An air army was a type of 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 ...
from 1936 until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. Air armies continued to be used in the successor
Russian Air Force
" Air March"
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until 2009, and, with a brief break under Serdyukov, from 2015.
The first three Air Armies, designated 'Air Armies of Special Purpose' were created between 1936 and 1938. 2nd Air Army was created on 15 March 1937 in the Far East. Somewhat later, the 3rd Air Army was created in the
North Caucasus Military District
The North Caucasus Military District was a military district of the Russian Armed Forces, which became in 2010 the Southern Military District and lately also included the Black Sea Fleet and Caspian Flotilla.
It comprised the Republic of Adygeya, ...
. However, air armies were excluded from the organisational reform of the air forces approved on 25 July 1940. On 5 November 1940, the three existing air armies were reformed as the
long range bombardment aviation of the
Stavka
The ''Stavka'' (Russian and Ukrainian: Ставка) is a name of the high command of the armed forces formerly in the Russian Empire, Soviet Union and currently in Ukraine.
In Imperial Russia ''Stavka'' referred to the administrative staff, a ...
of the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
due to poor combat performance during the
Winter War
The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...
with Finland.
[AllAces.ru]
Kharin
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From May - November 1942, seventeen Air Armies were created from the 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. The 1st 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 ...
was the first created, on 5 May 1942, as part of the Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to:
Military frontiers
*Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...
. The next to form during 1942 were the 2nd
A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI).
Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to:
Mathematics
* 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'')
* Second of arc, an angular measurement unit ...
, 3rd
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (d ...
, 4th
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision
* Fourth (music), a musical interval
* ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...
(22 May 1942), 5th, 6th 8th Air Armies (June 1942), 9th/10th/11th/12th (Aug 1942), 7th
7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube.
As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion ...
and 13th Air Army
The 76th Air Army was a unit of the Soviet Air Forces from 1949–1980, and again from 1988–98. As the 13th Air Army, it was originally formed on 25 November 1942 and based on air units of the Leningrad Front.
13th Air Army's initial components ...
(November 1942), 14th
14 (fourteen) is a natural number following 13 (number), 13 and preceding 15 (number), 15.
In relation to the word "four" (4), 14 is spelled "fourteen".
In mathematics
* 14 is a composite number.
* 14 is a square pyramidal number.
* 14 is a s ...
, 15th
15 (fifteen) is the natural number following 14 (number), 14 and preceding 16 (number), 16.
Mathematics
15 is:
* A composite number, and the sixth semiprime; its proper divisors being , and .
* A deficient number, a smooth number, a lucky ...
, 16th
16 (sixteen) is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. 16 is a composite number, and a square number, being 42 = 4 × 4. It is the smallest number with exactly five divisors, its proper divisors being , , and .
In English speech, ...
, and 17th Air Armies.
The Air Armies were integrated formations of the Fronts, and were subordinate to the Front commanders for all operating and operational purposes, including air combat operations. The Air Armies consisted of fighter, bomber, assault, and mixed Aviation Division
An Aviation Division (russian: авиационная дивизия) was a type of formation of the Soviet Air Forces, Military Air Forces of the Red Army during the Second World War, the Soviet Air Forces, Soviet Air Defence Forces (PVO) and ...
s, aviation corps, and separate aviation regiments. The structure of an Air Army during the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
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.Long Range Aviation
Long-Range Aviation ( rus, Авиация Дальнего Действия, r=Aviatsiya dal'nego deystviya, abbr. to AДД, or ADD, and literally ''Aviation of Distant Action'') is a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces responsible for delive ...
(АДД), consisting of three armies - the 43rd, with its staff in Vinnitsa, the 50th in Smolensk, and the 65th at Khabarovsk. For Cold War-era 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
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
, Kiev, Baku, Yaroslavl and Moscow respectively).
Air Armies
There were eighteen air armies formed in World War II, with many others formed after 1945.
* 45th Air and Air Defence Army, Transbaikal Military District
The Transbaikal Military District (russian: Забайкальский военный округ) was a military district of first the Soviet Armed Forces and then the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, formed on May 17, 1935 and included the ...
1949-57,[Michael Holm]
23rd Air Army
2015 reformed in the Northern Fleet
Severnyy flot
, image = Great emblem of the Northern Fleet.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Northern Fleet's great emblem
, start_date = June 1, 1733; Sov ...
in 2016 as part of the Arctic Joint Strategic Command
* 73rd Air Army The 6th Air Army was an air army of the Red Army's Air Force during the Second World War and from 1946-1949.
It was formed twice : in 1942 as part of the Red Army's Air Forces, and redesignated in 1944, and in 1946 and redesignated in 1949.
The 6 ...
(Alma-Ata, Central Asian Military District
The Red Banner Central Asian Military District was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces, which existed in 1926–1945 and 1969–1989, with its headquarters at Tashkent (1926–1945) and Almaty (1969–1989). By USSR Order No.304 of 4 ...
)
* 76th Air Army
The 76th Air Army was a unit of the Soviet Air Forces from 1949–1980, and again from 1988–98. As the 13th Air Army, it was originally formed on 25 November 1942 and based on air units of the Leningrad Front.
13th Air Army's initial components ...
(Leningrad, Leningrad Military District
The Leningrad Military District was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern Fleet and the Baltic Fleet to form the new Western Military District.
Hi ...
)
Armies of the Air Defence Forces
There were also the 25th (1949-54), 32nd, 42nd, and 52nd Fighter Armies of the Air Defence Forces.
References
Sources
Pan'kin V.E. Evolution of organisational structure of AirForce, and ways and methods of ruling and cooperation in Great Patriotic War years
(rus)
Red Army Air Force organization
(rus)
*Kozlov, M.M., (ed.), ''Great Patriotic War 1941-1945'' (Russian), encyclopaedia, Moscow, Soviet Encyclopaedia (pub.), 1985
*Svischev, V.N. Gen. Maj. Aviation, ''Preparation of USSR for war'' (Russian
2002
*Wagner, R. (ed.), Fetzer, L., (trans.), ''The Soviet Air Force in World War II: The official history'', Wren Publishing Pty.Ltd., Melbourne, 1973
*Keith E. Bonn (ed.), 'Slaughterhouse,' Aberjona Press, Bedford, PA, 2005
*http://www.allaces.ru/cgi-bin/s2.cgi/sssr/struct/main.dat V.V. Kharin, Aviators of the Second World War (in Russian)
External links
*Michael Holm
accessed August 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Air Army (Soviet Union)
Units and formations of the Soviet Air Forces
Units and formations of the Russian Air Force
Air force units and formations