Soviet Air Forces Order of Battle 1 May 1945

On the 1st of May 1945 the Air Forces of the Red Army were organised as follows:

Active army

*Leningrad Front
**15th Air Army
**Kourland Group of Forces - 5 Grd. bomb. air Corps (4 and 5 Grd. bomb. air div.), 14 fighter air Corps (185, 315 fighter air div.), 284, 313 night bomb. air div., 214, 225, 305 Shturmovaya air div., 336 fighter air div., 99 Grd., recon. air regt., 187 fire correct. recon. air regt. , 699 transp. air regt., 97 air regt. of the Civil Air Fleet, 87 night bomb. air sqn. 1639, 1683, 1685 AAA regt.
**Formations and units subordinated to group - 1003 ind. evac. air regt.
**13th Air Army - 281 Shturmovaya air div., 275 fighter air div., 13 recon. air regt., 199 air sigs. regt, 1583, 1674 AAA regt.

*3rd Belorussian Front
**1st Air Army - 6th Guards, 276 bomb. air div., 1st Guards, 182, 277, 311 Shturmovaya air div., 129, 130, 303, 330 fighter air div., 213 night bomb. air div., 406 night bomb. air regt., 10, 90 recon. air regt., 117, 151 fire correct. recon. air regt., 142 transp. air regt..1st ind. evac. air regt., 354 air sigs. regt., 1st French air regiment Normandy,
1551, 1552, 1553, 1665, 16(?), 1602, 1608 AAA regt.
**3rd Air Army - 11 fighter air Corps (5 Grd., 190 fighter air div.), 3 Grd. bomb. air div., 314 night bomb. air div., 211, 335 Shturmovaya air div., 259 fighter air div., 6 Grd. evac. air regt., 11 recon. air regt., 206 fire correct. recon. air regt. , 763 transp. air regt., 87 ind. evac. air regt., 399 air sigs. regt.
**1556, 1557, 1558, 1604 AAA regt.

*2nd Belorussian Front
**5th Guards Tank Army - 994 air sigs. regt.
**4th Air Army -
***5 bomb. air Corps (132, 327 bomb. air div.),
***4 Shturmovoy air Corps (196, 199 Shturmovaya air div.),
***8 fighter air Corps (215, 323 fighter air div.), 230, 233, 260, 332 Shturmovaya air div., 229, 269, 309, 329 fighter air div.,
***325 night bomb. air div., 47 and 164 Grd. recon. air regt., 204, 209 fire correct. recon. air regt. , 213 ind. evac. air regt., 184 air sigs. regt., 844 transp. air regt., 69 air regt. of Civil Air Fleet
**1550, 1559, 1584, 1601, 1606, 1607, 1655 AAA regt.

*1st Belorussian Front
**1st Guards Tank Army - 191 Grd. air sigs. regt.
**16th Air Army
***3 Bomber Air Corps (183, 241, 301 bomb. air div.),
***6 bomb. air Corps (113, 326, 334 bomb. air div.),
***6 Shturmovoy air Corps (197, 198 Shturmovaya air div.),
***9 Shturmovoy air Corps (3 Grd., 300 Shturmovaya air div.),
***1 Grd. fighter air Corps (3 and 4 Grd. fighter air div.),
***3 fighter air Corps (265, 278 fighter air div.),
***6 fighter air Corps (234, 273 fighter air div.),
***13 fighter air Corps (193, 283 fighter air div.),
***188, 221 bomb. air div., 2 and 11 Grd. Shturmovaya air div., 1 Grd., 240, 282, 286 fighter air div., 9 Grd., 242 night bomb. air div., 176 Grd. fighter air regt., 16, 72 recon. air regt., 93, 98 fire correct. recon. air regt. , 226 transp. air regt., 62 Grd. air regt. of Civil Air Fleet
**325, 1560, 1581, 1597, 1609, 1610, 1611, 1612, 1974 AAA regt.
**Formations and units subordinate to Front authority - 6 ind. evac. air regt., 919 air sigs. regt.

