An air army was a type of formation of the Soviet Air Forces from 1936 until its dissolution in 1991. Air armies continued to be used in the successor Russian Air Force until 2009.
The first three Air Armies, designated 'Air Armies of Special Purpose' were created between 1936 and 1938. 2nd Air Army was created on the 15 March 1937 in the Far East, and somewhat later the 3rd Air Army was created in the North Caucasus Military District. However air armies were excluded from the organisational reform of the air forces approved on the 25 July 1940. On 5 November 1940 the three existing air armies were reformed as the long range bombardment aviation of the High Command of the Red Army due to lack of combat performance during the conflict with Finland.[1]
From May - November 1942, seventeen Air Armies were created from air forces of the Fronts and Combined Arms Armies, and in December 1944 a long range aviation Air Army was created as the 18th Air Army.[2] The 1st Air Army was the first created on 5 May 1942 as part of the Western Front. The next to form during 1942 were the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th Air Armies.
The Air Armies were integrated formations of the Fronts, and were subordinated to the Front commanders for all operating and operational reasons, including combat air operations. The Air Armies consisted of subordinate fighter, bombing, assault and mixed Aviation Divisions, aviation corps, and separate aviation regiments. The structure of an Air Army during the Second World War fluctuated depending on the operational planning needs, and could include 3-4 aviation divisions, up to 8-9 aviation Corps, up to 10 separate aviation divisions, and a number of separate aviation regiments, operating from 200-1,000 aircraft in 1942-43, and 1,500 to 3,000 aircraft in some strategic operations by 1944-45.[1]
Also formed were the Air Armies of the Air Defence Forces, which combined all the air formations and units of the military districts,[3] and operated predominantly interceptor fighter aircraft. Many of these formations and units were subsequently transferred to the Frontal Air Armies.[1]
While intended primarily for support of the ground forces, the Air Armies also cooperated with the naval forces of the Red Navy Fleets.
On 10 January 1949, the 1st, 2nd, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17th Air Armies of the World War II period were renamed the 26th, 28, 61, 37, 48, 73, 62 (then 34), 23 (then 59), 54, 29, 45, 57, 30, 24,6, 9th.[4] The 18th Air Army became Long Range Aviation (АДД), consisting of three armies - the 43rd, with its staff in Vinnitsa, the 50th in Smolensk, and the 65th at Khabarovsk. On the basis of the air defence aviation divisions and corps PVO armies were created - the 19th, 21st, 22nd, 25th, 32nd, 42nd, 52nd, and 78th (in Leningrad, Batumi, Arkhangelsk, Tallinn, Kiev, Baku, Yaroslavl and Moscow respectively).
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There were eighteen air armies formed in World War II, with many others formed after 1945.[5]
| Army | Date Formed | Date Disbanded | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Air Army | May 1942 | 1998 | Formed from Air Forces of the Western Front. Took part in Battle of Smolensk (1943). Redesignated 26th Air Army 10 January 1949. Reformed, part of VVS in Far East until 1998 |
| 2nd Air Army | 1942 | 1991 as PVO army | Formed from Air Forces of the Bryansk Front. Redesignated 28th Air Army 10 January 1949. 2nd Army of PVO disbanded circa 1991 |
| 3rd Air Army | May 1942 | 1949 | Formed from Air Forces of the Kalinin Front. Redesignated 61st Air Army 10 January 1949. |
| 4th Air Army | May 1942 | 2009 | Formed from the Air Forces of the Southern Front. Redesignated 37th Air Army 10 January 1949, reformed 1968, moved to the North Caucasus Military District in August 1992. In 1998 was redesignated 4th Army of VVS and PVO after incorporating the 12th Separate Corps of PVO. After incorporating all military district aviation, its HQ was moved to Rostov-na-Donu in 2002. |
| 5th Air Army | June 1942 | 2009 | Formed from the Air Forces of the North Caucasus Front. Redesignated 48th Air Army 10 January 1949. Reformed after 1998 and serving in Volga-Urals Military District until 2009. |
| 6th Air Army | June 1942 | 2009 | Formed from the Air Forces of the North-Western Front, redesignated 73rd Air Army 10 January 1949. Reformed 1998, disbanded by being redesignated 1st Command of VVS and PVO 2009. |
| 7th Air Army | Nov. 1942 | 1949 | Formed from the Air Forces of the Karelian Front, redesignated 62nd Air Army 10 January 1949. Served on the Karelian Front; in reserve by the end of World War II; January 1949 renamed 62nd Air Army. Later redesignated 34th Air Army. 34th Air Army served in the Transcaucasus Military District during the Cold War. |
