World War II The division was formed at
Khabarovsk during
World War II as the 149th Fighter Aviation Division PVO (IAD) on 7 August 1942, part of the
Far Eastern Air Defense Zone of the
Far Eastern Front (DVF). Major Yefim Chervyakov, promoted to lieutenant colonel on 16 October of that year, was appointed division commander. The division included three fighter aviation regiments (IAP), the
3rd, the
18th at Khabarovsk, and the
60th at
Dzyomgi, which had all previously been under
Air Force (VVS) control. The 18th IAP was equipped with the modern
LaGG-3, but the 3rd and 60th IAPs still retained the obsolete
Polikarpov I-16; Soviet aviation units in the Far East were low-priority for receiving new aircraft since they were not in an active combat zone. The regiments of the 149th IAD PVO were the only aviation units within the air defense zone until 1945. The 3rd IAP was transferred back to the
11th Air Army of the VVS DVF on 10 April 1943 but returned to the 149th IAD on 9 June; it was shifted back to the 11th Air Army on 26 October, leaving the division with only the 18th and 60th IAPs. Chervyakov was relieved of command in mid-October 1943 due to a high accident rate in the division. He was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Kozlov. In early 1945, the 18th and 60th IAPs converted to the
Yakovlev Yak-9. The new
3rd IAP, renamed from the 534th IAP when the units swapped designations, joined the 149th from the
10th Air Army of the VVS DVF on 5 May 1945 and converted to the Yak-9 before the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. During the same month, the 400th IAP PVO joined the division after arriving from Europe by rail without aircraft and received the
Lavochkin La-7 before the invasion began. The division became part of the
Amur Air Defense Army when the zone was split in 1945 and during the
Soviet invasion of Manchuria, it provided air cover for
Khabarovsk,
Komsomolsk-on-Amur, and
Nikolayevsk as well as rear communications, concentration areas, and troops of the
2nd Far Eastern Front. Elements of the division participated in the
Sungari Offensive and the
Soviet invasion of South Sakhalin, in which they did not face Japanese air resistance. The lack of Japanese air activity and bad weather resulted in the units of the division flying very few combat missions during the war; for example, four out of 22 sorties flown by the 18th IAP were escort for the transport aircraft of Soviet theatre commander
Marshal Aleksandr Vasilevsky. After the end of the war, Kozlov commanded the division until his death in an accident near the
Nikolayevka airfield on 7 June 1946.
Cold War The 3rd IAP was re-equipped with the Yak-3 in January 1946 and entered the jet age when it received the MiG-15 in September 1951. The 400th IAD was disbanded in 1946. The
582nd IAP was transferred to the division from the 249th IAD in February 1949, replacing the 60th IAP which was shifted to the Air Force. The division was shifted from the PVO to the Air Force on 29 January 1952, coming under the
54th Air Army of the
Far Eastern Military District. The division, headquartered at
Sanshilipu provided air defense for the
Liaodong Peninsula in the
People's Republic of China between 11 October 1952 and 18 April 1955, and trained
People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) pilots on jet aircraft. The 582nd was based at
Jinzhou. The 149th IAD was railed to Poland between 18 April and 23 May 1955, handing its aircraft over to the PLAAF. In Poland, the division became part of the
37th Air Army of the
Northern Group of Forces and was headquartered at
Szprotawa. The 582nd was based at the
Piła airfield, but in June transferred to the
239th IAD of the 37th Air Army. The 582nd was replaced in the 149th IAD by the
42nd Guards IAP of the 239th. The 3rd IAP received the
MiG-17 in August. The division was redesignated as the 149th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Division (IBAD) on 1 September 1960. Its regiments accordingly became fighter-bomber aviation regiments (IBAP) and the 3rd and 18th received the
Su-7B fighter-bomber. The 3rd and 18th IBAP converted to the
Mikoyan MiG-27 in 1976, and the fighter-bomber regiments of the division were redesignated aviation regiments of fighter-bombers (APIB) later that year, with the division redesignated as the 149th ADIB. The 18th APIB was renumbered as the 89th APIB on 15 October 1981. The regiments of the division became receiving the
Sukhoi Su-24 strike aircraft in December 1982 (for the 3rd APIB) and in July 1982 the 149th was renamed the 149th Bomber Aviation Division (BAD). Its regiments accordingly became bomber aviation regiments (BAP). According to data released under the
Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, the regiments of the division had 69 Su-24s between them on 19 November 1990.
Russian service After the
dissolution of the Soviet Union, the division became part of the
Russian Air Force. The division headquarters and the 89th Bomber Aviation Regiment were withdrawn to the
Leningrad Military District in spring 1992. The 42nd Guards BAP was disbanded at
Voronezh while the 3rd BAP was disbanded at
Lebyazhye with its Su-24s mothballed in the Urals. The division became the 149th Mixed Aviation Division (SAD) under the
76th Air Army and headquartered at
Smuravyevo, taking over the army's 67th (
Siversky-2) and 722nd (
Smuravyevo) Bomber Aviation Regiments and its 98th Guards Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment (
Monchegorsk). The headquarters of the 89th Bomber Aviation Regiment, withdrawn to Siversky-2, was disbanded and its aircraft handed over to the 67th Bomber Aviation Regiment. As a result of these reorganizations, the 149th controlled the only combat aviation regiments in the air army. The division continued to exist after the February 1998 merger of
76th Air Army into
6th Air and Air Defence Forces Army as part of the latter. According to Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe data on 1 January 2000, the division had a total of 2,150 personnel in its three regiments with 26
MiG-25RB and 20
Su-24MR in the 98th Guards Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment, 37 Su-24M in the 67th Bomber Aviation Regiment, and 29 Su-24M in the 722nd Bomber Aviation Regiment for a total of 112 aircraft. The division and its regiments were included in
Kommersant's articles on the Russian military structure in 2005. When Piotr Butowski wrote two articles for
Air Forces Monthly in July and August 2007, the 6th Air and Air Defence Forces Army was covered in the August 2007 issue. Both the 67th and 722nd Bomber Aviation Regiments were included in the listing, at Siverskiy-2 and Smuravyevo (Gdov) respectively, but there was no listing of any 149th Mixed Aviation Division. The division was not listed in the 2008 Kommersant article on the structure of the Russian Air Force. The Smuravyevo airfield was closed circa 2010. ==References==