4th Guards Air and Air Defence Forces Army
The 4th Guards Air and Air Defence Forces Army (Russian: 4-я армия ВВС и ПВО) is an air army of the Russian Aerospace Forces, part of the Southern Military District and headquartered in Rostov-on-Don.
The 4th Air Army (4 Vozdushnaya Armiya) was a
It became the 4th Air and Air Defence Forces Command in 2009 but was reestablished from the command in 2015.
Second World War
Upon its establishment in May 1942 it had 208 aircraft and 437 crews and consisted of:[2]
- 216th Fighter Division or 216th Mixed Aviation Division (commander V. I. Shevchenko)
- 88th Fighter Aviation Regiment
- 217th Fighter Aviation Division (commander D.P. Galunov)
- 229th Fighter Aviation Division (commander P.G. Stepanovich)
- 230th Assault Aviation Division (commander S.G. Get'man)
- 219th Bomber Aviation Division (commander I.T. Batygin)
- 218th Night Bomber Aviation Division (commander D.D. Popov)
- one training regiment, seven separate mixed aviation regiments, one communication squadron, one long range reconnaissance squadron
In June 1942 one more regiment was added, the 588th Light Night Bomber Regiment (commander Ye.D. Bershanskaya), that became the first women's unit in the Soviet Air Force. In February 1943 it was reorganized into 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment and in October 1943 it became the
On 17 July 1943 the 216 SAD/IAD was redesignated the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Division. It was commanded by Colonel Alexander Pokryshkin from April 1944 to May 1945.[5]
In summer 1944 the Army covered the
Commanders
- 05/07/1942 – Major General of Aviation Konstantin Vershinin
- 09/08/1942 – Major General of Aviation Nikolai Naumenko
- 05/01/1943 – Lieutenant General, Colonel General of Aviation Konstantin Vershinin (until the end of the war)
- 05.1946 – 09.1948 – Lieutenant General of Aviation Vasily Vasilyevich Stepichev
Postwar Soviet service
After World War II the 4th Air Army remained in Poland, and was renumbered as the 37th Air Army in 1949. The 37th Air Army was reorganized as the Air Forces of the Northern Group of Forces (VVS SGF) in 1964. On 22 February 1968, in accordance with a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR the unit was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. On 4 April 1968 the VVS SGF was redesignated again into the 4th Air Army which had been the army's designation during the Second World War. The 4th Air Army was redesignated as the 4th Air Army of the Supreme High Command (VGK) in 1980 and became part of Long-Range Aviation.[7][8] This reorganization was part of General Nikolai Ogarkov's reforms after the Sukhoi Su-24s started arriving in the army, and as a result it became an independent army with operative designation, subordinate to the HQ of Western Direction. The 24th Air Army of the South-Western Direction shared that status. Those were the only air force armies with Su-27 fighters, tasked with escorting the Su-24s.
From 1989 until the withdrawal from Poland the Army included the 164th Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment, 245th Mixed Aviation Squadron, 151 EW Regiment (
On the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Poland, the 159th Fighter Regiment moved to Besovets air base and joined the
Following withdrawal from Poland from 1992 it became the aviation component of the
4th Air and Air Defence Forces Army
On 16 June 1997 the President of the Russian Federation signed the decree "About prime measures on reforming Armed forces of the Russian Federation and perfection of their structure". According to that decree, on the basis of the 4th Air Army and the
The 10th Bombardment Aviation Division, headquartered at
In February 2004 regional command staff trainings took place in Kabardino-Balkaria. 02.2006 comd staff exercises jointly with the
In 2009 the Army was disestablished and Russian Air Forces units in the Caucasus grouped under the 4th Air and Air Defence Forces Command.
