The 51st Air Defense Division, abbreviated , (

Military Unit Number A Military Unit Number (Russian: войсковая часть, в/ ч; Ukrainian: військова частина, в/ ч) is a numeric alternate designation for military units in the armed forces and internal troops of post-Soviet ...

42352) is an air defense formation of the

4th Air and Air Defence Forces Army The 4th Guards Air and Air Defence Forces Army () is an Air army (Soviet Union), air army of the Russian Aerospace Forces, part of the Southern Military District and headquartered in Rostov-on-Don. The 4th Air Army (''4 Vozdushnaya Armiya'') was ...

of the

Russian Aerospace Forces The Russian Aerospace Forces or Russian Air and Space Forces (VKS) comprise the air force, aerial, space force, space warfare, and Missile defense, missile defence Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It was ...

, which in turn is operationally subordinate to the

Southern Military District The Order of the Red Banner Southern Military District () is a military district of Russia. It is one of the five military districts of the Russian Armed Forces, with its jurisdiction primarily within the North Caucasus region of the country ...

. The headquarters is located in

Novocherkassk Novocherkassk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located near the confluence of the Tuzlov and Aksay Rivers, the latter a distributary of the Don (river), Don River. Novocherkassk is best known as the ...

History

It traces its history to the formation of a divisional region of air defence first established in December 1941. By April 1, 1942, the

1077th Anti-Aircraft Regiment The 1077th Anti-Aircraft Regiment () was a unit of the Stalingrad Corps Region of the Soviet Air Defense Forces that participated in the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942. Under the leadership of Colonel Raiynin, the regiment operated within the Stali ...

was part of the Stalingrad Divisional Region of Air Defence, and by 1 October 1942, the formation had been elevated to the Stalingrad Corps Region of Air Defence. December 25, 1941 is considered the official day of the formation of the formation. On December 6, 1943, the formation was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner () was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of S ...

, for the feats shown by personnel in the defence of Stalingrad. In 1942 and 1943 the Stalingrad Corps Region formed part of the

Don Front The Don Front was a front of the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War, which existed between September 1942 and February 1943, and was commanded during its entire existence by Konstantin Rokossovsky. The name refers to Don River, Russia. F ...

, the Southern Front, and by December 1943 the

Eastern Air Defence Front Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

( :ru:Восточный фронт ПВО). The Stalingrad Corps Region became the 9th Air Defence Corps on 21 April 1944, and the 9 Stalingrad Red Banner Air Defence Corps by 07/28/1944.

During the
Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...
, the division ater corpscovered a combat path of 2,400 kilometres from Stalingrad to Budapest. On the combat account of the soldiers of the formation, there are 812 downed aircraft, 173 destroyed tanks, 150 vehicles, 163 enemy firing points, 46 artillery and mortar batteries, up to 11 regiments of enemy manpower. For courage and heroism shown in the fight against the Nazi invaders, 17 servicemen of the division were awarded the high title of
Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...
. For the entire period of its existence, 40 Heroes of the Soviet Union served in the combat formations of the unit. Among them were triple Hero of the Soviet Union
Marshal of Aviation Marshal of the branch (or "marshal of the branch of service"; ) was from 1943 to 1974 the designation to a separate rank class in the general officer's rank group of the former Soviet Union's armed forces. However, at that time, marshal of ...

Alexander Pokryshkin Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin (; – 13 November 1985) was a Soviet fighter pilot in World War II, and later a marshal of aviation. He was one of the highest-scoring Soviet aces, and the highest-scoring pilot ever to fly an American aircraft, ...
, and twice Heroes of the Soviet Union Alexander Koldunov and Sergey Lugansky. At the end of 1945, having completed the assigned tasks, the corps was relocated to
Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.
, and then to
Dnepropetrovsk Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

ow Dnipro OW, O.W. or ow may refer to: * ''Ow!'', an interjection that denotes pain * ow (digraph), an English digraph * "Ow!" (composition), a Dizzy Gillespie bebop jazz composition * Obwalden, a canton of Switzerland * Organization Workshop, a method o ...

The 45th Stalingrad Red Banner was at Rostov-on-Don under the

Southwestern Air Defence District The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each ...

( :ru:Юго-Западный округ ПВО) by August 1946. The 45th Division of PVO came under the command of the SW Air Defence District.А.Г.Ленский, М.М.Цыбин. Часть I // Советские Войска ПВО в последние годы Союза ССР. Справочник». — СПб,: ИНФО ОЛ, 2013. — 164 с. (с илл.) с. — (Организация войск). Today's antecedent 12th Air Defence Corps was established in March 1960 in Rostov-on-Don, part of the

Baku Air Defence District Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

of the

Soviet Air Defence Forces The Soviet Air Defence Forces (; ) was the air defence branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Formed in 1941, it continued being a service branch of the Russian Armed Forces after 1991 until it was merged into the Air Force in 1998. Unlike Western ...

. The

10th Air Defence Division 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

was disbanded in 1973 and its units, including the 393rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment at Privolzhskiy, Astrakhan Oblast, became part of the corps. In 1980 the Baku Air Defence District was disbanded, and the corps came under the command of the

8th Air Defence Army The 8th Separate Army of the Air Defence Forces (Military Unit Number 25342) was a Soviet military formation established in 1960. Army headquarters was in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR. The 8th air defense army was formed in March 1960 on the basis of the ...

, centred in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, in April 1980. It was then transferred again to the new

19th Air Defence Army 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics Nineteen is the eighth prime number. Number theory 19 forms a twin prime with 17, a cousin prime with 23, and a sexy prime with 13. ...

in April 1986. After the fall of the Soviet Union the formation came under the control of the

Russian Air Defence Forces The Soviet Air Defence Forces (; ) was the air defence branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Formed in 1941, it continued being a service branch of the Russian Armed Forces after 1991 until it was merged into the Air Force in 1998. Unlike Western ai ...

. It became the 51st Air Defence Corps in July 1998, and the 7th Brigade of Air-Space Defence in 2009. The headquarters moved to Novocherkassk in April 2012. It was reorganised from the 7th Brigade of Air-Space Defence into the 51st Air Defence Division in 2014. Today it appears to include the 1536th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment (Rostov-na-Don, Rostov Oblast); the 1537th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment (Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Kray); the 1721st Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment; and two radar ("radio-technical") units.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * {{Russian divisions Air defence divisions Air defence units and formations of Russia Military units and formations established in 2014 Units and formations of the Russian Aerospace Forces