The composition of the aviation divisions during wartime was not uniform or constant. Although many divisions begun the war with 3 – 5 aviation regiments, due to the heavy losses suffered in the initial period of the Summer-Autumn Campaign of 1941 (22 June – 4 December), during Operation Barbarossa, from August this was reduced to two with consequent reduction in aircraft from 150–180 to 40–50. However, commencing with Autumn 1942 the size of the aviation divisions began to increase again, and some had four aviation regiments, or five in the PVO and mixed divisions. However the number of mixed divisions, and expediency of 1942, was gradually reduced and from 1944 the Frontal Aviation divisions adopted a 3–4 regiment structure, with the 3 regiments being the more common occurrence in the bombing divisions with some 100 aircraft while the fighter and assault divisions were issued 124 aircraft. The mission profile was flexible depending on the target, with the aviation division deploying as part of the aviation corps, Air Army or independently, utilising the entire aircraft complement, or by regiments, squadrons, flights and even individual aircraft.
Bonn et al. wrote in 2005 that the Soviet Air Forces included 10 basic air divisions at the start of the war, 37 basic air divisions were formed during it, of which only three survived to the end. Seven mixed air divisions existed at the start of the war, and 44 were generated during it. Thirteen were destroyed and disbanded, and the rest converted into other types of divisions. Not a single mixed air division was active at the end of the war. Only one was raised to Guards status, and that, the 1st Guards Mixed Air Division, was converted to the 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Division after November 1944.
Seven bombardment air divisions were active at the beginning of the war, with 66 created during its course. Twenty-seven of the 66 were destroyed, disbanded, or otherwise converted. Eighteen became Guards divisions.
Twenty-two specialist long-range air divisions were created during the war, though all were converted to bomber divisions.
Forty-eight ground-attack divisions were formed during the war, of which two were destroyed or disbanded and eighteen which became Guards. Eleven fighter divisions existed at the beginning of the war. A hundred and nine in total were formed, of which eleven were destroyed or disbanded, fifteen converted, and 18 became Guards.[7]
Soviet aviation divisions during the Second World War
3rd Special Red Banner Communications Aviation Division GVF
4th Mixed Aviation Division – became 4th Shock Army aviation 22 February 1942[10]
5th Mixed Aviation Division – disbanded 18 February 1942[11]
6th Mixed Aviation Division – at outbreak of war in Baltic Special Military District, suffered heavy losses in initial German attack, became 48th Army aviation 11 August 1941; reformed immediately and disbanded 11 February 1942[12]
7th Mixed Aviation Division – at outbreak of war in Baltic Special Military District, suffered heavy losses in initial German attack, became 3rd Shock Army aviation 22 February 1942
8th Mixed Aviation Division
8th Bombardment Aviation Division
9th Mixed Aviation Division – Served with the Western Special Military District at the outbreak of war, comprising the 13th, 14th, 124th, 126th, 128th, and 129th Fighter Aviation Regiments. Just days before the attack the 9th Mixed Air Division had received 233 new MiG-3s, but they lost 347 of 409 operational aircraft on the first day of the war with almost all of the MiG-3s destroyed on the ground by bombs.
10th Mixed Aviation Division
11th Mixed Aviation Division
12th Bomber Aviation Division – first formation 22.6.41–23.7.41 formed from 12th Mixed Aviation Division)[13]
12th Mginskaya Long-Range Aviation Division, later 12th Mginskaya Red Banner Bomber Aviation Division (2nd form.)(formed from 12th Aviation Division, Long Range (ад ДД) 26.12.44–9.5.45)[13] Later became 12th Military Transport Aviation Division.[14]
12th Mixed Aviation Division
13th Bomber Aviation Division
14th Aviation Division
15th Mixed Aviation Division
16th Aviation Division – formed August 1940 in Kiev MD from 35th Aviation Brigade, became 21st Army VVS in February 1942[15]
17th Aviation Division – formed July 1940 in Kiev Special MD from 56th Fighter Aviation Brigade,[16] disbanded September 1941[17]
17th long-range air division
18th air division
19th air division
20th mixed air division
21st mixed air division
22nd air division
23rd mixed air division
23rd heavy bomber air division
24th long-range air division, later 24th bombardment air division
25th bombardment air division
26th long-range bombardment air division
27th bombardment air division
28th mixed air division
29th bombardment Amur air division
30th long-range bombardment Khinganskaya red banner air division
259th bombardment Gorodokskaya order of Lenin red banner order of Suvorov air division
260th Bomber Aviation Division
