The Baku Air Defence Army (russian: Бакинская армия ПВО) was a

formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...

of the

Soviet Air Defence Forces The Soviet Air Defence Forces (russian: войска ПВО, ''voyska protivovozdushnoy oborony'', ''voyska PVO'', ''V-PVO'', lit. ''Anti-Air Defence Troops''; and formerly ''protivovozdushnaya oborona strany'', ''PVO strany'', lit. ''Anti-Air De ...

that existed in the

Azerbaijan SSR Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...

from 1942-1945.

History

The Baku Air Defence Army was formed on the

Eastern Front of World War II The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sout ...

following the decree of the

State Defence Committee The State Defense Committee (russian: Государственный комитет обороны - ГКО, translit=Gosudarstvennyĭ komitet oborony - GKO) was an extraordinary organ of state power in the USSR during the German-Soviet War (Grea ...

of April 5, 1942. Previously known as the Baku Air Defence Corps, its main objective became sheltering the

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

oil fields from

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

raids. The

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

had been planning the capture of the oil field under the codename

Operation Edelweiss The Battle of the Caucasus is a name given to a series of Axis and Soviet operations in the Caucasus area on the Eastern Front of World War II. On 25 July 1942, German troops captured Rostov-on-Don, Russia, opening the Caucasus region of t ...

. During the intense German air reconnaissance in May–October, 1942 the Army included the 8th Air Defence Fighter

Corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

, seven anti-aircraft

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

s, one anti-aircraft

machine-gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...

regiment, a

searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direc ...

regiment, a

barrage balloon A barrage balloon is a large uncrewed tethered balloon used to defend ground targets against aircraft attack, by raising aloft steel cables which pose a severe collision risk to aircraft, making the attacker's approach more difficult. Early barra ...

regiment and other units. During its actions, the Army downed eight aircraft. At the beginning of 1946, the Baku Air Defence Army was reorganized into the 17th Air Defence Corps as part of the Southwestern Air Defence District. In accordance with the directive of the Minister of the Armed Forces of the USSR of June 24, 1947, the Baku Air Defence Army was recreated on the basis of the 17th Air Defence Corps, and in the fall of 1948, the Baku Air Defence Region �акинский район ПВО(of the 1st category) was recreated on the basis of its administration. This region included the 49th Fighter Aviation Corps PVO, which was later disbanded. From 1954 it was redesignated the Baku Air Defence District of the

(PVO), until it was abolished on 5 January 1980. It was intended to cover the Baku and

Absheron Peninsula The Absheron Peninsula ( az, Abşeron yarımadası) is a peninsula in Azerbaijan. It is the location of Baku, the biggest and the most populous city of the country, and also the Baku metropolitan area, with its satellite cities Sumqayit and Khyrd ...

oil districts from air attack. The 72nd Guards Fighter Aviation Corps, previously with the 42nd Fighter Air Defence Army, became the district's 16th Guards Air Defence Division in January 1960 during the reorganization of the PVO. From that point it included both fighters, surface-to-air missiles, and air defence radars. In 1973, 10th Air Defence Division was absorbed by 12th Air Defence Corps. After the abolition of the Baku District, the main PVO formation in the Trancaucasus became the 19th Army of PVO headquartered in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

. 19th PVO Army consisted a number of different units and formations. There were two Corps of Air Defence Forces (14th, later renamed 96th Air Defence Division, and 12th Air Defence Corps, activated March 1960) two divisions of air defence forces (97th and 10th).http://www8.brinkster.com/vad777/sssr-89-91/pvo/19-kavkaz.htm , accessed June 2010 Smaller units included three SAM brigades, a separate SA-2 regiment near

Gudauta Gudauta ( ka, გუდაუთა, ; ab, Гәдоуҭа, ''Gwdowtha''; russian: Гудаута, ''Gudauta'') is a town in Abkhazia, Georgia, and a centre of the eponymous district. It is situated on the Black Sea, 37 km northwest of Sukhu ...

Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which vi ...

, a separate SA-5 regiment near

, at least two radar units,Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies via PVO.ru
/ref> and a number of fighter aviation regiments (see

List of Soviet Air Force bases This List of Soviet Air Force bases shows the state of the Soviet Air Force and Russian Air Force during the last decade of the Cold War to the mid-1990s. Dates shown indicate years during which units and aircraft were known to be at that airb ...

1988 partial order of battle

In 1988, 12th Air Defence Corps consisted of:Michael Holm
12th Air Defence Corps
accessed May 2022 *Headquarters, Rostov-on-Don *83rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO (

Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don ( rus, Ростов-на-Дону, r=Rostov-na-Donu, p=rɐˈstof nə dɐˈnu) is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East Eu ...

