76th Air Army
Encyclopedia
The 76th Air Army was an air army of the Soviet Air Forces from 1949-1980 and from 1988-98. As the 13th Air Army it was an air army originally formed 25 November 1942 and based on Air Forces of the Leningrad Front
.
The 76th Air Army was an air army of the Soviet Air Forces from 1949-1980 and from 1988-98. As the 13th Air Army it was an air army originally formed 25 November 1942 and based on Air Forces of the Leningrad Front
.
The 76th Air Army was an air army of the Soviet Air Forces from 1949-1980 and from 1988-98. As the 13th Air Army it was an air army originally formed 25 November 1942 and based on Air Forces of the Leningrad Front
. Inozemtsev IG under the wing - Leningrad. - Moscow: Military Publishing, 1978. GV Zimin Fighters. - Moscow: Military Publishing, 1988. Prachik IA Frontline sky. - Moscow: Military Publishing, 1984.
13th Air Army's initial components were the 275th Fighter Aviation Division, 276th Bomber Aviation Division, and 277th Assault Aviation Divisions.Victory.mil.ru, 13th Air Army, (Russian), accessed August 2011
As 13th Air Army, the formation participated in a number of offensives in 1943-45:
During the war 13th Air Army made 120,000 sorties. Ten units of the army were transformed into Guards
units for their services. Twenty compounds were awarded medals. 151 pilots was awarded the Heroes of the Soviet Union
and Peter Afanasievich Pokryshev has been awarded twice. 13th Air Army had one commander during World War II. Stepan Dmitrievich Rybalchenko appears initially to have been a General-Major upon his appointment as commander. He was promoted to General-Lieutenant с 07.08.43, and General-Colonel с 02.11.44.Soldat.ru, air army commanders of the Red Army Air Force during the period 1942-1945., accessed August 2011
The 119th Fighter Aviation Division was subordinated to 13th Air Army from May 1942 - 8.1943.Michael Holm, 119th Nevelskaya Red Banner order of Suvorov Fighter Aviation Division, accessed August 2011
On 1 May 1945, according to BSSA on tashv.ru, the army consisted of 5th Guards Bomber Aviation Corps (5 гв. бак (4 и 5 гв. бад)), 14th Fighter Aviation Corps (14 иак (185, 315 иад)), 284, 313 нбад, 214, 225, 305 шад, 336 иад, 99 гв. рап, 187 крап, 699 трап, 97th Aviation Regiment of the Civil Air Fleet
(97 ап ГВФ), 87 нбаэ.
s joined 13th Air Army in the Leningrad Military District from 1st Air Army
: 276th Bomber Aviation Division, 277th Assault Aviation Division and 330th Fighter Aviation Division.Michael Holm, 26th Red Banner Air Army, accessed August 2011 330th 'Ostravskaya' IAD was part of 13th and 76th Air Armies from 7.45 - 1.49 (13th Air Army), and January 1949 - 3.1952 (76th Air Army).Michael Holm, 330th Ostrovskaya Fighter Aviation Division, accessed August 2011
In JAnuary 1949 13th Air Army was redesignated 76th Air Army.
In 1988, according to Feskov et al, the 76th Air Army comprised the 67th and 722nd (Smuravyevo
) Bomber Aviation Regiments, 98th Guards independent Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment (Monchegorsk
), and the 138th Composite Aviation Regiment (Levashovo
).V. I. Feskov et al, The Soviet Army in the Years of the Cold War, Tomsk State University
, Tomsk
, 2004, p.145
The Army was disbanded on June 1, 1998, when it was merged with the 6th Independent Army of the Air Defence Forces, also headquartered in Sankt Petersburg, to form the 6th Army of Air Forces and Air Defence
.
Leningrad Front
The Leningrad Front was first formed on August 27, 1941, by dividing the Northern Front into the Leningrad Front and Karelian Front, during the German approach on Leningrad .-History:...
.
The 76th Air Army was an air army of the Soviet Air Forces from 1949-1980 and from 1988-98. As the 13th Air Army it was an air army originally formed 25 November 1942 and based on Air Forces of the Leningrad Front
Leningrad Front
The Leningrad Front was first formed on August 27, 1941, by dividing the Northern Front into the Leningrad Front and Karelian Front, during the German approach on Leningrad .-History:...
.
