The Communication Troops of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union were generalized names for special-purpose forces intended for the deployment and operation of communication systems in order to provide command and control of troops and forces subordinate to the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union in all types of their activities.
As a branch of the specialised forces, the Communication Troops were an integral part of all five branches of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union (the Ground Forces, the Navy, the Air Force, the Air Defense Forces and the Strategic Missile Forces).
The general command of the Communication Troops of all five branches of the armed forces was carried out by the Chief of the Communication Troops of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union.
The Communication Troops, which were part of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Soviet Union, the Border Troops and the Government Communication Troops of the State Security Committee of the Soviet Union (KGB), were not part of the Communication Troops of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union.
Much of the infrastructure and units of the Communications Troops were inherited by the Russian Signal Troops.
History
Civil War After the October Revolution, in the context of the outbreak of civil war and military intervention, in order to protect the Soviet Republic, the creation of the first units of the Red Army began. In the first half of 1918, measures were taken to create a system of governing bodies of the Red Army.
On April 20, 1918, order No. 294 of the People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs was issued, which determined the staff of the rifle division. In this state, a place was allocated for a separate communications battalion with a personnel of 977 people, and in rifle regiments – communications teams. The battalion commander combined the position of divisional communications commander, respectively, the regimental communications team commander – regiment communications commander. The lack of personnel, transport and equipment prevented the implementation of these steps.
In November 1918, new staffs were introduced for the communications battalion of the rifle division, the communications company for the rifle brigade and the communications command for the rifle regiment. According to the new states, the communications battalion of the division and the communications teams of the rifle sections had less communications, transport and personnel, which made it possible to put them into practice.
In December 1918, communications units began to be created in the military aviation and cavalry.
The difference from the organizational structure of the troops of the Russian Empire was the independence of the battalions and communications teams, which, as in the tsarist period, were not included in the engineering troops.
In October 1918, the issue of centralized management of radio communications in the Red Army was resolved, for which the position of a radiotelegraph inspector was established, subordinate to the headquarters of the Revolutionary Council of the Republic in operational terms and to the chief of the Main Military Engineering Directorate in technical terms. At the same time, on all fronts, the post of inspector of the front radiotelegraph was introduced, and in the combined arms armies – the head of the army radiotelegraph. At the headquarters of the front, post and telegraph departments of the People's Commissariat of Post and Telegraph were created (they provided postal communication and communication via permanent communication lines). The supply of the Red Army with communications equipment was assigned to the Main Military Engineering Directorate.
On October 20, 1919, by Order No. 1736/362 of the Revolutionary Military Council, the Communications Directorate of the Red Army was created, headed by the Chief of Communications of the Red Army, as well as the communications directorate of fronts and armies, communications departments in divisions and brigades. Thus, the official registration of the unification of the communications leadership of the Red Army into a harmonious system took place. October 20, 1919 became the birthday of the communication troops of the Armed Forces of the country, as independent special forces. The Communications Directorate of the Red Army was responsible for organizing and maintaining communications between the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic and the Field Headquarters of the Red Army with the fronts and armies, the formation of communications units, their staffing, training, provision of equipment and other equipment. Artemy Lyubovich (formerly People's Commissar of Posts and Telegraphs) was appointed the first head of the Red Army's Communications Department; from September 1920 to April 1924, Innokenty Khalepsky was the head of the Red Army's Communications Department (formerly the head of communications of the Caucasian Front), who did a lot for the formation and development of the communications troops.
The Communications Department of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was responsible for organizing and maintaining communications between the Revolutionary Council and the field headquarters of the Red Army with the fronts and armies, the formation of communications units, their staffing, training, provision of equipment and other property.
By December 1920, the communication troops consisted of 13 separate battalions and 46 communication battalions of divisions and brigades, a large number of companies and communications teams, warehouses, workshops and other units and subunits. The personnel of the troops exceeded 100,000 people.
During the hostilities of the Civil War, general provisions for organizing communications at all levels of the Red Army were worked out, the main responsibilities of communications officials were defined, and ways of organizing communications by various means were developed. Continuously progress was made in the organizational structure of the linear and nodal units and communications units. For the first time in the history of military communications, communications trains were used to control the troops of the Red Army.
