Soviet Carpathian Military District's
57th(14th) Tactical Air Army
in January 1, 1968

In the sixties, should the international situation escalated between Warsaw Pact and NATO and combat operations begin, the Soviet air units of the so-called second strategic wave, stationed in Ukraine, were assigned an important role in possible combat operations.

Several variants of warfare were planned in the sixties, the plans also anticipating a massive use of nuclear ammunition on order by the Commander in Chief of the Warsaw Pact Joint Armed Forces. During the first day units of Soviet 57th Air Army of the Carpathian Military District were to move to Czechoslovak airfields, while Czechoslovak units would be deployed at reserve airfields.

Units of the Soviet 57th Air Army in cooperation with the Czechoslovak 10th Air Army were to seek and destroy enemy nuclear weapons, air forces, and commanding posts. In addition to that, they were to support combat operations of ground forces, protect them from air attacks, and carry out air reconnaissance.

In the sixties, the Soviet 57th Air Army in the Carpathian Military District contained a one-one fighter and fighter-bomber air division and two tactical bomber air regiment. In 1968 the 57th Air Army was renamed to 14th Air Army.
 

Soviet 14th Air Army of the Carpathian Military District was very busy in the late sixties. In 1968, the 14th Air Army participated in the Sino-Soviet border conflict and in the Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia too!



Sino-Soviet border conflict - 114th Tactical Bomber Air Regiment:

In 1966, after the Sino-Soviet relationship deteriorated, the 114th Tactical Bomber Air Regiment deployed one IL-28 ‘Beagle’ bomber detachment to the Transbaikal Military District near the Sino-Soviet-Mongol border triangle. All Soviet IL-28 ‘Beagle’ bomber aircraft were equipped with eight 250 kg bomb at the Domna airport during the Sino-Soviet border conflict.
 

Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia, Operation "Danube" - 131st Fighter Air Division:

After 1st August 1968, the command of the 131st Fighter Air Division started planning the Operation "Danube", which included cooperation with other forces and provides fighter escort to An-12s transport aircraft to prevent them from being intercepted in the Czechoslovak national airspace.

In order to fulfill this mission, on July 28th - one month before the invasion - the headquarter of the 131st Division and the 192nd regiment fighter units moved to Sprotava Polish airfields in the vicinity of the Czechoslovak border. The following fighter air regiments operated within the framework of the 131st Fighter Air Division: 159th, 168th, and 192nd regiments with MiG-21PFS/PFM ‘Fishbed-F’ and MiG-19 ‘Farmer’ aircraft.
 

On August 21st the division's headquarter and the three fighter air regiments relocated to Czechoslovak airports. During the operation, an accident occurred on 21st August at Čáslav airfield. The soviet pilot of a MiG-19 ‘Farmer’ from the 168th regiment failed landing maneuver and drove off the runway into soft terrain. The pilot probably did not suffer any major injury. The aircraft was towed back on the runway and shortly afterward flown away from Čáslav airfield by an An-12 ‘Cub’ transport aircraft with him.

Two months later, when the Soviet troops left Czechoslovakia, only the 168th Fighter Air Regiment returned to the Soviet Union. The other units (131st Division HQ, 192nd, and 159th regiments) remained in Czechoslovakia, as an occupying force.

Soviet MiG-21PFM and PFS ‘Fishbed-F’ tactical fighter aircraft of the 92nd Fighter Air Regiment at the Munkachevo airport in 1970. This airport near the Czechoslovak border, therefore they didn't move to Czechoslovakia. Photo Alexandr Vitalevich collection

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Text source: Soviet Air Force over Czechoslovakia 1968-1991. Part I. Aleš Hottmar, Stanislav Mackovík. - JaPo Publishing s.r.o.



