The 103rd Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment (''

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and ...

: 103. izviđački avijacijski puk / 103. извиђачки авијацијски пук'') was a unit established in 1947 as the Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment (''

: izviđački avijacijski puk / извиђачки авијацијски пук'').

History

Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment

The regiment was formed on May 10, 1947, at

Mostar , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Mostar (collage image).jpg , image_caption = From top, left to right: A panoramic view of the heritage town site and the Neretva river from Lučki Bridge, Koski Mehmed Pasha ...

from

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

and

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

fighters of the former 1st Fighter Regiment and

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

trainers. It was subordinated to the direct command of the

Yugoslav Air Force The Air Force and Air Defence ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Ратно ваздухопловство и противваздушна одбрана, Ratno vazduhoplovstvo i protivvazdušna odbrana ; abbr. sh-Cyrl-Latn, label=none, separator=/, РВ и ПВ� ...

. By 1948 this regiment was renamed like all other units of the Yugoslav Army, becoming the 103rd Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment.

103rd Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment

The 103rd Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment was based at Mostar airfield until 1949, when it was re-located to Pančevo airport. In 1952 it moved briefly to Batajnica Air Base, and it subsequently returned to Pančevo where it remained until 1960 when it moved to

Tuzla Tuzla (, ) is the third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inhabitants. Tuzla is the economic, cultural, e ...

. It was equipped with British-made fighters and trainers, domestic Aero 2 trainers and Soviet Yak-9P fighters until 1951 when they were replaced with British-made Mosquito Mk 38 night fighters. By 1952 the regiment was subordinated to the 44th Aviation Division. In 1953 it was attached to the 7th Air Corps. The Mosquitos were replaced by US-made RT-33A reconnaissance jets by 1956. By 1961 the "Drvar" system was being used to identify squadrons, the two units of the 103rd Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment became the 350th and the 351st Reconnaissance Aviation Squadrons. It was disbanded in 1966 due to an order of February 17 of the same year. Its 351st Reconnaissance Aviation Squadron was also disbanded, while the 350th Reconnaissance Aviation Squadron was attached to the 98th Aviation Brigade. The commanders of the regiment were Mića Marijanović, Spasen Zarevski, Miljenko Lipovščak, Ante Sardelić, Nikola Žutić, Tomaš Samardžić, Stojan Mutić, Borivoje Petkov and Stevan Leka.Dimitrijević, Bojan. ''Jugoslovensko Ratno Vazduhoplovstvo 1942-1992''. Beograd, 2006, p. 358.

Assignments

*Command of

(1947–1953) * 44th Aviation Division (1952–1953) *

7th Aviation Corps The 7th Aviation Corps (''Serbo-Croatian: '') was an aviation corps established in 1953. It was formed by order from February 5, 1953, with command in Zemun as join unit composed from three aviation divisions and one aviation technical division. Co ...

(1953–1959) *

1st Air Command The 1st Air Command (''Serbo-Croatian: 1. vazduhoplovna komanda/ 1. ваздухопловна команда'') was a joint unit of the Yugoslav Air Force from 1959 to 1964, serving as the premier air force unit within Yugoslavia. The unit served ...

(1959–1960) *

7th Air Command The 7th Air Command (''Serbo-Croatian: 7. vazduhoplovna komanda/ 7. ваздухопловна команда'') was a joint unit of Yugoslav Air Force. History It was established by the order from June 27, 1959, per the "Drvar" reorganization pl ...

(1960–1964) * 1st Aviation Corps (1964–1966)

Previous designations

*Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment (1947–1948) *103rd Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment (1948–1966)

Organization

1961-1964

*103rd Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment ** 350th Reconnaissance Aviation Squadron ** 351st Reconnaissance Aviation Squadron

Bases stationed

(1947–1949) *Pančevo (1949–1951) *Batajnica (1952) *Pančevo (1952–1960) *Tuzla (1960–1966)

Commanding officers

Equipment

*Hawker Hurricane IV (1947–1951) *Supermarine Spitfire VC (1947–1951) *Supermarine Spitfire IX (1947–1951) *Norodyn Harvard Mk IIB (1947–1951) * Ikarus Aero 2B/C (1949–1951) * Yakovlev Yak-9P (1950–1951) *de Havilland Mosquito NF Mk 38 (1951–1956) *Lockheed RT-33A/IT-33A Shooting Star (1956–1966)

References

{{Reflist Regiments of Yugoslav Air Force Military units and formations established in 1947 Military units and formations disestablished in 1966