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The 712th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment is a fighter aviation regiment 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 ...
. Part of the 21st Mixed Aviation Division of the 14th Air and Air Defense Forces Army, the regiment is based at Kansk air base and flies the Mikoyan MiG-31BM. The regiment was formed as the 40th Fighter Aviation Regiment in 1938 and saw combat in the
Battle of Lake Khasan The Battle of Lake Khasan (), also known as the Changkufeng Incident (Chinese and Japanese: zh, s=張鼓峰事件, labels=no; Chinese pinyin: zh, hp=Zhānggǔfēng Shìjiàn, labels=no; Japanese romaji: ), was an attempted military incursion b ...
while stationed in the
Soviet Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Eastern Fe ...
before
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. After
Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...
, the regiment was sent west. It became the 41st Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment in early 1943 in recognition of its actions in the
Battle of the Caucasus The Battle of the Caucasus was a series of Axis and Soviet operations in the Caucasus as part of the Eastern Front of World War II. On 25 July 1942, German troops captured Rostov-on-Don, opening the Caucasus region of the southern Soviet ...
. Postwar, it was renumbered as the 712th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment in 1949.


Prewar service

In connection with increasing tensions between Japan and the Soviet Union in the Far East, the 117th Fighter Aviation Squadron of the VVS Moscow Military District was transferred from
Lyubertsy Lyubertsy (, ) is a city and the administrative center of Lyuberetsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia. Demographics Population: History It was first mentioned in 1621 and was granted town status in 1925. It is sometimes described as a wo ...
near Moscow to the Pokrovka airfield in
Primorsky Krai Primorsky Krai, informally known as Primorye, is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a krais of Russia, krai) of Russia, part of the Far Eastern Federal District in the Russian Far East. The types of inhabited localities in Russia, ...
on 7 October 1937. Under the command of Captain Kirichenko, the squadron joined the 69th Fighter Aviation Brigade. Between 27 June and 1 July 1938, in accordance with a People's Commissariat of Defense directive of 5 June 1938, the squadron and graduates of Air Force schools were used to form the 40th Fighter Aviation Regiment (IAP), which became part of the 53rd Aviation Brigade of the Air Force (VVS) of the Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army. Initially, two squadrons equipped with the I-16 and I-15bis were formed at Pokrovka, and soon afterwards they were joined by two squadrons of I-153 formed at the Baranovsky airfield near
Ussuriysk Ussuriysk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, in the valley of the Razdolnaya River. The city is north of Vladivostok, the administrative center of the krai, and about from both the China–Russia bo ...
. Captain D. K. Baranchuk was appointed commander of the regiment. A month later, the regiment received its
baptism of fire The phrase baptism by fire, baptism of fire or baptism with fire is a Christian theological concept originating from the words of John the Baptist in Matthew 3:11. It also has related meanings in military history and popular culture. Christiani ...
in the
Battle of Lake Khasan The Battle of Lake Khasan (), also known as the Changkufeng Incident (Chinese and Japanese: zh, s=張鼓峰事件, labels=no; Chinese pinyin: zh, hp=Zhānggǔfēng Shìjiàn, labels=no; Japanese romaji: ), was an attempted military incursion b ...
against Japanese troops attempting to claim Soviet border regions. Between 6 and 12 August, two I-16 squadrons of the regiment, commanded by Captains A. B. Drozd and N. N. Dmitriyev, were committed to the battle, operating from the advanced airfield of Avgustovka. The remaining two squadrons were placed on alert at Pokrovka. Due to the lack of Japanese airpower in the battle, the combat missions of the regiment were changed and they instead patrolled the state border and escorted bombers attacking the Japanese forces at Lake Khasan. In the fighting, the regiment was credited with three Japanese aircraft destroyed and one damaged, while nineteen personnel of the 40th IAP were decorated. The 40th IAP was transferred to the newly formed 72nd Fighter Aviation Brigade on 14 February 1939. In April, the 2nd squadron of the regiment under the command of Captain Kuzkin with I-15bis was transferred to the 41st Fighter Aviation Regiment on Kamchatka. The squadron was replaced in the 40th IAP by a new squadron under the command of Captain Kaftanov, formed from military school graduates who had arrived. In mid-1939, Japanese troops clashed with Soviet troops on the Mongolian border in the
Battles of Khalkhin Gol The Battles of Khalkhin Gol (; ) were the decisive engagements of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese border conflicts involving the Soviet Union, Mongolian People's Republic, Mongolia, Empire of Japan, Japan and Manchukuo in 1939. The conflict wa ...
. Between 15 July and 15 October, 40th IAP pilots Lieutenants S.A. Nazarenko, A.N. Degtyarenko, and N.M. Mentsyenzon provided air cover to Soviet troops without loss and were credited with one Japanese aircraft destroyed. An inspection carried out in late 1939 rated the combat readiness of the 40th IAP as satisfactory, but noted a high accident rate marked by the loss of two I-15 and two I-16. In one incident, 2nd squadron commander Captain Dmitriyev's I-16 crashed in bad weather. In August 1940, the 72nd Fighter Aviation Brigade was disbanded and the regiment became part of the 33rd Mixed Aviation Division, which was itself disbanded by the end of the year. The regiment lost its two I-153 squadrons in December, the first being sent to the 34th Bomber Aviation Division while the second transferred to the 47th Fighter Aviation Regiment near
Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...
at Zolotaya Dolina. To replace them, two I-16 squadrons were formed at Pokrovka. By the end of the year the 40th IAP with four squadrons shifted to the 70th Fighter Aviation Division (IAD).


