The Special Purpose Command (''Komandovaniye Spetsialnogo Naznacheniya'') 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
Russian Air Force, the strongest among the tactical aviation and anti-aircraft groupings. Its zone of responsibility amounted to 1.3 million km², taking in 40 million people, as well as the country's capital,
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
. On July 1, 2009 it was superseded by the Aerospace Defense Operational Strategic Command (
:ru:Объединённое стратегическое командование воздушно-космической обороны).
As a result of the air force reforms implemented on June 1, 1998, the
Moscow Air Defence District
The Order of Lenin Moscow Air Defence District was a formation of the Soviet Air Defence Forces and the Russian Air Defence Forces, which existed from 1954 to 1998, to fulfill the tasks of anti-aircraft defense of administrative and economic facil ...
of the PVO and the
16th Air Army
The 16th Red Banner Air Army (russian: 16-я воздушная Краснознамённая армия) was the most important formation of the Special Purpose Command. Initially formed during the Second World War as a part of the Soviet Air ...
of the VVS became a single entity, the Moscow District of the Air Force and Air Defense. According to
Krasnaya Zvezda
''Krasnaya Zvezda'' (russian: Кра́сная звезда́, literally "Red Star") is the official newspaper of the Soviet and later Russian Ministry of Defence. Today its official designation is "Central Organ of the Russian Ministry of Defe ...
of 16 December 2002, the former Moscow District of the VVS and PVO was reorganised as the Special Purpose Command in September 2002. Interfax says the Moscow District was split into the reactivated 16th Air Army, a tactical force, and the Central Air Defence Zone, an air defense force.
Pyotr Butowski, writing in 2004, seems to indicate that the Special Purpose Command (he makes no mention of ‘the Central Air Defence Zone’) is merely essentially a redesignation of the former Moscow District. The rearrangement of the Moscow District of the VVS and PVO into the Special Purpose Command is apparently connected with plans in the long term for the military-space defense of the central industrial region.
The initial commanding officer of the KSpN was General Lieutenant Yuri Solovyov, later promoted to
Colonel-General
Colonel general is a three- or four-star military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and was a r ...
.
Moscow Military District air forces
In the last days of the Soviet Union there was a considerable
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 ...
presence, and a smaller Air Forces presence, in the Moscow Military District. The Air Forces of the Moscow Military District consisted of a reconnaissance regiment, the 47th Guards Separate Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment at
Shatalovo
Shatalovo (russian: Шаталово) is the name of several rural localities in Russia:
* Shatalovo, Pskov Oblast, a village in Pustoshkinsky District of Pskov Oblast
* Shatalovo, Smolensk Oblast, a village in Shatalovskoye Rural Settlement of ...
flying Su-24MPs, and the
9th Fighter Aviation Division
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 ...
(9 iad), at
Kubinka
Kubinka (russian: Ку́бинка) is a town in Odintsovsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Setun River, west of Moscow. Population:
__TOC__
History
Kubinka, founded in the 15th century, may have been named after Prince , a ...
, with three regiments.
The division incorporated the
32nd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, also at Shatalovo, with MiG-23MLDs, the 234th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment at
Kubinka
Kubinka (russian: Ку́бинка) is a town in Odintsovsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Setun River, west of Moscow. Population:
__TOC__
History
Kubinka, founded in the 15th century, may have been named after Prince , a ...
with MiG-29s, and the 274th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment at
Migalovo
Migalovo (also given as Tver Migalovo, Kalinin) is an air base in Tver Oblast, Russia located 10 km west of Tver. It is a large military airlift base. It currently houses all of Russia's remaining Antonov An-22 fleet. It is an Ilyushin Il-7 ...
(274 apib) with Su-17s. Also part of the force was a ground signals regiment, the 131st.
There was also a transport squadron, an independent helicopter regiment, and an independent helicopter squadron for electronic warfare.
32nd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment served in Cuba as part of '
Operation Anadyr
Operation Anadyr (russian: Анадырь) was the code name used by the Soviet Union for its Cold War secret operation in 1962 of deploying ballistic missiles, medium-range bombers, and a division of mechanized infantry to Cuba to create an ar ...
' during the
Cuban Missile Crisis of 1963. The regiment was temporarily renamed 213th Fighter Aviation Regiment while in Cuba. It was disbanded in 1989.
In October 1990 the 1080th Red Banner Training Aviation Center for retraining of personnel im. V.P. Chkalov was activated in
Borisoglebsk
Borisoglebsk (russian: Борисогле́бск) is a town in Voronezh Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Vorona River near its confluence with the Khopyor. Population: 65,000 (1969).
History
Borisoglebsk was founded in 16 ...
