6th Air and Air Defence Forces Army
6th Red Banner Leningrad Army of VVS and PVO (1998–2009; 2015–present) 6th Independent Army of PVO (1960? - 1998) | |
---|---|
6-я Краснознамённая Ленинградская армия Военно-воздушных сил и противовоздушной обороны | |
Active |
|
Country | Russia |
Branch | Russian Air Force |
Type | Air army |
Role | Air support and air defence |
Headquarters | Saint Petersburg |
Nickname(s) | Army of the "Road of Life" |
Motto(s) | "Securely guarding the North-West sky of Russia" (Russian: “Надежно охраняем небо Северо-Запада России") |
Equipment | Interceptors, multiple integrated SAM systems |
Engagements | Siege of Leningrad
Leningrad |
Commanders | |
Current commander | Major General Oleg Makovetskiy |
Insignia | |
Sleeve patch of the 6th Air and Air Defence Forces Army | |
Aircraft flown | |
Bomber | Su-24, Su-34 |
Fighter | Su-27, Su-35, Su-30, Su-27 |
Helicopter | Mi-8, Mi-24 |
Interceptor | MiG-31 |
Reconnaissance | Su-24MR |
Transport | An-12, An-26, Mi-8, Tu-134; |
The 6th Red Banner Leningrad Army of Air and Air Defence Forces (Russian: 6-я Краснознамённая Ленинградская армия Военно-воздушных сил и противовоздушной обороны)[1] is an Air Army of the Russian Aerospace Forces.
The army was first active from 1998 to 2009, and was reformed in 2015. After the war, the Soviet Air Defence Forces' main command in the Leningrad area from 1960 was the 6th Independent Air Defence Army. As of 2020 it is the principal frontal aviation formation within the Western Military District of the Russian Armed Forces.
History
Origins
The army traces its lineage back to the formation of the
The region was an air defence region of the 2nd category, and in the spring of 1954 became 1st category, tasked with providing air defense for Leningrad and the Leningrad Military District. On 1 May 1953, it included four fighter aviation divisions part of the 25th Fighter Air Defence Army (the 20th, 41st, 44th, and the 50th), three anti-aircraft artillery divisions (the 25th, 29th, and the 42nd), a separate anti-aircraft artillery regiment, and seven separate anti-aircraft artillery battalions. These numbered 33,200 men, 256 fighter aircraft, 950 anti-aircraft guns (including 261 light guns), and 52 radars. In June 1954, the region was reorganized into the Special Leningrad Air Defence Army, and the 25th Fighter Army abolished with its divisions brought under the direct control of the new army.[2]
When surface-to-air missiles were introduced into the Air Defence Forces between 1958 and 1959, four Air Defence Brigades of Special Designation were formed in the army: the 82nd, 83rd, 84th, and 86th, equipped with S-75 Dvina missiles. These brigades were planned to be controlled by a coordinated missile defence system forming a ring around Leningrad, known as the System-100 Missile Zone. Additionally, the S-75s were to be bolstered by three regiments of long-range multi-target Dal missiles (see ru:Даль_(зенитный_ракетный_комплекс)), whose formation began in the fall of 1960. The closed military town of Khvoyny was built to house the headquarters of the system.[2]
In April 1959 General-lieutenant Dmitry Zherebin was appointed commander of the Special Leningrad Air Defence Army.[3] He continued to command the army after its reorganization into the 6th Separate Air Defence Army in February 1961.
6th Independent Air Defence Army
In March 1960,
In early 1986, the PVO returned to the organization used during the 1960s and 1970s. As a result, in April 1986, the headquarters of the army was reestablished in Leningrad at 16 Baskov Pereulok from the headquarters of the 18th Corps.