Tags:
Soviet Union, USSR, Soviet Air Forces, VVS, Cold War, Carpathian Military District's Air Force 1988, 57th Tactical Air Army, 14th Tactical Air Army, 131th Fighter Air Division, Ivano-Frankovsk, 131th Fighter Aviation Division, 92nd Guard Fighter Air Regiment, Munkachevo, MiG-21PFS, MiG-21PFM Fishbed-F, 92nd Guard Fighter Aviation Regiment, 168th Fighter Air Regiment, Starokonstaninov, MiG-19 Farmer, 168th Fighter Aviation Regiment, 192nd Fighter Air Regiment, Ivano-Frankovsk, MiG-21PFM Fishbed-F, 192nd Fighter Aviation Regiment, 159nd Fighter Air Regiment, Cherlyany, MiG-21PFS Fishbed-F, 192nd Fighter Aviation Regiment, 289th Fighter Bomber Air Division, Lutsk, 947th Fighter Bomber Air Regiment, Dubno, MiG-17 Fresco, 947th Fighter Bomber Aviation Regiment, 806th Fighter Bomber Air Regiment, Lutsk, Su-7BKL Fitter-A, MiG-17 Fresco, 806th Fighter Bomber Aviation Regiment, 236th Fighter Bomber Air Regiment, Chortkov, MiG-17 Fresco, 236th Fighter Bomber Aviation Regiment, 114th Bomber Air Regiment, IL-28 Beagle, Starokonstaninov, 114th Bomber Aviation Regiment, 230th Bomber Air Regiment, Yak-28L Brewer-C, Yak-28L Brewer-C, Cherlyany, 230th Bomber Aviation Regiment, 48th independent Guards Reconnaissance Air Regiment, Kolomija, Yak-28R Brewer-D, 48th independent Guards Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment, 229th independent Reconnaissance Air Squadron, Mig-21R Fishbed-H, Chortkov, 229th independent Reconnaissance Aviation Squadron, 340th independent Helicopter Regiment, Kalinov, Mi-6 Hook, Mi-4 Hound, 243rd independent Mixed Air Regiment, Lvov, Mikoyan and Gurevich, Sukhoi, Mil, Yakovlev


Облако тегов:
Союз Советских Социалистических Республик, СССР, Военно-воздушные силы, ПрикВО, Прикарпатском ВО, 57-я воздушная армия, 57-я ВА, 14-я воздушная армия, 14-я ВА, Прикарпатского военного округа, 131-я истребительная авиационная дивизия, 131-й ИАД,  Ивано-Франковск, 92-й истребительный Краснознаменный авиационный полк, 92-й иап, МиГ-21ПФС, МиГ-21ПФМ, Мукачево, 168-й Севастопольский Краснознаменный ордена Богдана Хмельницкого истребительный авиационный полк, 168-й иап, МиГ-19, Староконстантинов, 192-й истребительный ордена Кутузова авиационный полк, 192-й иап, МиГ-21ПФМ, Ивано-Франковск, 159-й Таллинский Краснознаменный истребительный авиационный полк, МиГ-21ПФС, Черляны, 289-ю истребительно-бомбардировочную авиационную Никопольскую Краснознамённую дивизию, Луцк, 289-ю ибад, 806-й ордена Суворова истребительно-бомбардировочный авиационный полк, 806-й ибап, МиГ-17, Су-7БКЛ, Луцк, 236-й ордена Кутузова истребительно-бомбардировочный авиационный полк, 236-й ибап, МиГ-17, Чортков, 947-й Севастопольский истребительно-бомбардировочный авиационный полк, 947-й ибап, МиГ-17, Дубно, 114-й бомбардировочный авиационный полк, Староконстантинов, Ил-28, 114-й Бап, 230-й бомбардировочный авиационный полк, Черляны, Як-28И, Як-28Л, 230-й Бап, 48-й отдельный гвардейский разведывательный Нижнеднестровский ордена Суворова авиационный полк, 48-й ограп, Як-27Р, Коломыя, 229-й отдельный разведывательный авиационный ескадрон, 229-й ОКРАЭ, МиГ-21р, Чертков, 340-й отдельный вертолётный Бреславский полк, 340-й овп, Ми-6, Ми-4, Калинов, 243-й отдельный смешаный авиационный полк, 243-й осап, Микоян и Гуревич, Сухой, Мил, Яковлев