Russian Air Force
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| Военно-воздушные cилы России Voyenno-vozdushnye sily Rossii Russian Air Force |
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|---|---|
  Russian Air Forces' emblem and flag |
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| Active | August 12, 1912 - present |
| Country | Russian Federation (earlier - Soviet Union and Russian Empire) |
| Role | Defeating Enemy units , Reconnaissance, Defence of Major Military Facilities and units, Ground Forces and Navy support, transportation |
| Anniversaries | August 12 |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
Vladimir Mikhaylov |
| Insignia | |
| Roundel |
 |
The Russian Air Force (Russian: Военно-воздушные cилы России, transliteration: Voyenno-vozdushnye sily Rossii) is the air force of Russia. It is currently under the command of General of the Army Vladimir Mikhaylov. (The Russian Navy has its own air arm, the former Soviet Aviatsiya Voenno Morskogo Flota ("Naval Aviation"), or AV-MF.)
Contents |
[edit] History
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union into its fifteen constituent republics in December of 1991, the aircraft and personnel of the Soviet Air Force - the VVS were divided among the newly independent states. Russia received the majority of these forces—approximately 40% of the aircraft and 65% of the manpower, and the major commands of the former Soviet VVS - the Long Range Aviation, Military Transport Aviation and Frontal Aviation were renamed, with few changes, Russian VVS commands. However, many regiments, aircraft, and personnel were claimed by the republics they were based in, forming the core of the new republic's air forces. Some aircraft in Belarus and Ukraine returned to Russia, as well as a long range aviation division based at Dolon in Kazakhstan. The former Soviet Air Defence Force remained independent for several years under Russian control, only merging with the Air Forces in 1998.
The VVS participated in the First Chechen War (1994–1996) and the Second Chechen War (1999–2002). These campaigns also presented significant difficulties for the VVS including the terrain, lack of significant fixed targets and insurgents armed with Stinger and Strela-2M surface-to-air missiles.
[edit] Current state
| Air Forces of Russia |
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Air Force (1909 to 1917) Red Air Force (1918 to 1991) Naval Aviation (1918 to 1991) Air Defense (1948 to 1991) Strategic Rocket Forces (1959 to 1991) Naval Aviation (1991 to present) Strategic Rocket Forces (1991 to present) |
The VVS has been forced to abandon ambitious plans for advanced tactical fighters in favour of upgrades to current aircraft. While suggestions that the only way forward for the VVS is to cut aircraft numbers to around 300 (a similar size as the Royal Air Force) are extreme, steady reductions in numbers of front-line aviation regiments are taking place. In October 2004 the disbandment of the 200th and 444th Bomber Aviation Regiments with Tupolev Tu-22M3, the disbandment of the 28th, 159th, 790th, and 941st Fighter Aviation Regiments, the 302nd and 959th Regiments equipped with Sukhoi Su-24, and the 187th and 461st Assault Aviation Regiments with the Sukhoi Su-25 was announced.[1]
In 1998 the VVS was merged with the Voyska PVO (Air Defence Force). In 2003 the aviation assets of the Army—mostly helicopters—were transferred to the VVS. The former Army Aviation, was in its previous form intended for the direct support of the Ground Forces by providing their tactical air support, conducting tactical aerial reconnaissance, transporting airborne troops, providing fire support of their actions, electronic warfare, setting of minefield barriers and other tasks.
The VVS continues to suffer from a lack of resources both for procurement and modernisation and for pilot training. In the 1990s Russian pilots achieved approximately 10% of the flight hours of US Air Force. Currently the 2006 edition of the IISS Military Balance lists pilots of tactical aviation flying 20–25 hours a year, 61st Air Army pilots (former Military Transport Aviation), 60 hours a year, and Army Aviation under VVS control 55 hours a year.
Currently, a fifth-generation fighter jet is being developed by a consortia of companies, including Mikoyan, Yakovlev and spearheaded by Sukhoi. The program has been named Perspektivnyi Aviatsionnyi Kompleks Frontovoi Aviatsyi (Перспективный авиационный комплекс фронтовой авиации in Russian) - PAK FA, which means Future Air Complex for Tactical Air Forces. It is intended to replace the MiG-29 and Su-27 in the Russian Air Force. It is scheduled to have its first flight in 2007[2], and enter service with the Russian Air Force sometime between 2012 and 2015.
