by Sergey Adamov
[REGNUM] In the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, there was a change in the senior command staff. The Commander of the Aerospace Forces (VKS) of the Russian Federation, General of the Army Sergei Surovikin, officially resigned his post. General Viktor Afzalov , Chief of the General Staff of the Aerospace Forces, was appointed to the position of Acting Commander-in-Chief.
“The ex-Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces of Russia, Sergei Surovikin, has now been relieved of his post; Colonel General Viktor Afzalov, Chief of the General Staff of the Aerospace Forces, is temporarily acting as Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces,” an informed source told RIA Novosti.
Earlier, the media repeatedly reported that General Surovikin left his post and does not appear in public. Prior to that, he served as deputy commander of the Joint Group of Forces in the zone of the special military operation. During this period, Surovikin was temporarily replaced as commander-in-chief of the VKS by his first deputy and chief of the main headquarters, Viktor Afzalov.
Viktor Afzalov is a career officer of the air defense forces, and in some areas he may be more competent, said a source of IA Regnum, who served in the air defense under his command in the Far East.
“Probably, this is an example of such a commander who in many ways “lives” with his work. This is a person who understands many technical nuances,” the interlocutor emphasized. “ We can say that he “lived through” the development of air defense systems over the past decades, knows the topic from the inside, and this topic is personally interesting to him.”
“There are commanders who were “sent by the motherland”, and they, on duty, know the subject to the extent that is necessary to fulfill their duties. But this is not the story," the source added to IA Regnum .
When General of the Army Surovikin was appointed to the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces, "everyone understood why he was chosen," the source said. A new structure was created, and then, first of all, a leader-organizer was required, he explained.
“Afzalov is precisely the profile commander who knows our air defense system from the inside, took the position and commander-in-chief at the height of the NMD, organized the work of the air defense forces,” said the source of IA Regnum.
In his opinion, Afzalov "now has been promoted for the reason that drones have begun to fly to Moscow and not only to Moscow."
“Therefore, priority is given to the development of air defense systems. It is possible that such a person is now needed at the head of the Aerospace Forces, because the enemy is constantly changing his tactics for using drones, a prompt response and forecasting of new difficulties are needed. So the appointment is clear and timely ,” the source said.
The American newspaper New York Times connects the change in the leadership of the VKS with domestic political reasons and a possible change in the approach of the Russian troops to the organization of air defense.
However, as a military expert, former head of the anti-aircraft missile forces Sergei Khatylev noted in a comment to IA Regnum, Afzalov's appointment is primarily due to the release of the post of commander-in-chief, which someone else may take in the near future.
“We are talking about the fact that the commander-in-chief Surovikin vacated his post in connection with the transfer to another job. What kind of work it will be, we will not discuss. The position is currently vacant. There is no need to talk about changing the commander yet. This can only be said if Afzalov is approved, if he is appointed by decree of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Until that moment, he will remain the acting commander-in-chief,” said Sergey Khatylev.
The expert also drew attention to the fact that Afzalov comes from the Air Defense Forces. And right now, these troops are faced with the primary task of defending the air borders of the country.
“The fact that now drones reach Moscow is the result of a reduction in air defense forces. Because earlier the possibility that any target could fly 560 kilometers to the capital from the Kharkov direction was minimal. Until 1992-1995, eight anti-aircraft missile regiments and three fighter aviation regiments were on the way to such a goal.
Today, the deployment of air defense forces, their quality and quantity is such that after Kharkov there are air defense forces in Voronezh and there is nothing further to Moscow itself. And only near Moscow is the next anti-aircraft missile regiment. At a distance of 500 kms there is no permanent opposition.
The fact that the zone of destruction of air defense systems is 250 km does not mean anything. This works at high and medium altitude, and the drone flies at 100 meters. The difficulty is that it must be found. The detection range of such a target by a radar station is from 37 to 60 km. You can imagine how many anti-aircraft systems and means of detection should be on the path of a drone in order to detect it and shoot it down. Therefore, now we are dealing with the consequences of underfunding and reduction , ”the expert said.
To repel the threat of drones, it is necessary to develop and massively introduce means of detection and destruction, electronic warfare and aerial reconnaissance. If the appointment of Afzalov is officially approved, the new commander-in-chief of the VKS will have to solve a number of tasks to modernize the country's defense system. In the future, such a system should combine air defense, missile defense and space defense, Sergey Khatylev believes.
“Now the defense hub, combining air defense, space defense, covers Moscow, the central economic region. We received the S-500 system, we receive the S-350 Vityaz air defense system, new missile systems.
And we can create such a grouping as in Moscow in coastal, border areas and regions. And in the future it will be necessary to cover the entire territory of the country. But this requires persistent hard work to create the combat control of this system. And all these tasks will fall on his shoulders. Everything will depend on how he will carry it out, which team he will select, how the issue of funding will be resolved. So if Afzalov is approved for the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces, this will be one of his main tasks,” the expert concluded.
According to media reports, Sergei Afzalov is a graduate of the Pushkin Higher Military School of Air Defense Radio Electronics. In 2000 he graduated from the Military Air Defense University, in 2010 - from the Military Academy of the General Staff.
In the Air Defense Forces, Afzalov successively held positions from the head of the calculation of the combat control department of the group of anti-aircraft missile divisions of the air defense corps to the chief of staff - first deputy commander of the Air Force and Air Defense Army.
In 2017-2018, Afzalov commanded the 11th Air Army and Air Defense of the Eastern Military District. Last year, President Putin awarded him the rank of Colonel General.