of secrecy remains the main factor hindering the development of private cartography.

Ride the flow of funds

The second lever was the administrative resource - officials managed to convince the country's leadership that the maps supplied by private companies to the market were not accurate enough, and transferring the production of topographic maps to private hands threatened the security of the country. A typical example is the situation with navigation maps for the GLONASS global navigation system. At the beginning of April 2010, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin held a meeting on the issue of GLONASS cartographic support, where he criticized the cartographic industry. The prime minister demanded that members of the government figure out why the creation of digital maps is going so slowly. At the same time, the compilers of the report for Putin lost sight of the fact that the creation of navigation maps for users of GPS receivers of the country’s territory is proceeding quite successfully. To date, almost the entire territory of the country has been covered by a network of road graphs; the only problems are with saturating navigation maps with point information. However, the desire of government agencies to ride the flow of funds allocated by the government for the creation of navigation maps ultimately won out.

The result of the efforts of officials was the appearance of Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated March 12, 2012 No. 296 on the formation of the open joint-stock company Roskartografiya with a 100% stake in the state. The JSC is being created on the basis of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Moscow Aerogeodetic Enterprise" by infusing into its structure 32 other enterprises of the cartographic and geodetic industry, including aerogeodetic enterprises, an experimental optical-mechanical plant, and cartographic factories. The declared priority activity of JSC Roscartografiya is its implementation of geodetic and cartographic activities in the interests of government bodies of the Russian Federation, as well as in order to ensure the defense capability and security of the state. Apparently, the new structure monopolizes the production of cartographic products in the interests of law enforcement agencies and, above all, the Armed Forces.

New generation geographic information systems

As for the Military Topographical Service itself, during the army reform it was transformed into the Topographical Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Its structure includes the Military Topographical Directorate of the General Staff, topographical services of four military districts and topographical services of the military branches. Since the middle of the last decade, the re-equipment of the topographic service has been progressing at a slow pace. The primary issue is equipping the service with modern geographic information systems.

New generation GIS are multifunctional software systems with which you can create digital multilayer maps of any scale, work with raster and vector images, convert maps from one format to another, and create databases. They support both Western WGS84 and Russian (SK-42 and SK-95) coordinate systems. Currently, the main one for the topographic service is the GIS “Integration” developed by OJSC NIITP. At the same time, in the civil cartography market, GIS series “Map” developed by ZAO KB “Panorama” were more popular. GIS “Map” was once a civilian derivative of GIS “Integration”, but over the years of existence in market conditions and competition with Western GIS it has undergone great evolution and surpassed the military branch in functionality. In 2009, the Ministry of Defense adopted the GIS “Map 2005” of the company ZAO KB “Panorama”, and in 2011 its modified version, “Map 2011”, was certified. It is worth noting that the variety of geographic information systems used by the Armed Forces (for example, the Navigation and Oceanography Directorate of the RF Ministry of Defense adopted the Neva GIS) is an obvious drawback, since it complicates the training of personnel in their use.

Restoring GLONASS

The commissioning of the GLONASS global navigation system should be of great importance for the topographic service. In August 2001, in order to restore the functioning of GLONASS, the federal target program “Global Navigation System” was adopted, according to which it was planned to provide full coverage of the territory of Russia with navigation signals at the beginning of 2008, and the entire globe by the beginning of 2010. The deployment of the system encountered a number of technical and organizational difficulties, but following the results of the “five-day war” its funding was increased.

By the end of 2010, the number of satellites was increased to 26 and the system began to function stably. Compared to the American GPS system, GLONASS has a low service life of spacecraft and lower positioning accuracy. The third generation of GLONASS satellites “GLONASS-K”, developed by OJSC “Information Satellite Systems” named after Academician M. F. Reshetnev, is designed to eliminate these shortcomings.” They differ from satellites of previous series in their guaranteed active life of 10 years, reduced weight and installation of equipment of the international COSPAS-Sarsat system for rescuing people in distress. The first such satellite was launched on February 26, 2011. The overall successful deployment of the orbital constellation is overshadowed by the slow pace of implementation of navigation devices among the troops. Mass production of portable receivers has not yet been launched. Probably, a more or less massive supply of tablet computers to the troops should be expected after the commissioning of a plant for their production, which is being built in Zelenograd by the Rusnano corporation.

An important stage in the technical re-equipment of the topographic service was the creation in January 2012 in the Southern Military District (city of Korenovsk, Krasnodar Territory) of the first Center for Geospatial Information and Navigation in the Russian Army. It was formed on the basis of several units of the topographic service of the Southern Military District based on the results of an analysis of the experience of the “five-day war” of 2008. The center's tasks include comprehensive topographic, geodetic and cartographic support for troops, monitoring the state of the radio navigation field of GLONASS satellite navigation systems. It is equipped with all the key technical innovations in military topography - the Violit-M geoinformation modeling complexes, the Volynets mobile digital topographic system, and the Tompak mobile navigation and geodetic complex. The center in Korenovsk is experimental and the Ministry of Defense plans to use the experience of its operation when creating similar centers in other military districts. However, when recruiting and equipping them, two key problems of the Russian army will inevitably affect them - personnel and corruption.

