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Contents 1 Sukhoi Su-25 1.1 Developement 1.2 Design 1.2.1 Cockpit 1.2.2 Wings and fuselage 1.2.3 Powerplant 1.2.4 Avionics 2 Romania 2.1 Romanian Armed Forces 3 Siege of Malta (1940) 4 2007 Romanian Air Force IAR-330 SOCAT crash 4.1 Emergency response 4.2 References 5 Evacuation of East Prussia 5.1 Propaganda 5.1.1 German 5.1.2 Soviet 5.2 Evacuation 5.2.1 Operation Hannibal 5.3 Königsberg 5.4 Crimes 5.5 Aftermath 6 Michael the Brave 6.1 Lead 7 52nd Fighter Squadron

[edit] Sukhoi Su-25

[edit] Developement

In early 1968, the Soviet Ministry of Defense decided to create specialised "shturmovik" armoured assault aircraft, in order to provide direct air support for the Russian Ground Forces. The idea of creating this specialised attack aircraft, was formed after analysing the experience using "shturmovoi" (attack) aviation during World War II and in local wars in 1950s and 1960s.^[1]

The Soviet fighters fighter-bombers which were in service at this time (Su-7, Su-17, MiG-21, MiG-23 and MiG-27) did not meet the requirements for close air support of the army.^[1] This was because they did not have the essential armour plating in the cockpit to protect the pilot and vital equipment from ground fire and missile hits, plus their extremely high flight speeds, which led to the inability of the pilot to maintain visual contact with the target. Being already in touch with these problems, a group of leading specialists in the design bureau led by Pavel Sukhoi discussed the idea of creating such an aircraft and then submitted their thoughts to Sukhoi regarding the expediency of beginning preliminary design work. Pavel Sukhoi approved the plan, and in comparatively short period of time, the preliminary design work was completed jointly with leading institutes of the Ministry of the Aviation Industry and the Ministry of Defense.^[2]

In March 1969, a competition was announced by the Soviet Air Force, calling for designs for a new battlefield close-support aircraft. Participants in the competition were Sukhoi Design Bureau and the Design Bureaux of Yakovlev, Ilyushin and Mikoyan.^[3] Sukhoi finally camed out with the "T-8" design in late-1968, and in January 1972, the work at the first two prototypes (T8-1 and T8-2) commenced. The T8-1 was the first airframe to be assembled, completion of which was made just before one of the major national holidays - on 9 May 1974. However, the T8-1 made its first flight on 22nd February with Vladimir Ilyushin on board, after long series of tests were completed. The Su-25 surpassed its main competitor, the Ilyushin Il-102, and the series production of it was announced by the Ministry of Defense.^[4]

During flight-testing phases of the T8-1 and T8-2 prototypes, the Sukhoi Desing Bureau's management proposed that the series production of the Su-25 should start at Factory No.31, the major manufacturing base for the MiG-21UM "Mongol-B" trainer, in Tbilisi, Soviet Republic of Georgia. After negociations and completion of all stages of the state trials, the series production at Tbilisi started in 1978.^[5]

• final version

[edit] Design

The Su-25 has a normal aerodynamic layout with a shoulder-mounted trapezoidal wing and a conventional tailplane and rudder. The mass of materials used in the construction of the airframe is made up of the following metals: aluminium-60%; steel-19%; titanium-13,5%; magnesium alloy-2% and other materials-5,5%. ^[6]

[edit] Cockpit

The cockpit also has a 6 mm (0,24in) thick steel headrest, mounted on the rear bulkhead. The titanium sheets of the cockpit armour are welded, with transit ports located in the walls. Guide rails for the ejection seat are mounted on the rear wall of the cockpit. The pilot sits on a Zvezda K-36 ejection seat, and has standard flight instruments.^[6]

