The Soviet Air Forces (Russian: Военно-Воздушные Силы Союза Советских Социалистических Республик, tr.Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily Soyuza Sovetskih Sotsialisticheskih Respublik, VVS SSSR; literally "Military Air Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; initialism VVS, sometimes referred to as the "Red Air Force", were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces were formed from components of the Imperial Russian Air Service in 1917, and faced their greatest test during World War II. The groups were also involved in the Korean War, and dissolved along with the Soviet Union itself in 1991–92. Former Soviet Air Forces' assets were subsequently divided into several air forces of former Soviet republics, including the new Russian Air Force. The "March of the Pilots" was its marching song.
Ugolny Airport is a mixed-use military and civil airfield in the Russian Far East located 11 km east of Anadyr, separated from the town by the waters of Anadyrsky Liman. The airfield was originally constructed in the 1950s as a staging base for Long Range Aviation bombers such as the Tupolev Tu-95 and Tupolev Tu-22M. During the Cold War years it became the primary hub for civilian flights in the Chukotka region.
Afrikanda is a former military air base in Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It is located just north of the village of the same name. Though it is built for fighter operations with 30 revetments, it has largely served the interceptor aircraft role.
Monchegorsk Air Base is a military air base in Murmansk Oblast, Russia located 13 km northeast of Monchegorsk and 11 miles southwest of Olenya. Work on the air base began in the early 1950s, and by 1957 it was identified on American Lockheed U-2 overflights with a modern 6600 ft runway, extensive infrastructure, and a MiG regiment.
Smirnykh is an abandoned Russian Air Force airbase in Sakhalin, Russia located 2 km east of the village of the same name. It appeared in June 1966 KH-7 imagery with a runway length of 2,000 m. It was expanded sometime after this to 2,500 m with a new extension of revetments added.
Jēkabpils, also known as Krustpils, is an air base located 3 kilometres (2 mi) northeast of Jēkabpils, a town in Latvia. During the 1980s it was one of 17 airfields hosting the Soviet Union's tactical reconnaissance aircraft regiments.
Chelyabinsk Shagol is a military airfield of the Russian Aerospace Forces in Chelyabinsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia.
Chernyakhovsk Air Base is a military air base of the Russian Navy's Baltic Fleet, located 4 km south-west of the city of Chernyakhovsk in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. It is a medium-sized interceptor airfield, listed as a nuclear bomber base by a Natural Resources Defense Council study.
Shatalovo is an air base in Pochinok, Pochinkovsky District, Smolensk Oblast of the Russian Aerospace Forces as part of the 6th Air and Air Defence Forces Army, Western Military District.
Domna is a Russian Aerospace Forces airbase in Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia located 27 km southwest of Chita. It is a large, hardened facility with six areas of revetments probably holding 50 fighter aircraft. MiG-23 aircraft from Domna were deployed to Shindand, Afghanistan in the late 1980s.
Vozzhayevka (also Vozzhayevka Northeast (US)) is an air base in Amur Oblast, Russia located about 100 km southeast of Blagoveshchensk. It is a medium-sized air base located near an SS-11 missile field at Svobodnyy. During the 1980s it was one of 17 airfields hosting the Soviet Union's tactical reconnaissance aircraft regiments.
Starokostiantyniv is an air base of the Ukrainian Air Force located near Starokostiantyniv, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Ukraine.
The 16th Red Banner Air Army was the most important formation of the Special Purpose Command. Initially formed during the Second World War as a part of the Soviet Air Force, it was from its 2002 reformation to its 2009 disbandment the tactical air force component of the Moscow Military District. The 16th Air Army took part in the Battle of Berlin with 28 Aviation divisions and 7 Separate aviation regiments, and was located with the GSFG in East Germany until 1994. Withdrawn to Kubinka in that year, the army was disbanded and reformed as a corps in 1998. From 1949 to 1968, it was designated as the 24th Air Army.
The 37th Air Army of the High Supreme Command was the strategic bomber force of the Russian Air Force from 1998 to 2009. It was equipped with Tupolev Tu-95MS and Tu-160 armed with nuclear cruise missiles, and the intermediate range Tu-22M3 bombers.
The 2nd Air Army was an air army of the Red Army Air Force during the Second World War.
The 940th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment was an aviation regiment of the Soviet Air Force. It was formed in 1942 in the Soviet Far East and fought in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. During the last months of the Korean War, the regiment was relocated to China, but did not fight in combat due to the end of the war. After the end of the latter it was transferred to Belarus, where it served for the remainder of the Cold War, being converted into a fighter-bomber regiment in 1960.
The 149th Mixed Aviation Division was an aviation division of the Russian Air Force.
The 14th Air Army was an air army of the Soviet Air Forces during World War II and the Cold War and of the Ukrainian Air Force in the early Post-Soviet period.
Varfolomeyevka is an air base in Primorsky Krai, Russia. During the 1980s it was one of 17 tactical reconnaissance aircraft bases in the Soviet Union, and one of two such bases in the Far East region along with its sister base Vozzhayevka.
Saky is an air base adjacent to the settlement of Novofedorivka, Crimea. It was initially built by the Soviet Union in the 1930s, and has been operated under both Ukrainian and Russian sovereignty since 1992.
