The 6th Red Banner Leningrad Army of Military-Air Forces and Air Defence ( ) is an Air Army of the Russian Air Force, which traces its history to the prewar PVO command in the Leningrad area, which later became 13th Air Army of the Leningrad Front.

The 6th Air Army was first formed in 1942 from the Air Forces of the North-Western Front, and its first commander was General Major of Aviation D.F. Kondratyk, who held command to August 1943. Initially the Army included the 2nd Corps of Air Defence and the 7th Fighter Aviation Corps, serving over Leningrad during the Siege of Leningrad. During its World War II service, the 6th Air Army included for a time the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, the all-female 'Night Witches'.It was assigned initially to the North-Western Front until February 1944, and after that to the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts.

During the Cold War period, the 6th Army of the PVO was an extremely strong and important one, as regards its air defence component, regiments of interceptors and anti-aircraft missiles. It had two major tasks: to protect the most industrialized European part of the Soviet Union against possible U.S. cruise missile attack from the north via the North Pole (using MiG-31 interceptors), and to protect the deployment of nuclear submarines stationed in the Kola Peninsula (using Su-27 fighters). In 1988, the 6th Army, headquartered at St Petersburg, consisted of the 27th Corps of PVO at Riga, 54th Corps at Gatchina, and 14th Division of PVO at Talinn, with nine fighter interceptor regiments, five SAM regiments, five radar regiments, and the 498th PVO Training Centre.

The Army was reformed within the Russian Air Force on June 1, 1998, from the 76th Air Army of the VVS and the 6th Independent Army of the Voyska PVO, both headquartered in Sankt Petersburg. The 6th Army has responsibility for the Leningrad Military District and its commanding officer is, since June 2005, General Lieutenant Vladimir Sviridov.Economic stringency and the reduction of the threat has led to drastic cuts in the formation, as previously the 6th and 10th PVO Armies, which covered the area, had twelve fighter regiments between them. The 174th and 470th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiments, at Monchegorsk and Afrikanda, both disbanded on September 1, 2001. There were also formerly fighter regiments at Amderma (72nd), Talagi Airport (where the 518th Fighter Regiment disbanded in 1998), Lodeynoye Pole (177th), Gromovo (180th), Poduzhemye (265th, originally flying Su-15s), Letneozerskiy(524th, flying MiG-25s), and Rogachevo (641st, Su-27 Flankers).

Structure

• Headquarters, 6th Air Army - Sankt Petersburg
  • 21st Air Defence Corps - Severomorsk
    • 9th 'Vienna' Fighter Aviation Regiment - HQ at Kilp-Yavr (Poliarnyi) - Su-27;
    • 458th Interceptor Aviation Regiment - HQ at Savatiya (Kotlas) - MiG-25U, MiG-31;
    • 531st Невельско-Берлинский Guards Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment
    • ?th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment — Severodvinsk
    • 583rd Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment — Olenegorsk, Murmansk Oblast
    • 145th Radiotechnical Brigade — Архангельск
    • 5th Radiotechnical Brigade — в поселке Дальние Зеленцы — Североморск
  • 54th Air Defence Corps - HQ at Taytsy
    • 177th Fighter Aviation Regiment - HQ at Lodeynoye Pole - Su-27;
    • 159th Fighter Aviation Regiment - HQ at Besovets Airport - Su-27;
    • 196th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment
    • ?th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment
  • 149th Composite Aviation Division
    • 67th Bomber Aviation Regiment - HQ at Siverskiy-2 - Su-24;
    • 722nd Bomber Aviation Regiment - HQ at Smuravyevo (Gdov) - Su-24;
  • 98th Guards Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment - HQ at Monchegorsk - MiG-25RB/U, Su-24MR;
  • 87th Aviation Base - HQ at Levashevo - An-12, An-26, Mi-8, Tu-134; (ex 138th Independent Composite Air Regiment)
  • Army Aviation Component
    • 147th Independent Helicopter Squadron of Electronic Warfare - HQ at Pushkin - Mi-8PPA;
    • 332nd Independent Helicopter Regiment for Battle Control - HQ at Pribylovo - Mi-8, Mi-24;
    • 85th Independent Helicopter Squadron - HQ at Alakurtti - Mi-8, Mi-24.
• 1080th Mixed Aviation Base (смешанная авиационная база) — Gromovo, Priozersky District, Leningrad Oblast - An-72, An-30, An-26, Mi-8,
• 714th Base for Reserve Helicopters — Kasimovo — Mi-8, Mi-24
• 396th Centre for Special and Physical Preparations — St Petersburg

References and further reading

• Air Forces Monthly, July & August 2007 issues.
• http://samsv.narod.ru/Arm/av06/arm.html - Russian language source on WW 2 history
• Historical detail [533451] from Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.