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)
Active
  • 1960 – 1980
  • 1986 – 2009
  • 2015 – present
Country Russian Federation
Branch Air Force
Role Air support and air defence
Headquarters Sankt-Peterburg
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, S-300 SAM system
Engagements Siege of Leningrad
Decorations Order of the Red Banner
Aircraft flown
Bomber Su-24
Fighter Su-27
Helicopter Mi-8, Mi-24
Interceptor MiG-31
Reconnaissance MiG-25RB/U, 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 Air Force.

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.

History

6th Independent Air Defence Army

From March 1960,[2] the 6th Independent Army of the PVO (6-я отдельная армия ПВО) was active as an air defence formation. It was composed of regiments of interceptors and anti-aircraft missiles. It had two major tasks: to protect the most industrialized European part of the Soviet Union against possible U.S. cruise missile attack from the north via the North Pole (using Mikoyan MiG-31 interceptors), and to protect the deployment of nuclear submarines stationed in the Kola Peninsula (using Su-27 fighters). The air army was disbanded on 15 March 1980 but reactivated in April 1986 from the 18th Corps of PVO.[3] In 1988, the 6th Army, headquartered at St Petersburg, consisted of the 27th Corps of PVO at Riga, 54th Corps at Gatchina, and 14th Division of PVO at Tallinn, with nine fighter interceptor regiments, five SAM regiments, five radar regiments, and the 498th PVO Training Centre.[4]

In turn, the 27th Corps of the PVO consisted in 1988 of the:[5]

54th Air Defence Corps included[6]

Russian Air Force

The Army was reformed within the Russian Air Force on June 1, 1998, from the 76th Air Army of the VVS and the 6th Independent Air Defence Army, both headquartered in Saint Petersburg. Its new title was the 6th Army of Air Forces and Air Defence. The 6th Army had responsibility for the Leningrad Military District. General Lieutenant Gennadiy A. Torbov was appointed commander of the army by a presidential decree of 6 April 2000. He replaced Lt-Gen Anatoliy Basov, who retired due to age.[7] Its commanding officer was General Lieutenant Vladimir Sviridov from June 2005 until at least 2007.

Economic stringency and the reduction of the threat led to drastic cuts in the formation, as previously the 6th and 10th Independent Air Defence Armies, which covered the area, had twelve fighter regiments between them.[8] 10th Independent Air Defence Army appears to have disbanded on 1 December 1994.[9] The 518th Fighter Aviation Regiment at Talagi Airport disbanded in 1998. The 174th and 470th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiments, at Monchegorsk and Afrikanda air base, both disbanded on September 1, 2001.[10] There was also formerly the 72nd Fighter Regiment at Amderma and the 641st Fighter Aviation Regiment at Rogachevo (Sukhoi Su-27s).

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.[11]

In 2009 the army was disestablished and reorganised as the 1st Air and Air Defence Forces Command.

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.[12]

Structure 2007

Structure 1st Air and Air Defence Forces Command 2009-2015

The 1st Air and Air Defence Forces Command was only active from 2009 to 2015.

Notes

  1. ↑ Историческая справка
  2. ↑ Michael Holm, 18th ADC, accessed March 2012
  3. ↑ Holm, Michael. "6th independent Air Defence Army". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  4. ↑ Feskov et al, The Soviet Army during the Period of the Cold War, Tomsk University Press, Tomsk, 2004, 150.
  5. ↑ Michael Holm, 27th Air Defence Corps, accessed February 2012
  6. ↑ http://www.ww2.dk/new/pvo/54kpvo.htm
  7. ↑ 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
  8. ↑ http://www.aviation.ru/data/Regiments.html, accessed April 2009
  9. ↑ http://www.ww2.dk/new/pvo/10oapvo.htm; previous report was August 1994: http://knn.dvvaiu.net/content/view/239/1/, accessed June 2010
  10. ↑ http://gv470iap.narod.ru/, accessed April 2009
  11. ↑ Pinchuk Alexander. At the airbase Besovets, newspaper "Red Star" via aviaport.ru, Retrieved March 8, 2016.
  12. ↑ "На западе России сформирована 6-я Ленинградская Краснознамённая армия ВВС и ПВО" [In the west, Russia formed the 6th Leningrad Red Banner Air Force army and air defense]. RT in Russian (in Russian). 10 August 2015. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
  13. ↑ See also http://www.ww2.dk/new/air%20force/regiment/iap/641gviap.htm, http://www.ww2.dk/new/air%20force/regiment/iap/941iap.htm
  14. ↑ See also http://www.ww2.dk/new/air%20force/regiment/iap/72gviap.htm
  15. ↑ These five units were inserted from the corresponding Ru-wiki article April 2009
  16. ↑ http://www.ww2.dk/new/air%20force/regiment/iap/159gviap.htm

References and further reading

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