The fruits and victims of military reform

During the reform of military education, the St. Petersburg Higher Military Topographical Command School, which trained military surveyors and topographers for a century and a half, was first transformed into a branch of the Military Engineering University with two faculties - geodetic and topographical. In 2006, the university was demoted to the level of the Faculty of Topogeodetic Support and Cartography of the A.F. Mozhaisky Military Space Academy. It is worth noting that the Ministry of Defense’s need for specialists was less than the number of graduates and the school trained more specialists for civilian cartography than for military cartography. In this regard, the downgrade of his status seems logical.

Much more questions are raised by the fate of another victim of military reform - the 27th Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, a specialized research institute of military topography. First, the Ministry of Defense decided to move the institute from Moscow to the Moscow region, and sell the vacated buildings and territory on the market, allegedly to purchase apartments for officers. Many qualified employees of the research institute did not want to move from the capital, quit the institute and quickly found work in civilian companies. And a little later, the order of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation of May 24, 2010 followed, according to which, as a result of the reorganization of the 29th Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, it entered as a structural unit (research center) into the 27th Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

As a result of the measures taken, a unique research institute with a seventy-year history was essentially reduced to the level of a department. It is still unclear what consequences these transformations will have for the military topographical service, but it is obvious that the service is clearly not coping with the issue of providing itself with highly qualified specialists. Private civil cartography companies and the recently formed OJSC Roskartografiya have great financial capabilities to attract them.

The growth in funding for military topography inevitably led to an increase in the abuse of this funding. In May 2010, the Moscow Garrison Military Court sentenced high-ranking employees of the 29th Research Institute of the Russian Ministry of Defense - its chief, Major General Nikolai Konon, the head of the financial planning department, Lieutenant Colonel Valery Govorkov, and the head of one of the departments of the institute, Colonel Rifat Mukhudinov. They were found guilty under the article “Fraud committed on an especially large scale.” From 2003 to 2006, Konon and his subordinates concluded 15 fictitious contracts to perform work in the interests of the institute with a total value of over five million rubles. But in fact, this work was carried out by staff members of the institute. In addition, from 2003 to 2007, General Konon gave instructions to transfer funds to the accounts of shell companies. Over four years, more than 18 million rubles were stolen. To date, Konon is one of the few Russian generals convicted of corruption.

Thus, answering the question whether the military topographical service can become a modern high-tech structure, of course, we must count on the success of the army reform as a whole. And yet, the root of all today’s problems in Russia’s military topography lies in issues of personnel and financial resource management.

Plan:

Introduction

• 1 History
• 2 Tasks
• 3 Structure
• 4 Gallery
Notes

Introduction

Military Topographical Service- special units and enterprises of the Russian Army designed to carry out geodetic, topographical and cartographic work and provide troops with topographic maps, geodetic data and other information about the area.

1. History

The origin of military-technical cooperation in Russia dates back to the beginning of the 18th century, when individual officers (or groups) were allocated from the quartermaster units of combined arms headquarters and were tasked with drawing up basic topographical documents (collecting information about the area, performing route surveys, etc.).

From 1763 to 1797, a special General Staff, created under the Military Collegium, was engaged in surveying camps, fortifications, routes and creating maps.

In 1797, His Imperial Majesty's own Map Depot was created, which laid the foundation for the Military Topographic Depot of the Main (General) Headquarters of the Russian Army.

In 1812 it was renamed the Military Topographical Depot, which directed the Corps of Topographers from 1822 (after 1866, the Corps of Military Topographers). This body of the central military administration exercised control functions regarding the publication of maps in Imperial Russia, and also supervised the implementation of geodetic, topographical and cartographic work carried out in the interests of the army and the state until 1918. Until 1923, the military topographical service continued to be called the Corps of Military Topographers and was subordinate to the Military Topographical (successor to the Military Topographical Depot of the Russian Imperial Army) administration of the All-Russian General Staff,

From 1918 to 1941 The Military Topographical Directorate has undergone a number of renamings:

• Military Topographical Directorate of the All-Russian Headquarters;
• Directorate of the Corps of Military Topographers (UKVT) of the Red Army Headquarters;
• Military topographical department (directorate) of the Red Army Headquarters (GU RKKA);
• Directorate of Military Topographers of the Red Army Headquarters;
• Department of the Military Topographical Service of the Red Army Headquarters.

In the Soviet Army, the Military Technical Cooperation of the SA was part of the headquarters service, which had its own bodies in the headquarters of formations and operational formations, as well as special units and institutions (topographic, aerial phototopographic and geodetic detachments, cartographic factories and units, map warehouses, etc.), engaged mainly in the preparation of topographic maps and geodetic data on the territory of probable theaters of war (TVD), topographic training of troops and research work in the field of cartography, geodesy and aerial photography. In wartime, the most important task of the military-technical cooperation of the SA was topographical support for combat operations of troops.

