The 9th Air Army was a military formation of the

Soviet Air Forces The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...

, active from August 1942 until April 1957, which operated in the Far East.

History

It was formed on August 15, 1942 after an order of the NPO of the USSR of July 27, 1942 on the basis of the Air Forces of the

1st Red Banner Army The 1st Red Banner Army () was a Red Army field army of World War II that served in the Soviet Far East. Before 1941 The 1st Army was created in July 1938 under the name of the 1st Coastal Army (or, depending on translation, 1st Maritime Army) i ...

, 25th Army and 35th Army of the

Far Eastern Front The Far Eastern Front ( Russian: Дальневосточный фронт) was a front — a level of military formation that is equivalent to army group — of the Red Army during the Second World War. Early war service Тhe Far Eastern Front ...

. In August 1945, the 9th Air Army, fortified by the 19th Bomber Corps, entered the

1st Far Eastern Front The Far Eastern Front (Russian language, Russian: Дальневосточный фронт) was a Front (Soviet Army), front — a level of military formation that is equivalent to army group — of the Red Army during the World War II, Second Wor ...

. The army participated in the Soviet-Japanese War and, in particular, in the Harbin–Kirin Offensive Operation. On August 9, it bombarded military facilities in the areas of Changchun and Harbin, provided air support to the 1st Red Banner and 5th armies in breaking through the defense of the

Imperial Japanese Armed Forces The Imperial Japanese Armed Forces (IJAF) were the combined military forces of the Japanese Empire. Formed during the Meiji Restoration in 1868,"One can date the 'restoration' of imperial rule from the edict of 3 January 1868." p. 334. they ...

. From August 10 to 17, it supported the advance of the troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front on Harbin and Changchun. Since August 18, the 9th Air Army started using the airfields of Harbin, Kirin,

Yanji Yanji (; Chosŏn'gŭl: 연길, ''Yeon-gil;'' Hangul: 옌지, ''Yenji;'' alternately romanized as Yenki) is a county-level city in the east of China's Jilin Province, and is the seat of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture. Its population i ...

Wonsan Wŏnsan (), previously known as Wŏnsanjin (), Port Lazarev, and Genzan (), is a port city and naval base located in Kangwŏn Province, North Korea, along the eastern side of the Korean Peninsula, on the Sea of Japan and the provincial capital. ...

, Hamhung and others. During its existence, the army made more than 4400 sorties. The 9th Air Army was renamed the 54th Air Army on January 10, 1949. According to

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

intelligence, at least two regiments from the formation covertly fought against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

, and their allies in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

.Carson, Austin (2018-12-31), ''Secret Wars: Covert Conflict in International Politics'', Princeton University Press, p. 165, , , retrieved 2022-02-1
On April 1, 1957 it was merged with the

29th Air Army 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

on Sahkalin and became part of the

1st Red Banner Air Army __NOTOC__ The 1st Air Army (russian: 1-я воздушная армия) was an Air Army in the Soviet Air Force which served during World War II. It was formed on May 10, 1942, within the Soviet Western Front, and renamed the 26th Air Army on ...

Army Commanders

* 27.07.1942 - 18.09.1944 : Major General of Aviation

Aleksandr Sergeyevich Senatorov Aleksandr Sergeevich Senatorov (russian: Александр Сергеевич Сенаторов; 8 October 1912 – 24 January 1993) was a lieutenant-general in the Soviet Air Force. Biography Born in the village of Vyshelej, Penza Oblast to ...

* 18.09.1944 - 28.06.1945 : Major General of Aviation Vasily Vinogradov * 28.06.1945 - 01.12.1946 : Colonel General of Aviation Ivan Sokolov * 12.1946 - 03.1949 : Lieutenant-General David Yakovlevich Slobozhan * 03.1949 - 02.1955 : Lieutenant-General

* 02.1955 - 06.1956 : Lieutenant-General Yuriy Borisovich Rukachev * 06.1956 - 04.1957 : Lieutenant-General Pavel Borisovich Dankevich

References

External links

pamyat-naroda.ru
{{Armies of the Soviet Air Forces Air armies of the Soviet Air Forces Military units and formations disestablished in 1957