The cannon is located in a compartment underneath the cockpit and is mounted on a load-bearing beam, attached to the cockpit floor and the forward fuselage support structure. The area behind the cockpit, located between the cockpit itself and the forward fuel tank, is a dust - and gas-filtered avionics compartment. On the left-hand side of the cockpit, towards the rear, there is a built-in ladder for access to the cockpit, the upper part of the engine nacelles and the wing.^[6]

[edit] Wings and fuselage

All versions of the Su-25 have an metal cantilever wing of moderate sweep and high aspect ratio, equipped with high-lift devices. The wing consists of two cantilever sections, attached to a central torsion box forming a single unit with the fuselage. At the tips of each wing, there are separate fairings which house the airbrakes. Each wing has five hardpoints for weapons carriage, with the attachment points mounted on load-bearing ribs and spars.^[7] Also, each wing has a five-section leading-edge slat, a two-section flap and an aileron. The flaps are mounted on brackets on the rear spar on steel sliders and rollers. The ailerons are of trapeizodal shape and are located near the wingtip.^[8] The fuselage of the Su-25 has an ellipsoidal section and is of semi-monocoque, stressed skin construction, whose primary structure consists of a longitudinal load-bearing framework of longerons, beams and stringers, and a transverse load-bearing assembly of frames.^[6] The horizontal tailplane is a one-piece unit and is attached at two mounting points to load-bearing frame.^[9]

[edit] Powerplant

Early Su-25 aircraft were equipped with two R95Sh non-afterburning turbojets, which were installed in separate compartments on either side of the rear fuselage. Cooling of the engines, sub-assmblies and surounding fuselage structure from local heating is provided by air from the cooling air intakes. A drainage system ensures that oil, hydraulic fluid residues and fuel can be collected after the engines are shut-down after flight, or in the event of an unsuccessful start. The engine control systems permits autonomous operation of each engine. ^[10]

[edit] Avionics

The avionics installed on the Su-25 consists of the following:^[11]

• a weapons-aiming system which providestargeting data for attacks on ground targets, using rockets, bombs and cannon armament, as well as targeting of aircraft and helicopters in visual flight conditions;
• a navigation complex which permits flight in day and night conditions, both in VMC and IMC, and which inputs flight data into the weapons-aiming system and the aircraft's flight instruments;
• radio for air-to-ground and air-to-air communications;
• weapons control system;
• a self-defence suite, incorporating infra-red flare and chaff dispensers, capable of launching about 250 flares and dipole chaff, plus an radar warning receiver.

• final version

[edit] Romania

[edit] Romanian Armed Forces

The Land Forces, Air Force and Naval Forces are collectively known as the Romanian Armed Forces. The current Commander-in-chief is Admiral Gheorghe Marin, being managed by the Minister of National Defense, while the president is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces during wartime.

The total defence spending currently accounts for 2.05% of total national GDP, which represents aproximately 2,9 billion dollars (ranked 39th). However, the Romanian Armed Forces will spend about 11 billion dollars in the next five years, for modernization and acquirement of new equipment. ^[12]

90,000 men and women currently comprise the Armed Forces, 75,000 of them being military personnel and the other 15,000 civilians. The Land Forces have a reported strength of 45,800, the Air Force a strength of 13,250 and the 6,800-strong Naval Forces, while the remaining other 8,800 serve in other fields.^[13]

The Land Forces completely overhauled their equipment in the past few years, and today they are modern army, with multiple NATO capabilities. They are often participating to peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, together with the other NATO countries. The Air Force currently operates modernized Soviet MiG-21LanceR fighters, which are becoming obsolete and due to be replaced by new advanced 4.5 generation European jet fighters, such as Eurofighter Typhoon or JAS 39 Gripen.^[14] Also, the Air Force ordered 7 new C-27J Spartan tactical airlift aircraft, in order to replace the bulk of the old transport force.^[15] Two modernized ex-Royal Navy Type 22 frigates were acquired by the Naval Forces in 2004 and a further four modern missile corvettes will be commissioned in the next few years. Three native-made IAR 330 Puma NAVAL helicopters were also ordered by the Naval Forces, and should be commissioned until late-2008.