Since 1991, the Military Topographical Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was formed.

2. Objectives

Before the reform of 2008, the Military Topographical Service of the Russian Armed Forces solved the following tasks:

• Clarification of the mathematical parameters of the earth;
• Creation of a global space geodetic network;
• Production and timely updating of topographic maps;
• Providing troops and services with topographical and special maps;
• Operational provision of theater maps and exercises;
• Interaction with Roscartografiya on issues of creating maps.

3. Structure

Before the 2008 reform, the structure of the Military Topographical Service of the Russian Armed Forces included:

• Military Topographical Directorate of the General Staff with subordinate units;
• Topographical services of military districts (armies and units) according to the scheme:
  • Topogeodetic detachment;
  • District part;
  • Card warehouse;
  • Top part of the army.
• Top services of the armed forces of the Russian Armed Forces;
• Top services of law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation.

4. Gallery

Notes

1. CIS military leaders met in Moscow. The next meeting of the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the State University - www.centrasia.ru/newsA.php?st=1237970040

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February 2012 marks the 200th anniversary of the Topographical Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. For the anniversary, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation prepared the book “History of Topographical Service Units.” The authors are: reserve officer of the Topographic Service of the RF Armed Forces, Doctor of Military Sciences, Chief Researcher of the Research Center (topogeodetic and navigation support) of the 27th Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, which became part of the scientific and analytical center on problems security information agency "Weapons of Russia", E. Dolgov and reserve officer of the Topographic Service of the RF Armed Forces, researcher at the Research Center (topographic and navigation support) of the 27th Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation S. Sergeev.">

14:39 / 28.01.12

The stories of the topographic service units are integral parts of the history of the fatherland

February 2012 marks the 200th anniversary of the Topographical Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. For the anniversary, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation prepared the book “History of Topographical Service Units.” The authors are: reserve officer of the Topographic Service of the RF Armed Forces, Doctor of Military Sciences, Chief Researcher of the Research Center (topogeodetic and navigation support) of the 27th Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, which became part of the scientific and analytical center on problems security information agency "Weapons of Russia", E. Dolgov and reserve officer of the Topographic Service of the RF Armed Forces, researcher at the Research Center (topographic and navigation support) of the 27th Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation S. Sergeev. We offer you a summary of this wonderful book.

February 2012 marks the 200th anniversary of the Topographical Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. This date is attributed to the formation of the Military Topographical Depot (since 1816 - Military Topographical Depot), within the structure of the War Ministry of the Russian Empire, whose responsibilities included: “... collecting, compiling and storing maps, plans, drawings, topographical and statistical descriptions, magazines and reports on military operations, projects and dispositions of the offensive war, and especially the composition, from all the collected materials, of solid notes and tables from historical military operations” (Notes of the Military Topographical Depot, part I. -1837, -P.19).

Over the next few decades, the domestic military topographic service grew, new large structures were created: the Corps of Military Topographers (to carry out topographic surveys); lithography, and then a cartographic establishment (for the publication of topographic maps and plans); map warehouse (for storing maps and issuing them to the troops); geodetic department (for performing high-precision geodetic work); mechanical workshop (for the manufacture of topographic and geodetic instruments and tools); military topographic school (for training topographic officers); Geodetic Faculty of the Academy of the General Staff (for the training of geodesist officers), etc.

At the end of the 19th century, the first permanent large field topographic surveys were formed within the structure of the Corps of Military Topographers. The “area of ​​responsibility” of each survey for topographic work was, in modern terms, entire strategic directions. An officer with the rank of lieutenant general was appointed as the head of the survey. Extensive topographical work on surveying the area on a large scale was carried out by junior officers, and the performers of precise geodetic work were highly educated officers with the ranks of colonel and major general.

Under Soviet rule, the structure of the Corps of Military Topographers was not only preserved, but was constantly enlarged and improved. The surveys were transformed into field topographic detachments, the cartographic establishment into the Military Cartographic Factory. The corps was renamed the Military Topographical Service. In the 1930s, dozens of new topographic, geodetic, aerial photography units and topographic map warehouses were created, a Scientific Research Institute and optical-mechanical workshops were formed.

During the Great Patriotic War, military units and enterprises of the Military Topographical Service and military military topographers (in armies, corps and divisions) carried out a large amount of work on topographic and geodetic support of operations.

Main activities: creating or updating topographic maps for large areas; publication of topographic maps in millions of copies, their transportation, storage and distribution to the troops; providing troops and headquarters with topographic maps and catalogs of coordinates of geodetic points; preparation of special maps and photographic documents of the area during direct preparation and during combat operations; production of terrain models; monitoring the accuracy of linking elements of artillery battle formations; marking landmarks on the ground; tactical interpretation of aerial photographs and determination of the coordinates of enemy targets; topographical reconnaissance of the area; topographical training of troops, etc.

