This is a special plane, on which the head of state makes international visits and goes on trips around the country. The very appearance of this aircraft should inspire respect for Russia, symbolizing its technical level, economic power and gigantic proportions. When the number 1 Putin, the president of our country, lands on a landing or takes off, the emotions of everyone who watches this spectacle correspond to this important point. This is our plane, it belongs to all the people, the labor of many collectives has been invested in it, and it was built with the taxpayers' money. People have the right to know what is inside him, how reliable and convenient he is, how the head of state can fulfill his duties during long-distance flights.
Stalin Special Forces
The head of state theoretically could travel by plane as early as the thirties, when the reliability of airplanes reached the proper level. So it was, although JV Stalin, despite his passion for aviation, nevertheless preferred land transport. In the military year of 1943, he arrived at the Tehran Conference on Air from Baku, on the American Douglas C-47. At that time, the production of licensed transport aircraft of this type (Li-2 or PS-84) was already established in the USSR, but some units were improved in the United States, so the C-47 was selected from the number supplied under the lend-lease agreement. A special military unit for government transportation was formed two days after the outbreak of the war (MAGON), but other senior members and military leaders used this special purpose air group. The history of other cases of Stalin’s flights, except for a flight to Tehran and back, has not been preserved. Most likely, they were not there.
From Khrushchev to Yeltsin
Another thing is N. S. Khrushchev. Becoming the First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, he appreciated the aviation legacy of the government, consisting of ordinary passenger Li-2, Il-12, Il-14 and other modest twin-engine aircraft and found it too modest. In 1956, a special squadron (AON) was created, which immediately received the latest IL-18, Tu-104 and the huge Tu-114. In general, the representative functions assigned to this equipment and the personnel serving it fully corresponded to the then world practice, and the very chief of the Soviet Union really needed such machines so as not to look like a “poor relative” among world leaders. In Brezhnev’s time, this tradition was continued; the magnificent IL-62 airliner became a symbol of the power of the USSR. The first board of Putin’s number 1, IL-96, went to him from Yeltsin. The aircraft was repeatedly redone, the interior and equipment were changed, and, in the end, they ordered four new cars.
"Russia", State Transport Company
V.V. Putin often visits. He spends four times more time in the air than his predecessor B.N. Yeltsin. During the flight, he also has to fulfill the difficult duties of the head of state. Now in Beijing, then in Paris, then in Rio de Janeiro, Putin’s number 1 board lands. Photos taken by world media correspondents grab a snow-white airplane in the region where the president flew. It seems that he is always the same, but this is not so. In fact, there are currently four of them, and soon there will be five, and this is only of the same type. The state transport company "Russia" has a fleet of more than a dozen cars. Among them, a pair of Ilov-62, Tu-134, Jacob-40 and Mi-8 helicopters. All of them are equipped with a set of necessary equipment for managing the country. But the most important board of Putin’s number 1, whose photo most often falls on the pages of print and Internet publications, is, of course, the Il-96-300PU, a flying control center or the “air Kremlin”.
Our plane for our president
The choice of brand and type of aircraft was not a particular problem. Of all the passenger liners, even during the time of Yeltsin, the largest, beautiful, reliable, stable in the air and convenient IL-96 was chosen. Today, he is board number 1 of Putin. Which plane could perform this function better?
The idea that the President of the Russian Federation would fly in a foreign plane might have crossed the minds of some supporters of “Western values” during a period of great friendship with the United States, but still did not dare to buy a representative Boeing in Yeltsin’s times. The economic difficulties of the nineties are a well-known historical fact, in addition, the wide-body domestic airliner turned out to be quite good. So it remains to this day, board number 1 of Putin. The IL-96-300 model, which has become the base model, has a take-off weight of up to 250 tons, can reach speeds of over 900 km / h, and as for the non-stop flight range, it is known that it exceeds 9 thousand kilometers (an indicator for serial samples) but how much exactly, while being kept secret. All the components and parts in this Russian-made aircraft, including PS-90A engines, may not be as economical as the products of Pratt & Whitney or Rolls Royce, but reliable. In addition, motors were assembled with special care. The cost of a regular copy is around the equivalent of 60 million US dollars. Each presidential board number 1 "Russia" cost the treasury many times more expensive.
Yeltsin board number 1
For the first time, the issue of interior decoration was raised by the administration of President B. N. Yeltsin after his election to a high post. Prior to this, the tastes of the leaders of the state were relatively undemanding, for example, L. I. Brezhnev loved to play dominoes in flight, which is why the polished table had to be repaired (but not changed) often. Gorbachev’s plane also did not like the new democratic Yeltsin’s comrades-in-arms, as well as the situation inside the new IL-96, and therefore the interior was ordered in Switzerland (Jet Aviation AG). The contractor Mercata Trading, which became an intermediary in this transaction, also earned a lot. Foreign designers based their development on the sketches of Glazunov (not Ilya, but his son, Ivan). Inside, the Russian board number 1 of that time was a model of luxury and comfort. There appeared bedrooms (two), a conference room (for 12 people), comfortable seats for retinues and shower cabins. But the main thing was another innovation: the airplane housed a whole mobile medical center, in which it became possible to exercise control over the President’s health, but it left much to be desired. In Helsinki, in March 1997, a new board number 1 was delivered to “friend Bill” in Yeltsin.
