The 185th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment () was established in 1949 as the 185th Mixed Aviation Regiment () as part of the

SFR Yugoslav Air Force The Air Force and Air Defence ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Ратно ваздухопловство и противваздушна одбрана, Ratno vazduhoplovstvo i protivvazdušna odbrana ; abbr. sh-Cyrl-Latn, label=none, separator=/, РВ и ПВ� ...

History

The 185th Mixed Aviation Regiment was formed on July 24, 1949, in Ljubljana. It was equipped with various Soviet and Yugoslav aircraft such as the Yak-3,

Ilyushin Il-2 The Ilyushin Il-2 ( Russian: Илью́шин Ил-2) is a ground-attack plane that was produced by the Soviet Union in large numbers during the Second World War. The word ''shturmovík'' (Cyrillic: штурмовик), the generic Russian term ...

, Pe-2, Ikarus Aero 2. By 1953, the regiment was located in Pula, where it remained for the longest period of its existence. That same year, it was rearmed with new domestic-made Ikarus S-49C fighter aircraft and become a Fighter Aviation Regiment. The regiment was renamed the Aviation Technical Group of the Aviation Training School in 1956 and re-equipped with various

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 ...

types. The following year, the first US-made

F-84 Thunderjet The Republic F-84 Thunderjet is an American turbojet fighter-bomber aircraft. Originating as a 1944 United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) proposal for a "day fighter", the F-84 first flew in 1946. Although it entered service in 1947, the Thunde ...

and

T-33 Shooting Star The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is an American subsonic jet trainer. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then d ...

jets arrived. The regiment was re-established as the 185th Training Aviation Regiment by 1960. In that period,

F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...

s were introduced into service, in 1964 it became a Fighter-Training/Fighter Regiment. By 1961, with the application of the "Drvar" reorganization of the Air Force, a new type of designation system was used to identify the two squadrons in the regiment, which became the 129th Fighter Aviation and the 243rd Fighter-Bomber Aviation Squadrons. By the end of the 1960s, all US jets had been replaced with new Yugoslav-made

SOKO Soko ( sh-Cyrl, Соко) was a Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav aircraft manufacturer based in Mostar, Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina. The company was responsible for the production of ...

G-2 Galeb jet trainers; the unit was re-designated as a Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment. By 1975, 129 Squadron was renamed the 229th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Squadron, equipped with Galeb trainer aircraft. In 1978 243 Squadron became the 1st Fighter-Bomber Aviation Squadron, it was reassigned to the 'Center for training of pilots of foreign armed forces' at

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

. 129 Squadron was issued

MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan, Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB, Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nicknames in ...

fighters by 1982. Training of 229 Squadron with a new type of jet trainer, the G-4 Super Galeb, began on December 3, 1984. The 185th Regiment and 229th Squadron were the first units of the Yugoslav Air Force to be equipped with Super Galeb trainers. Six G-4s from 229th Squadron demonstrated the new product of domestic aviation industries at the 1985

Victory Day Victory Day is a commonly used name for public holidays in various countries, where it commemorates a nation's triumph over a hostile force in a war or the liberation of a country from hostile occupation. In many cases, multiple countries may ob ...

parade. The Regiment was active in combat operations in 1991 during the wars in

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

and

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. G-4s from 229th Squadron were tasked with attacking

Slovenian Territorial Defence The Territorial Defense of the Republic of Slovenia ( (TO RS)), also known as the Territorial Defense of Slovenia (Slovenian: ''Teritorialna obramba Slovenije OS'), was the predecessor of the Slovenian Armed Forces. It was named after the Yugo ...

barricades on roads held by ground units of the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (JNA/; Macedonian language, Macedonian, Montenegrin language, Montenegrin and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian language, Croatian and ; , J ...

. On September 18 and 19, 1991 the Regiment withdrew from Pula military airport to Tuzla Air Base where it was disbanded from October 30. It's 129th Fighter Aviation Squadron remained at Tuzla and the 229th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Squadron re-located to

Golubovci Air Base Golubovci (, ) is a small town in the new Zeta Municipality of Montenegro. Until 2022, it was part of Podgorica Municipality. Golubovci is the seat of the new municipality. The town has 3,110 residents according to 2011 census, while the surround ...

in Montenegro on October 10 where it was re-attached to the

172nd Aviation Brigade Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number) * One of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017, 2117 Science * Chlorine, a halogen in the periodic table * 17 Thetis, an asteroid in the asteroid belt Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American maga ...

. 129th Squadron was later moved from Tuzla to

Priština Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdom. The heritage of th ...

, where it was disbanded on May 12, 1992, with personnel and equipment being divided between the 83rd and 204th Fighter Aviation Regiments.Dimitrijević, Bojan. ''Jugoslovensko Ratno Vazduhoplovstvo 1942-1992''. Beograd, 2006, p. 360.

Assignments

* Aviation Officers School (1949–1950) * Aviation Officers College (1950–1955) * Aviation Application School (1955–1956) * Aviation Training School (1956–1960) * Military Aviation Academy (1960–1991)

Previous designations

*185th Mixed Aviation Regiment (1949–1953) *185th Fighter Aviation Regiment (1953–1956) *Aviation Technical Group of Aviation Training School (1956–1960) *185th Training Aviation Regiment (1960–1964) *185th Fighter-Training Regiment (1964–1966) *185th Fighter Aviation Regiment (1966–1969) *185th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment (1969–1991)

Organization

1961–1969

*185th Training Aviation Regiment (Fighter-Training Regiment/Fighter Aviation Regiment) ** 129th Fighter Aviation Squadron ** 243rd Fighter-Bomber Aviation Squadron

1982–1991

*185th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment ** 129th Fighter Aviation Squadron ** 229th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Squadron

Bases stationed

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

(1949–1953) *

Pula Pula, also known as Pola, is the largest city in Istria County, west Croatia, and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the Istria, Istrian peninsula in western Croatia, wi ...

(1953–1991) *

Tuzla Tuzla (, , ) is the List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inha ...

(1991)

Commanding officers

Equipment

Yakovlev Yak-3 The Yakovlev Yak-3 (Russian language, Russian: Яковлев Як-3) is a single-engine, single-seat World War II Soviet Union, Soviet fighter aircraft, fighter. Robust and easy to maintain, it was much liked by both pilots and ground crew.Glan ...

(1949–1952) *

Petlyakov Pe-2 The Petlyakov Pe-2 ( — nickname «Пешка» (Pawn); NATO reporting name: Buck) was a Soviet Union, Soviet twin-engine dive bomber used during World War II. One of the outstanding tactical attack aircraft of the war,Ethell 1996, p. 152. it ...

(1949–1952) * Ikarus Aero 2B/C (1949–1952) * Ikarus S-49C (1953–1956) * Yakovlev Yak-9U (1953–1957) * Yakovlev Yak-9/9P (1953–1957) * F-84G Thunderjet (1956–1968) * Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star (1956–1960) * Lockheed TV-2 Shooting Star (1961–1968) * UTVA Aero 3 (1958–1960) * F-86E Sabre (1960–1968) * G-2 Galeb (1968–1991) * MiG-21PMF (1982–1991) * MiG-21UM (1982–1991) * G-4 Super Galeb (1984–1991)

References

{{Reflist Regiments of Yugoslav Air Force Military units and formations established in 1949 Military units and formations disestablished in 1991