Soviet Military Aviation -- Summary

Index

Introduction (Overview)

VVS - Voenno-Vozdushmiy Sily (Air Forces)

VMF - Voenno-Morskoi Flota (Navy)

PVO - Protivo-Vozdushnoi Oborony (Air Defense Forces)

Raketnye Voiyska Strategicheskogo Naznacheniya (Rocket Forces)

Sukhoputnye Voiska (Ground Forces)

KGB, DOSAAF, Aeroflot (Paramilitary Aviation)

Introduction

The Ground Forces (Sukhoputnye voiska), Air Forces (VVS), Air Defense Forces (Voyska protivovozdushnoy oboronystrany, PVO), Strategic Rocket Forces (RVS) and the Navy (VMF), were all under the control of the VGK (Verkhovnoye Glavnokomandovaniye = Supreme High Command) of the USSR, and were basically of equal importance.

During wartime, the whole organization and command structure (would have) changed, though. The nuclear assets of the VVS, RVS and VMF would have been directly controlled by the VGK, while the other forces would have been controlled through TVs (Teatry Voyny = Theater/Regional Command) or TVDs (Teatry Voyennykh deystviy = Theater of Military Operation), including OTVDs (Okeanskiy TVD = Oceanic/Maritime TMO).

The way the Cyrillic written names are transliterated to English has changed over the years, and may vary slightly from source to source.

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VVS - Voenno-Vozdushmiy Sily

The VVS [or V-VS] (Voenno-Vozdushmiy Sily = Military Aviation Forces) was the Soviet Air Force, which was comparable to the USAF in the USA, but also included Army aviation, but not Air Defense units. The following three autonomous commands existed:

the FA (Frontovaya Aviatsiya = Frontal Aviation) equivalent to the old TAC or current ACM, plus the US Army Aviation units, and was much more integrated with the ground forces than usual in NATO countries;
the DA (Dal'naya Aviatsiya = Long Range Aviation, or ADD (Aviatsiya Dal'nevo Deistviya = Long Range/Strategic Aviation), comparable to SAC, but only with bombers;
the V-TA (Voenno-Transportnaya Aviatsiya = Military Air Transport Force), equivalent to the old MAC or current AMC;

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VMF - Voenno-Morskoi Flota

The VMF [or V-MF] (Voenno-Morskoi Flota = Military Marine Fleet/Navy), which was equivalent to the USN, was responsible for:

the MA (Morskaya Aviatsiya = Naval Aviation) or AV-MF (Aviatsiya Voenno-Morskovo Flota = Naval Air Forces), which included land-based and ship-based aircraft and helicopters;

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PVO - Protivo-Vozdushnoi Oborony

The PVO [or P-VO] (Protivo-Vozdushnoi Oborony = National [Homeland] Air-Defense Forces), combined PVO-Strany (Strategic ADF) and PVO-Voysk (Ground Forces ADF) since 1978. In the USA the ANG, TAC, SAC, SPACECOM and Army shared its mission. The PVO included:

the IA (Istrebitel'naya viatsiya = Fighter Command), responible for interceptor/fighter aircraft. It was composed of:
- IADs (Istrebitel'nyi Aviatsionnyi Disvisiya = Fighter Aviation Division), each consisting of 3 or more:
  - IAPs (Istrebitel'nyi Aviatsionnyi Polk = Fighter Aviation Regiment), each comprising three:
    - Eskadrilii (Flights), which usually consisted of 12 aircraft, normally including 2 or 3 trainers.
- The PVO apparently also had its own transport and liason units.
the RTV (Radio-Technical Troops), responsible for radars (GCI, SAM, ABM, and EW), strategic reconnaissance/surveillance satellites and ABM sites.
the ZRV (Zenith Rocket Troops), responsible for SAMs.

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Raketnye Voiyska Strategicheskogo Naznacheniya (RVS)

The 'RVS' (Raketnye Voiyska Strategicheskogo Naznacheniya = Strategic Rocket Forces, designated) were responsible for all SSMs, including ICBMs, IRBMs and MRBMs. In the USA, SAC and the US Army shared this responsibility.

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Sukhoputnye Voiska

The Ground Forces (Sukhoputnye Voiska) usually don't have aircraft, but:

the A-VDV (Aviatsiya-Vozdushnodesantykh Voisk = Airborne Forces Aviation, or aircraft of the paratroopers) and
the Special Operation Forces (Spetsnaz) may have had their own aircraft.

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KGB, DOSAAF, Aeroflot

The KGB, which was also responsible for the Border Guards, had its own little air arm plus border guard helicopters.

The paramilitary DOSAAF (Dobrovol'noe Obshchestvo Sodeistviya Armii, Avatsii i Flotu = Voluntary Society for Assistance to the Army, Air Force and Navy) had a lot of glider and light planes.

Aeroflot also operated, besides the GVF (Grazhdanskii Vozdushnii Flot = Civil Air Fleet), a lot of semi-military aircraft, not only for transport, but also weather, ELINT and PHOTINT reconnaissance, as well as research purposes.

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