World War II

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...
, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, began on 22 June 1941. In response, the 40th was reinforced by ten pilots from the 5th and 305th IAPs on 5 July before being sent to the Soviet-German front in the west on the next day. The regiment fielded 63 I-16s under the command of Major Subbotin and chief of staff Major Bogachyov. At the time, the personnel of the regiment were considered highly experienced due to their participation in the border skirmishes against Japan. When it arrived in Ukraine, the regiment was reorganized by splitting it into two regiments between 7 and 15 August in accordance with an order of the Red Army Air Force on 3 August 1941 at Kupyansk: the 40th and 40th "A". The latter later became the 446th IAP, and the reorganized 40th IAP now included three squadrons. Relocated to the Stalino airfield near
Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...
, the regiment became part of the Donbass PVO Brigade Region of the Southern Front. From August to November, the regiment provided air defense against German bombing of Donetsk and factories in the Donbass. 3rd Squadron deputy commander Senior Lieutenant Dodonov became the first in the regiment to claim an aerial victory when he downed a
Henschel Hs 126 The Henschel Hs 126 was a twin-seat parasol wing reconnaissance and observation aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Henschel. The Hs 126 that was derived from the Henschel Hs 122. The pilot was seated in a pro ...
in the vicinity of Tokmachka on 5 October. During this period, the 40th IAP flew 1,246 sorties in 1,226 total flying hours. From 17 November to 6 December, two squadrons of the 40th under the command of Major S.P. Subbotin participated in the Battle of Rostov as part of the VVS 37th Army. In one air battle, future regimental commander Captain Aleksandr Pavlov distinguished himself in an action in which a flight of four I-16s covering ground troops were ambushed by nine German fighters. Captain Pavlov singlehandedly engaged four German aircraft, preventing them from finishing off a severely damaged I-16, allowing the latter to return to the airfield. For their actions, nineteen pilots of the regiment were decorated. The remaining squadron provided air defense for
Kamensk-Shakhtinsky Kamensk-Shakhtinsky ( rus, Ка́менск-Ша́хтинский, p=ˈkamʲɪnsk ˈʂaxtʲɪnskʲɪj) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Rostov Oblast, located on the Seversky Donets River, around 15kms east of the border ...
as part of the PVO Southern Front. The pilots of the 40th IAP conducted 464 combat sorties during this period and were credited with eleven aerial victories at the cost of one I-16. Intense fighting took place in the vicinity of Debaltsevo, Matveyev Kurgan, and
Krasny Luch Krasny Luch () is the name of several types of inhabited localities in Russia, inhabited localities in Russia. Urban localities *Krasny Luch, Pskov Oblast, a urban-type settlement, work settlement in Bezhanitsky District of Pskov Oblast Rural lo ...
during mid-December, in which the 40th IAP played an active role, flying four to five sorties each day. Between 6 and 29 December, a total of 690 combat sorties were flown in which four aerial victories were claimed at the cost of two I-16s. In the winter of 1941–1942, the 40th IAP provided air cover for Soviet troops in the Barvenkovo–Lozovaya offensive. Pilots of the regiment Pilipenko, Pavlov, Dodonov, Romanov, and Belikov distinguished themselves in these actions. From February to May 1942, the regiment flew 1,278 combat sorties, claimed 14 German aircraft downed, and lost three I-16s. In May, the regiment fought in the battles around Slavyansk and in the
Second Battle of Kharkov The Second Battle of Kharkov or Operation Fredericus was an Axis powers, Axis counter-offensive in the region around Kharkov against the Red Army Izium bridgehead offensive conducted 12–28 May 1942, on the Eastern Front (World War II), Easter ...
. On 17 May, after German troops broke through the lines of the 9th Army, the regiment covered the Soviet withdrawal, attacking German positions in the Izyum–Barvenkovo operation and in battles on the
Seversky Donets The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets (), is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv ...
, at
Lugansk Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the 12th-largest city in Ukraine. Luhansk served as the administrative center of Luh ...
, and
Lysychansk Lysychansk ( , ; , ; , ) is a city in Sievierodonetsk Raion, Luhansk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. It is located on the high right bank of the Donets River, approximately from the administrative center of the oblast, Luhansk. It faces Sievierodonet ...
. As the Soviet retreat continued through the summer, the regiment defended the crossings on the Don from German air attack. One such engagement over
Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...
on 22 July involved nine I-16s led by Captain Pilipenko engaging superior German numbers and claiming three downed without suffering losses. The regiment fought in the
Battle of the Caucasus The Battle of the Caucasus was a series of Axis and Soviet operations in the Caucasus as part of the Eastern Front of World War II. On 25 July 1942, German troops captured Rostov-on-Don, opening the Caucasus region of the southern Soviet ...
in the battles near
Mozdok Mozdok (; , ''Mæzdæg'') is a town and the administrative center of Mozdoksky District in North Ossetia–Alania, Russia, located on the left shore of the Terek River, north of the republic's capital Vladikavkaz. As of the 2010 Census, its p ...
,
Nalchik Nalchik (, ; ; ) is the capital city of Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia, situated at an altitude of in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains; about northwest of Beslan (Beslan is in the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania). It covers an area of ...
, and Prokhladny. On 2 October 1st Squadron commander Captain Pilipenko was shot down and killed during a mission with Dodonov to attack German aircraft on takeoff at the Soldatskaya airfield when both pilots were ambushed. Pilipenko was posthumously made a
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 ...
in recognition of his thirteen aerial victories and 29 shared claims. From June to October, the 40th, as part of the 216th and 217th IADs of the Southern Front, made 2,714 combat sorties. They were credited with the destruction of 38 aircraft at the cost of five losses. On 20 October, the 40th IAP flew to the Bozhigan airfield in the Kalmyk Steppe, where they were attached to the 4th Guards Cavalry Corps. The regiment supported the latter in raids against Axis communications, and with the corps between October 1942 and January 1943 advanced from the
Caspian Caspian can refer to: *The Caspian Sea *The Caspian Depression, surrounding the northern part of the Caspian Sea *The Caspians, the ancient people living near the Caspian Sea *The Caspian languages spoken in northern Iran and southeastern Azerbaij ...
to
Krasnodar Krasnodar, formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern Russia, with a population of 1,154,885 residents, and up to 1.263 millio ...
, conducting 1,018 combat sorties and claiming two aerial victories without loss. In the winter of 1942–1943, the regiment, commanded by Major P.F. Chupikov, participated in the recapture of the
Kuban Kuban ( Russian and Ukrainian: Кубань; ) is a historical and geographical region in the North Caucasus region of southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Don Steppe, the Volga Delta and separated fr ...
as part of the North Caucasian Front. The regiment received replacement pilots and several I-153 fighters. An order of the NKO on 8 February 1943 gave the 40th IAP elite guards status as the 41st Guards IAP in recognition of its performance. In late February, the regiment, handing its obsolete I-16s and I-153s over to the 84th IAP, was slated for conversion to the
Lavochkin La-5 The Lavochkin La-5 (Лавочкин Ла-5) was a Soviet Union, Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. It was a development and refinement of the Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Goudkov LaGG-3, LaGG-3, replacing the earlier model's Inline engine (aeronaut ...
. For this, on 25 February the personnel of the regiment were sent for retraining at
Ivanovo Ivanovo (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Russia and the administrative center and largest city of Ivanovo Oblast, located northeast of Moscow and approximately from Yaroslavl, Vladimir, Russia, Vladimir and Kostroma. ...
. After two months of training, the regiment, with 32 new La-5s, was relocated to
Buturlinovka Buturlinovka () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Voronezh Oblast, Russia, on the Ossered River, a tributary of the Don River (Russia), Don. It serves as the administrative center of Buturlinovsky District. Its population as ...
and joined the
Voronezh Front The 1st Ukrainian Front (), previously the Voronezh Front (), was a major formation of the Red Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army group. They took part in the capture of Berlin, the capital of Nazi Germany. Wartime ...
as part of the 8th Guards IAD. At the new base, the 41st GIAP immediately entered combat to repel air raids. As part of the 5th Fighter Aviation Corps of the 2nd Air Army, the regiment provided air defense for
Kursk Kursk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur (Kursk Oblast), Kur, Tuskar, and Seym (river), Seym rivers. It has a population of Kursk ...
and