*1st Ukrainian Front
**3rd Guards Tank Army - 372 air sigs. regt.
**2nd Air Army -
***4 bomb. air Corps (202, 219 bomb. air div.),
***6 Grd. bomb. air Corps (1 and 8 Grd. bomb. air div.),
***1 Grd. Shturmovoy air Corps (8 and 9 Grd. Shturmovaya air div., 12 Grd. fighter air div.),
***2 Grd. Shturmovoy air Corps (5 and 6 Grd. Shturmovaya air div., 11 Grd. fighter air div.),
***3 Shturmovoy air Corps (307, 308 Shturmovaya air div., 181 fighter air div.),
***2 fighter air Corps (7 Grd., 322 fighter air div.),
***5 fighter air Corps (8 Grd., 256 fighter air div.),
***6 Grd. fighter air Corps (9, 22 and 23 Grd. fighter air div.),
***208 night bomb. air div., 98 Grd. thick cloth, 193 Grd. recon. air regt., 118, 203 fire correct. recon. air regt. , 228 transp. air regt., 4 ind. evac. air regt., 23 air regt. of Civil Air Fleet
**1554, 1555, 1561, 1577, 1582, 1605, 1613, 1680 AAA regt.
**Formations and units subordinate to Front authority - 1002 mixed air regt.

*4th Ukrainian Front
**8th Air Army - 8 Shturmovoy air Corps (224, 227 Shturmovaya air div.), 10 fighter air Corps (10 and 15 Grd. fighter air div.), 321 bomb. air div., 8 recon. air regt., 100 fire correct. recon. air regt. , 678 transp. air regt., 212 ind. evac. air regt., 200 air sigs. regt., 87 Grd. air regt. of Civil Air Fleet
**1578, 1603, 1682 AAA regt.

*2nd Ukrainian Front
**6th Guards Tank Army - 207 Grd. air sigs. regt.
**5th Air Army - 3 Grd. Shturmovoy air Corps (7 and 12 Grd. Shturmovaya air div.), 5 Shturmovoy air Corps (4 Grd., 264 Shturmovaya air div.), 3 Grd. fighter air Corps (13 and 14 Grd. fighter air div.), 218 bomb. air div., 312 night bomb. air div., 6 Grd., 279, 331 fighter air div., 511 recon. air regt., 207 fire correct. recon. air regt. , 95 transp. air regt., 44 air regt. of Civil Air Fleet
**Formations and units subordinate to Front authority - 85, 1001 ind. evac. air regt., 714 air sigs. regt.

*3rd Ukrainian Front
**17th Air Army 10 Shturmovoy air Corps (136, 306 Shturmovaya air div.), 244 bomb. air div., 189 Shturmovaya air div., 194, 288, 295 fighter air div., 262 night bomb. air div., 39 recon. air regt., 96 fire correct. recon. air regt. , 227 transp. air regt., 3 ind. evac. air regt., 282 air sigs. regt.
**1614, 1615, 1654, 1676, 1975 AAA regt.

*Air Group of General-Major Vitruk (did not have contact with the enemy), 10 Grd. Shturmovaya air div., 236 fighter air div.

*Long Range Aviation (18th Air Army from December 1944)
**1 Guards Bomber Air Corps (11 and 16 Grd., 36, 48 bomb. air div.),
**2 Guards Bomber Air Corps (2, 7, 13 and 18 Grd. bomb. air div.),
**3 Grd. bomb. air Corps (22 Grd., 1, 12, 50 bomb. air div.),
**4 Grd. bomb. air Corps (14 and 15 Grd., 53, 54 bomb. air div.), 45 bomb. air div., 56 long-range fighter air div.

Air defense forces (PVO) for state territory

A note regarding the use "Patrol Area of". The actual term used in the Russian OOB is ob'yekty, which literally means 'objects'. However, in the military sense it can mean structures, and targets. One possible interpretation that can be offered to better define the use in English is that the meaning here is of the actual "area of responsibility" of the unit in terms of installations, facilities, logistic networks and other possible locations that an enemy may select to attack. In this sense the meaning is more an area-related definition then a specific location, describing the operational activity of the air unit within the realm of its responsibilities.

