The 116th Fighter Aviation Regiment ( sh, 116. lovački puk, ) was a unit originally established in 1944 as the 113th Fighter Aviation Regiment (, ). It was formed from Yugoslav partisan aviators, trained and equipped by the Soviet Air Force.

History

113th Fighter Aviation Regiment

The 113th Fighter Aviation Regiment was established on December 15, 1944, in Ruma, from Yugoslav partisan aviators with the Soviet Air Force

17th Air Army The 17th Air Army () was an Air army of the Red Air Force and Soviet Air Forces from 1942. World War II It was formed in October (Bonn et al.: November) 1942 on the basis of the Air Forces of the Southwestern Front. Bonn et al. say that it incl ...

's 267th Fighter Aviation Regiment (267.IAP). It became independent from Soviet command and personnel in May 1945. The regiment was part of the 11th Aviation Fighter Division and equipped with Soviet

Yak-1 The Yakovlev Yak-1 (russian: Яковлев Як-1) was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. The Yak-1 was a single-seat monoplane with a composite structure and wooden wings; production began in early 1940.Angelucci and Matricardi 1978, ...

M fighter aircraft. The regiment took part in final operations for the liberation of Yugoslavia and was based at Ruma, Ilinovac,

Bački Brestovac Bački Brestovac () is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Odžaci municipality, in the West Bačka District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 3,469 people (2002 census). Name Names in ...

, Ilinovac (again) and Velika Gorica/ Pleso airfields. By 1945 then new Yak-3 fighters were introduced into service. After the war the regiment moved to Slovenia, being based at Ljubljana and Cerklje airfields. By 1947 it was re-located to Macedonia, where it was based at Skopje. From June 18 to September 21 1947, the regiment was based at Tirana in Albania. In 1948 this regiment was renamed, like all other units of the Yugoslav Army, becoming the 116th Fighter Aviation Regiment. The commanders of the regiment in this period were Miljenko Lipovšćak, Nikola Cvikić, Ljubo Kojić and Spasen Zarevski. The commissars were Drago Đuričković, Đuro Savić and Miloš Milikić. Yu S-49C

116th Fighter Aviation Regiment

The regiment was formed by renaming the 113th Fighter Aviation Regiment which was at Skopski Petrovac airport, where it remained until it was disbanded. The regiment was part of the 39th Aviation Division until 1959, when it was subordinated to the 3rd Air Command. It was equipped with Soviet Yak-3s until 1952 when they were replaced with new domestically produced

Ikarus S-49C The Ikarus S-49 was a Yugoslav single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft built for the Yugoslav Air Force ( sh, Ratno vazduhoplovstvo i protivvazdušna obrana – RV i PVO) shortly after World War II. Following the Tito–Stalin Split in 1948 ...

fighters. The regiment also had a number of various trainers, including the Soviet Yak-9U, the domestically produced Utva 212 and others. It was disbanded on October 15 1960. The commanders of the regiment in this period were Spasen Zarevski, Branko Kuna, Aleksandar Bračun, Drago Stanisavljević, Petar Pavić and Stevan Leka.Dimitrijević, Bojan. ''Jugoslovensko Ratno Vazduhoplovstvo 1942-1992''. Beograd, 2006, p. 359.

Assignments

11th Aviation Fighter Division 11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables. Name "Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first attested ...

(1944-1945) * 2nd Aviation Division (1945-1947) *

5th Aviation Fighter Division Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash that ...

(1947-1948) *

39th Aviation Division The 39th Aviation Division (''Serbo-Croatian: 39. vazduhoplovna divizija/ 39. ваздухопловна дивизија'') was a unit originally established in 1947 as the 5th Aviation Fighter Division (''Serbo-Croatian: 5. vazduhoplovna lovačka ...

(1948–1959) *

3rd Air Command The 3rd Air Command (''Serbo-Croatian language, Serbo-Croatian: 3. vazduhoplovna komanda/ 3. ваздухопловна команда'') was a joint unit of Yugoslav Air Force. History It was established by the order from June 27, 1959, on Novem ...

(1959–1960)

Previous designations

*113th Fighter Aviation Regiment (1944-1948) *116th Fighter Aviation Regiment (1948-1960)

Bases stationed

*Ruma (1944) *Bački Brestovac (1944) *Ilinovac (1944) *Velika Gorica/Pleso (1944) *Ljubljana (1945) *Cerklje (1946-1947) *Skopski Petrovac (1947) *Tirana, Albania (1947) *Skopski Petrovac (1947-1960)

Commanding officers

Aircraft

*Yakovlev Yak-1M (1944–1948) *Yakovlev Yak-3 (1945–1952) *Ikarus S-49C (1952–1960) *Yakovlev Yak-9U (1948–1950) *Utva 212 (1948-1960)

References

{{Reflist Fighter regiments of the Yugoslav Air Force Military units and formations established in 1944 Military units and formations disestablished in 1960