Oboyan Oboyan () is a town and the administrative center of Oboyansky District in Kursk Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Psyol at its confluence with the Oboyanka, south of Kursk, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: ...
. They flew 335 sorties between May and July and were credited with 21 victories. In mid-1943, the regiment defended
Voronezh Voronezh ( ; , ) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects wes ...
and then participated in the Belgorod–Kharkov offensive. In this period the 41st GIAP flew 1,145 combat sorties, claiming 50 German aircraft downed at the cost of four La-5s lost. In the fall and winter of 1943 the regiment fought in the Battle of Kiev and the forcing of the
Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...
, the creation of a bridgehead on the right bank of the Dnieper and the recapture of Kiev. The 40th flew 500 combat sorties, claimed eighteen victories and lost one of its own aircraft. In early 1944, the regiment received a large number of replacement pilots and several new
Lavochkin La-7 The Lavochkin La-7 (; NATO reporting name: Fin) was a piston-engined single-seat Soviet fighter aircraft developed during World War II by the Lavochkin Design Bureau. It was a development and refinement of the Lavochkin La-5, and the last in ...
fighters, and was out of combat instructing the new pilots until 10 March. In the spring and summer of 1944, the regiment supported the offensives of the
1st Ukrainian Front The 1st Ukrainian Front (), previously the Voronezh Front (), was a major formation of the Red Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army group. They took part in the capture of Berlin, the capital of Nazi Germany. Wartime ...
. During the battles for
Proskurov Khmelnytskyi (, ) is a city in western Ukraine. Located on the Southern Bug, it serves as the administrative centre of Khmelnytskyi Oblast as well as Khmelnytskyi Raion within the oblast. With a population of Khmelnytskyi is the second-largest ...
and Ternopol and in the Lvov–Sandomierz offensive the 41st GIAP flew 1,314 combat sorties and was credited with destroying 32 German aircraft at the cost of five of its own. On 8 April, it was awarded the honorific Chernovitsy in recognition of its "courage and heroism" in the battles for the city. In January 1945, the regiment supported the 1st Ukrainian Front in the expansion of the Sandomierz bridgehead, flying 437 sorties. In late January, the regiment was moved forward to German territory and based at Groß Stein, operating as part of the 2nd Air Army of the front. On 19 February, the regiment was awarded the
Order of Kutuzov The Order of Kutuzov ( ''orden Kutuzova'') is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named after famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov, Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (1745–1813). The Order was established during World War II t ...
, 3rd class, for its "exemplary performance of tasks at the front." Between January and May, the regiment supported Soviet operations in the
Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
and
Częstochowa Częstochowa ( , ) is a city in southern Poland on the Warta with 214,342 inhabitants, making it the thirteenth-largest city in Poland. It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship. However, Częstochowa is historically part of Lesser Poland, not Si ...
sectors and the Berlin Offensive. At the end of the war during the Prague offensive, twelve crews bombed fleeing German troops between 9 and 11 May. A total of 416 sorties were flown with the loss of three aircraft. In total, during World War II the 41st GIAP was credited with 299 aircraft destroyed in air combat, 91 damaged, and 35 destroyed on the ground. In ground attacks, the regiment claimed to have destroyed 150 tanks, 3,210 armored vehicles and vehicles with infantry, fourteen trains, 19 freight cars, and inflicted more than 10,000 casualties. In addition, 100 crewed guns and 232 anti-aircraft guns and machine gun emplacements were claimed. The regiment lost 51 aircraft and 45 pilots. Eight pilots of the regiment received the title
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 ...
and 684 were decorated. After the end of the war in Europe, the 2nd squadron of the regiment with twelve crews and mechanics under the command of Captain B.A. Kukuruzov was sent to the
18th Air Army Soviet Long Range Aviation (, literally ''Aviation of Distant Action'' and abbreviated DA) was a sub-branch of the Soviet Air Forces responsible for delivering long-range nuclear or conventional strikes by aircraft (rather than missiles). The ...
in the Far East to fight in the
Soviet invasion of Manchuria The Soviet invasion of Manchuria, formally known as the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation or simply the Manchurian Operation () and sometimes Operation August Storm, began on 9 August 1945 with the Soviet Union, Soviet invasion of the Emp ...
.