During the war, mapping of potentially military-politically dangerous regions did not stop: the Far East, China, Central Asia, Iran. To carry out all these tasks in the rear and at the front, dozens of specialized units and enterprises of the Military Topographical Service were additionally created or reorganized accordingly.

The volume of cartographic work in the interests of the Armed Forces was so enormous that after the end of the Second World War, a significant part of the units of the Military Topographical Service was not reduced. On the contrary, new high-performance units have appeared - stationary aerial phototopographic and aerial photogeodetic units. The topographic service was further developed in the branches of the Armed Forces and branches of the military.

By 1970-1990 The USSR Military Topographical Service carried out orders from the Armed Forces in the following areas: mapping continental strategic areas; creation of a global space geodetic network and justification of a geocentric coordinate system for the use of missile weapons; creation of large-scale digital maps for precision weapon guidance systems; creation of electronic topographic maps for automated command and control systems; improvement of mobile means of topographic and geodetic support to solve urgent problems at the operational-tactical level; creation of means for monitoring spacecraft and new topographic and geodetic equipment; training of military topographers, etc.

All tasks assigned to the domestic military topographic service for 200 years have been solved and are being solved by military topographers, united in regular military teams - parts of the Topographic Service. Until recently, there were no stories of creation and development, or even a relatively complete list of these parts in military historical literature.

In 2012, for the anniversary of the Topographical Service of the RF Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation prepared the book “History of Units of the Topographical Service.” Authors are reserve officers of the Topographical Service of the RF Armed Forces E.I. Dolgov and S.V. Sergeev, Axiom Publishing House, 642 p.

The authors decided to present the two-hundred-year history of the Corps of Military Topographers and the Military Topographical Service in the form of a brief encyclopedic dictionary of all the main structures that were part of the Service from the beginning of the 19th century to the present day - administrative bodies, topographical and geodetic units, cartographic units and factories, warehouses of topographic maps, astronomical and geodetic observatories, educational and scientific institutions, optical-mechanical enterprises, temporary formations, etc. Numerous facts set out in the articles are supported by extracts from orders and directives. In total, the book includes a brief description of more than 320 military units of the Topographical Service and more than 200 photographs, most of which have not been previously published.

The facts and events presented in the book reveal the historical periods of development of the Service over 200 years. However, the events of the 20s - 80s are described in most detail. XX century. It was during this period that a radical reorganization of the Service took place, the establishment of topographic and geodetic support for military operations (based on the experience of the Great Patriotic War), as the most important type of operational support for troops and an integral part of military science, the formation of specific topographic services, a radical technical and technological re-equipment of parts of the Service, access to space cartographic, digital and navigation-geodetic technologies.

The last years of operation of the Topographical Service of the RF Armed Forces are characterized by significant organizational and staffing changes associated with the transition to a new look of the Armed Forces. But an adherent of conservative views on the structure of the Service, having familiarized himself with the facts of the cardinal organizational and staffing decisions of the 30s, 40s, and subsequent years with the help of this book, will understand that changes caused by the demands of the time have always been and will continue to be. The only thing that remains unchanged for military topographers is the tasks facing them related to the creation and delivery of the required information about the terrain to the troops and headquarters. The efforts of unique military specialists - surveyors, topographers and cartographers - will continue to be aimed at solving these problems.

The Military Topographical Service of the Armed Forces (MTS AF) of the Russian Federation has a centuries-old history, rich in glorious events.

Peter's reforms at the beginning of the 18th century radically changed the organization of the Russian cartographic school. Maps began to be created on the basis of Western European geographic cartography. In Moscow, in 1701, the training of surveyors began at the Mathematics and Navigation School, who began instrumental surveying of Muscovy, and at the Civil Printing House, opened in 1705 in Moscow, they began printing maps and atlases according to European models. In post-Petrine times (1763), the General Staff (GS) was established, whose officers in peacetime carried out geodetic surveys of individual regions of the country, camps, routes and produced maps for the needs of the army.

The General Staff was engaged in these works from 1764 to 1797. In 1797, as part of His Imperial Majesty's Retinue (E.I.V.), a Map Depot was formed in the quartermaster section, which solved the problems of topographic and geodetic support for the entire Russian army. This depot had units responsible for the redeployment of troops and providing them with maps.

In 1812, the Map Depot was renamed the Military Topographical Depot - VTD (since 1816, the Military Topographical Depot).

Since 1822, the VTD led the Corps of Topographers (after 1866 - the Corps of Military Topographers - KVT) as part of the Retinue of E.I.V.

This corps was not distinguished by its large numbers - in different years, no more than 600 ranks served in it, including officers, who were distinguished from other army officers by a special uniform, which was recorded in the 22nd volume of the illustrated “Historical Description of Clothing and Armament of the Russian Troops.” Between 1825 and 1848, numerous changes were introduced to the officer uniform. In 1826, officer trousers with high boots and leggings with stripes were replaced by long dark green trousers with light blue piping in the side seams; Officers of the Topographers Corps in the summer, when combat officers wear summer trousers with boots, are assigned the same summer trousers, dark green and of the same cut.

