11th Air and Air Defence Forces Army

The 11th Army of VVS and PVO (11-я армия ВВС и ПВО) was a formation of the Russian Air Force, which was located in the Russian Far East and Pacific Coast area, and its zone of responsibility covered the Far East Military District.

It was first formed during the Second World War from the Soviet Air Forces of the 2nd Red Banner Army. It was re-created in 1998 from the Soviet Air Defence Forces' 11th Air Defence Army units (except for a regiment of MiG-31 interceptor aircraft on the Kamchatka Peninsula, handed over by Russian Naval Aviation) and the 1st Air Army of the VVS. The 1st Army of the VVS had been reformed on 1 July 1957. In 2007 the commanding officer was Lieutenant General Valeriy Ivanov, former commander of the 1st Air Defence Corps.

The 11th Army of VVS and PVO was disbanded in 2009 by being redesignated the 3rd Air and Air Defence Forces Command. The army was reformed around 2015.

11th Air Defence Army
The 11th Air Defence Army (or 11th Army of the Soviet Air Defence Forces, 11 A PVO) appears to have been formed in 1960. During the Soviet period, the 11th Air Defence Army gained headlines due to the defection of Viktor Belenko in September 1976, and the KAL 007 shootdown in 1983. The KAL 007 shootdown occurred on 1 September 1983. After a protracted ground-controlled interception, three Su-15 fighters from Dolinsk-Sokol airbase and a MiG-23 from Smirnykh Air Base managed to make visual contact with the Boeing 747 and later shot it down.

In the late 1980s the 11th Air Defence Army of the Voyska PVO, as it was then, controlled two corps (23rd in Vladivostok & 8th in Komsomolsk) and three divisions (24th in Petropavlovsk, 29th in Blagoveshchenk and 6th in Okhotsk), 10 fighter aviation regiments (IAPs), 8 SAM brigades/regiments and 9 radio-technical (radar) brigades/regiments.

In 2001 the 8th ADC was renamed the 25th Air Defence Division, and in 2009 renamed 11th Aerospace Defence Brigade.

24th Air Defence Division was activated 5.60 in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (Khomutovo), Sakhalin Oblast.

23rd Air Defence Corps 1988
HQ Vladivostok
 * 22nd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO (Tsentralnaya Uglovaya, Primorskiy Kray)(http://eagle-rost.livejournal.com/310734.html)
 * 47th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO (Zolotaya Dolina (Unashi), Primorskiy Kray) (disbanded 1998)
 * 530th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO (Chuguevka, Primorskiy Kray)
 * 821st Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO (Spassk-Dalny, Primorskiy Kray) (disbanded 1994)
 * 130th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade (Vladivostok, Primorskiy Kray)
 * 150th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade (Zolotaya Dolina (Unashi), Primorskiy Kray)
 * 267th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade (Filino, Primorskiy Kray)
 * 639th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Vasilevka, Primorskiy Kray)
 * 749th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Timofeevka, Primorskiy Kray)
 * 1133rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Lipovtsy, Primorskiy Kray)
 * 10th Radio-Technical Brigade (Artem, Primorskiy Kray)
 * 123rd Radio-Technical Regiment (Timofeevka, Primorskiy Kray)

In 2001 renamed 93rd Air Defence Division; in 2009 renamed 12th Aerospace Defence Brigade.

6th Air Defence Division 1988
HQ Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Kamchatka Oblast
 * 865th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Airport (Yelizovo), Kamchatka Oblast)
 * 191st Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatka, Kamchatka Oblast)
 * 60th Radio-Technical Regiment (Koryaki, Kamchatka Oblast)
 * 124th Radio-Technical Regiment (Ust-Kamchatsk, Kamchatka Oblast)

Formed from 222nd Fighter Aviation Division PVO May 1960; disbanded 1998.

24th Air Defence Division 1988
HQ Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (Khomutovo)
 * 121st Communications Center (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (Khomutovo), Sakhalin Oblast)
 * 41st Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO (Burevestnik, Iturup Island)
 * 528th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO (Smirnykh, Sakhalin Oblast)
 * 777th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO (Dolinsk-Sokol, Sakhalin Oblast)
 * 328th independent Transport Aviation Squadron (Dolinsk-Sokol, Sakhalin Oblast)
 * 140th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Poronaysk, Sakhalin Oblast)
 * 752nd Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (Khomutovo), Sakhalin Oblast)
 * 891st Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (Okha, Sakhalin Oblast)
 * 38th Radio-Technical Regiment (Smirnykh, Sakhalin Oblast)
 * 39th Radio-Technical Regiment (Dolinsk, Sakhalin Oblast)
 * 125th Radio-Technical Regiment (Goryachiye Klyuchi, Kurilsky District, Sakhalin Oblast (Iturup Island)

Disbanded 1998.