Cold War

After the end of the war, the regiment remained at Groß Stein as part of the 5th Fighter Aviation Corps of the 2nd Air Army in the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany. The regiment continued to train pilots on the La-7 and in December 1945 was reorganized to a four-squadron structure. Three squadrons remained equipped with the La-5 while the fourth had twelve La-7s. In response to the beginning of the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
, the pace of training was increased. In 1946 3,220 training flights were made with a total of 1,774 hours compared to 1,512 and 105 hours in 1945. On 13 January 1947, regimental commander Pavlov was killed in a car accident while returning from a meeting at corps headquarters in Balatonalmádi, In August, the regiment received the new
Lavochkin La-9 The Lavochkin La-9 (NATO reporting name Fritz) was a Soviet fighter aircraft produced shortly after World War II. It was one of the last piston engined fighters to be produced before the widespread adoption of the jet engine. Development La-9 re ...
and was relocated from Germany to Hungary. Due to the fact that the new
Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; ; ; ; Serbian language, Serbian: ''Стони Београд''; ), known colloquially as Fehérvár (), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the Regions of Hungary, regional capital of C ...
airfield was often flooded in the spring, the regiment only operated from there in the winter and during the rest of the year flew from camps at the Kenyeri airfield. By the end of the year, the pilots of the regiment were fully trained to fly the La-9 operationally with all four squadrons capable of daytime instrument flying while two squadrons were qualified to perform flights in difficult weather conditions in pairs or flights. 6,030 flights were performed during the year for a total of 3,060 training hours.