In 1827, gold forged stars were installed on officer epaulettes to distinguish ranks in the same form and order as in the other army infantry and cavalry troops described above.

In 1829, officers, while on filming outside the capitals, were ordered to wear half-uniform, that is, in a frock coat with epaulettes, without a sword and a cap. Topographers promoted from senior management to officers for their length of service are allowed to wear a silver lanyard.

1830 - topographers installed stripes only on chakchirs or dark green trousers, and on gray leggings, intended for marching time, to have only one edging.

1832 - officers are allowed to wear a mustache.

1835 - the commanders of the companies of topographers, instead of the general army uniform, were given a uniform similar to that assigned to the officers of the Topographers Corps, but without sewing and aiguillettes and with epaulette shoulder straps made of black cloth, not velvet. The buttons in the company of the Military Topographical Depot are set with a grenade on one fire, and in other companies - with the number assigned to the company, which is also common for the lower ranks.

The lower ranks were recruited mainly from cantonists of military orphan departments, but in order to become topographers they had to pass an exam in the following subjects: arithmetic, algebra up to 2nd degree equations, planimetry, penmanship and drawing plans. Their maintenance was four times cheaper than officers.

The training of topographical soldiers was carried out, for example, in the Chuguevsky Slobodsko-Ukrainian military settlement, where the headquarters of the Chuguevsky Uhlan Regiment was located. The watercolor “View of the Corps of Military Topographers in Chuguev” is kept in the gallery of the city of Chuguev.

This is how Ilya Efimovich Repin recalls the Corps of Military Topographers in Chuguev in his book “Distant Close”: “So, after much waiting and dreaming, I finally found myself in the most desirable place for training, where they paint with watercolors and draw in ink...

The large halls were filled with long, wide tables; on the tables, geographical maps, mainly of parts of the Ukrainian military settlement, were attached to large boards.

At the headquarters there was a lithographic workshop and a corps of military topographers (according to some sources, a school of topographers).

And what colors! Miracle, miracle! (The treasury furnished surveyors extensively and richly; everything was expensive, first-class, from London.) My eyes ran wild.

And on the huge table, my gaze suddenly fell on two soles of boots with spurs up. It was a topographer lying across the table, chest down, coloring the boundaries of a huge map. I didn't realize paper came in sizes like these cards. What I liked best was that many of the plates contained large slabs of Newtonian fresh paint. They seemed to be completely soft: they just floated onto the brush.

Afterwards I found out that in the corps of topographers, where I ended up, topographic students were seconded from different cavalry regiments; they wore the uniforms of their regiments... Soon, a group of ten cantonists walked past us from other rooms behind their teacher, also a topographer; Everyone has a written notebook in their hands. The teacher pointed out a place on the map with a stick, and they loudly shouted out the names of countries, rivers, mountains, cities, seas, bays, straits, etc.

I really liked these cantonists in military jackets and leggings... They answered their teacher’s questions so quickly and quickly pointed out places on the maps. Everything was studied quickly, loudly and cheerfully - both the complex German Union and the appanage system of Russian princes and principalities. I learned all this later, when I began to study right away...

After graduating from school, students became 1st class topographers, having served in the non-commissioned rank for at least 8 years; they were promoted to KVT officers after a strict examination.

For the most part, the KVT was not replenished by nobles, and when the question of admitting nobles to the Corps of Military Topographers was raised, the head of the office for the quartermaster section wrote: “A nobleman cannot remain a topographer for a long time, but should be in a noble regiment».

The goal was to keep topographers (i.e., soldiers) on the survey for as long as possible in order to develop them into fully experienced surveyors.

Indeed, topographers from the cantonists, remaining on surveys from 8 to 12 years, acquired such experience before their promotion to officers that they successfully carried out the work.

In 1857, military settlements were abolished, and therefore the corps of military topographers in Chuguev ceased to exist.

But the history of the Russian Corps of Military Topographers did not end there. The building existed for more than a century. During this time, his officers carried out numerous topographical surveys and geodetic surveys in different parts of the country in peacetime, and reconnaissance and surveys of the terrain in combat areas in wartime. Military topographers did not shine in the capital's parades with gold aiguillettes. In forests, swamps, deserts and mountains, they honestly and conscientiously painted images of streams and ravines, tracts and gorges, remote villages and farmsteads onto clean film tablets. Emperor Nicholas II helped them in this, to the best of his royal capabilities.

After 1863, the Military Topographical Depot consistently changed its names and was partially transformed, and in 1912 new models of uniforms for military topographers were introduced.

At first it was the Military Topographical Unit of the Main Directorate (GU) of the General Staff, then the Military Topographical Department (VTO) of the General Staff (transformed into the Main Staff - GS), the Military Topographical Directorate (VTU) and again to the WTO.

The head of the VTU (VTO) was at the same time the head of the KVT and enjoyed the rights of the head of the division.