| 8th Air Army | June 1942 | 1991-2? | Formed in June 1942 from the Air Forces of the Soviet Southwestern Front, comprising five fighter, three bomber, and two ground attack divisions. Redesignated 23rd Air Army 10 January 1949. Was active with the Voyska PVO in 1980s as 8th Army of the PVO. See also ru:8-я Воздушная армия |
| 9th Air Army | Aug 1942 | 1949 | Formed on the Soviet Far East Front; became 54th Air Army 10 January 1949. |
| 10th Air Army | Soviet Air Defence Forces postwar | ||
| 11th Air Army | 11th Air Army of VVS and PVO 2010, with HQ at Khabarovsk. Major formations are the 93rd Division of PVO in Vladivostok, 25th Division of PVO in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, and 303rd Mixed Aviation Division in Ussuriysk. Other units are two Radio-technology brigades and various aviation and aviation support regiments, and detachments. The Army's transport aircraft are based at the 265th aviation base in Khabarovsk (Khabarovsk-Bolshoi). The Army also includes three S-300P SAM regiments. Most of the Army's aircraft are versions of SU-27, SU-24 and SU-25, with one regiment (Sokolovka) flying MiG-31 intercept fighters. | ||
| 12th Air Army | Redesignated 45th Air Army 1949. 45th Air Army later redesignated 23rd Air Army. 12th Army of the PVO was a separate formation, formed from 30th Corps of the PVO in January 1963.[6] | ||
| 13th Air Army | 1942 | Redesignated January 1949 as 76th Air Army.[7] | |
| 14th Air Army | Redesignated 57th Air Army 1949. Colonel General of Aviation Polynin was commander 57th Air Army 1956-60.(http://www.generals.dk/general/Polynin/Fedor_Petrovich/Soviet_Union.html) Also 14 OA PVO (Soviet Air Defence Forces). | ||
| 15th Air Army | July 1942 | From Oct 1943 attached to the Bryansk Front, and later the 2nd Baltic Front; ended the war attacking the Courland pocket; Stationed in Riga, Baltic Military District 1945 - 1991, renamed 30th Air Army in Jan 1949, but became 15th Air Army again in April 1968[8] | |
| 16th Air Army | 1942 | Disbanded January 1949 by being retitled 24th Air Army. Reformed, part of Group of Soviet Forces in Germany for many years. Withdrawn in 1990s to Moscow Military District | |
| 17th Air Army | Stationed in Kiev 1945 - 1991, renamed 69th Air Army in Jan 1949, but became 17th Air Army again in Apr 1968. Primarily a training force at end of 1980s. | ||
| 18th Air Army | Dec. 1944 | April 1946 | Designed to provide massive strikes on important enemy forces. Used to support important Soviet objectives. Disbanded and used to form the basis of the Long Range Aviation of the Soviet Union. |
| 19th Army of the PVO | Soviet Air Defence Forces | ||
| 22nd Air Army | Northern Military District | ||
| 23rd Air Army | 1967 | 1998 | Transbaikal Military District. In 1957 the 45th Air Army became the Air Forces of the ZabVO. 29.7.1967 the Air Forces of the ZabVO became 23rd Air Army. In 1980 the 23rd Air Army became Air Forces of the ZabVO. In 1990 the 23rd Air Army was reformed from the Air Forces of the Transbaikal Military District.[9] Commander of the 23rd Air Army, General Lieutenant Dimitri Kutsekon, was killed in a helicopter crash in August 1996.[10] A late 1980s(?) order of battle is [1]. |
| 24th Air Army | 2nd Separate Heavy Bomber Aviation Corps was established in August 1960 at Vinnitsa from elements of HQ 43rd Air Army of the Long Range Aviation. Redesignated 24th Air Army VGK 1 August 1980.[11] South-Western Strategic Direction. At the dissolution of the Soviet Union this Army had forces in Belarus and Ukraine. In Ukraine forces consisted of the 32nd Bomber Aviation Division, at Starokonstantinov, the 56th Bomber Aviation Division at Cherlyany, and the 138th Fighter Aviation Division at Mirgorod. In Ukraine in 1991-92, this Army had available over 140 Su-24 Fencer, over 35 Yak-28 electronic warfare aircraft, and 40 MiG-27 Floggers and 40 Su-27 Flankers for strike escort.[12] | ||
| 26th Air Army | (Belarussian Military District) On 15 June 1992, by decree № 05 of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Belarus, the 26th Air Army headquarters became the command of the Belarusian Air Force. | ||
| 30th Air Army | 1.8.80 | October 1994 | Long Range Aviation. Activated at Blagovechensk, Amur Oblast, from the 8th independent Heavy Bomber Aviation Corps.[13] 31st and 55th Heavy Bomber Aviation Divisions appear to have been with the Army for most of its existence. |
| 34th Air Army | After 1949 | 1992 | Former 62nd Air Army, Transcaucasian Military District.[14] |
| 36th Air Army | After 1949 | 1992? | Southern Group of Forces, Hungary |
| 37th Air Army | Moscow, Long Range Aviation |
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