Baku sector

The 41st GIAP was relocated to Adzhikabul airfield in Kazi-Magomed, Azerbaijan in accordance with a General Staff directive of 15 November 1947. The first three echelons of the regiment with equipment left Hungary on 12 December. The relocation was completed in two months and on 14 February 1948 the regiment joined the 7th Air Army of the
Transcaucasian Military District The Transcaucasian Military District, a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces, traces its history to May 1921 and the incorporation of First Republic of Armenia, Armenia, Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, Azerbaijan, and Democratic Republic ...
. At its new base, the regiment was tasked with providing air defense for
Baku 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 ...
against bombing raids. By the end of the year, the regiment conducted 960 aerial firings and 873 mock air battles, with 3,880 flight hours made in training flights. The regiment was given higher priority due to its interceptor role with an increased number of inspections and readiness checks carried out during 1948. In accordance with a General Staff directive of 10 January 1949 renumbering Soviet Air Force units, the 41st GIAP was renumbered as the 712th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment on 15 February of that year. In April, the regiment was reorganized to consist of three squadrons, and the 4th Squadron with 52 personnel and 12 La-9s was transferred to the 271st IAP. In the summer, the 2nd squadron carried out a joint exercise with the 99th Separate Long-Range Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment in which its La-9s were used as
radio repeater A radio repeater is a combination of a radio receiver and a radio transmitter that receives a signal and retransmits it, so that two-way radio signals can cover longer distances. A repeater sited at a high elevation can allow two mobile stations ...
s to transmit information. At the end of the year, personnel of the regiment began retraining on jet fighters in preparation for the conversion of the regiment to the
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one of the first successful jet fighters to incorporate s ...
jet fighter. The
jet age The Jet Age is a period in the history of aviation defined by the advent of aircraft powered by jet turbine engines and the social and cultural changes fostered by commercial jet travel. Jet airliners were able to fly higher, faster, and farth ...
began for the regiment on 13 March 1950 when Lieutenant Colonel Yurchenko made the first flight of an MiG-15bis over Adzhikabul. In the following year, 42 pilots of the 712th successfully completed retraining on the MiG-15 and went on alert duty to provide air defense in the Baku Air Defense District. The 712th GIAP was officially transferred to the now independent
Soviet Air Defense 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 Russian Air Force, Air Force in 1998 ...
(PVO) on 30 September. Part of the regiment's mission included defending Soviet airspace over the Caspian Sea against
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
and
Imperial Iranian Air Force The history of the Iranian Air Force, currently known as the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, can be divided into two phases—before the Islamic Revolution, and after it. Imperial era The Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF) was a branch ...
reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...
aircraft testing the effectiveness of Soviet air defense systems. During 1950, the regiment made 65 alert sorties of which 48 involved visual contact with the opposing aircraft. Continuing to operate the La-9, the regiment finished its first year with jets without accidents: 2,860 hours were flown in 1950, of which 337 were in difficult weather and 393 at night. Continued incursions over the Caspian necessitated the creation of two flights of aircraft specifically tasked with patrolling the state border over the Caspian. The alert system in Adzhikabul was changed in 1952 so that one MiG-15bis flight would be at normal and increased readiness during the way and at night one crew would be at normal readiness while three crews were placed on increased readiness. During the year, 327 interception sorties were made, of which 295 made visual contact, while the 712th GIAP pilots flew a total of 3,287 hours. Over the next two years, 30 pilots of the regiment converted to the replacement
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (; NATO reporting name: Fresco) is a high-subsonic fighter aircraft produced in the Soviet Union from 1952 and was operated by air forces internationally. The MiG-17 was license-built in China as the Shenyang J-5 and ...
interceptor. In June 1954, the regiment was relocated to the Salyany airfield and became part of the 174th Guards Fighter Aviation Division of the Baku Air Defense District. Every year, the regiment participated in tactical flight and command post exercises to maintain its combat readiness. The first jet accident in the regiment was a fatal MiG-17 crash in April 1955 and it was followed by two more fatal MiG-17 crashes in January 1956 and March 1957, one of which was attributed to manufacturing defects. A fatal MiG-15UTI crash occurred during a training flight in March 1957 due to instrument failure. In January and February 1956, two crews of the regiment were tasked with destroying an unusually high number of reconnaissance balloons drifting through the regimental air defense zone, launched from Turkey under Project Genetrix. The regiment received MiG-17P interceptors in early 1958, which immediately participated in two major PVO exercises. In one of these, the regiment with its full complement of aircraft was relocated to the Chelyabinsk Shagol airfield to reinforce the
Ural Military District The Red Banner Ural Military DistrictHistory of the Ural Military District / Edited by Alexander Egorovsky, Ivan Tutarinov – 1 – Moscow: Military Publishing House of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union, 1970 – 352 Pages – 11,500 ...
, from which it carried out live fire sorties against air and ground targets for two weeks. The regiment's annual flights during the year amounted to 3,560 hours, of which 515 were at night and 765 in difficult weather.