The 76th Air Army was an air army of the Soviet Air Forces from 1949-1980 and from 1988-98. As the 13th Air Army it was an air army originally formed 25 November 1942 and based on Air Forces of the Leningrad Front
Leningrad Front
The Leningrad Front was first formed on August 27, 1941, by dividing the Northern Front into the Leningrad Front and Karelian Front, during the German approach on Leningrad .-History:...
. Inozemtsev IG under the wing - Leningrad. - Moscow: Military Publishing, 1978. GV Zimin Fighters. - Moscow: Military Publishing, 1988. Prachik IA Frontline sky. - Moscow: Military Publishing, 1984.
13th Air Army's initial components were the 275th Fighter Aviation Division, 276th Bomber Aviation Division, and 277th Assault Aviation Divisions.Victory.mil.ru, 13th Air Army, (Russian), accessed August 2011
As 13th Air Army, the formation participated in a number of offensives in 1943-45:
- Operation Iskra - 12-30 January 1943. 13th Air Army supported the 67th Army attack. Morozov M. spark the victory. Soviet Air Force in an operation to break the siege of Leningrad. - Aviamaster, 2004, No. 4
- Leningrad-Novgorod Offensive - January 1944.
- Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive - 13th Air Army, 1,600 strong, made an attack on the German positions on 9 June, a day before the main assault. Glantz also states that 13th Air Army provided pre-offensive fighter cover to discourage enemy aerial reconnaissance which might have uncovered the offensive's maskirovka measures.David GlantzDavid GlantzDavid M. Glantz is an American military historian and the editor of the Journal of Slavic Military Studies....
, 'Soviet Military Deception in the Second World War,' p.359 The offensive lasted from 10 June to 9 August 1944. - Narva Offensive (July 1944)Narva Offensive (July 1944)This is a sub-article to Battle of Narva.The Narva Offensive was a campaign fought between the German army detachment "Narwa" and the Soviet Leningrad Front for the city of Narva in 24–30 July 1944....
- Tallinn Offensive
- Moonsund Landing Operation
During the war 13th Air Army made 120,000 sorties. Ten units of the army were transformed into Guards
Russian Guards
Guards or Guards units were and are elite military units in Imperial Russia, Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. The tradition goes back to the retinue of a knyaz of medieval Kievan Rus' and the streltsy, the Muscovite harquebusiers formed by Ivan the Terrible by 1550...
units for their services. Twenty compounds were awarded medals. 151 pilots was awarded the Heroes of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
and Peter Afanasievich Pokryshev has been awarded twice. 13th Air Army had one commander during World War II. Stepan Dmitrievich Rybalchenko appears initially to have been a General-Major upon his appointment as commander. He was promoted to General-Lieutenant с 07.08.43, and General-Colonel с 02.11.44.Soldat.ru, air army commanders of the Red Army Air Force during the period 1942-1945., accessed August 2011
13th Air Army components during World War II
Allaces.ru gives the following army composition:Allaces.ru, 13 VA, accessed August 2011- 273rd Fighter Gomel Order of Suvorov Air Division (25.12.42 - 5.43)
- 275th Fighter Air Division Pushkinskaya Krasnoznamennaya
- 276th Bomber Gatchinskaya twice Red Banner Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov Air Division
- 277th Assault Krasnoselskaya Krasnoznamennaya Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov Air Division
- 281st Assault Novgorod Red Banner Air Division - activated August 1942 from the VVS/4th Army, assigned to 13th Air Army April 1944. In May 1945, in the Lithuanian SSRLithuanian SSRThe Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Lithuanian SSR, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union...