11th Air Force and Air Defence Forces Army
Following the amalgamation of the 11th Air Defence Army and the 1st Air Army, in 2007 the 11th Army included two regiments of Su-27 fighter aircraft, one of MiG-31 interceptors, two of Su-24 tactical bombers, two of Su-25 attack aircraft and one reconnaissance regiment of Su-24MRs. The anti-aircraft component is much less powerful, including just three regiments of surface-to-air missiles, located in Khabarovsk, Komsomolsk and Vladivostok. The 23rd Fighter Aviation Regiment, located at Dzemgi (Komsomolsk-on-Amur), was the first Russian Air Force unit armed with the upgraded Su-27SM fighters.

The 303rd Fighter Aviation Division fought with the 64th Fighter Aviation Corps of the Air Defence Forces during the Korean War, flying Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s, though it is not certain that the current 303rd Division is the same unit that fought during that war. The 303rd Fighter Aviation Division fought during Operation Bagration, and included the Normandie-Niemen regiment for a period.

The most notable unit of the 11th Army in 2007 was the 18th Guards Vitebsk Normandie-Niemen Assault Aviation Regiment, stationed at Galyonki, which has been twice awarded the Red Banner and the Order of Suvorov. In 1943, during World War II, the regiment included the Normandie squadron of French pilots, which later became the independent regiment known as Normandie-Niemen. On 9 May 1995 (Victory Day), to commemorate these events, the 18th ShAP received the name Normandie-Niemen. Since March 1993, the unit operates the Sukhoi Su-25 attack aircraft.

Structure in 2007

 * 11th Air Army - Khabarovsk
 * 23rd Air Defence Corps - HQ at Vladivostok;
 * 22nd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment - HQ at Tsentralnaya Uglovaya - Su-27; - 1.12.09 renamed 6989th Guards Aviation Base. [303 GSAD, other regt was 120 at Domna]
 * 530th Fighter Aviation Regiment - HQ at Chuguyevka (air base) (AFM 2007: 'Sokolovka') - MiG-25PU, MiG-31; - disbanded 1 December 2009.
 * 25th PVO Division - HQ at Komsomolsk-na-Amure
 * 23rd Fighter Aviation Regiment - HQ at Dzemgi - Su-27; former 60th IAP. 2000 amalgamated with the 404th Fighter Aviation Regiment, and renamed 23rd Fighter Aviation Regiment. [303 GSAD]
 * 303rd Composite Aviation Division - HQ at Ussuriysk
 * 277th Bomber Aviation Regiment - HQ at Khurba - Su-24; 1 September 2009 renamed 6988th Aviation Base.
 * 302nd Bomber Aviation Regiment - HQ at Verino - Su-24; - 1 September 2009 absorbed by the 6988th Aviation Base.
 * 18th Shturmovik (Assault) Air Regiment - HQ at Galyonki - Su-25 - disbanded June 2009;
 * 187th Shturmovik Air Regiment - HQ at Chernigovka - Su-25;
 * 799th Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment - HQ at Varfolomeyevka - Su-24MR, MiG-25RB(?);
 * 257th Independent Composite Air Regiment - HQ at Khabarovsk-Bolshoy - An-12, An-26, Mi-8;
 * Army Aviation component;
 * Unknown Independent Helicopter Regiment - HQ at Dolinsk-Sokol (Dolinsk) - Mi-8;
 * 319th Independent Helicopter Regiment for Battle Control - HQ at Chernigovka - Mi-24;
 * 364th Independent Helicopter Regiment - HQ at Srednebelaya - Mi-8, Mi-24, Mi-26;
 * 825th Independent Helicopter Regiment - HQ at Garovka-2 - Mi-6, Mi-8, Mi-26;

Structure c. 2016 (source: Ruwiki)

 * 25th Air Defence Division 'Red Banner Komsomolskaya' (Komsomolsk-on-Аmur, Khaborovsk Krai);
 * 26th Air Defence Division (Chita, (Zabaykalsky Krai);
 * 93rd Air Defence Division (Vladivostok, Primorsky Krai);
 * 303rd Composite Aviation Division (Khurba, Хабаровский край);
 * 120th Independent Fighter Aviation Regiment (Domna, Zabaykalsky Krai);
 * 575th Aviation Base of Army Aviation (Second Rank) (Chernigovka, Primorsky Krai);
 * 573rd Aviation Base of Army Aviation (Second Rank) (Большой аэродром, Хабаровск, Хабаровский край)