On 9 April 1946
8th Air Army was renamed 2nd Air Army DA, and transferred to
Vinnytsia,
Vinnytsia Oblast. In 1946 the 2nd Air Army DA comprised the
2nd Guards Bomber Aviation Corps (2nd and 13th Guards Bomber Aviation Divisions) and the
4th Guards Bomber Aviation Corps (14th and 15th Guards Bomber Aviation Divisions). On 10 January 1949 2nd Air Army DA was redesignated 43rd Air Army DA. 43rd Rocket Army was formed at Vinnytsia within the
Kiev Military District's boundaries on 1 September 1960 from the previous 43rd Air Army of the
Long Range Aviation. In 1961 the 43rd Rocket Army comprised the
44th Rocket Division (Kolomiya,
Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, previously 73rd Engineer Brigade RVGK at
Kamyshin), the 19th Rocket Division (Gaisin, Vinnitsa Oblast), the 50th Rocket Division (Belokorovichi,
Zhitomir Oblast), the 46th Rocket Division (
Pervomaisk, Mykolaiv Oblast, formed from 93rd Motor Rifle Division of the Ground Forces), 43rd Guards Rocket Division (
Romny, Sumy Oblast), the 35th Rocket Division (
Ordzhonikidze,
North Ossetia), and the 37th Guards Rocket Division (
Lutsk,
Volyn Oblast). The 434th Rocket Regiment also moved from the 46th Rocket Division to direct army subordination. On 25 May 1975, the army was awarded the
Order of the Red Banner. On 15 October 1984, the 60th Separate Rocket Regiment became part of the 50th Rocket Division. •
49th Guards Rocket Division (
Lida,
Grodno Region,
Belorussian SSR) - transferred to
27th Guards Rocket Army from March 1993. •
50th Rocket Division (
Belokorovichi,
Zhitomir Oblast) •
24th Arsenal GRAU (
Military Unit Number 14247, A2365; Lviv-50), Mykhaylenky,
Zhytomyr Oblast) The 50th Rocket Division was disbanded 30.4.91, followed by the 43rd Guards Rocket Division 31 December 1992 and the 37th Guards Rocket Division 31 December 1993. On 6 December 1991, the army withdrew from the
Strategic Missile Troops and became part of the
Armed Forces of Ukraine. The dismantling of missile units began as barracks and other facilities were transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The missile warheads were sent to Russia. In March 1993, the 33rd Guards, 49th Guards and 32nd Rocket Divisions (all stationed in Belarus) were transferred to the 27th Guards Rocket Army. By 1995, only the 19th and 46th Rocket Divisions remained as part of the army. It was finally disbanded on 8 May 1996. "Major General Oleksander Iliashov commanded the 46th Rocket Division, which once had 5,500 men. Although by 1997 the rocket division was much reduced, General Iliashov directed his planning staff to organize and carry out the work of decommissioning the SS-24 complexes. General Mikhtyuk directed that the work begin in July 1998. It did, and over the next three years, 1998-2001, all 46 SS-24 missiles were decommissioned and removed from missile complexes by 43rd Army technicians and Ukrainian contractors." On October 30, 2001, the last silo launcher (ШПУ) of the
RT-23 Molodets intercontinental ballistic missile (according to U.S. Department of Defence classification -
SS-24) in the 43rd Rocket Army was destroyed via an explosion. "One infrastructure requirement.. was digging up and recovering the thousands of kilometers of underground cabling. These cables linked the missiles to regimental, division, army, and strategic rocket force command posts. The 43rd Rocket Army also had hundreds of kilometers of communications cables and wires, as well as power cables to each of the 130 missile complexes and 13 missile command posts.
Bechtel was responsible for planning, organising and managing all work associated with eliminating these cables and electronic wires. The 43rd Rocket Army compiled annual statistics on cables recovered and metal scrap salvaged." On August 20, 2002, after parting with the Battle Banner, the 43rd Rocket Army ceased to exist, and its commander, Colonel General of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mikhtyuk, was dismissed from military service on the same day. ==Commanders==