16th Air Army
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The 16th 'Red Banner' Air Army (16 воздушная Краснознаменная армия) is a formation of the Russian Air Force. Initially formed during the Second World War as a part of the Soviet Air Force, it is now the tactical air forces component of the Moscow Military District, headquartered at Kubinka.
The Army was formed in August 1942 at Stalingrad. It took part in Operation Uranus as part of the Don Front in November-December 1942. It took part in the Battle of Kursk, and was part of the First Belorussian Front for the liberation of Belarus and the assault on Berlin. For a long period after the war the Army was stationed with the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, headquartered at Zossen. In 1949 it was renamed the 24th Air Army, but was reformed as the 16th in 1968. In its last years in Germany it consisted of:
- 15th Reconnaissance Aviation Division
- 6th Fighter Aviation Division
- 16th Fighter Aviation Division
- 126th Fighter Aviation Division
- 105th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Division
- 125th Fighter Aviation Division
It finished its withdrawal to the Russian Federation on 27 May 1994.
On 1 June 1998 the 16th Air Army was disbanded and its units incorporated into the Moscow District of VVS and PVO, in accordance with the amalgamation of the Air Forces and the Air Defence Forces. This was quickly reversed and on 25 November 1998 the 16th Composite Air Corps was re-raised.
According to Interfax, 5 January 2002, in the summer of 2002 the former Moscow District of the VVS and PVO was split into the reactivated 16th Air Army, a tactical force, and the Special Purpose Command of the Central Air Defence Zone, an air defense force. Pyotr Butowski, writing in 2004, seems to indicate that the Special Purpose Command (he makes no mention of the ‘of the Central Air Defence Zone’) is merely essentially a redesignation of the former Moscow District.
The exact subordinate formations of the 16th Air Army are unclear because some may be under the Special Purpose Command. Aviation formations within the Moscow Military District's boundaries include:
- 105th Composite Aviation Division, Voronezh
- 1st Corps of PVO (surface to air missiles)
- 32nd Corps of PVO
- Army Aviation elements
- 45th Independent Helicopter Regiment (Oreshkovo (Vorotinsk) near Kaluga) (Mi-24)
- 440th Independent Helicopter Regiment (Vyazma)
- 490th Independent Helicopter Regiment (Klokovo, near Tula) (Mi-24, Mi-8)
- 865th Reserve Helicopter Base (Protasovo, near Ryazan)
[edit] External Links and Sources
- [1]
- Soviet ORBAT from last years in Germany (Russian)
- Pyotr Butowski, International Air Power Review, No.13, 2004
