Know Your Enemy: Russian Military Aviation in European Russia and Temporarily Occupied Crimea

After the division of the Western Military District into the Moscow and Leningrad Military Districts and the deprivation of the Northern Fleet of the status of a military district, certain organizational changes took place in military aviation. The air force and air defense armies are no longer subordinate to military districts, although they are stationed on their territory. Despite the division of the Western MD into two newly created Moscow Military District and Leningrad Military District, there is (for now?) only one Guards Air and Air Defense Forces Army, the 6th, headquartered in Pushkin near St. Petersburg.

The bulk of the 6th Army’s aviation is still organized into the 105th Mixed Air Division (Voronezh). It includes four “old” Aviation Regiments:

• 14th Fighter Jet Regiment (Kursk-Khalino) – Su-30SM;
• 47th Bomber Regiment (Voronezh-Baltimore) – Su-34;
• 159th Fighter Jet Regiment (Petrozavodsk-Besovets) – Su-35S;
• 790th Fighter Jet Regiment (Khotilovo, Tver Oblast) – Su-35S, MiG-31BM.

In addition, the 6th Army includes two “new” units transferred from the Navy. This is the 689th Fighter Aviation Regiment from the 34th Mixed Air Division of the Baltic Fleet (Chkalovsk, i.e. Tannenwalde in temporarily occupied East Prussia) with Su-27 and Su-30SM2 aircraft (as for the latter, the regiment has not had them so far). Its status in the 6th Army is still unclear: whether it has become a separate regiment or has joined the 105th Division. There is also a MiG-31BM squadron from the 98th Separate Mixed Aviation Regiment of the Northern Fleet (Monchegorsk). Probably (but not definitely) it was subordinated to the 790th Aviation Regiment, leaving it in Monchegorsk.

The army aviation units of the 6th Guards Air and Air Defense Forces Army have not undergone any changes. They include:

• 15th Army Aviation Brigade (Ostrov-Veretie) – Mi-8, Mi-26, Mi-28N, Mi-35M, Ka-52;
• 332nd Separate Helicopter Regiment (Pushkin) – Mi-8, Mi-24, Mi-28N;
• 440th Separate Helicopter Regiment (Vyazma) – Mi-8, Mi-24, Ka-52.

Now about the 4th Guards Air and Air Defense Forces Army. Its area of responsibility coincides with the Southern Military District. Its main components are three mixed aviation divisions, one of which is stationed in the temporarily occupied Crimea.

The 1st Mixed Aviation Division (Krymsk, Krasnodar Territory) includes three regiments:

• 3rd Mixed Regiment (Krymsk) – Su-27, Su-30M2;
• 31st Fighter Regiment (Millerovo) – Su-30SM;
• 559th Bomber Regiment (Morozovsk) – Su-34.

The 4th Mixed Aviation Division (Marinovka, Volgograd region) also has three regiments, all of which are strike regiments:

• 11th Mixed (Marinovka) – Su-24M/MR, Su-34;
• 368th Assault Regiment (Budyonnovsk) – Su-25; this regiment was transferred from the 1st Mixed Air Division;
• 960th Assault Regiment (Primorsko-Akhtarsk) – Su-25.

The 27th Mixed Aviation Division (Sevastopol-Lyubimovka, Crimea) has two regiments:

• 37th Mixed Regiment (Gvardeyskoye) – Su-24M/MR, Su-25;
• 38th Fighter Regiment (Belbek) – Su-27, Su-30M2.

Army aviation units of the 4th Army include:

• 16th Army Aviation Brigade (Zernograd) – Mi-8, Mi-26, Mi-28N, Mi-35M, Ka-52;
• 39th Separate Helicopter Regiment (Dzhankoy, Crimea) – Mi-8, Mi-28N, Mi-35M, Ka-52; previously this regiment was part of the 27th Division, now it is a separate regiment;
• 55th Separate Helicopter Regiment (Korenovsk) – Mi-8, Mi-28N, Mi-35M, Ka-52;
• 487th Separate Helicopter Regiment (Budyonnovsk) – Mi-8, Mi-28N, Mi-35M.

The 45th Guards Air and Air Defense Forces Army, which was subordinated to the Northern Fleet, was disbanded. Instead, the 7th Aviation Corps (Severomorsk-Safonovo) was formed, with five separate regiments subordinated to it:

• 98th Mixed Regiment (Monchegorsk) – Su-24M/MR;
• 100th Naval Fighter Regiment (Severomorsk-3) – MiG-29KR;
• 279th Naval Fighter Regiment (Severomorsk-3) – Su-33, Su-30SM, Su-25UTG;
• 403rd Mixed Regiment (Severomorsk-1; Tu-142 deployed in Kipelovo) – Tu-142, Il-38, Il-20/22, An-12, An-26;
• The 830th Naval Anti-Submarine Helicopter Regiment (Severomorsk-1) – Ka-27/29, Mi-8.

The Baltic Fleet’s aviation has been consolidated into the 34th Mixed Aviation Division (Kaliningrad), which, after the withdrawal of the 689th Regiment, includes two regiments:

• 4th Naval Assault Regiment (Chernyakhovsk) – Su-24M/MR, Su-30SM/SM2;
• 396th Mixed Helicopter Regiment (Donskoye) – Ka-27/29, Mi-8, Mi-24.

The Black Sea Fleet does not have a divisional or corps-level aviation unit – its two regiments have the status of separate units, subordinated to the Black Sea Fleet Aviation Department. Both of them are stationed on the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimea:

• 43rd Naval Assault Regiment (Saki Novofedorivka) – Su-24M/MR, Su-30SM;
• 318th Mixed Regiment (Kacha) – Ka-27/29/31, Mi-8, Be-12, An-26.

What conclusions can be drawn?

First. According to the Russian (still pre-wide-scale) plans, there was supposed to be an army aviation brigade for each military district and a separate helicopter regiment for each combined arms (tank) army. The district brigades were formed, but the goal was not achieved with regiments – there were fewer of them than armies. Even now, new armies are being formed, and the number of helicopter regiments remains unchanged – not a single new one will be formed after 2022.

Second. The replacement of Su-24M with Su-34 (in the Air Force) and Su-30SM2 (in the Navy) has not been completed. Old Su-24M/MRs remain in four regiments, three of which are naval. Given the low rate of production of Su-30SM2s, it is unlikely that the naval regiments will be fully rearmed in the near future.

Third. The replacement of the Su-27 has not been completed. The 689th Regiment, which is “at the forefront of the confrontation with NATO,” is a particularly illustrative example. If it were to be rearmed with, say, Su-35S, it would definitely be noticed.

Fourth. What happens to the newly built Su-34 and Su-35S (whose deliveries I recently analyzed)? I think they are used not only to compensate for combat losses, but also to replace aircraft sent for overhaul due to intensive use.

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