, Voronezh Oblast, from the 796th Center for Preparation of Officers for Fighter and Fighter-Bomber Aviation, and the Borisoglebsk Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots. It came under the command of the Air Forces of the Moscow Military District. It comprised four instructor aviation regiments, the fourth being the 343rd Fighter Aviation Regiment at
Sennoy with MiG-29s.
Joseph Stalin's son
Vasily Stalin
Vasily Iosifovich Stalin ( ka, ვასილი იოსების სტალინი, russian: Василий Иосифович Сталин; surname since 9 January 1962 Dzhugashvili, , ; 24 March 1921 – 19 March 1962) was the son ...
commanded the Moscow district air forces from June 1948 to August 1952. He was succeeded by General Colonel
Stepan Krasovsky
Stepan ( uk, Степань; pl, Stepań; he, סטפאן) is an urban-type settlement in Sarny Raion (district) of Rivne Oblast (province) in western Ukraine. Its population was 4,073 as of the 2001 Ukrainian Census. Current population:
The ...
(1952–53), Lieutenant General
Stepan Rybanov (June 1953 – 1959), and, later, Lieutenant General
Igor Dmitriev
Igor Borisovich Dmitriev (russian: И́горь Бори́сович Дми́триев) (29 May 1927 – 26 January 2008) was a Soviet and Russian film and theatre actor who specialized in playing aristocratic characters in costume productions ...
(
:ru:Дмитриев, Игорь Михайлович) (1983–1989) and
Nikolai Antoshkin (
:ru:Антошкин, Николай Тимофеевич) (1989–93).
Also part of the Moscow District air forces was the
4th Centre for Combat Employment and Retraining of Personnel
The 4th Centre for Combat Employment and Retraining of Personnel VVS of the Russian Air Force is a research, training, and instructional centre. It was formed at Tambov (air base) on 19 April 1953. In 1954 it was transferred to Voronezh Malshevo ...
at
Lipetsk
Lipetsk ( rus, links=no, Липецк, p=ˈlʲipʲɪtsk), also romanized as Lipeck, is a city and the administrative center of Lipetsk Oblast, Russia, located on the banks of the Voronezh River in the Don basin, southeast of Moscow. Populat ...
.
2007 structure
The
16th Air Army
The 16th Red Banner Air Army (russian: 16-я воздушная Краснознамённая армия) was the most important formation of the Special Purpose Command. Initially formed during the Second World War as a part of the Soviet Air ...
was the most important formation of the Special Purpose Command. Initially formed 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 opposi ...
as a part of the
Soviet Air Force
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 ...
, it was from c.2002–2009 the tactical air force component of the
Moscow Military District
The Order of Lenin Moscow Military District was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The district was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1968. In 2010 it was merged with the Leningrad Military D ...
, headquartered at
Kubinka
Kubinka (russian: Ку́бинка) is a town in Odintsovsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Setun River, west of Moscow. Population:
__TOC__
History
Kubinka, founded in the 15th century, may have been named after Prince , a ...
.
In 2009 the Russian Air Force was extensively reorganised. This structure is not current. ''Combat Aircraft'' magazine's June 2010 issue gives some details of the new structure.
*16th Air Army –
Kubinka
Kubinka (russian: Ку́бинка) is a town in Odintsovsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Setun River, west of Moscow. Population:
__TOC__
History
Kubinka, founded in the 15th century, may have been named after Prince , a ...
**
105th Mixed Aviation Division The 105th Guards Borisov-Pomeranian Twice Red Banner Order of Suvorov Mixed Aviation Division is an aviation division of the Russian Air Force, based in Voronezh's Voronezh Malshevo air base.
The division was first formed in 1950 as the 105th Fi ...
,
Voronezh
Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on ...
***455th Bomber Aviation Regiment –
Voronezh Malshevo
Voronezh Malshevo is an air base in Voronezh Oblast of the Russian Air Force as part of the 6th Air and Air Defence Forces Army, Western Military District. and Baltimore. The base is home to the 47th Composite Guards Aviation Regiment which oper ...
/Baltimor,
Voronezh
Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on ...
– Su-24, being replaced by
Su-34
The Sukhoi Su-34 (russian: Сухой Су-34; NATO reporting name: Fullback) is a Soviet-origin Russian twin-engine, twin-seat, all-weather supersonic medium-range fighter-bomber/ strike aircraft. It first flew in 1990, intended for the Sovi ...
***
899th ''Orshansky Shturmovik'' (Assault) Aviation Regiment –
Buturlinovka
Buturlinovka (russian: Бутурли́новка) is a town in Voronezh Oblast, Russia, on the Ossered River, a tributary of the Don. It serves as the administrative center of Buturlinovsky District. Its population as of 2021 was 24,397.
Histo ...