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[edit] Siege of Malta (1940)

[edit] 2007 Romanian Air Force IAR-330 SOCAT crash

2007 Romanian Air Force IAR-330 Puma SOCAT crash

Summary
Date	November 7, 2007
Type	unknown yet
Site	Near Piteşti, Romania
Crew	3
Fatalities	3
Survivors	none
Aircraft type	IAR 330 Puma SOCAT
Operator	Romanian Air Force
Tail number	??

On 7 November 2007, a Romanian Air Force IAR-330 SOCAT attack helicopter belonging to the 90th Airlift Base crashed in Ungheni, 30 km south of Piteşti, Argeş county, Romania. Immediatly after the crash, the aircraft caught fire. All three crew members aboard were killed, including Commander Nicolae Bucur, who was one of the most experienced pilots of the Romanian Air Force, with over 2,700 flying hours. The other two victims were Lt. Ionel Craiu, pilot and Alexandru Adrian Ticea, mechanic.^[16]

The helicopter was unarmed, performing a night training flight at the moment of the crash. Eye-witnesses declared that smoke came out from the helicopter before the crash. On November 8, the flight recorder of the aircraft was recovered and officials declared that further informations and conclusions will be available after 30 days.^[17]

[edit] Emergency response

Approximately 10 minutes after the crash, the first firefighters detachment from the Inspectorate for Emergency situations arrived at the scene and was confronted with 15 meters-tall flames. Paramedics arrived almost at the same time, but where unable to intervene because of the heavy fire. Also, the 90th Airlift Base assigned two additional helicopters for search and rescue. The fire was stopped after one hour and the forensics officers started their search.^[18]

[edit] References

[edit] Evacuation of East Prussia

[edit] Propaganda

[edit] German

The Soviet army initiated an offensive into East Prussia on October 1944, but after two weeks it was temporarily driven back. After that, the German Ministry of Propaganda reported that war crimes had taken place in East Prussian villages, in particular in Nemmersdorf, where the entire population was raped and killed by the Soviets.^[1] Since the Nazi war effort had largely stripped the civil population of able-bodied men for service in the military, the victims of the atrocity were primarily old men, women, and children. Upon the Soviet withdrawal from the area, German authorities sent in film crews to document what had happened, and invited allegedly neutral observers as further witnesses. A documentary film from the footage obtained during this effort was put together and shown in cinemas in East Prussia, with the intention of hardening civilian and military resolve in resisting the Soviets. ^[2] Nazi propaganda on the atrocities at Nemmersdorf, as well as on other crimes committed in East Prussia, convinced the remaining civilians that they should not get caught by the advancing enemy.^[3]

See also: Nemmersdorf massacre

[edit] Soviet

Since many Soviet soldiers had lost family and friends at the hands of the Germans (circa 17 million Soviet civilians died in World War II, more than in any other country^[4]), they often felt a desire to take vengeance. Murders of prisoners of war and German civilians are known even from cases at Soviet military tribunals (who were not known for prosecuting such matters). Also, when Soviet troops moved into Prussia, a significant number of enslaved Ostarbeiter ("Eastern workers") were freed, and knowledge of those workers' suffering further worsened the attitude of Soviet soldiers towards Prussians. ^[5]

Some Soviet writers disapproved of the vengeance of Soviet soldiers against Germans. Lev Kopelev, who took part in the invasion of East Prussia, sharply criticized the atrocities against the German civilian population and was arrested in 1945, then sentenced to a ten-year term in the Gulag for "fostering bourgeois humanism" and for "compassion towards the enemy".^[6] Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn also served in East Prussia in 1945 and was arrested for criticising Joseph Stalin and Soviet crimes in private correspondence with a friend. Solzhenitsyn was sentenced to an eight-year term in a labour camp.^[7]

