6th Air Army

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= 6th Red Banner Leningrad Army of VVS and PVO


caption=6th Red Banner Leningrad Army of VVS and PVO
dates=1 June 1942
country= Russian Federation
allegiance=
branch=Air Force
type=
role= Air support and Air Defence
size=
command_structure=
garrison=Sankt-Peterburg (HQ)
garrison_label=
nickname=Army of the "Road of Life"
patron=
motto="Securely guarding the North-West sky of Russia" ( _ru. “Надежно охраняем небо Северо-Запада России")
colors=
colors_label=
march=
mascot=
equipment=S-300 SAM system
equipment_label=
battles= Siege of Leningrad
anniversaries=
decorations= Order of the Red Banner
battle_honours=
commander1=General-Lieutenant Vladimir Sviridov
notable_commanders=General-Colonel S.D. Rybal'chenko (13th Air Army) former commander of the Far Eastern VVS and the Far East Military District during 1950-1956
identification_symbol=
identification_symbol_label=Roundel
aircraft_attack=
aircraft_helicopter=Mi-8, Mi-24
aircraft_bomber=Su-24
aircraft_electronic=
aircraft_fighter=Su-27
aircraft_interceptor=MiG-31
aircraft_patrol=
aircraft_recon=MiG-25RB/U, Su-24MR
aircraft_trainer=
aircraft_transport=An-12, An-26, Mi-8, Tu-134;The 6th Red Banner Leningrad Army of Military-Air Forces and Air Defence ( _ru. 6-я Краснознамённая Ленинградская армия Военно-воздушных сил и противовоздушной обороны) [ [http://www.mil.ru/848/1045/1273/16361/15876/15879/index.shtml Историческая справка ] ] is an Air Army of the Russian Air Force, which traces its history to the prewar PVO command in the Leningrad area, which later became 13th Air Army of the Leningrad Front.

The 6th Air Army was first formed in 1942 from the Air Forces of the North-Western Front, and its first commander was General Major of Aviation D.F. Kondratyk, who held command to August 1943. Initially the Army included the 2nd Corps of Air Defence and the 7th Fighter Aviation Corps, serving over Leningrad during the Siege of Leningrad. During its World War II service, the 6th Air Army included for a time the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, the all-female 'Night Witches'.It was assigned initially to the North-Western Front until February 1944, and after that to the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts. [Bonn/Glantz, Slaughterhouse, Aberjona Press, Bedford, PA, 2005, p.337]

During the Cold War period, the 6th Army of the PVO was an extremely strong and important one, as regards its air defence component, regiments of interceptors and anti-aircraft missiles. It had two major tasks: to protect the most industrialized European part of the Soviet Union against possible U.S. cruise missile attack from the north via the North Pole (using MiG-31 interceptors), and to protect the deployment of nuclear submarines stationed in the Kola Peninsula (using Su-27 fighters).

The Army was reformed within the Russian Air Force on June 1, 1998, from the 76th Air Army of the VVS and the 6th Independent Army of the Voyska PVO, both headquartered in Sankt Petersburg. The 6th Army has responsibility for the Leningrad Military District and its commanding officer is, since June 2005, Major-General Vladimir Sviridov.The previous tasks of cruise missile defence and protection of submarines have now lost their importance, which has led to drastic cuts in the army. However, it still has three regiments of Su-27 fighters and a regiment of MiG-31 interceptors in service (note the absence of MiG-29 fighters and Su-25 attack aircraft).

tructure

*Headquarters, 6th Air Army - Sankt Petersburg
**21st Air Defence Corps - Severomorsk
***9th Fighter Aviation Regiment - HQ at Kilp-Yavr (Poliarnyi) - Su-27;
***458th Interceptor Aviation Regiment - HQ at Savatiya (Kotlas) - MiG-25U, MiG-31;
**54th Air Defence Corps - HQ at Taytsy
***177th Fighter Aviation Regiment - HQ at Lodeynoye Pole (air base) - Su-27;
***159th Fighter Aviation Regiment - HQ at Besovets Airport - Su-27;
**149th Composite Aviation Division
***67th Bomber Aviation Regiment - HQ at Siverskiy-2 - Su-24;
***722nd Bomber Aviation Regiment - HQ at Smuravyevo (Gdov) - Su-24;
**98th Guards Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment - HQ at Monchegorsk (air base) - MiG-25RB/U, Su-24MR;
**138th Independent Composite Air Regiment - HQ at Levashevo - An-12, An-26, Mi-8, Tu-134;
**Army Aviation Component
***147th Independent Helicopter Squadron of Electronic Warfare - HQ at Pushkin - Mi-8PPA;
***332nd Independent Helicopter Regiment for Battle Control - HQ at Pribylovo - Mi-8, Mi-24;
***85th Independent Helicopter Squadron - HQ at Alakurtti - Mi-8, Mi-24.

References and further reading

*Air Forces Monthly, July & August 2007 issues.
*http://samsv.narod.ru/Arm/av06/arm.html - Russian language source on WW 2 history
*Historical detail [http://www.mil.ru/848/1045/1273/16361/15876/15879/index.shtml] from Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.