The activities of the communication troops during the Civil War were highly appreciated in a special order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic of February 17, 1921, which noted: "The heroic Red Army, which covered itself with unfading glory, owes much to the communication troops, who performed during the long struggle against enemies and had big and responsible tasks".
At the end of hostilities, the communication troops were reduced to 32,600 people. The armament was mainly outdated and worn–out communication equipment of foreign production. Great difficulties in organizing communications were caused by the multi–type and deterioration of communications equipment. The issue of improving military communications has become topical.
By order of the Revolutionary Military Council of June 6, 1920, under the head of communications of the Red Army, a full–time Military–Technical Communications Council was established, which was responsible for making decisions on all the main issues of organizing and developing military communications, including the management of scientific research and the creation of new technical means, as well as resolution of current pressing issues.
Interwar period After the persistent efforts of the Chief of Communications of the Red Army, Innokenty Khalepsky, the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic on April 15, 1923, established the Research Institute of the Military–Technical Communications Council of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (now the 16th Central Research and Testing Institute). A scientific center appeared in the communication troops, which, on the basis of constant analysis of scientific and technical achievements in the country and the world, began to search for and military–technical substantiation of specific ways of their use in military communications. From the first days of its formation to the present time, the institute has become a reliable support for the leadership of the communication troops in the formation and implementation of technical policy in the field of improving and developing systems and technical complexes of military communications. On the basis of research by the institute and the country's communications industry (including its own personnel) in the pre–war period, the first generation of military field radio stations, telephone and telegraph devices, switching devices, communication cables, ground electronic reconnaissance equipment with which the Red Army entered into the Great Patriotic War. In terms of their technical level, these funds basically met the requirements of the troops of that time, but they were not enough. A significant number of obsolete communications equipment continued to remain in the Red Army. The problem of providing troops with communications equipment became especially acute with the beginning of the massive deployment of the army and navy in the fall of 1939.
By the end of the 1920s, the communication troops remained qualitatively at the level of the final stage of the civil war. The subsequent industrialization of the country led to organizational and staff changes and an overall increase in the size of the Red Army, which was reflected in changes in the communication troops.
In 1924, the First Congress of the chiefs of communications of military districts, formations and commanders of communications units was held. The congress examined theoretical and practical issues of the development of military communications. The recommendations of the congress were included in the Field Manual of the Red Army in 1925, which outlined the main principles and methods of organizing communications by various means, the responsibilities of commanders and staffs for command and control of troops and communications.
In the early 1930s, the communication troops had in their composition (excluding corps and division battalions and communication squadrons): 9 separate communications regiments; 1 separate radio regiment; 12 separate radio battalions; 20 separate companies of rifle corps; 71 separate company of rifle divisions; 4 communications squadrons of the cavalry corps; 12 squadrons of cavalry divisions.
By June 1941, the communication troops were: 19 regiments (14 district and 5 army); 25 separate line communications battalions; 16 separate radio divisions (including special purpose divisions); 4 separate companies.
By the middle of 1941, the number of troops radio equipment was: in the General Staff – Front link up to 35%, in the Army – Corps link – 11%, in divisions – 62%, in regiments – 77%, in battalions – 58%. Of the total number of obsolete radio stations in the front–line radio networks were 75%, in the army – 24%, in the divisional – 89%, in the regimental – 63%. By this time, a set of communications units only of central and district subordination consisted of 19 separate communications regiments, 25 separate communications battalions and other units and organizations.
Communication warriors in the pre–war period took part in hostilities on the Chinese–Eastern Railway (1929), near Lake Khasan (1938), near the Khalkhin–Gol River (1939), in the liberation of Western Belarus and Western Ukraine (1939), in the Soviet–Finnish War (1939–1940). The communication troops from April 1924 to June 1941 were consistently led by Nikolai Sinyavsky, Roman Longva, Alexey Aksyonov, Ivan Naydenov, Nikolay Gapich.
Great Patriotic War