The 294.ORAP began its operational career in the GDR with that aircraft type.
This separate reconnaissance aviation regiment was activated in March 1951 at Strausberg; however, it already had left that airbase in 1953 for Welzow where it stayed only one year.
In 1954, the aircraft moved again this time to Altenburg. The 11.ORAP previously based at Yekabpils in Latvia took the place of the 294.ORAP at Welzow.
While the regiment was at Altenburg, the future cosmonaut Alexei Leonov who was to become the first man to "walk" in space on March 18, 1965, was assigned to the 294.ORAP in December 1959
(> Link 1 / > Link 2).
The association of the regiment with this airfield in Thuringia lasted until July 1967, when the unit moved to further forward
to Allstedt near the inner-German border, where it remained until its retirement from Germany in May 1991.
By the late sixties, the MiG-15bisR gave way to the MiG-21R, a more capable and efficient aircraft able to carry a larger and more elaborate reconnaissance suite.
The MiG-21R "Fishbed-H" (2) that took over from the obsolete "Fagot" flew their reconnaissance missions with
specialized five-meter-long pods attached under the belly. In order to compensate for the loss of the ventral attachment point, the only one where an additional
fuel tank could be hung (the MiG-21R was a development of the MiG-21PFS), two new "wet" attachment points for 490-liters PTB-490 external fuel tanks were added outboard
of the two already existing wing pylons.
The MiG-21R wings also were characterized by the presence of two small fairings constituting the wing tips. They housed the antennas of the SPO-3 "Sirena" radar homing and warning receiver,
the electronics of which housed inside the reconnaissance pods.
Three main reconnaissance pod variants coexisted in the "Fishbed-H" units:
- "N" variant (Nochnaya fotorazvedka - night photo reconnaissance).
This dedicated night reconnaissance version carried an AFA-UA-47 camera.
Night photography was made possible thanks to four KDF-38 cassettes containing a total of 152 FP-100 illumination flares that occupied nearly a third of the pod.
An ASO-2I flare launcher system was located under the rear tip. The "N" pod also included a Lira tape recorder and an SPO-3 complex.
- "R" variant (Radiotekhnicheskaya razvedka - electronic reconnaissance). This pod could be easily recognized
thanks to the large dielectric panels of the SRS-4 Romb-4A and Romb-4B (Rhombus) ELINT systems adorning its sides. The electromagnetic signals received
by this detection, classification and localisation suite were recorded on magnetic tape (Lira).
An A-39 camera was kept at the front, while an ASO-2I flare launcher system and an SPO-3 complex occupied the rear tip.
In addition, the MiG-21R was likely to carry a RR8311-100 pod used for measuring the levels of radioactivity in the air.
The pilot had at his disposal a control box (click on the image at right) mounted under the windshield arch that allowed him to operate the various reconnaissance systems, the flare launchers,
or the radar warning and homing receiver. There were at least three control box variants adapted to the D, N and R reconnaissance pods.
Thus, many aircraft always carried the same type of pod in accordance with the control box variant mounted on the aircraft. The MiG-21R retained
self-defense or ground-attack capabilities thanks to the presence of the two inboard wing pylons that could carry air-to-air or air-to-ground weapons. On the other hand, they were likely
to be used in pure fighter or ground attack configuration; the wingtip antennas sometimes were removed in such circumstances.
Su-17s for reconnaissance
The two MiG-21R squadrons gradually gave way between 1977 and August 1981 to two aviatsionnaya eskadril'ya of Su-17M3R "Fitter-H".
As can be seen on the table opposite, the unit comprised on average 24 single-seaters and six Su-17UM3 "Fitter-G" Sparka twin-seat aircraft for
training and operational conversion.
- The KKR-1T model was equipped with, in order, an A-39 camera (positioned
vertically or at an angle up to 55° before the flight), a PA-1 panoramic camera, a UA-47 camera for night photography, four KDF-38 cassettes containing FP-100
illumination flares (sometimes absent on some pictures illustrating this article and its photo gallery) and a SRS-13 Tangazh ELINT system,
the dielectric panels of which were visible on the pod rear sides (early models mainly for export were equipped with the Virazh system).
The SRS-13 suite was intended for the radar localisation, their classification and identification of their operating frequencies
(for more information about this pod, visit this > Link /
video showing the details of a KKR-1T of the LSK/LV > Link).
The KKR-1T/2 model additionally carried a Shpil' system that swept the ground with a laser beam. With a higher resolution than the TV and IR reconnaissance systems,
it also allowed the detection of objects at night - Shpil' also worked during daylight.
- The KKR1/2 model carried in its rear module a Chibis (Lapwing) TV reconnaissance system and
a Zima (Winter) thermal imaging system. TV and IR images were relayed to a ground station through a Trassa data link-type transmission suite,
the antennas of which could be distinguished under the rear pod tip. The front module was equipped like the KKR-1T pod, namely three cameras
(A-39, PA-1 and UA-47).
In addition to Chibis, Zima and Trassa, the KKR-1M model contained an A-39 camera and especially a long focal-length
AFA-42/100 camera with a 1000mm lens.
The latter, also used by the Long-range Aviation, was specifically utilized for long-distance high-altitude oblique photography.
It was a two-stages withdrawal, with one of the squadrons repatriated to Soviet Union already by the end of 1990, whereas the second departed Allstedt
on May 21, 1991 (only to make an route stop at Gross Dölln) shortly before the base closure.
One squadron was transferred to the 313.ORAP at Vaziani in Georgia and a second went to the 98.OGRAP "Svirskiy"
at Monchegorsk in the Murmansk district in Russia, while the 294.ORAP was disbanded in June of the same year.
It must be noted that, unlike other 16.VA unit departures observed at the same time,
the 294.ORAP withdrawal did not take place under the negotiated general withdrawal of Soviet forces from Germany, but rather under the
CFE (Conventional Forces in Europe) agreements on force reduction in Europe (4).
(1)
- Two Su-17M3R squadrons (294.ORAP)
- Two Su-24MR squadrons (11.ORAP)
- One Yak-28R squadron (931.OGRAP - from mid-86 on)
- One MiG-25RB. squadron (931.OGRAP) (2) The first aircraft would have joined the unit in 1967 when the regiment was still based at Altenburg.
The MiG-15bisR would have continued to fly for some time at Allstedt. A USMLM report from 1970 suggests that some MiG-17 - were they misindentified as MiG-15bisR or MiG-17R? -
and UTI MiG-15 were based at Allstedt together with the MiG-21R.
Other reports mentioned the following evolution:
1964 : 28 MiG-15bisR
1967 : 50 MiG-15bisR, 6 UTI MiG-15, 4 Yak-12, 7 MiG-21U (3)
This type of camera was initially developed in the USSR in 1936. It was used to photograph the ground passing under the plane continuously through a rectangular opening
(general layout > here).
The contact sheet obtained looked like a continuous mosaic picture. The camera body in principle comprised two different lenses that made it possible
to obtain the same image in two different scales at the same time.
The AShchAFA-5M model was designed for low-level photography at speeds up to 1500 km/h. The photographs had a scale of 1:1000 and 1:6000.
There were two versions of that camera: the first, the principle of operation of which is described above, consisted of two lenses (200 and 70mm).
The second variant consisted of three modules, namely one composed of two cameras as variant 1, a second used for stereoscopic photography and a
third designed for bilateral axonometric photography. (4)
The CFE agreements were signed by 22 countries from NATO and the Warsaw Pact at Paris on November 19, 1990, during the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe
(CSCE - today OSCE for Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe).