Yugoslav Air Force
| Air Force and Anti-Air Defence Ratno zrakoplovstvo i protuzračna obrana Ратно ваздухопловство и противваздушна одбрана |
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| Active | 1945–1992 |
| Country | Yugoslavia |
| Branch | Air Force |
| Size | 32,000 personnel (c.1989) |
| Part of | Yugoslav People's Army |
| HQ | Zemun |
| Equipment | 1,200 aircraft |
| Engagements | World War II Ten-Day War Croatian War of Independence |
| Commanders | |
| Last commander | Colonel General Božidar Stefanović |
| Insignia | |
| Roundel |
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| Fin flash |
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| Aircraft flown | |
| Attack | J-21, J-22, G-4, G-2, SA.342 GAMA |
| Fighter | MiG-29, MiG-21Bis |
| Interceptor | MiG-21Bis |
| Patrol | Ka-25, Ka-28, Mi-14 |
| Reconnaissance | MiG-21M, IJ-21, IJ-22 |
| Trainer | Utva 75, G-2, G-4, NJ-22 |
| Transport | An-2, An-26, YAK-40, Mi-8 |
The Yugoslav Air Force (Serbo-Croatian: Jugoslavensko Ratno zrakoplovstvo, Југословенско Ратно ваздухопловство) was the air force of Yugoslavia, and functioned as one of three branches of the military, the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). The official name of the branch was Air Force and Anti-Air Defence (Ratno zrakoplovstvo i protuzračna obrana, RZ i PZO; Ратно ваздухопловство и противваздушна одбрана, РВ и ПВО). At its height, it was one of the largest air forces in Europe. The Yugoslav Air Force was disbanded following the war in Yugoslavia 1991-1995.
By early 1945, Yugoslav Partisans under Marshal Tito had liberated a large portion of Yugoslav territory from the occupying forces. The NOVJ partisan army included air units trained and equipped by Britain (with Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes, see Balkan Air Force) and the Soviet Union (with Yak-3, Yak-7, Yak-9 and Ilyushin Il-2 aircraft) and a number of ad-hoc units equipped with aircraft captured from German Luftwaffe and Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia (Messerschmitt Bf-109G, Junkers Ju 87 Stuka and many others).
On 5 January 1945 the various air units of the NOVJ were formally incorporated into a new Yugoslav Air Force (Jugoslovensko Ratno Vazduhoplovstvo - JRV). At the same time, a Yugoslav fighter group which had been under Soviet instruction at Zemun airfield became operational. From 17 August 1944, when the first Yugoslav Spitfire Squadron became operational, until the end of the war in Europe, Yugoslav aircraft undertook 3,500 combat sorties and accumulated 5,500 hours operational flying. Thus, when peacetime came, the JRV already possessed a strong and experienced nucleus of personnel.
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