The army traces its lineage back to the formation of the Far Eastern Air Defence Zone on 11 August 1941. The zone was broken up in spring 1945 to form the Priamur and Primorsky Air Defence Armies. Postwar, in October, the Priamur Air Defense Army was renamed the Far Eastern Air Defence Army, and soon reorganized as the Far Eastern Air Defense District (
okrug PVO) in 1946. The Far Eastern Air Defence District took over responsibility for air defence east of
Lake Baikal, including the old sector of the Primorsky Air Defence Army. In a February 1949 reorganization, the Far Eastern Air Defense District (
raion PVO) was formed as a
raion of the 1st (
okrug) category, and the headquarters of the former Far Eastern Air Defence District became that of the Komsomolsk-Khabarovsk Air Defense District (
raion PVO). The Amur Air Defence Army, headquartered at Khabarovsk, was formed in December 1954 during PVO restructuring from the Komsomolsk-Khabarovsk Air Defense District and the 50th Fighter Aviation Corps PVO, merging anti-aircraft and interceptor units. The army was reorganized as the Independent Far Eastern Air Defence Army in December 1956, its responsibilities expanded with the takeover of air defense units previously under naval control. The army was numbered in March 1960 as the 11th Independent Air Defence Army (or 11th Army of the Air Defence Forces (11 OA PVO). The army was awarded the
Order of the Red Banner on 30 April 1975. Under the
Ogarkov reforms, the army headquarters was disbanded in May 1980 and its units placed under the air force and air defence forces of the
Far Eastern Military District. These changes were reversed in May 1986 and the army headquarters reformed, receiving a new battle flag. 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 Independent Air Defence Army of the
Voyska PVO, controlled two corps (
23rd in Vladivostok &
8th in Komsomolsk) and four divisions (24th in Petropavlovsk, 29th in Blagoveshchensk, 6th in Okhotsk, and 25th in
Chukotka) with 12 fighter aviation regiments (IAPs), 19 SAM brigades and regiments and ten radio-technical (radar) brigades/regiments. The army underwent dramatic reductions during the 1990s, leaving it with only the 8th and 23rd Air Defence Corps. A 1990 reorganization eliminated the 24th and 25th Air Defence Division headquarters, with the units in Sakhalin and Chukotka coming directly under the 72nd Air Defence Corps, formed from the 6th Air Defence Division in Kamchatka. The corps reverted to the 6th Air Defense Division in 1994 when the last Chukotka air defense units were eliminated. The 29th Air Defence Division was eliminated in 1994. By mid-1998, the 6th Air Defence Division was abolished after the last units in Sakhalin disbanded and its units became part of the new Aviation and Air Defence of the
Joint Command of Troops and Forces in Northeast Russia. In 2001 the 8th and 23rd Air Defence Corps were renamed the 25th and 93rd Air Defence Divisions, respectively, and in 2009 became the 11th and 12th Aerospace Defence Brigades. 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)(Uglovaya/Tsentralnye| Угловое - Russian Airfield Index)(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)
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) ==11th Air Force and Air Defence Forces Army==