This body of the central military administration exercised control functions regarding the publication of maps in Imperial Russia, and also supervised the implementation of geodetic, topographical and cartographic work carried out in the interests of the Armed Forces and the Russian state, until 1918. The historical essays of the KVT describe in detail many of the achievements of military topographers.

Significant milestones illustrating the history of the activities of military topographers before 1918 were:

• transformation of the Map Depot into the Military Topographic Depot in January-February 1812;
• formation of the Corps of Topographers in February 1822;
• large Baltic chronometric expedition of 1833;
• transition to the verst scale series of maps;
• the creation in 1854 of a geodetic department at the Academy of the General Staff;
• compilation of a “catalog of trigonometric and astronomical items”;
• reform of topographic and geodetic units and controls 1863–1877;
• topographic and geodetic support (TGS) of the Danube army during the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878;
• mapping Manchuria and the Caucasus;
• development and leveling of new triangulation polygons since 1906;
• creation of a new two-color topographic map;
• increasing the map publishing capacity of KVT;
• topographic and geodetic support of troops during the First World War (1914–1917).

In 1918, the VTO was again renamed the VTU of the All-Russian General Staff, and in 1919 it became the Directorate of the KVT and after some time was transformed into the Military Topographical Service (VTS).

• Directorate of the Corps of Military Topographers (UKVT) of the Headquarters of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA):
• VTU of the main directorate of the Red Army (7th directorate);
• Office of Military Topographers;
• 7th department of military-technical cooperation of the Red Army Headquarters;
• WTO of the Red Army Headquarters;
• Department of the Military Topographic Service (MTS) of the Red Army Headquarters;
• MTC Management;
• VTU GSh KA (Red Army);
• VTU GSh SA (Soviet Army);
• VTU General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.

After the Civil War, military topographers had to make the transition to the metric system of measures and organize aerial photography of the area to solve numerous topographic problems, carry out work on the technical and technical support of troops who took part in military conflicts on the borders with China and Finland, and carry out topographic development of territories on the western borders of the USSR. The training of new personnel for military-technical cooperation continued. In topographical schools, cadets published magazines.

Heavy trials befell the military-technical cooperation at the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War. In 1941, this service lost 148 officers, 1,127 sergeants and soldiers. The geodetic team consisted of a small group of soldiers (6–7 people) led by a corporal. The head of the team was a surveyor with the rank of sergeant to senior lieutenant, who graduated from a special school or college. The teams had at their disposal a 30-second theodolite, metal measuring tapes, topographic maps, catalogs of coordinates of points of the state geodetic network (GGS), an adding machine, office abacus, ten-digit tables of logarithms of trigonometric functions (“Peters tables”), construction tools (saws, axes , shovels), a medical bag with medicines, food, a steam-horse cart and fodder for horses. The soldiers had rifles, the corporal had a PPSh machine gun with a supply of ammunition. The team leader had a revolver of the “revolver” system and a couple of grenades, as well as a certificate for the right to perform special work in the relevant area. In 1943, military surveyors' uniforms changed.

The initial geodetic basis on the territory of our country was the coordinates of the centers of points of the GGS network, which at that time was quite rare. On the territory of Poland, the coordinates of the centers of points determined at one time by the Corps of Military Topographers of the Russian Army were used. In Germany, the coordinates were determined from the results of mathematical processing of the coordinates of several contour points measured on the map, and the reference directions were calculated from astronomical observations using tables of coordinates of bright stars compiled by A. M. Petrov, who during the war commanded the 75th Geodetic Detachment (GO) .

During the heavy battles for Stalingrad, a military topographer of the 2nd Guards Army of the Guard, senior technician-lieutenant Sergei Aleksandrovich Salyaev, took part in its defense.

For his service in the Red Army, he was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree and the Red Star, medals “For Courage”, “For Military Merit”, “For the Defense of Stalingrad” and “For the Capture of Koenigsberg”. At the end of the war, S. A. Salyaev continued to serve at the Research Institute of Military-Technical Cooperation (now the Scientific Research Center for Topographic Geodetic and Navigation Support - SRC TGNO 27 Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense of Russia), and then worked as the head of the department of the Central Order of the Badge of Honor at the Research Institute of Geodesy and Aerial Photography and cartography named after F.N. Krasovsky.

After 1945, military topographers participated in mapping the regions of the Far North, Far East and Pamir, developed space technologies in relation to solving topographic problems, conducted astronomical and geodetic surveys on the Antarctic continent, created domestic systems of electronic and digital maps, developed topographic and geodetic equipment and took part in creation of the global navigation system GLONASS.

Meanwhile, it should be noted that the difficult 1990s were marked by numerous problems for military topographers. Reductions in funding for the Armed Forces, low salaries, and the state’s inattention to the basic needs of military specialists—military topographers also had to go through all this. Many of them were forced, due to circumstances, to go “to civilian life” and, it must be said, having a good practical education and extensive experience, as well as “bright heads,” they found a great job in civilian companies.

After all, the need for highly qualified specialists in the field of topographic geodesy is also felt in the most important sectors of the Russian economy. At the same time, many “Soviet-trained” officers remained in military service and made a huge contribution to the development of military topography in post-Soviet Russia.