*Western Front PVO (Air Defense)
**2nd Corps PVO (Air Defense) Patrol Area of Leningrad Front - 106 fighter air div. (145 and 147 Grd., 33, 115, 445 fighter air regt.), 124 fighter air div. (126, 416, 964, 966 fighter air regt.s), 441 fighter air regt. (125 fighter air div.)
**5th Corps PVO (Air Defense) Patrol Area of 1st Belorussian Front - 826 fighter air regt. (36 fighter air div.), 148 fighter air div. (148 Grd., 785, 907, 1006 fighter air regt.), 320 fighter air div. (652, 862, 963 fighter air regt.s)
**13th Corps PVO (Air Defense) Patrol Area of Belorussian-Lithuanian military district - 125 fighter air div. (730, 787 fighter air regt.s)
**14th Corps PVO (Air Defense) Patrol Area of Belorussian-Lithuanian military district - 328 fighter air div. (722, 959, 960 fighter air regt.s)
**79th division PVO (Air Defense) Patrol Area of Belorussian-Lithuanian military district - 144 fighter air div. (144, 383, 439 fighter air regt.s), 495 fighter air regt. (36 fighter air div.)
**82nd division PVO (Air Defense) Patrol Area of 1st Belorussian Front - 36 fighter air div. (405, 591, 651, 827 fighter air regt.s)

*South-Western Front PVO (Air Defense)
**7th Corps PVO (Air Defense) Patrol Area of Kiev and Kharkov military districts - 9 fighter air Corps (39 and 146 Grd., 573, 894, 1007 fighter air regt.s)
**8th Corps PVO (Air Defense) Patrol Area of L'vov military district - 10 fighter air Corps (182, 266, 628, 631, 961 fighter air regt.s)
**9th Corps PVO (Air Defense) Patrol Area of 2nd Ukranian Front - 141 fighter air div. (234, 586, 933 fighter air regt.s)
**12th Corps PVO (Air Defense) Patrol Area of 2nd Ukrainian Front - 2 Grd. fighter air div. (38, 83 and 84 Grd. fighter air regt.s), 743 fighter air regt. (123 fighter air div.)
**85th division PVO (Air Defense) Patrol Area of Kharkov and Odessa military districts, Independent Coastal army - 126 fighter air div. (802, 822, 833 fighter air regt.s)
**86th division PVO (Air Defense) Patrol Area of Odessa Military District - 123 fighter air div. (417, 965 fighter air regt.s)
**88th division PVO (Air Defense) Patrol Area of 1st Ukrainian Front - 310 fighter air div. (268, 348, 908 fighter air regt.s)
**Front Formations and units in Patrol Area of Moscow Military District - 127 fighter air div. (738, 934, 1003 fighter air regt.s)

*Central Front PVO (Air Defense)
**Leningrad Air Defence Army (Air Defense) Patrol Area of Leningrad Front - 2 Grd. fighter air Corps (11, 25, 27, 102 and 105 Grd., 403 fighter air regt.s)
**Moscow PVO Forces
***1st PVO Fighter Air Army (Air Defense) [http://allaces.ru/cgi-bin/s2.cgi/sssr/struct/h/vai1pvo.dat] Patrol Area of Central Front PVO (Air Defense)
****104 fighter air div. (119, 729 fighter air div.),
****122 fighter air div. (767, 768 fighter air div., 769 fighter air regt.s),
****142 fighter air div. (143, 423, 632, 786, 1005 fighter air regt.s),
****317 fighter air div. (12 Grd., 488, 736 fighter air regt.s),
****318 fighter air div. (11, 28, 562, 565, 740 fighter air regt.s),
****319 fighter air div. (16, 67, 177, 178, 309 fighter air regt.s)

*Patrol Area of Coastal PVO Army of Far-East Front - 147 fighter air div. (34, 400, 401, 404, 429, 564 fighter air regt.s)
*Patrol Area of Amur Air Defence Army (Air Defense) of Far-Eastern Front - 149 fighter air div. (3, 18, 60 fighter air regt.s)
*Patrol Area of Transbaikal PVO zone (Air Defense) of Transbaikal Front - 297 fighter air div. (938, 939 fighter air regt.s)