Siberia

During mid-1959, in accordance with a 3 June 1959 directive of the PVO Commander-in-Chief, the 712th GIAP was relocated to Kansk-Tsentralny airfield in
Krasnoyarsk Krai Krasnoyarsk Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a krai) of Russia located in Siberia. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Krasnoyarsk, the second-largest city in Siberia after ...
, where it become part of the 56th Air Defense Corps of the
Siberian Military District The Siberian Military District was a Military district of the Russian Ground Forces. The district was originally formed as a military district of the Russian Empire in 1864. In 1924 it was reformed in the Red Army. After the end of World War II the ...
. The pilots of the regiment made the long flight to Kansk on their MiG-17Ps, MiG-17s, and MiG-15UTIs with multiple refueling stops. At the new base, the conversion to the MiG-17P continued, and Belaya,
Bratsk Bratsk (, ; ) is a Types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Angara, Angara River near the vast Bratsk Reservoir. It had population of . Etymology The name of the city, which is from the same ro ...
, and Krasnoyarsk were established as diversionary airfields. In 1961, the regiment was placed on alert status with the MiG-17P to patrol Soviet airspace from Kansk-Tsentralny and Belaya. While flying from Krasnoyarsk in August 1961, a MiG-15UTI crashed due to equipment failure; its crew ejected safely. In 1962, the regiment trained 16 out of 28 pilots to fly at night in difficult weather in addition to normal day and night flying. While the Tsentralny airfield was being improved, the regiment was based at the unpaved Kansk-Dalny airfield between 15 May and 1 October 1963.


Russian service

one source lists the 712th GIAP at Kansk air base with
Achinsk Airport Achinsk Airport () is an air base in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia located east of Achinsk. It is a civilian airfield with minor facilities for small number of fighter aircraft. one source lists the 712th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment at Ka ...
as a diversionary airfield. During the 2009 reform of the Russian Air Force, the 712th GIAP was merged with support units to form the 6979th Guards Aviation Base of the 2nd category on 1 June 2009. The base became part of the 9th Aerospace Defense Brigade of the 14th Air and Air Defense Forces Army. As the organizational changes continued the base was soon reassigned to the 2nd Air and Air Defense Forces Command on 1 December of that year. Further consolidation in November 2010 resulted in the reorganization of the base into an aviation group of the 6980th Guards Aviation Base of the 1st category at Chelyabinsk Shagol. The former 712th GIAP was referred to as the Kansk Aviation Group during this period, and its banner was sent to the Central Armed Forces Museum for storage, temporarily ending the lineage of the 712th. The 712th GIAP became part of the 21st Mixed Aviation Division of the 14th Air and Air Defense Forces Army by October 2018, when the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the formation of the division.


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * {{Cite magazine , last=Pichugin , first=Dmitry , date=2015 , title=712-й гвардейский Черновицкий ордена Кутузова III степени истребительный авиационный полк , magazine=Aviatsiya i kosmonavtika , language=ru , issue=5 , pages=2–17 , issn=1682-7759 Regiments of the Russian Air Forces Fighter regiments of the Soviet Air Defence Forces Regiments of the Russian Air Force from 2014