[edit] Structure
- 4th Aircrew Combat Training Centre (Lipetsk Air Base)[3]
- 2881st Reserve Helicopter Base (Mi-24) - Totskoye (air base)
16th Air Army, HQ Kubinka, Moscow Military District
- 28th Fighter Aviation Regiment (MiG-29) Andreapol Air Base, Tver oblast
- 153th Interceptor Aviation Regiment (MiG-31) Morshansk air base, Tambov Oblast
- 790th Interceptor Aviation Regiment (MiG-31) Khotilovo air base, Tver oblast
- 611th Interceptor Aviation Regiment (Su-27) Bezhetsk air base, Tver oblast
- 105th Composite Aviation Division, Voronezh
Special Purpose Command of the Central Air Defence Zone
- subordinate units unclear
6th Army of VVS and PVO, Leningrad Military District
- 21st Air Defence Corps
- 54th Air Defence Corps
- 177th Fighter Aviation Regiment (Su-27)-Lodeynoye Pole (air base)
- 159th Fighter Aviation Regiment (Su-27)-Besovets Airport
- 149th Composite Aviation Division
- 67th Bomber Aviation Regiment, Gdov - Smuravyevo
- 722nd Bomber Aviation Regiment, Siverskoye
- 98th Guards Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment, Monchegorsk (air base)
4th Army of VVS and PVO, North Caucasus Military District
- 1st Composite Aviation Division
- 559th, 959th Bomber Aviation Regiments (Su-24)
- 368th, 461st , 960th Assault Aviation Regiments, Krasnodar (Su-25)
- 51st Air Defence Corps
5th Army of VVS and PVO, HQ Yekaterinburg, Volga-Ural Military District
- 764th Fighter Aviation Regiment (764 IAP), Bolshoye Savino Airport - Sokol, Perm Oblast (MiG-31)
- Aviation Group (Sukhoi Su-25, others) (Kant, Kyrgyzstan)
- a training fighter-bomber regiment may have reformed at Lebyazhye (air base)
- Training units
14th Army of VVS and PVO, HQ Chita, Siberian Military District
- 26th Division of PVO (air defence)
- 41st Division of PVO
- 712th Fighter Aviation Regiment, Kansk (air base) (MiG-31)
- 350th Fighter Aviation Regiment, Bratsk (MiG-31)
- 48th Composite Aviation Division (includes Su-24 regiment at Dzhida, Su-25 regiment at Step (air base) and Su-24MR regiment at Bada)
- 127th Separate Mixed Aviation Squadron, Novosibirsk Tolmachevo Airport (An-12)
- Army Aviation component
- Two SAM regiments and four radar units
11th Army of VVS and PVO, Far East Military District
- 83rd Bomber Aviation Division, Komsomolsk-na-Amure (includes regiment at Khurba)
- 42nd Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment (42 Gv BAP) (Su-24) (Verino - Pereyaslavka, Khabarovsk Kray) (to disband(?))
- 224th? Bomber Aviation Regiment (224? BAP) (Su-24) (Kremovo, Primorsky Kray)
- a composite transport aviation regiment?
- 303rd Composite Aviation Division, Ussuriysk
- 23rd Fighter Aviation Regiment, Komsomolsk-na-Amure (MiG-31)
- 530th Fighter Aviation Regiment, Chuguyevka (MiG-31)
- 22nd Fighter Aviation Regiment, Tsentralnaya Uglovaya (Su-27)
- 404th Fighter Aviation Regiment, Orlovka (Su-27 & MiG-29)
- 865th Fighter Aviation Regiment, Yelizovo (MiG-31)
[edit] Air Armies of the Supreme High Command
- 37th Air Army (strategic bombers)
- 22nd Guards 'Donbass' Heavy Bomber Aviation Division, Engels-2, Saratov
- 326th Heavy Bomber Aviation Division (regiments at Belaya, Ukrainka (air base), and Vozdvizhenka)
- 61st Air Army (former Military Transport Aviation)
- 12th Military Transport Aviation Division, Migalovo (Il-76)
- 103rd Military Transport Aviation Regiment, Smolensk (air base) (Il-76)
- 110th Military Transport Aviation Regiment, Novgorod - Krechevitsy(Il-76)
- 117th Military Transport Aviation Regiment, Orenburg (air base) (Il-76)
- 196th, 334th, 566th, and 708th (Taganrog) Transport Aviation Regiments(Il-76 & An-124)
- 610th Aircrew Combat Training Centre, Ivanovo Severny
- two independent transport aviation squadrons
- one communications centre
The List of Soviet Air Force bases shows a number which are still active with the Russian Air Force.
