14th Air and Air Defence Forces Army

The lineage of the 14 A VVS i PVO began with the Novosibirsk Air Defense District of the 3rd category, organized by directive of the Commander of the Air Defense Forces on July 1, 1952. Subsequently the district became the Novosibirsk Air Defense Division (March 1954); the Novosibirsk Air Defense Corps (11/15/1956); the 14th Separate Air Defense Army (3/24/1960);[1] and then the 6th Separate Air Defense Corps (6/10/1994).

The 14th Air and Air Defence Forces Army was formed in 1998, Air Forces Monthly reported in its August 2007 issue, from the 14th Independent Air Defence Army of the Russian Air Defence Forces (the former Soviet PVO) at Novosibirsk, the 23rd Air Army of the Russian Air Forces from Chita and the 50th Independent Air Defence Corps also from Chita. Thus the history of the formation is traced to the 14th Independent Air Defence Army, established in 1960, rather than the 14th Air Army in the Second World War.

The 14th Independent Air Defence Army was formed from the 14th Corps of the PVO at Novosibirsk, and included the 38th (HQ Novosibirsk), 39th Air Defence Corps (HQ Krasnoyarsk), 50th Guards Air Defence Corps(HQ Chita),[2] and 56th Air Defence Corps (HQ Semipalatinsk) of the PVO,[3] as well as the 41st Air Defence Division, in 1988.[4] In 1988 five fighter regiments were part of the army.

Fighter Regiments of the 14th Army PVO 1988 (Source Feskov et al. 2004)[4]

The new army was given the title of 14th Army of the Air Force and Air Defence (14 A VVS i PVO). Its zone of responsibility covered the huge area of the Siberian Military District, AFM said, and its headquarters was located in Novosibirsk. AFM also said that the aircraft were concentrated in the southern part of the territory, along the border with Kazakhstan and Mongolia. In 2007 the commanding officer of the 14th Air Army, AFM also reported, was Lieutenant-General Nikolay Danilov.

The most important force, AFM noted, within the army was the 21st Composite Air Division, which operated a Sukhoi Su-24M tactical bomber regiment, a Su-24MR reconnaissance regiment and a Su-25 attack aircraft regiment. The division was stationed in the eastern part of its responsibility zone, near the Chinese border.

The army was disbanded in 2009 by being redesignated as the 2nd Air and Air Defence Forces Command.

The 21st Separate Aviation Division amalgamated with 2 BAP circa 2010 to become the 6980th Guards Aviation Base of the 1st Rank. The new base (Military Unit Number 69806) was equipped with Su-24M bombers and Su-24MR reconnaissance aircraft and stationed at Chelyabinsk Shagol Airport.[6]

The army was reformed in August 2015. Lieutenant General Alexander Tatarenko took command in January 2016.[7]

• 14th Air and Air Defence Forces Army - Novosibirsk
  • 21st Composite Aviation Division - HQ at Dzhida;
    • 2nd Bomber Aviation Regiment - HQ at Dzhida - Su-24M;[8]
    • 266th Assault Aviation Regiment - HQ at Step', Oloviannaya - Su-25;
    • 313th Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment - HQ at Bada - Su-24MR;
  • 120th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment - HQ at Domna, 27 km southwest of Chita - MiG-29;
  • 712th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment - HQ at Kansk (air base) - MiG-25PU, MiG-31;
  • 137th Independent Composite Aviation Squadron - HQ at Novosibirsk Tolmachevo Airport - An-26;
  • Army Aviation component
    • 337th Independent Helicopter Regiment - HQ at Berdsk (later at Tolmachevo) - Mi-8, Mi-24;
    • 112th Independent Helicopter Regiment - HQ at Chita - Mi-8, Mi-24;
  • Two SAM regiments and four radar units

• 14th Air and Air Defence Forces Army - HQ: Yekaterinburg[9]
  • 21st Guards Composite Aviation Division (HQ: Chelyabinsk Shagol airbase)
    • 712th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment; Two Squadrons: MiG-31BM Fighters (Kansk-Yuzhniy air base)
    • 764th Fighter Aviation Regiment; Two Squadrons: MiG-31BM/BSM Fighters (Perm air base)[10]
    • 2nd Guards Frontal Bomber Aviation Regiment; One Squadron: Su-24MR Fencer strike aircraft; Two Squadrons: Su-34 strike fighters (Chelyabinsk Shagol airbase)
  • 999th Aviation Base (Kant airbase, Kyrgyzstan; directly subordinate to 14th Air Army); One Squadron: Su-25SM Frogfoot aircraft[11]
  • 76th Air Defense Division (HQ: Samara)
    • 185th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Beryozovsky): S-400 surface-to-air missile system.[12]
    • 511th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Engels air base): S-400/Pantsir surface-to-air missiles[13]
    • 568th Anti-Aircraft Regiment (Samara): S-300PS SAMs[14]
  • 28th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade (Mirny): S-300V4 SAMs[15]
  • 41st Air Defence Division (HQ: Novosibirsk)[16]
    • 590th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Novosibirsk): S-400/Pantsir SAMs
    • 388th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Achinsk): S-300P SAMs
    • 24th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade (Abakan): S-300P? SAMs
    • 1534th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Angarsk Belaya air base region): S-300PM SAMs

Additional long-range bomber elements deployed under the command of Russian Long Range Aviation at Engels and Belaya air bases in the Central Military District.

• Air Forces Monthly, July & August 2007 issues.
• brinkster.com/Vad777