The 116th Fighter Aviation Regiment (, ) was a unit originally established in 1944 as the 113th Fighter Aviation Regiment (, ). It was formed from

Yugoslav partisan The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

aviators, trained and equipped by the Soviet Air Force.

History

113th Fighter Aviation Regiment

The 113th Fighter Aviation Regiment was established on December 15, 1944, in

Ruma Ruma (; ) is a town and municipality in the Srem District of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2022, the town has a population of 27,747, while the municipality has a population of 48,621. History Traces of organized human life ...

, from Yugoslav partisan aviators with the

Soviet Air Force The Soviet Air Forces (, 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 Sovie ...

17th Air Army The 17th Air Army () was an Air army of the Red Air Force and Soviet Air Forces from 1942. Second World War It was formed in November 1942 on the basis of the Air Forces of the Southwestern Front. It included 1st Mixed Air Corps (incl 267 Assa ...

's 267th Fighter Aviation Regiment (267.IAP). It became independent from Soviet command and personnel in May 1945. The regiment was part of the 11th Aviation Fighter Division and equipped with Soviet

Yak-1 The Yakovlev Yak-1 () was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. The Yak-1 was a single-seat monoplane with a composite structure and wooden wings; production began in early 1940.Angelucci and Matricardi 1978, p. 239. The Yak-1 was a man ...

M fighter aircraft. The regiment took part in final operations for the

liberation of Yugoslavia World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941, when the country was invaded and swiftly conquered by Axis forces and partitioned among Germany, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria and their client regimes. Shortly after Germany attack ...

and was based at Ruma, Ilinovac,

Bački Brestovac Bački Brestovac () is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Odžaci municipality, in the West Bačka District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 3,469 people (2002 census). Name Names in ...

, Ilinovac (again) and

Velika Gorica Velika Gorica () is the largest and most populous city in Zagreb County, Croatia. According to the 2011 census, the city itself has a population of 31,341, and the municipality has a population of 63,517 inhabitants. Velika Gorica is the centre ...

Pleso Zagreb Franjo Tuđman Airport () or Zagreb Airport () () is an international airport serving Zagreb, Croatia. It is the busiest airport in Croatia, handling about 4.31 million passengers and some 13,025 tons of cargo in 2024. Named after ...

airfields. By 1945 then new

Yak-3 The Yakovlev Yak-3 ( Russian: Яковлев Як-3) is a single-engine, single-seat World War II Soviet fighter. Robust and easy to maintain, it was much liked by both pilots and ground crew.Glancey 2006, p. 180. One of the smallest and lighte ...

fighters were introduced into service. After the war the regiment moved to Slovenia, being based at

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

and Cerklje airfields. By 1947 it was re-located to Macedonia, where it was based at Skopje. From June 18 to September 21 1947, the regiment was based at Tirana in Albania. In 1948 this regiment was renamed, like all other units of the Yugoslav Army, becoming the 116th Fighter Aviation Regiment. The commanders of the regiment in this period were Miljenko Lipovšćak,

Nikola Cvikić Nikola () is a given name which, like Nicholas, is a version of the Greek ''Nikolaos'' (Νικόλαος) and it means "the winner of the people". It is common as a masculine given name in the South Slavic countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulg ...

, Ljubo Kojić and Spasen Zarevski. The commissars were Drago Đuričković, Đuro Savić and Miloš Milikić. Yu S-49C

116th Fighter Aviation Regiment

The regiment was formed by renaming the 113th Fighter Aviation Regiment which was at Skopski Petrovac airport, where it remained until it was disbanded. The regiment was part of the 39th Aviation Division until 1959, when it was subordinated to the 3rd Air Command. It was equipped with Soviet Yak-3s until 1952 when they were replaced with new domestically produced Ikarus S-49C fighters. The regiment also had a number of various trainers, including the Soviet

Yak-9 The Yakovlev Yak-9 (; NATO reporting name: Frank) is a single-engine, single-seat multipurpose fighter aircraft used by the Soviet Union and its allies during World War II and the early Cold War. It was a development of the robust and successful ...

U, the domestically produced Utva 212 and others. It was disbanded on October 15 1960. The commanders of the regiment in this period were Spasen Zarevski, Branko Kuna, Aleksandar Bračun, Drago Stanisavljević, Petar Pavić and Stevan Leka.Dimitrijević, Bojan. ''Jugoslovensko Ratno Vazduhoplovstvo 1942-1992''. Beograd, 2006, p. 359.

Assignments

* 11th Aviation Fighter Division (1944-1945) * 2nd Aviation Division (1945-1947) * 5th Aviation Fighter Division (1947-1948) * 39th Aviation Division (1948–1959) * 3rd Air Command (1959–1960)

Previous designations

*113th Fighter Aviation Regiment (1944-1948) *116th Fighter Aviation Regiment (1948-1960)

Bases stationed

*Ruma (1944) *Bački Brestovac (1944) *Ilinovac (1944) *Velika Gorica/Pleso (1944) *Ljubljana (1945) *Cerklje (1946-1947) *Skopski Petrovac (1947) *Tirana, Albania (1947) *Skopski Petrovac (1947-1960)

Commanding officers

Aircraft

*Yakovlev Yak-1M (1944–1948) *Yakovlev Yak-3 (1945–1952) *Ikarus S-49C (1952–1960) *Yakovlev Yak-9U (1948–1950) *Utva 212 (1948-1960)

References

{{Reflist Fighter regiments of the Yugoslav Air Force Military units and formations established in 1944 Military units and formations disestablished in 1960