[edit] Aircraft inventory
| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Versions | In service[4] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Su-27 |  Soviet Union |
fighter | Su-27 | 452 | (150 Frontal Air Force; 300 Air Defence), are being modernized to reach Su-27SM level | |
| Su-30 | Soviet Union |
fighter bomber | Su-30 | 20 | (Frontal Air Force) | |
| Su-33 | Soviet Union |
fighter | Su-33 | 52 | Designed for service on the russian aircraft carrier | |
| Su-35 | Soviet Union |
fighter | Su-35 | 11 | Frontal Air Force | |
| Mig-29 | Soviet Union |
fighter | Mig-29 | 455 | Frontal Air Force, planned modernization to reach the MiG-29SMT level. | |
| Mig-31 | Soviet Union |
Interceptor aircraft | Mig-31 | 325 | 25 Frontal Air Force, 300 Air Defence | |
| Su-24 | Soviet Union |
attack | Su-24M | 458 | 400 Frontal Air Force; 58 Navy, planned modernization to reach Su-24M2 level | |
| Su-25 | Soviet Union |
attack | Su-25 | 275 | 265 Frontal Air Force; 10 Navy, planned modernization to reach the Su-25SM level. | |
| Su-34 |  Russia |
fighter bomber | Su-34 | 10 | Frontal Air Force, (200 ordered to year 2020)[5] | |
| Tu-22M | Soviet Union |
long range bomber | Tu-22M | 182 | 124 (37th Air Army) 58 (Navy) | |
| Tu-95 | Soviet Union |
strategic bomber | Tu-95M | 92 | 64 (37th Air Army) 28 (Navy) | |
| Tu-160 | Soviet Union |
strategic bomber | Tu-160 | 19 | 16 (37th Air Army), 3 Air Force Test Center | |
| IL-76 | Soviet Union |
transport | IL-76 | 210 | ||
| An-72 | Soviet Union |
transport | An-72 | 20 | IISS does not list any in service | |
| An-124 | Soviet Union |
transport | An-124 | 25 | 14 says IISS | |
| IL-78 | Soviet Union |
Refueling Tanker | IL-78 | 20 | ||
| Su-24MR | Soviet Union |
Reconnaisance | Su-24 | 99 | 79 Frontal Air Force, 20 Navy | |
| MiG-25RB 'Foxbat-D' | Soviet Union |
Reconnaisance | MiG-25 | 40 | ||
| A-50 'Mainstay' | Soviet Union |
AWACS-Reconnaisance | Beriev A-50 | 19 | ||
| Ka-50 'Hokum-A' | Soviet Union |
Attack Helicopter | Kamov Ka-50 | 16 | ||
| Ka-52 'Hokum' | Russia |
Attack Helicopter | Kamov Ka-52 | 9 | Special Forces | |
| Mi-24 'Hind' | Soviet Union |
Attack helicopter | Mil Mi-24 | 260 | 240 Air Force, 20 Navy | |
| Mi-28 'Havoc' | Soviet Union |
Attack Helicopter | Mil Mi-28 | 28 | ||
| Mi-6 'Hook' | Soviet Union |
Transport Helicopter | Mil Mi-6 | 5 | navy | |
| Mi-8 'Hip' | Soviet Union |
Transport Helicopter | Mil Mi-8 | 195 | 160 Air Force, 35 Navy | |
| Mi-14 'Haze' | Soviet Union |
Transport Helicopter | Mil Mi-14 | 9 | ||
| Mi-26 'Halo' | Soviet Union |
Transport Helicopter | Mil Mi-26 | 25 | ||
| Ka-27 'Helix' | Soviet Union |
Transport Helicopter | Kamov Ka-27 | 88 | navy | |
| Ka-60 | Russia |
Transport Helicopter | Kamov Ka-60 | 7 |
[edit] Gallery of images
 Tu-160 'Blackjack' - (World's largest & fastest bomber) |
 An-124 'Condor' - (World's largest military transport) |
||
 Kamov Ka-50 'Hocum-A' |
 Mil Mi-28 'Havoc' |
 Mil Mi-24 'Hind' |
 Mil Mi-26 'Halo' |
[edit] Ranks and insignia
Main article: Air Force ranks and insignia of the Russian Federation
[edit] See also
- Morskaya Aviatsiya -WWII Soviet Naval Air Service
- Voenno-vozdushniye Sily -WWII Soviet Air Force
- List of military aircraft of the Soviet Union and the CIS
[edit] External links and references
- ^ Valeriy Kolosov, Military Reform: Minus One Hundred Thousand, Kommersant, 11 October 2004, cited in Scott & Scott, Russian Military Directory 2004
- ^ Genealogy of Fifth Generation Fighters - Article from Mosnews.com
- ^ [1]
- ^ "World Military Aircraft Inventory", Aerospace Source Book 2007, Aviation Week & Space Technology, January 15, 2007.
- ^ RIAN news article on Su-34
- REDSTARS News, analyses and reports about the Russian Defense and the Russian Air Force (in French).
- VVS Order of Battle courtesy of Scramble.nl
- Russian-language VVS site
- Photos Russian Air Force
- Listing of Soviet Air Bases
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