5th Air Army

5th Air Army

The 5th Army of VVS and PVO (5-я Краснознамённая армия военно-воздушных сил и противовоздушной обороны) was the Russian Air Force's smallest Air Army, with the headquarters located in Yekaterinburg. Its zone of responsibility was the Volga-Ural Military District, on the border between Europe and Asia. The commanding officer of the 5th Air Army was from May 2006, Lieutenant-General Vadim Volkovitskiy.

The 5th Air Army (5 Vozdushnaya Armiya) was first created during the Second World War, formed from the Air Forces of the North Caucasus Front in June 1942, consisting of three fighter, one ground attack, and one bomber division. During the Battle of Kursk (July-August 1943) it fought as part of the Steppe Front, and comprised the 7th Combined Aviation Corps, 8th Combined Aviation Corps, 3rd Fighter Aviation Corps, and the 7th Fighter Aviation Corps (7 иак). On 1 August 1943 it comprised the 1st Bomber Aviation Corps (1 гв., 293 бад), 1 шак (203, 266 иад, 292 шад), 3 иак (265, 278 иад), 4 иак (294, 302 иад), 7th Fighter Aviation Corps (304 иад), 511 рап.

On 10 January 1949 it was redesignated the 48th Air Army.

5th Air Army appears to have been reformed in 1988 from the Air Forces of the Odessa Military District (VVS OdVO). The 119th 'Nevel' Order of Suvorov Fighter Aviation Division was part of the VVS OdVO, and the 5th Air Army VVS both before the VVS OdVO period and afterwards. The Army was still serving there when the Soviet Union dissolved, and consisted in 1991-92 of a single MiG-29 fighter regiment and a Su-17 reconnaissance regiment. Other elements included the 86th Guards Fighter Regiment with MiG-29s at ~Markuleshcht, across the border in Moldova, whose aircraft became part of the fledgling Moldovan Air Force. The formation was later downgraded in status by the Ukrainian Air Force. On 18 March 1994 the Ukrainian 5th Air Army was redesignated the 5th Air Corps.

In 1994 the 4th Air Defence Army of the former Soviet Air Defence Forces, now under Russian control, was redesignated the 5th Separate Air Defence Corps (probably with its headquarters at Yekaterinburg). In 1998 this brought in air forces formations and became the 5th Separate Corps of VVS and PVO. In 2001 the formation becaome the 5th Army of the VVS and PVO. The Air Army had no combat aircraft (except a small number of Su-25 attack aircraft located at Kant, Kyrgyzstan) and only three regiments of surface-to-air missiles (Yekaterinburg, Samara and Engels), but includes two helicopter regiments and some other auxiliary units. The 764th Interceptor Aviation Regiment, operating MiG-31 aircraft, which was stationed Bolshoye Savino Airport 16 km southwest of Perm, within the zone of the 5th Air Army, is subordinated directly to the Air Forces HQ. The Kant Air Base was commissioned in October 2003 and is also subordinated to the 5th Air Army, along with possibly another air base in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Since July 2007, the commander of the 5th Air Army is General Lieutenant Mikhail Kucheryavy.

In 2007, 12 Mi-24 and 12 Mi-8 of the Army took part in the joint Russia-Sino exercise Peace Mission 2007. (Warfare.ru)

In 2009 the Army was disbanded and incorporated within the new 4th Command of Air Forces and Air Defence.