, the division comprised three assault aviation regiments of Il-2s: the 448, 703rd, and 872nd. Redesignated the 281st Military Transport Aviation Division on 27 April 1946 and resubordinated to Headquarters Airborne Forces (which appears to have controlled all military transport aircraft at the time.)Michael Holm, 281st Military Transport Aviation Division, accessed August 2011 - 269th Fighter Air Division Novgorod Krasnoznamennaya (269 иад, 26.02.44 - 04.44)
- 13th separate reconnaissance Leningrad Red Aviation Regiment (13 орап)
- 407th Mixed Aviation Regiment (11.42 - 03.43)
- 914-D Mixed Aviation Regiment (11.42 - 03.43)
- 915th Mixed Aviation Regiment (11.42 - 03.43)
- 987th Mixed Aviation Regiment (11.42 - 03.43)
- 5th distant razveryvatelnaya separate aviation squadron (5 одраэ)(01.43)
- 10th Separate Fighter Aviation Squadron (01.43)
- 12th Fighter Squadron, a separate (?) (12 окраэ, 25.03.42 - 14.06.44)
- 240th Fighter Nevelsk Red Banner Order of Suvorov Division (240 иад, 19.04.43 - 11.07.43)
- 742nd separate reconnaissance Ostrovsky Red Aviation Regiment (742 орап, 02.44 - 04.44)
- 87th Night Bomber Squadron separate «Tasuja» («The Avenger") (87 онбаэ, 07.44 - 05.45)
- 553rd Army Aviation Squadron single connection (553 оааэс, 03.43 - 05.45)
The 119th Fighter Aviation Division was subordinated to 13th Air Army from May 1942 - 8.1943.Michael Holm, 119th Nevelskaya Red Banner order of Suvorov Fighter Aviation Division, accessed August 2011
On 1 May 1945, according to BSSA on tashv.ru, the army consisted of 5th Guards Bomber Aviation Corps (5 гв. бак (4 и 5 гв. бад)), 14th Fighter Aviation Corps (14 иак (185, 315 иад)), 284, 313 нбад, 214, 225, 305 шад, 336 иад, 99 гв. рап, 187 крап, 699 трап, 97th Aviation Regiment of the Civil Air Fleet
Aeroflot
OJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines , commonly known as Aeroflot , is the flag carrier and largest airline of the Russian Federation, based on passengers carried per year...
(97 ап ГВФ), 87 нбаэ.
Postwar and redesignation as 76th Air Army
In July 1945, three Aviation DivisionAviation Division
An Aviation Division was a type of formation of the Military Air Forces of the Red Army during the Second World War, the Military Air Forces of the Soviet Union, Forces of Anti Aircraft Defence of the Soviet Union and Aviation of the Military Naval Fleet, and since 1991 remain major formations...
s joined 13th Air Army in the Leningrad Military District from 1st Air Army
1st Air Army
The 1st Air Army 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 January 10, 1949 in the Belorussian Military District....
: 276th Bomber Aviation Division, 277th Assault Aviation Division and 330th Fighter Aviation Division.Michael Holm, 26th Red Banner Air Army, accessed August 2011 330th 'Ostravskaya' IAD was part of 13th and 76th Air Armies from 7.45 - 1.49 (13th Air Army), and January 1949 - 3.1952 (76th Air Army).Michael Holm, 330th Ostrovskaya Fighter Aviation Division, accessed August 2011
In JAnuary 1949 13th Air Army was redesignated 76th Air Army.
In 1988, according to Feskov et al, the 76th Air Army comprised the 67th and 722nd (Smuravyevo
Smuravyevo
Smuravyevo is an air base in Pskov Oblast, Russia located 14 km northeast of Gdov. This medium-sized base is located 63 km south of Ivangorod. It was home to 722 BAP flying Su-24 aircraft up until at least the 1990s ....
) Bomber Aviation Regiments, 98th Guards independent Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment (Monchegorsk
Monchegorsk
Monchegorsk is a town in Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located on the Kola Peninsula, south of Murmansk, the administrative center of the oblast. Administratively, it is incorporated as Monchegorsk Town with Jurisdictional Territory—a unit of administrative division equal in status to that of a district...
), and the 138th Composite Aviation Regiment (Levashovo
Levashovo
Levashovo is a municipal settlement under the administrative jurisdiction of Vyborgsky District of Saint Petersburg, Russia, and a station of the Saint Petersburg-Vyborg railroad. The building of the station was designed by Bruno Granholm. Population:...
).V. I. Feskov et al, The Soviet Army in the Years of the Cold War, Tomsk State University
Tomsk State University
Tomsk State University , formerly Imperial Tomsk University, is the first university in Siberia—it was founded in 1878 in Tomsk, Russia. TSU opened in 1888 with only one department, the medical school...
, Tomsk
Tomsk
Tomsk is a city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Tom River. One of the oldest towns in Siberia, Tomsk celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2004...
, 2004, p.145
The Army was disbanded on June 1, 1998, when it was merged with the 6th Independent Army of the Air Defence Forces, also headquartered in Sankt Petersburg, to form the 6th Army of Air Forces and Air Defence
6th Air Army
The 6th Red Banner Leningrad Army of Military-Air Forces and Air Defence was an Air Army of the Russian Air Force active from 1998 to 2009. 6th Air Army was redesignated in 1949...
.