The 9th Air Army was a military formation of the

Soviet Air Forces 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 ...

, active from August 1942 until April 1957, which operated in the Far East.

History

It was formed on August 15, 1942 after an order of the NPO of the USSR of July 27, 1942 on the basis of the Air Forces of the

1st Red Banner Army The 1st Red Banner Army () was a Red Army field army of World War II that served in the Soviet Far East. Before 1941 The 1st Army was created in July 1938 under the name of the 1st Coastal Army (or, depending on translation, 1st Maritime Army) i ...

, 25th Army and 35th Army of the

Far Eastern Front The Far Eastern Front (Russian: Дальневосточный фронт) was a front — a level of military formation that is equivalent to army group — of the Red Army during the Second World War. Early war service Тhe Far Eastern Front wa ...

. In August 1945, the 9th Air Army, fortified by the 19th Bomber Corps, entered the

1st Far Eastern Front The Far Eastern Front ( Russian: Дальневосточный фронт) was a front — a level of military formation that is equivalent to army group — of the Red Army during the Second World War. Early war service Тhe Far Eastern Front w ...

. The army participated in the Soviet-Japanese War and, in particular, in the Harbin–Kirin Offensive Operation. On August 9, it bombarded military facilities in the areas of

Changchun Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin, Jilin Province, China, on the Songliao Plain. Changchun is administered as a , comprising seven districts, one county and three county-level cities. At the 2020 census of China, Changchun ha ...

and

Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...

, provided air support to the 1st Red Banner and 5th armies in breaking through the defense of the

Imperial Japanese Armed Forces The Imperial Japanese Armed Forces (IJAF, full or Nippon-gun () for short, meaning "Japanese Forces") were the unified forces of the Empire of Japan. Formed during the Meiji Restoration in 1868,"One can date the 'restoration' of imperial rul ...

. From August 10 to 17, it supported the advance of the troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front on

and

. Since August 18, the 9th Air Army started using the airfields of Harbin, Kirin,

Yanji Yanji (; Korean: ; alternately romanized as Yenki or Yenji) is a county-level city in the east of China's Jilin Province, and is the seat of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture. Yanji City is located in the eastern part of Jilin Province. ...

Wonsan Wonsan (), previously known as Wonsanjin (), is a port city and naval base located in Kangwon Province (North Korea), Kangwon Province, North Korea, along the eastern side of the Korean Peninsula, on the Sea of Japan and the provincial capital. ...

Hamhung Hamhŭng (''Hamhŭng-si''; ) is North Korea's List of cities in North Korea, second-most populous city, the capital of South Hamgyong, South Hamgyŏng Province and the 16th largest city in the Korea, Korean Peninsula. Located in the southern part ...

and others. During its existence, the army made more than 4400 sorties. The 9th Air Army was renamed the 54th Air Army on January 10, 1949. According to

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

intelligence, at least two regiments from the formation covertly fought against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, and their allies in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

.Carson, Austin (2018-12-31), ''Secret Wars: Covert Conflict in International Politics'', Princeton University Press, p. 165, , , retrieved 2022-02-1
On April 1, 1957 it was merged with the 29th Air Army on Sahkalin and became part of the

1st Red Banner Air Army __NOTOC__ The 1st Air Army () was an Air Army in the Soviet Air Force which served during World War II. It was formed on May 10, 1942, within the Soviet Western Front, and renamed the 26th Air Army on January 10, 1949, in the Belorussian Militar ...

Army Commanders

* 27.07.1942 - 18.09.1944 : Major General of Aviation Aleksandr Sergeyevich Senatorov * 18.09.1944 - 28.06.1945 : Major General of Aviation Vasily Vinogradov * 28.06.1945 - 01.12.1946 : Colonel General of Aviation Ivan Sokolov * 12.1946 - 03.1949 : Lieutenant-General David Yakovlevich Slobozhan * 03.1949 - 02.1955 : Lieutenant-General Aleksandr Sergeyevich Senatorov * 02.1955 - 06.1956 : Lieutenant-General Yuriy Borisovich Rukachev * 06.1956 - 04.1957 : Lieutenant-General Pavel Borisovich Dankevich

References

External links

pamyat-naroda.ru
{{Armies of the Soviet Air Forces Air armies of the Soviet Air Forces Military units and formations disestablished in 1957