[edit] Evacuation

The evacuation plans for East Prussia were ready in second half of 1944. They consisted of both general plans and specific instructions for each individual town. The plans encompassed not only people but also industry and livestock. ^[8]

Initially, Erich Koch, the Gauleiter of East Prussia, did not agree with the evacuation of the civilians (until 20th January 1945), and ordered that every citizen trying to flee the region without permission, would be instantly shot. However, between January 20th and March 1945, almost 8,5 millions of Germans civilians left their homes in East Prussia.^[9] Most of the refugees were women and children heading to the Neisse region, of south Berlin, carrying goods on improvised means of transport, such as wooden waggoons and carts, as all the mothorized vehicles and fuel were confiscated by the Wehrmacht. A part of the fleeing population trekked across the frozen Curonian Lagoon, where many wagoons broke through the unstable ice covering the brackish water. As part of Germany's failing military effort, horses and caretakers from the Wehrmacht's Trakehner stud farms evacuated with the wagoon trains. The evacuation was severely hampered by masses of retreating Wehrmacht units who clogged roads and bridges on the way west, as well as by Allied bomber and fighter aircraft. The remaining mens received interdiction to leave East Prussia and were immediately incorporated into the Volkssturm. However, ones being incorporated, Volksstrum members used to hide and build-up defenses in the woods, as they were afraid of the cruelty of Soviet soldiers.^[10] Refugees trains leaving East Prussia were also extremely crowded, and due to the very low temperature, the children were often freezing to death during the journey. At the end of January, between 40,000 and 50,000 refugees from eastern Reich territories were arriving in Berlin by train every day.^[11]

Military historian Antony Beevor wrote in Berlin the Downfall, that:^[12]

Martin Bormann, the Reichsleiter of the National Socialist Party, whose Gauleiters had in most cases stopped the evacuation of women and children until it was too late, never mentions in his diary those fleeing in panic from the eastern regions. The incompetence with which they handled the refugee crisis is chilling, yet in the case of the Nazi hierarchy it is often hard to tell where irresponsibility ended and inhumanity began.

[edit] Operation Hannibal

Main article: Operation Hannibal

Operation Hannibal was a military operation which started on January 21st, 1945, at the orders of Admiral Karl Dönitz, involving the withdrawal of German troops and civilians from East Prussia. The flood of refugees turned the operation into one of the largest emergency evacuations by sea in history - over a period of 15 weeks, somewhere between 494 and 1,080 merchant vessels of all types and numerous naval craft, including Germany's largest remaining naval units, would transport over two million refugees and soldiers across the Baltic Sea to Germany.^[13]

The biggest naval humanitary disaster occured during this operation, when cruiser Wilhelm Gustloff was hit by three torpedoes from the Soviet submarine S-13 in the Baltic Sea on the night of January 30, 1945. She sank in under 45 minutes, taking possibly as many as 5,300.^[14][15] or 7,400^[16] people with her. The survivors were rescued by Kriegsmarine vessels led by cruiser Admiral Hipper.^[16] Also, on 14th February, hospital ship SS General von Steuben left Pillau with 2,680 refugees onboard; it was hit by torpedoes just afterwards the departure, killing almost all people aboard.^[17]

[edit] Königsberg

See also: Battle of Königsberg

On January 24th, 1945, the 3rd Belorussian Front led by General Chernyakhovsky, surounded the capital city of East Prussia, Königsberg. The 3rd Panzer Army and around 200,000 civilians were trapped inside the city.^[18] In response to this, General Georg-Hans Reinhardt, commander of the Army Group Center, warned Hitler regarding the imminent Soviet threat, but the Fuhrer refused to listen him. Due to the very fast approach of the 2nd Belorussian Front, led by General Rokossovsky, Nazi authorities in Königsberg decided to send trains full of refugees to Allenstein, without knowing that the town was already captured by the Soviet 3rd Mechanised Corps.^[19]

