180th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO
| 180th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO (1949–2002) 180th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment 181st Fighter Aviation Regiment (1941–1944) |
|
|---|---|
| Active | 1941–2002 |
| Country | |
| Branch | |
| Type | Air defence |
| Garrison/HQ | Gromovo |
| Decorations |
 Order of the Red Banner
|
| Battle honours |
|
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Alexey Kostenko |
180th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment
(1944–1949)
The 180th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (180th Guards IAP) was a military unit of the Red Army Air Force, which took part in the fighting of the Great Patriotic War, and then became part of the Russian Air Defence Forces and finally the Russian Air Force.
The regiment traced its heritage back to the 181st Fighter Aviation Regiment, which began forming just before the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The regiment flew the Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 and the Lavochkin La-5 fighters during the war and in mid-1944 was converted into the 180th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. Postwar, the regiment became an interceptor-equipped air defence unit, and during the Korean War it trained People's Liberation Army Air Force pilots while stationed in China. In 1952 it was moved west to Leningrad Oblast, and from 1953 to its 2002 disbandment the 180th Guards served as an air defence unit based at Gromovo.
The 181st Fighter Aviation Regiment began forming on 24 May 1941 at Shatalovo air field near Pochinok, part of the Air Force of the Western Special Military District. As a result of the beginning of the German invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June, the regiment was withdrawn to Rostov-on-Don, where it finished forming on 27 July, training with the 11th Reserve Fighter Aviation Regiment on the Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighter. The new regiment was organized according to shtat 015/134. The 181st continued training there until 19 August, where it entered combat, directly subordinated to the Air Force of the Southern Front (VVS). On 24 August, the regiment became part of the Air Force of the Southwestern Front's 44th Fighter Aviation Division (IAD), which was transferred to the VVS Southern Front's Air Force of the 6th Army only three days later. The 181st was shifted to the VVS Southwestern Front' 64th Fighter Aviation Division on 7 September. On 1 January 1942, it was reorganized on the front according to shtat 015/174 at Novo-Astrakhan, Voroshilovgrad Oblast in eastern Ukraine. Between 10 February and 2 July, the regiment was assigned to the VVS 6th Army. It fought in the Second Battle of Kharkov.
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