Baku Air Defence Army

Baku Air Defence Army Бакинская армия ПВО
Active	1942-1945
Country	Soviet Union
Type	Army
Role	Anti-aircraft warfare
Part of	Transcaucasian Air Defence Zone, Transcaucasian Air Defence Front (from April, 1944)
Commanders
Notable commanders	Maj Gen Pyotr Beskrovnov, Lt. Gen. Nikolai Markov

The Baku Air Defence Army (Russian: Бакинская армия ПВО) was formed on the Eastern Front of World War II, following the decree of the USSR State Defense Committee of April 5, 1942. Previously known as the Baku Air Defence Corps, its main objective became sheltering the Baku oil fields from German raids. The Wehrmacht had been planning the capture of the oil field under the codename Operation Edelweiss. During the intense German air reconnaissance in May–October, 1942 the Army included the 8th Air Defence Fighter Corps, seven anti-aircraft regiments, one anti-aircraft machine-gun regiment, a searchlight regiment, a barrage balloon regiment and some other units. During its actions, the Army downed eight aircraft.

Successor Soviet air defence formations in the Transcaucasus region included the Baku Air Defense District of the Soviet Air Defence Forces (PVO), which was founded in 1945 on the basis of the Baku Air Defense Army. In 1948 the District was transformed into a zone/area. From 1954 it was redesignated a District again, until it was abolished on 5 January 1980. It was intended to cover from air attack in Baku and Absheron peninsula oil districts.

Commanders of the Baku Air Defense District from 1954-1956 included Colonel-General Konstantin Vershinin, 1956-1959 - Colonel-General V. D. Ivanov, 1959-1966 - Colonel-General A. F. Shcheglov, 1966-1973 - Colonel-General F. A. Olifirov, 1973-1980 and Colonel-General A. W. Konstantinov.

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