– Su-25, being also replaced with Su-34
**14th Fighter Aviation Regiment –
Kursk Vostochny Airport
Kursk Vostochny Airport (russian: Аэропорт Курск-Восточный) , also known as Khalino, Kursk-Khalino, is an interceptor aircraft base in Kursk Oblast, Russia, located 7 km east of Kursk. It is a medium-sized base 4 miles n ...
–
MiG-29
**
28th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment –
Andreapol (air base) –
MiG-29
**47th Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment –
Shatalovo
Shatalovo (russian: Шаталово) is the name of several rural localities in Russia:
* Shatalovo, Pskov Oblast, a village in Pustoshkinsky District of Pskov Oblast
* Shatalovo, Smolensk Oblast, a village in Shatalovskoye Rural Settlement of ...
–
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 ...
and
Su-24MR in service
**237th Air Technology Demonstration Centre of Guards –
Kubinka
Kubinka (russian: Ку́бинка) is a town in Odintsovsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Setun River, west of Moscow. Population:
__TOC__
History
Kubinka, founded in the 15th century, may have been named after Prince , a ...
– MiG-29, Su-27, Su-27M, L-39C
*226th Separate Mixed Aviation Regiment –
Kubinka (air base)
Kubinka (russian: link=no, Кубинка) is an air base in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located northwest of Kubinka. In close proximity to Moscow, the Kubinka facility showcases the best of the Russian Air Force to the general public.
The 82nd avi ...
–
Mi-8
The Mil Mi-8 (russian: Ми-8, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Union in the 1960s and introduced into the Soviet Air Force in 1968.
It is now produced by Russia.
In addition t ...
, Mi-9, An-12,
An-24
The Antonov An-24 (Russian/Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-24) ( NATO reporting name: Coke) is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport/passenger aircraft designed in 1957 in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau and manufactured by Kyiv, Ir ...
, An-26, An-30
*
1st Air Defence Corps(
Balashikha) (surface to air missiles only)
**9th Air Defence Divisions, including the 584 SAM Regiment (Лыткино, Поварово) with the
S-400
The S-400 Triumf (russian: link=no, C-400 Триумф – Triumf; translation: Triumph; NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler), previously known as the S-300 PMU-3, is a mobile, surface-to-air missile (SAM) system developed in the 1990s by Russ ...
**37th(?) Air Defence Division
[Michael Holm]
1st Air Defence Army for Special Use
accessed December 2012.
**four SAM regiments in total
*
32nd Air Defence Corps (
Rzhev)
**611th Fighter Aviation Regiment –
Dorokhovo –
Su-27
**790th Fighter Aviation Regiment –
Khotilovo –
MiG-31
The Mikoyan MiG-31 (russian: link=no, Микоян МиГ-31; NATO reporting name: Foxhound) is a supersonic interceptor aircraft that was developed for use by the Soviet Air Forces. The aircraft was designed by the Mikoyan design bureau as a ...
,
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 ...
U
*Army Aviation components
**45th Independent Helicopter Regiment – Oreshkovo (Vorotinsk) near Kaluga – Mi-24
**440th Independent Helicopter Regiment for battle control –
Vyazma Airport – Mi-24, Mi-8
**490th Independent Helicopter Regiment for battle control –
Klokovo
Klokovo (russian: Клоково) is an air base in Russia on north fringe of Tula. It has been home to 374 OVTAP (374th Independent Military Transport Aviation Regiment) flying Ilyushin Il-76 (NATO: Candid) and Antonov An-22 (NATO: Cock) large ...
(4 km north of Tula) – Mi-24, Mi-8;
**865th Reserve Helicopter Base – Protasovo/
Aleksandrovo (air base), near Ryazan
References
External links
*Woezik, Rene van, and Lok, Joris Janssen, "Working up to leaving: despite withdrawal, the Soviet Air Force in Germany is being modernised",
Jane's Defence Weekly
''Jane's Defence Weekly'' (abbreviated as ''JDW'') is a weekly magazine reporting on military and corporate affairs, edited by Peter Felstead. It is one of a number of military-related publications named after John F. T. Jane, an Englishman who ...
, Vol. 16, No. 10, Sept 7, 1991 p415(2) () Jane's Information Group.
Soviet ORBAT from last years in Germany
*https://archive.today/20080110072449/http://www8.brinkster.com/vad777/russia/air/va/16va_mvo.htm
*www.victory.mil.ru
*http://oko-planet.su/politik/politikarm/13853-v-rossijskoj-armii-sozdano-komandovanie-vozdushno.html – new Operational-Strategic Command for Air and Space Defence reported. The command will be established by the end of 2010 and located at Balashikha near Moscow, where the previous 1st Air Defence Corps was located.
{{Armies of the Soviet Air Forces
Units and formations of the Russian Air Force
Military units and formations established in 2002
Military units and formations disestablished in 2009
2002 establishments in Russia