In turn, the 27th Corps of the PVO consisted in 1988 of the:[11][12]
- 54th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO (Vainode, Latvian SSR) (38 Sukhoi Su-27P / UB)
- 689th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO (Nivenskoye, Kaliningrad Oblast) (36 Sukhoi Su-27P / UB)
- 77th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (Ventspils, Latvian SSR)
- 85th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (Kaunas, Lithuanian SSR)
- 158th Guards Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (Liepaya, Latvian SSR)
- 169th Guards Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (Neman, Kaliningrad Oblast)
- 183rd Guards Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (Gvardeysk, Kaliningrad Oblast)
- 205th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (Riga, Latvian SSR)
- 529th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment (Ukmerge, Lithuanian SSR)
- 466th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment (Vilnius, Lithuanian SSR)
- 80th Radio-Technical Brigade (Tukums, Latvian SSR)
- 81st Radio-Technical Brigade (Pereslavskoye, Kaliningrad Oblast)
- 5th Radio-Technical Regiment (Paplaka, Latvian SSR)
54th Air Defence Corps included:[2][13]
- 177th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO (Lodeynoye Pole, Leningrad Oblast) (38 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23MLD)
- 180th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO at Gromovo-Sakkola, Leningrad Oblast) (31 Mikoyan MiG-31)
- 82nd Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (Lomonosov, Leningrad Oblast)
- 83rd Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade(Zelenogorsk, Leningrad Oblast)
- 84th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (Vaganovo, Leningrad Oblast)
- 86th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (Tosno-2, Leningrad Oblast)
- 204th Guards Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade(Kerstovo, Leningrad Oblast)
- 169th Guards Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment(Kornevo, Leningrad Oblast)
- 219th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment (Pervomayskoye-1)
- 341st Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment (Lopukhinka-2)
- 555th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment (Ostrov-2)
- 967th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment (Tikhvin)
- 46th Radio-Technical Brigade(Khvoyny)
Russian Air Force
The Army was reformed within the
Economic stringency and the reduction of the threat led to drastic cuts in the formation,
On 13 September 2005, the army was awarded the honorific Leningrad in honor of the actions of its predecessor units in the Siege of Leningrad.[1]
From 2001 to 2009, the Kilpyavr airfield was home to the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, created on the basis of 941st Fighter Aviation Regiment, which had received all the regalia of the 470th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. In 2009, 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment was transferred from Karelia to the Besovets airbase, where it was merged with the 159th and 177th Fighter Regiment airfields Besovets and Lodeynoye Pole, respectively.[18]
In 2009 the army was disestablished and reorganised as the 1st Air and Air Defence Forces Command. Major General Alexander Duplinsky took command in February 2014; he was promoted to lieutenant general in February 2016.[19]
On 1 August 2015 the army was reformed from the 1st Air and Air Defence Forces Command as the 6th Leningrad Air and Air Defence Forces Army.[20]
By a Decree of the President of Russia dated September 13, 2005, for mass heroism and courage, fortitude and courage shown by the personnel of the army during the Great Patriotic War to protect the skies of Leningrad, and given its merits in peacetime, the army was given the honorary name "Leningrad".
Structure
Structure 2007
- Headquarters, 6th Army of Air Forces and Air Defence - Saint Petersburg
- 21st Air Defence Corps - Severomorsk[7]
- 9th Guards Vilnius Fighter Aviation Regiment - HQ at Kilp-Yavr (Poliarnyi) - Su-27; (see ru:Гвардейский Виленский ордена Кутузова III степени истребительный авиационный полк).[21][7] Formed 18 March 1943 as 63rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment.
- 458th Fighter Aviation Regiment - HQ at
- 531st Nevel-Berlin Guards Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment[23]
- 1528th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment — Severodvinsk[24]
- 583rd Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment — Olenegorsk, Murmansk Oblast
- 145th Radiotechnical Brigade — Arkhangelsk
- 5th Radiotechnical Brigade — Dalny Zelentsy, Severomorsk
- 54th Air Defence Corps - HQ at Taytsy[7]
- 177th Fighter Aviation Regiment - HQ at Lodeynoye Pole (air base) - Su-27;[7]
- 196th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment
- ?th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment
- 149th Composite Aviation Division
- 67th Bomber Aviation Regiment - HQ at Su-24;[7]
- 722nd Bomber Aviation Regiment - HQ at Smuravyevo (Gdov) - Su-24;[7]
- 67th Bomber Aviation Regiment - HQ at
- 98th Guards Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment - HQ at Monchegorsk (air base) - MiG-25RB/U, Su-24MR;[7]
- 87th Aviation Base - HQ at Levashevo - Tu-134; (ex 138th Independent Composite Air Regiment)[7]
- Army Aviation Component
- 1080th Mixed Aviation Base (смешанная авиационная база) — An-26, Mi-8,
- 714th Base for Reserve Helicopters — Mi-24
- 396th Centre for Special and Physical Preparations — St Petersburg
Structure 1st Air and Air Defence Forces Command 2009-2015
- S-300PM, S-300PS) — Severomorsk
- 2nd Air and Space Defence Brigade(with S-300PM) — Khvoyny
- 6961st Air Base (Su-27UB) — Besovets(Бесовец)
- 6964th Guards Vistula Red Banner Order of Kutuzov Air Base (with Su-24M, Su-24MP)— Monchegorsk(Мончегорск)
- 6965th Air Base (with Mi-8, Mi-24) — Vyazma (Вязьма)
- 7000th Guards Borisov-Pomerania Twice Red Banner Order of Suvorov Air Base (with SU-24M, Su-24MP, Su-34) — Voronezh
The 1st Air and Air Defence Forces Command was only active from 2009 to 2015.