*Independent PVO formations and units of the country
**99th Division PVO (Air Defense) Patrol Area of Transcaucasian Front - 298 fighter air div. (35, 982, 983 fighter air regt.s)
**Baku Air Defence Army (Air Defense) Patrol Area of Transcaucasian Front - 8 fighter air Corps (82, 480, 481, 922 962 fighter air regt.s)

STAVKA Reserve of Military High Command

*7th Air Army - 280 Shturmovaya air div., 257, 324 fighter air div., 80 Close range bomb. air regt., 114 Grd. Long range bomb. air regt., 679, 716 night bomb. air regt., 118, 119 recon. air sqn, 1599 AAA regt.
*14th Air Army - 107 air sigs. regt., 30 air regt. Civil Air Fleet
*18th Air Army - 73 long-range supp. air div., 742 long-range recon. air regt.
*Reserve Front control - 81 ind. evac. air regt., 121 air sigs. regt.
*Independent Formations and units of Reserve of STAVKA Military High Command
**7 Bomber Air Corps, 179 bomb. air div.,
**9 Grd. bomb. air Corps (19, 20 and 21 Grd. bomb. air div.),
**7 Shturmovoy air Corps (206, 289 Shturmovaya air div.), 114 fighter air regt.

Military districts and inactive Fronts

*Moscow Military District - 2 and 4 Special Purpose air div., 10 Grd., 860 bomb. air regt., 252, 396, 918 air sigs. regt., 852, 853, 856 ferry air regt., 75 command air sqn.
*White Sea military district - 261 Shturmovaya air div., 16 Grd. fighter air div., 108 recon. air sqn.
*Belorussian-Lithuanian military district 272 fighter air regt., 2 ind. evac. air regt.
*Orel military district - 1000 evac. air regt., 857 ferry air regt.
*Kiev Military District - 15 Grd. Shturmovaya air div., 245 evac. air regt., 51 fighter air regt., 3 transp. air regt.
*Lvov Military District - 5 evac. air regt.
*Odessa Military District - 48 Grd. recon. air regt., 222 ferry air regt.
*Kharkov military district - 620 evac. air regt., 254, 896, 926 fighter air regt.
*Volga Military District - 220 mixed air regt., 217 evac. air regt., 221, 850, 851 ferry air.regts.

*Transcaucasus Front
**Formations and units subordinate to Front authority - 492 evac. air regt., 25, 167 fighter air regt., 149 recon. air sqn., 335 long-range recon. air sqn.
*Central-Asian military district - 333 Shturmovaya air div., 238 fighter air div., 15 recon. air sqn.
*Siberian Military District - 9 ferry air regt.

*Transbaikal Front
**12th Air Army 30, 247 bomb. air div., 248, 316 Shturmovaya air div., 245, 246 fighter air div., 12 recon. air regt., 23 transp.-bomb. air sqn., 40, 41 command air sqn.144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150 ind. AAA bat.

*Soviet Far East Front
**10th Air Army 83 bomb. air div., 253 Shturmovaya air div., 29, 254 fighter air div., 528 fighter air regt., 7 recon. air regt., 411 fire correct. recon. air regt. , 344 transp. air regt.
**Formations and units subordinate to Front authority - 18 fighter air Corps (96 Shturmovaya air div., 296 fighter air div., 777 fighter air regt., 140 recon. air sqn., 28 command air sqn.), 19 Bomber Air Corps (33, 55 bomb. air div., 442, 443 Long range bomb. air regt.), 128, 255 mixed air div., 799 recon. air regt., 19 fighter air sqn.
**Coastal Group of Forces
**9th Air Army - 34 bomb. air div., 251, 252 Shturmovaya air div., 32, 249, 250 fighter air div., 6 recon. air regt., 464 fire correct. recon. air regt. , 281 transp. air regt.s

Further Reading/Sources

* [http://www.tashv.nm.ru/BoevojSostavSA/1945/19450501.html Combat Composition of the Soviet Army 1 May 1945]