The need for a new car
From the point of view of state security, ordering a government facility abroad seems a rather adventurous affair. Many participants in the events remembered the incident that occurred during a fire in the US Embassy (1991), when, within a short time and under difficult conditions, Soviet intelligence officers managed to establish many "bugs". And in the case of an airplane that stood in Switzerland for a year (a country, of course, neutral, but quite attractive for spies), only very lazy foreign intelligence officers could not use the opportunity to install any eavesdropping devices. In addition, the peculiarities of local taxation and remuneration suggested a very high cost of work. At the time of the election of the new President, there was only one such plane in the State Customs Committee, and the old Il-62, on which M.S. Gorbachev was still flying, was used as a backup. It was clear that the next board number 1 (Putin) should be fully built and equipped in Russia. So it’s more reliable, besides, the filling (mainly electronic) required a completely new one, due to the high mobility of the new leader of the country.
English design in Russian execution
Unfortunately, the design is not our "horse", at least for now. Therefore, the Russians did not consider it necessary to do without foreign assistance in this area this time. However, there was a very significant reservation in the contract: Dimonite Aircraft Furnishings Ltd performed all the work on the territory of the Russian Federation, they are performed by our specialists and mainly from domestic materials. Thus, two tasks were solved at once. Firstly, the interior was guaranteed to meet the highest international ergonomic standards. Secondly, participation in this project provided Russian designers with the opportunity to learn a lot, so that in the future they could do without foreign help. Board number 1 Putin was supposed to be a model of the perfect combination of high functionality, convenience, comfort and excellent design, bordering on luxury, worthy of the head of a great country, but not crossing the boundaries of good taste.
Privacy mode
In order to assess the informational capabilities of the President’s air rate, it should be understood what constitutes his land residence. From the Kremlin, the head of state has the ability to rule the whole country in peacetime, and in the event of an armed conflict, he, being the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, must lead the troops, in particular, give orders (if necessary) to use tactical or strategic nuclear weapons. There is no doubt that communication channels designed to transmit such orders have multiple duplication and extreme reliability. To establish such a system on the ground is also very difficult, but during the flight the task is much more complicated. Basically, the secrets of board number 1 relate to this particular technical issue. Yes, and the most common connection is also the most secret. Any word of the President spoken in a conversation with the Minister of Defense or the head of the regional level refers to information of special importance that is not subject to unauthorized disclosure. The same applies to electronic correspondence.
The uninterrupted functioning of communications is ensured, as a rule, by another aircraft following the same course as Putin’s flight number 1. Maintenance is carried out by a flying repeater.
All electronic and special communications equipment on board the presidential plane and at the disposal of special ground communications services are manufactured in Russia (most likely, in the city of Omsk) and have unique encryption and decryption algorithms. It is impossible for anyone to connect to them.
Security
The IL-96 is essentially an ordinary civilian airliner. Ordinary citizens may wonder how safe is Putin’s number 1 board in today's difficult times. There is protection, but its details and implementation mechanisms, of course, are kept in strict secrecy.
The President’s Security Service is fully aware that person No. 1 in the state can become an object of assassination not only on the ground, but also during air travel. It has never been reported that fighter aircraft accompany Putin’s flight number 1 during the flight, but it’s quite possible that they are present in airspace. At the same time, the presence of such an escort abroad seems problematic due to many legal rules governing the movement of aircraft, and the President is not afraid of attacks by enemy interceptors over his country. As for the possibility of hitting the “flying Kremlin” with a ground-to-air missile, there are funds against such a threat, but they are kept secret for obvious reasons. It can be assumed that they are not limited only to the production of electronic interference.
Staff
The fact that the staff of the State Transport Company "Russia" hire special people is not even subject to discussion. The professional qualities of pilots, technicians and cabin crew must be consistent with the importance of their work responsibilities. For each of the vehicles, two crews were selected working in shifts, plus one commander, bearing the main burden of responsibility. It is known that the honored pilot S. Antsiferov is piloting board number 1 of Putin. Flight attendants are accompanied by ten flight attendants, half of whom are women. In the structure of the State Customs Committee there is no personnel department as such; a credentials committee takes over the work. Not only professionalism is taken into account, but also such important personal qualities as the level of intelligence, courage and patriotism (this is the concern of the Federal Guard Service). The hired employee is not immediately allowed on special aircraft; there is a certain probationary period. As for the payment, its size was not disclosed, it remains only to guess that it is quite worthy.