Structure: 2019/2020
6th Air and Air Defence Forces Army HQ (St.Petersburg):[26]
- 105th Guards Composite Aviation Division (Voronezh)
- Su-35S)
- 790th Fighter Aviation Regiment (MiG-31; One Squadron: Su-35)
- Su-30SM)
- 47th Composite Aviation Regiment (Su-34)
- 4th Reconnaissance Aviation Squadron (Su-24MR)
- Naval Aviation (drawn from 132nd Mixed Aviation Division - Kaliningrad)
- 689th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (Kaliningrad Chkalovsk) (Two Squadrons: Sukhoi Su-27P - planned to re-equip with the Su-35[27])
- 4th Independent Naval Attack Aviation Regiment (Su-30SM; One Squadron: Su-24M)
- 2nd Air Defence Division (St. Petersburg region)[28]
- S-400SAM system)
- PantsirSAM systems)
- 1490th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Ulyanovka- S-400 SAMs)
- 500th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Gostilitsy - S-400/Pantsir SAMs)
- 1544th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Vladimirsky Lager - S-400 SAMs)
- 32nd Air Defence Division[28]
- 44th Air Defence Division of the Baltic Fleet (Kaliningrad region)[28]
- 183rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Gvardeysk - S-400/S-300/Pantsir SAMs)
- 1545th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Kruglovo - S-400 SAMs)
Also seemingly part of the army are the
The 52nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment (at
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c "6 армия ВВС и ПВО" [6th Army VVS and PVO]. Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2007-09-10. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f Lenskii & Tsybin 2013, pp. 87–88.
- ^ Tsapayev & Goremykin 2014, pp. 970–971.
- ^ Michael Holm, 18th ADC, accessed March 2012
- ^ Lenskii & Tsybin 2013, p. 89.
- ^ Lenskii & Tsybin 2013, p. 90.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Butowski, Piotr (August 2007). "Force Report: Russian Air Force, Part 2". AirForces Monthly. p. 62.
- ^ Holm, Michael. "6th independent Air Defence Army". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
- ^ "656th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO". Ww2.dk. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
- ^ Lenskii & Tsybin 2013, p. 92.
- ^ Michael Holm, 27th Air Defence Corps, accessed February 2012
- ^ Gusca, Vladislavs. "Объекты ПВО СССР в Прибалтике" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
- ^ Lenskii & Tsybin 2013, pp. 89–93.
- ^ Agentstvo voyennykh novostey, 11 Apr 2000, cited by Federation of American Scientists, https://fas.org/irp/world/russia/fbis/AirForce.html#6thAir/AirDefenseArmy, accessed June 2010
- ^ http://www.aviation.ru/data/Regiments.html Archived 1999-02-09 at the Wayback Machine, accessed April 2009
- ^ http://www.ww2.dk/new/pvo/10oapvo.htm; previous report was August 1994: http://knn.dvvaiu.net/content/view/239/1/ Archived 2010-07-30 at the Wayback Machine, accessed June 2010
- ^ accessed April 2009
- ^ Pinchuk Alexander. At the airbase Besovets, newspaper "Red Star" via aviaport.ru, Retrieved March 8, 2016.
- ^ "Дуплинский Александр Васильевич : Министерство обороны Российской Федерации". structure.mil.ru. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
- ^ "Шестая Ленинградская армия ВВС и ПВО сформирована на западе России". RIA Novosti (in Russian). 10 August 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
- ^ See also http://www.ww2.dk/new/air%20force/regiment/iap/641gviap.htm, http://www.ww2.dk/new/air%20force/regiment/iap/941iap.htm
- ^ See also http://www.ww2.dk/new/air%20force/regiment/iap/72gviap.htm
- ^ These five units were inserted from the corresponding Ru-wiki article April 2009
- ^ "Воздушно-Космические Силы" [Aerospace Forces]. warfare.be (in Russian). 2016. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
- ^ "159th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment". Ww2.dk. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
- ^ "Russian Air Force - Today". Eastern Orbat.
- ^ "Russia strengthens its forces on the Baltic Sea". 30 January 2018.
- ^ a b c d GFSIS.
- Air Forces Monthly, July & August 2007 issues.
- GFSIS. "Russian Military Forces: Interactive Map".
Sources
- Tsapayev, D.A.; Goremykin, Viktor (2014). Великая Отечественная: Комдивы. Военный биографический словарь [The Great Patriotic War: Division Commanders. Military Biographical Dictionary] (in Russian). Vol. 3. Moscow: Kuchkovo Pole. ISBN 978-5-9950-0382-3.
- Lenskii, A.G.; Tsybin, M.M. (2013). Советские Войска ПВО в последние годы Союза ССР. Часть 1 [Soviet Air Defense Forces in the last years of the USSR: Part 1] (in Russian). St. Petersburg: Info Ol. OCLC 861180616.