, Rostov Oblast) 40 MiG-25 (потом МиГ-31) *562nd Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO (

Krymsk Krymsk (russian: Крымск) is a town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. Population: 57,927 (2020), History It was founded in 1858 as the fortress and ''stanitsa'' of Krymskaya (), named after the Crimean Cossack Regiment. It was the capital of the ...

, Krasnodar Kray), 35 Su-27 *393rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO ( Privolzhskiy, Astrakhan Oblast), 38 MiG-23 - renamed

209th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment The 3rd Guards Baranovichi Red Banner Fighter Aviation Regiment is a fighter regiment of the Russian Air Force. The regiment was formed on 21 October 1941 from personnel of the Chelyabinsk School of Gunners and Bombardiers as the 688th Night Lig ...

, with Su-27, MiG-23 in October 1992. *54th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (Volgograd, Volgograd Oblast) *80th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Kray) *93rd Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (Rostov-na-Don, Rostov Oblast) *631st Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment (Novolesnyy strakhan Astrakhan Oblast) *815th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment (Groznyy, Checheno-Imgushskaya ASSR) *879th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment (Tuapse, Krasnodar Kray) *1244th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment (Volgodonsk, Rostov Oblast) *an Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment at Nalchik *7th Radio-Technical Brigade (Rostov-on-Don, Rostov Oblast) *64th Radio-Technical Regiment (Astrakhan, Astrakhan Oblast) *77th Radio-Technical Regiment (Ordzhonikidze, Krasnodar Kray) In December 1988, 96th Air Defence Division consisted of: *166th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO (Marneuli (Sandar), near Tbilisi, Georgian SSR) 40 Su-15ТМ (12 кПВО) *529th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO (Gudauta, Abkhazskaya ASSR), 34 Su-27 - had arrived from Ugolnye Kopi, Chukot Autonomous Okrug, in October 1982. *144th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (Tbilisi, Georgian SSR) *266th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (Poti, Georgian SSR) *643rd Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (Gudauta, Abkhazskaya ASSR) *383rd Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment (Echmiadzin, Armenian SSR) *78th Radio-Technical Brigade (Batumi, Georgian SSR) *79th Radio-Technical Brigade (Marneuli, Georgian SSR) In December 1988, 97th Air Defence Division consisted of: *Headquarters, Alyaty, Baku *82nd Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO (иап), Nasosnaya (air base), Baku, 38 MiG-25 *128th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade (Eirya, Azerbaizhan SSR) *129th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade (Sangachaly, Azerbaizhan SSR) *190th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Mingechaur, Azerbaizhan SSR) *2nd Radio-Technical Brigade (Alyaty (Baku), Azerbaizhan SSR) There is conflicting information on fighter regiments assigned to the army. Other fighter regiments possibly assigned to the army in the late 1980s may have included: *50th Fighter Aviation Regiment, Nasosnaya (air base), Baku,

MiG-25 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-25; NATO reporting name: Foxbat) is a supersonic interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft that is among the fastest military aircraft to enter service. Designed by th ...

PDS In 1992 the 10th Air Defence Division and the 14th Air Defence Corps were disbanded. 19th PVO Army was disbanded 1 April 1993, with some equipment handed over to Georgian Ministry of Defence,Richard Woff, 'The Armed Forces of Georgia', Jane's Intelligence Review, July 1993, p.309 but most equipment being withdrawn to be disposed of in Russia. Some of the fighter regiments were withdrawn to Russia and disbanded, and many remaining units, including the 12th Air Defence Corps, became part of the

4th Air Army 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 ...

. Georgia was able to seize at least one battalion of S-75 SAMs, two batteries of P-125Ms, as well as several P-18 (Spoon Rest) radars. Later in the 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union, 12th Air Defence Corps became 51st Air Defence Corps in July 1998.

Commanders

Commanders of the Baku Air Defence District and it successor units included: * Colonel-General Konstantin Vershinin (1956-1959) * Colonel-General Vladimir Ivanov (1959-1966) * Colonel-General

Athanasius Shcheglov Athanasius I of Alexandria, ; cop, ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲡⲓⲁⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲓⲕⲟⲥ or Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲁ̅; (c. 296–298 – 2 May 373), also called Athanasius the Great, ...

(1966-1973) * Colonel-General Fedor Olifirov (1973-1980) * Colonel-General

Anatoly Konstantinov Anatoly Ustinovich Konstantinov (russian: Анатолий Устинович Константинов; 12 June 1923 – 22 October 2006) was a senior military officer who served as commander of the Moscow Air Defence District from 1980 to 1987. ...

History

1988 partial order of battle

Commanders

Notes

Further reading