The Army was reformed on 1 August 2015. In January 2016, Lieutenant General Viktor Sevastyanov became its commander.[15]
Structure 2007
- Headquarters 4th Army of Air Forces and Air Defence – Rostov on Don
- 1st Guards Composite Aviation Division – Krasnodar[16]
- 559th Bomber Aviation Regiment – Su-24 in service. Previously based at Finsterwalde in East Germany with the 16th Air Army;
- 959th Bomber Aviation Regiment – Eisk Airport – operates the Su-24 and L-39C;
- 368th Assault Aviation Regiment – Su-25;[17]
- 461st Assault Aviation Regiment – Krasnodar – Su-25;
- 960th Assault Aviation Regiment – Su-25;
- 559th Bomber Aviation Regiment –
- Rostov on Don(disbanded and reorganised in 2009 as 7th Brigade of Missile-Space Defence)
- Su-27; (1.12.09 renamed 6972nd Guards Aviation Base)
- 19th Fighter Aviation Regiment – MiG-29; (disbanded 2009 and reorganised as 6969th Aviation Base)
- 31st Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment – Zernograd – MiG-29. Previously based at Falkenberg/Elster in East Germany with the 16th Air Army. Disbanded 2009.[18]
- SAM Regiments
- 1st Guards Composite Aviation Division – Krasnodar[16]
- 11th Independent Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment – Marinovka – operates the Su-24MR. Formerly based with 16th Air Army, Welzow, East Germany;
- 535th Independent Composite Aviation Regiment – Rostov on Don – An-26in service;
- ex Army Aviation component
In addition to the above forces, Russian aviation forces in Armenia, probably within the ambit of 4th Air Army, comprise 18 MiG-29 fighters of the 426th Fighter Squadron [426 Istrebitel’naya Aviatsionnaya Eskadril’ya (426 IAE)][20] and the 700th Air Traffic Control Center, both at the 3624th Air Base [3624 Aviatsionnaya Baza (3624 AB)] at Erebuni Airport outside Yerevan.[21]
Structure 2020s
4th Air and Air Defence Forces Army (Rostov-on-Don)[15][22] (Information updated to 2019/20 unless otherwise indicated)[23][22]
- 1st Guards Composite Aviation Division (Krymsk)
- 4th Composite Aviation Division (Marinovka)
- 27th Composite Aviation Division (Sevastopol-Belbek)
- Directly subordinated to 4th army headquarters
- 535th Independent Composite Aviation Regiment (Rostov-on-Don North with two mixed transport squadrons with An-26RT, An-12BK, Tu-134, L-410UVP-E20)
- 3624th Air Base (Su-30 in 2020/21[22])
- Army Aviation component
- 16th Army Aviation Brigade (Zernograd)
- 55th Independent Helicopter Regiment (Korenovsk)
- 487th Independent Helicopter Regiment (Budennovsk)
Air defense and support units of the 4th Air and Air Defence Army:[27]
- 51st Air Defence Division (Rostov-on-Don)
- 1536th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment (Rostov-on-Don)
- 1537th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment (Novorossiysk)
- Two battalions: 8 Pantsir-S1 SAM.[28]
- Two battalions: 8
- 1721st Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment (
- 339th Radio-Technical Regiment (Tinaki, Astrakhan)
- 338th Radio-Technical Regiment (Rostov-on-Don)
- 31st Air Defence Division (Sevastopol)[31] - traces its history to the Sevastopol Brigade of the PVO being upgraded on 25 January 1957 into the 1st Air Defence Division. (Russian article at ru:31-я дивизия ПВО)
- 12th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment (Sevastopol)
- 18th Guards Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment (Feodosia)
- 3rd Radio-Technical Regiment (Lyubimovka, Sevastopol)
- 7th Military Base (Primorskoe, Abkhazia - S-400 and S-300 SAMs)[22]
- 988th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Gyumri, Armenia - S-300V4/Buk-M1-2 SAMs)[22]
- Support Center (Rostov-on-Don)
- 1017th Air Defense Command Post (Rostov-on-Don)
- 214th Headquarters Communications Center (Novocherkassk)
Additional fighter, helicopter and other fixed-wing aviation elements are deployed as part of the 2nd Guards Naval Aviation Division (2-я гвардейская морская Севастопольская авиационная дивизия имени Н.А. Токарева) of Russian Naval Aviation of the Black Sea Fleet – HQ Sevastopol.[32][33][34][35] The division was seemingly reestablished in 2019-2020. Previously it had been disbanded in 1994.