During the heavy Soviet assault, the Frische Nehrung spit, became the last way of escape to the west. However, civilians which tried to escape through the spit, were often intercepted and killed by Soviet tanks and patrols.^[20] 2,000 civilians left Königsberg every day and tried to reach the already crowded town of Pillau. According to a NKVD report received by Lavrentiy Beria, the German civilians who left Königsberg and reached the Reich's territories, were not treated by far well, receiving only 180 grams of bread per day.^[21] The final Soviet assault on Königsberg started on 2 April with heavy bombardment of the town. The land route to Pillau was once again severed and those civilians who were still in the city died in their thousands. Eventually, the Nazi garrison surrendered on April 9. As Beevor wrote, "the rape of women and girls went unchecked in the ruined city"^[22]

[edit] Crimes

The mass rapes made by the Soviets in Königsberg, led to a severe psihological damage to the entire German population in East Prussia. Even the Soviet women eliberated by Soviet troops from German territories were often raped by the Soviet drunk soldiers. This acts of violence were a result of the Nazi propaganda and crimes made by Germans also at the time of the invasion of Soviet Union.^[23] War reporter Vasily Grossman, said that the rear-guard units of the advancing Soviet armies were usually responsible for the large number of crimes comitted by the Red Army personnel. Even if the Soviet authorities where informed regarding this atrocities, they didn't take any measure to stop this; actualy, they became quite annoyed by the fact that German civilians managed to escape, as major cities and rural areas were completely abandoned, at the moment when the Soviet forces reached them.^[24] The wealthy civilians from East Prussia were often shot by the Soviet soldiers, their goods stolen and their houses putted on fire, as a result to the Soviet propaganda supporting the eradication of aristocracy.^[25]

[edit] Aftermath

The Red Army eliminated all pockets of resistance and took control of East Prussia in May 1945. The exact number of civilian victims has never been determined but is estimated to be at least 300,000, with most of them dying under miserable conditions. However, most of the German inhabitants, which at that point consisted mainly of children, women, and old men, did escape the Red Army as part of the largest exodus of people in human history.^[26] As Antony Beevor also said:

“

A population which had stood at 2.2 million in 1940 was reduced to 193,000 at the end of May 1945.

”

• final version;

[edit] Michael the Brave

[edit] Lead

Michael the Brave (born under Pătraşcu family name) (Romanian: Mihai Viteazul, Hungarian: Vitéz Mihály) (1558-9 August 1601) was the Prince of Wallachia (1593-1601), of Transylvania (1599-1600), and of Moldavia (1600). During his reign, which coincided with the Long War, these three principalities forming the territory of present-day Romania and Moldova were united for the first time under a single Romanian ruler, though the unification lasted for less than six months. He is regarded as one of Romania's greatest national heroes.

Michael's reign started in late 1593, two years before the war with Ottomans started, in which the Prince fought the most important battle of his entire reign, the Battle of Călugăreni. Even if the Wallachians came victorious in it, Michael was forced to retreat with his troops and wait for aid from his allies, in order to continue the war. However, the war continued and a peace finnaly emerged in January 1597, but it last only for one and a half years. A peace was again reached in late 1599, when Michael was unable to continue the war due to lack of support from his allies.

In 1600 Michael won the Battle of Şelimbăr and soon entered Alba Iulia, becoming the Prince of Transylvania. Few months later, Michael's troops invaded Moldavia and reached its capital, Suceava. The Moldavian leader Ieremia Movilă fleed in Poland and Michael was declared Prince of Moldavia. As he received insufficient support from his allies, Michael couldn't keep the control of all the three provinces and boyar uprisings emerged especially in Transylvania. Michael, allied with the Austrian General Giorgio Basta, defeated the uprising Hungarian nobility at Gurăslău. Immediately after this, Basta ordered the assassination of Michael, which took place on 9 August 1601.

[edit] 52nd Fighter Squadron