In connection with the demise of the USSR in 1991, the Military Topographical Service of the Armed Forces of Russia was formed, which in the following 1992 was transformed into the Topographical Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

In modern conditions, old paper maps have long been replaced by electronic ones, which are much more convenient to use. Military topographers are equipped with the latest mobile geodetic systems that record the smallest changes in the terrain while moving along the route. At the same time, the army is not completely abandoning paper maps - after all, technology is technology, and in case of its failure or interruptions, the old, proven, grandfather’s map can come to the rescue.

An experimental Center for Geospatial Information and Navigation has been created in the Southern Military District. The technical equipment of the Center makes it possible to carry out the tasks assigned to military topographers both directly at the place of permanent deployment and in the field, moving to the area if necessary.

When providing reliable, accurate and promptly received geospatial information to automatic troop control systems, high-precision weapon systems, headquarters and commanders of army units, military topographers of the military-technical cooperation use the latest developments in the field of digital and IT technologies, the global navigation satellite system GLONASS, mobile navigation and topographic complexes .

In general, the activities of military topographers in peacetime are of slightly reduced importance compared to times of war. Of course, employees always have jobs and tasks that they are required to perform at any time, but the fact is that the work of military surveyors during a war can be key to victory not only in local battles, but in general. History knows how many situations where knowledge of the area, as well as information about the presence of such knowledge on the enemy, can save the lives of millions of people. Therefore, the profession of a military topographer has always been held in high esteem since its official appearance in the Armed Forces, first of the Russian Empire, and then of modern Russia.

(Slide No.)

Providing troops with topographic maps is the main content of topographic and geodetic support and includes the following main activities:

creation and updating of topographic maps;

creating the necessary stock of cards in warehouses;

dispersing the stock of cards between warehouses of associations, formations and units, taking into account the purpose of the cards;

timely delivery of maps to troops during the preparation of an operation (battle);

additional provision of troops with maps during combat operations;

evacuation of the stock of maps for the traversed areas.

The chiefs of staff of the formations are responsible for creating the necessary supply of maps.

(Slide No.)

The stock of topographic maps is usually called the total number of copies of maps of all scales and nomenclature required by a formation (part) to conduct a battle. It is created for zones (areas) of upcoming military operations of troops and for their overlap on the flanks.

(Slide No.)

The stock of topographic maps is determined:

Combat composition of troops;

Type of combat operations;

The state of cartographic provision of the combat zone;

Standards for providing connections and units with topographic maps.

Data on the combat composition of formations and units to which it is necessary to bring maps is clarified by the head of the topographic service of the formation in the operational department.

The area where the stock of cards is created is determined by the type of combat operations of formations and units.

The cartographic provision of the zone (area) of military operations is characterized by the presence of topographic maps created in advance.

The standards for providing topographic maps determine the number of copies of one sheet of map nomenclature of each scale required by a formation (unit) to perform a combat mission. They are established by order of the Minister of Defense for formations and units of all branches of the Armed Forces, branches of the armed forces based on the provision of topographic maps to each officer, as well as to each crew of an armored personnel carrier, infantry fighting vehicle, tank, and aircraft. Training topographic maps are issued to units as needed, but no more than two sheets per year for each officer, warrant officer and sergeant. (Slide No.)

Topographic maps at a scale of 1:25000, city plans and special maps not specified in the norms are issued to headquarters and troops by decision of the head of the topographic service, taking into account the practical need for them and the availability of these maps and plans in the warehouse.

The total stock of cards in formations consists of a minimum stock of cards of their established norm for the areas of combat mission of troops and consumables. The consumables are intended to ensure combat readiness and combat training of troops in peacetime and can vary in volume depending on the tasks solved by the troops during training.

The irreducible stock of cards created in peacetime for combat areas or the stock of cards that will be created during combat operations consists of consumables and reserves. The consumable part is intended to meet the needs of the troops during the operation and provide combat training maps for troops, the reserve part is intended to make up for combat losses of maps, provide formations and units newly arrived in the army corps and produce special maps and combat graphic documents.

A strict system has been established for providing troops with topographic maps.

The experience of topographic and geodetic support of troops in the operations of the Great Patriotic War, local wars and armed conflicts of recent years, the provision of troops while maintaining combat readiness and the experience of combat training of troops confirmed the priority of the task of providing troops with topographic maps among other tasks of topographic and geodetic support and allowed us to formulate the principles that must be followed when organizing the provision of troops with topographic maps.

These principles are:

advance production of topographic maps and creation of their stocks in the warehouses of topographic maps of the navigation and topographic service;

constant readiness of the military command and control bodies of the navigation and topographic service and warehouses of topographic maps to provide topographic maps;

responsibility of the higher headquarters for the provision of subordinate formations, formations and units with topographic maps.

These principles were confirmed and consolidated in directive documents defining the procedure for providing troops with topographic maps. (Slide No.)