See also
Notes
- ^ Hans Nijhuis and Robert Senkowski, 'Farewell Poland!,' Air International, January 1993, p.15
- , accessed May 2008
- ^ (in Russian) 65-летие 4-ой Армии ВВС и ПВО Archived 10 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Keith E Bonn, (ed.), Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, 2005, p.336
- ^ a b Igor Zlobin ©, Translation by James F. Gebhardt ©, Spitfires over the Kuban Archived 5 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine, accessed September 2011
- ^ Michael Holm, 4th Red Banner Air Army VGK ON, accessed September 2011
- ^ "4th Air Army VGK ON". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
- ^ Katspersky. "Справка 4-я воздушная Краснознамённая армия - Форум". www.sgvavia.ru. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
- ^ Forum-Avia.ru, Combat establishment of the 4th Air Army on 1 January 1989 (Russian), Katspersky,[1]
- ^ http://63.99.108.76/forums/index.php?showtopic=2067&mode=threaded Archived 13 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine – Order of Battle 1992 (removed from site), but see also Feskov et al. 2013.
- ^ Feskov et al. 2004, p.140, Jane's World Air Forces, Issue 0, March 1996, and International Air Power Review, Vol. 13, Summer 2004, p.88
- ^ "151 полк РЭБ" [151st Electronic Warfare Regiment]. scucin-avia.narod.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 9 July 2016.
- ^ ru:4-я воздушная армия (СССР), accessed on 14 May 2008
- ^ Michael Holm, 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Division Archived 1 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine, accessed August 2011.
- ^ a b Mladenov, Alexander (September 2016). "Force Report: Russia's Southern Military District". AirForces Monthly. pp. 86–87.
- ^ Holm, Michael. "1st Guards Stalingradskaya order of Lenin twice Red Banner orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov Bomber Aviation Division". ww2.dk. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
- ^ See further http://www.ww2.dk/new/air%20force/regiment/shap/368oshap.htm
- ^ Michael Holm, 31st Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment
- ^ "487th independent Helicopter Regiment". Ww2.dk. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
- ^ Warfare.ru (Undated). MIG-29/MIG-35 Fulcrum Counter-Air Fighter. Retrieved 16 February 2008.
- ^ Anon. (22 May 2007). "Russian Military Bases Archived 20 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine". Kommersant Vlast. Retrieved 29 December 2007.
- ^ a b c d e "Russian Military Forces: Interactive Map".
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Eastern Order of Battle 2019.
- ^ a b "First batch-produced Su-57 delivered to regiment in Southern Military District — source".
- ^ "Southern Military District to get the first serial Su-57 multirole fighters. —". 13 June 2019.
- ^ "Assault aviation of the Southern Military District receives modernized Su-25M3 : Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation".
- ^ "Warfare.be" Воздушно-Космические Силы [Aerospace Forces]. warfare.be (in Russian). Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
- ^ "Russia is building up its military presence in Georgia. New S-300 in occupied Abkhazia". 19 March 2017.
- ^ "Начаты поставки зенитной ракетной системы С-350 "Витязь" в строевые части ПВО". 13 May 2021.
- ^ "Военные на юге России получили новую систему ПВО С-350 -".
- ^ ""Триумф" в Крыму". Газета.Ru. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
- ^ "Черноморская противолодочная авиация оказалась под угрозой исчезновения". Flot.com (in Russian). 20 October 2010. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011.
- ^ "Russian Air Force – Today". www.easternorbat.com.
- Eastern Order of Battle (2019). "Russian Air Force - Today".
- Kommersant-Vlast, 2005
Further reading
- Kommersant-Vlast report on the Russian Air Forces (Kommersant-Vlast, State of Russia's Air Forces 2008 No.33 (786) 25 August 2008 (in Russian))
External links
- http://www.rg.ru/2007/03/13/reg-jugrossii/miroshnichenko.html (Ru) – Interview with Miroshnichenko
- http://www.ww2.dk/new/air%20force/regiment/bap/3bap.htm – 3rd Bomber Aviation Regiment