The 16th Red Banner Air Army (Russian: 16-я воздушная Краснознамённая армия) was the most important formation of the Special Purpose Command. Initially formed during the Second World War as a part of the Soviet Air Force, it was from its 2002 reformation to its 2009 disbandment the tactical air force component of the Moscow Military District. The 16th Air Army took part in the Battle of Berlin with 28 Aviation divisions and 7 Separate aviation regiments, and was located with the GSFG in East Germany until 1994. Withdrawn to Kubinka in that year, the army was disbanded and reformed as a corps in 1998. From 1949 to 1968, it was designated as the 24th Air Army.
World War II
Ilyushin Il-2 attack aircraft of the 197th Assault Aviation Division's 567th Assault Aviation Regiment flying towards Berlin, 1 May 1945
The army began forming on 8 August 1942 during the Battle of Stalingrad and originally included the 220th Fighter Aviation Division (IAD) and 228th Assault Aviation Division (ShAD) of the 8th Air Army, as well as two separate aviation regiments. Around the end of August and the beginning of September, the 283rd IAD and 291st Mixed Aviation Division (SAD) arrived from the Reserve of the Supreme High Command. On 4 September, the army had 152 serviceable aircraft, composed of Yakovlev Yak-1 and Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighters, Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik ground attack aircraft, and Petlyakov Pe-2 dive bombers.
It took part in Operation Uranus, the counteroffensive that successfully cut off German troops in Stalingrad, as part of the Don Front during November and December 1942, under the command of Major General Sergei Rudenko.[1] On 19 November, when the offensive began, the army had a total of 249 serviceable aircraft.[2]
For a long period after the war, the army was stationed with the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, headquartered at Zossen-Wünsdorf. In 1949, it was renamed the 24th Air Army, but was reformed as the 16th in 1968.
Withdrawal from Germany
Armies of the Western Group of Forces, 1991
Sperenberg airfield, one of the main bases of the air army
The 16th Air Army ceremonially said farewell to Germany at the Sperenburg Open Day on 27 May 1994.[4] On that day the Air Army Headquarters was moved to Kubinka in the Moscow Military District.[5] However the last aircraft from the 226th Separate Mixed Aviation Regiment did not leave Sperenberg Airfield until 6 September 1994. A visiting Il-76MD was the last aircraft movement three days later.
In 1989 it consisted of subordinate units and formations as follows:[6]
The list below contains the main airfields of the 16th Air Army. The appropriate airfield call sign with the correlating nickname of the communications center is put in "quotation marks":
On 1 June 1998, the 16th Air Army was disbanded and its units incorporated into the Moscow District of VVS and PVO, in accordance with the amalgamation of the Air Forces and the Russian Air Defence Forces (former Soviet Air Defence Forces).[5] This was quickly reversed and on 25 November 1998, the 16th Mixed Aviation Corps was formed from the former units of the army. The corps was reformed as the 16th Air Army on 1 February 2002.[9]
Savasleyka is another airbase within the Moscow Military District's boundaries, but its exact operational status is currently unclear, as the formerly resident unit, the 54th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, was not listed as operational in the most widely available recent survey of Russian air power, which was done by Air Forces Monthly in August and September 2007. The 54th Regiment had previously been withdrawn from Vainode Air Base in Latvia.[10] Russian internet sources now say it has been reorganised as the 3958th Air Base.[11]
The 16th Air Army was planned in 2007 to receive two regiments of the advanced Sukhoi Su-34 Fullback fighter-bombers.[citation needed]
As part of the extensive reorganization of the Russian Air Force in 2009, the army was withdrawn from the Special Purpose Command on 1 July, and its disbandment was completed by 1 December.[12] Most of its units were transferred to the 1st Air and Air Defence Forces Command.
^Chris Lofting & Kieron Pilbeam, 'Sperenburg,' Air Forces Monthly, February 1995, p. 41.
^ abPyotr Butowski, Air Power Analysis: Russian Federation, Part 2, International Air Power Review, AIRTime Publishing, No.13, Summer 2004, ISBN1-880588-84-6, p.87
^Bozhyeva, Olga (7 February 2002). Возвращение Знамени [Return of the Banner]. Krasnaya Zvezda (in Russian). Retrieved 15 May 2017.
^'Twin Base Training,' Air Forces Monthly, December 2002
^Vad777. 16-я воздушная армия [16th Air Army]. ww8.brinkster.com (in Russian). Archived from the original on 10 January 2008. Retrieved 15 May 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Woezik, Rene van, and Lok, Joris Janssen, "Working up to leaving: despite withdrawal, the Soviet Air Force in Germany is being modernised", Jane's Defence Weekly, Vol. 16, No. 10, Sept 7, 1991 p415(2) (ISSN0265-3818) Jane's Information Group.