The principle of early stockpiling of maps at bases, warehouses and in the troops requires significant expenditure of effort and money, but it is precisely this approach that allows maintaining the high combat readiness of the Armed Forces. The interests of maintaining high combat readiness of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus place increased demands on the combat readiness of the military command and control bodies of the navigation and topographic service, responsible for providing troops with topographic maps, on the professional training of personnel and the technical equipment of topographic map warehouses.

The principle of the responsibility of the higher headquarters for the provision of topographic maps to subordinate troops makes it possible to reduce the time for delivering maps, since the higher headquarters always knows the intent of the operation and the tasks of the subordinate troops earlier and has the ability to deliver maps in advance without waiting for requests from them. This approach makes it possible to fulfill the requirement to bring maps to commanders of all levels before they are assigned combat missions. This principle contributes to the establishment at all command and staff levels of uniform deadlines and procedures for removing outdated maps from supplying troops and introducing new editions of topographic maps for supply.

Each connection (part) is designed to solve problems determined by the senior commander. Depending on the tasks, the combat composition of the formation (unit), and the tactical and technical characteristics of the military equipment in service, the size of the areas for creating a stock of maps is determined.

This system refers to the interconnected actions of bodies and units of the topographic service and the established procedure for placement, movement, storage, accounting and issuance of maps to headquarters and troops.

Providing troops with maps, as a rule, is carried out according to the scheme Armed forces - operational command - brigade - regiment - battalion (division) - unit commanders.

Topographic maps are issued to headquarters and troops by map warehouses by order of the relevant head of the NTS.

In order to ensure high combat readiness of troops, as well as sufficiently high survivability and reliability of the entire system of providing troops with maps, the general stock of topographic maps must be distributed in advance to all levels of command and control: from the general stock, map stocks are created in the branches of the Armed Forces, operational commands, formations and units, and the rest of it is stored in card warehouses of central subordination.

The brigade warehouse of topographic maps is located near the brigade control center.

If the entire brigade stock of maps is stored in the brigade’s map warehouse, then the head of the NTS will need several hours to organize the collection and delivery of maps to the unit (subdivisions) of the brigade. In this case, cards cannot be issued to commanders and staffs before tasks are set. Consequently, it is also necessary to create reserves of cards in brigade units in advance. At the same time, in battalions, glued maps must be prepared for each headquarters officer and battalion (company) commander.

The created stock of cards is one of the important elements of constant combat readiness. It should not be spent in peacetime. Since the stock of cards of a formation (unit) to some extent reveals its combat purpose, an appropriate regime of secrecy must be observed when organizing the accounting and storage of the stock.

With the outbreak of hostilities, it is necessary to promptly replenish the pre-created stocks of cards for the brigade's further action zones. Cards are usually delivered to teams twice during an operation: the first time - a day before the next task is completed, the second time - a day before the brigade's next task is performed.

During combat operations, the brigade warehouse of topographic maps is moved as part of the brigade command post, and the secret part of the battalion headquarters, where the stock of maps is stored, is moved as part of the battalion command post.

To make up for combat losses, based on the experience of the Great Patriotic War, a formation (unit) must have a reserve of cards in an amount that makes it possible to make up for the loss of cards for one lower-level structural unit. The number of maps calculated taking into account the stated provisions for various formations, units, control bodies is put into effect by directive documents in the form of norms for providing the Armed Forces with topographic and special maps and catalogs of the coordinates of geodetic points and serves as the basis for the relevant support authorities to issue maps and create stocks of topographic maps.

In the event of destruction of the card stock at the brigade (unit) control point, it is restored at the expense of the brigade reserve card stock.

It is more difficult to restore the stock of cards when the OK card warehouse is completely destroyed. In this case, the stock of cards is restored at the expense of the reserve of the Chief of the NTS of the General Staff of the Armed Forces.

Delivery of cards to brigades is carried out by transport of the corps logistics brigade, and from the brigade to units - by transport of units.

Small batches of cards (10-200 copies) can be delivered to troops through military postal communication stations, by liaison officers traveling to formations and units, as well as by specially designated messengers.

The norms determine the number of copies of maps of one nomenclature sheet of all scales assigned to a formation (unit), command and control bodies and officials to perform a combat (training) mission; in aviation - each crew member for 8-10 combat (training) sorties.

Military units and institutions not mentioned in the “Standards for providing the Armed Forces with topographic and special maps and catalogs of geodetic points...” are issued maps in sizes established by the head of the topographic service of the association based on their staffing levels and the nature of the tasks they solve, i.e. according to their actual needs.

Topographic maps 1:25,000 and larger, as well as city plans and special maps prepared in advance, are issued to the troops by decision of the content management body of the topographic service based on the actual need and their availability in warehouses.

Depending on the specific conditions of topographic and geodetic support of the area (band) of the connection (part), in the absence of large-scale maps, it is allowed to replace them with smaller-scale maps within the established standards. Replacement of maps of small scales with maps of larger scale is, as a rule, not permitted.