260th mixed Svirskaya air division
260th assault Svirskaya red banner order of Suvorov air division
261st mixed air division
261st assault Svirskaya order of Suvorov air division
262nd night bomber Lozovskaya red banner order of Kutuzov air division
263rd bombardment air division
263rd bomber air division
264th assault Kiev red banner air division
265th bombardment Melitopolskaya red banner order of Suvorov air division
266th bombardment air division
266th assault Poltava air division
267th assault air division
268th bombardment air division
269th bombardment Novgorod red banner air division
270th bomber air division
271st night bomber Stalingrad-Rechitskaya air division
272nd night bomber air division
273rd bombardment Gomel order of Suvorov air division
274th bombardment air division
275th bombardment Puskinskaya red banner air division
276th bomber Gatchinskaya twice red banner of orders Suvorov and Kutuzov air division
277th assault Krasnoselsk red banner of orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov air division
278th bombardment Siberian-Stalin red banner order of Suvorov air division
279th bombardment red banner air division
280th bomber air division
280th mixed Ostrovskaya air division
280th assault Ostrovskaya air division
281st assault Novgorod red banner air division – activated August 1942 from the VVS/4th Army, assigned to 13th Air Army April 1944. In May 1945, in the Lithuanian SSR, the division comprised three assault aviation regiments of Il-2s: the 448, 703rd, and 872nd. Redesignated the 281st Military Transport Aviation Division on 27 April 1946 and resubordinated to Headquarters Airborne Forces (which appears to have controlled all military transport aircraft at the time.)[23]
282nd bombardment Gomel red banner order of Suvorov air division
283rd bombardment Kamyshinskaya red banner order of Suvorov air division[24]
284th night bomber Novosokolnicheskaya air division
284th bombardment air division
285th bomber air division
286th bombardment Nezhinskaya red banner order of Suvorov air division
287th bombardment air division
288th bombardment Pavlograd- Viennese red banner order of Suvorov air division – also 288th Fighter Aviation Division[25]
334th bomber Leningrad red banner order of Suvorov air division
335th assault Vitebsk order of Lenin red banner order of Suvorov air division
336th bombardment Kovelskaya red banner air division
Guards
Guards Bomber
1st Guards Kirovograd Red Banner Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky Bomber Aviation Division – formed 18 March 1943 from 263rd Bomber Aviation Division
2nd Guards Stalingrad Red Banner Night Bomber Aviation Division – formed 26 March 1943 from 272nd Night Bomber Aviation Division, became 15th Guards Assault Aviation Division 7 September 1944
2nd Guards Sevastopol-Berlin Bomber Aviation Division – formed 26 March 1943 from the 17th Long-range Aviation Division, converted to bomber aviation division 26 December 1944, fought at Konigsberg and Berlin
4th Guards Borisov Red Banner Bomber Aviation Division – formed 3 September 1943 from 223rd Bomber Aviation Division, fought at Operation Bagration, Vitebsk-Orsha, Minsk, Riga, Baltic, Memel, East Prussian, Konigsberg
5th Guards Orsha Red Banner Order of Kutuzov Bomber Aviation Division – formed 3 September 1943 from 285th Bomber Aviation Division, fought at Operation Bagration, Minsk, Riga, Baltic, Memel, East Prussian, Konigsberg
7th Guards Sevastopol-Berlin Bomber Aviation Division – formed 26 December 1944 by renaming 7th Guards Long Range Aviation Division, fought at Budapest, East Pomeranian, Upper Silesian, Konigsberg, Berlin
8th Guards Cherkassy Red Banner Order of Suvorov Bomber Aviation Division – formed 5 February 1944 from 293rd Bomber Aviation Division
9th Guards Stalingrad-Rechitsa Red Banner Order of Suvorov Night Bomber Aviation Division – formed 19 August 1944 from 271st Night Bomber Aviation Division, fought at Vistula-Oder Offensive
11th Guards Orel-Berlin Red Banner Bomber Aviation Division – formed 26 December 1944 from 1st Guards Long-range Aviation Division
13th Guards Dniepropetrovsk-Budapest Order of Suvorov Bomber Aviation Division – formed 26 December 1944 from 3rd Guards Long-range Aviation Division
14th Guards Bryansk-Berlin Red Banner Bomber Aviation Division – formed 26 December 1944 from 4th Guards Long-range Aviation Division
15th Guards Gomel Bomber Aviation Division – formed 26 December 1944 from 5th Guards Long-range Aviation Division
16th Guards Stalingrad Bomber Aviation Division – formed 26 December 1944 from 6th Guards Long-range Aviation Division
18th Guards Orel-Budapest Bomber Aviation Division – formed 26 December 1944 from 8th Guards Long-range Aviation Division
4th Guards Fighter Orsha Red Banner Order of Suvorov Air Division – Formed 21 March 1943 from 274th Fighter Aviation Division, fought in Operation Kutuzov, Operation Bagration, Vitebsk-Orsha, Minsk, Siauliai, Riga, Baltic, Memel, East Prussian and Berlin Offensives
5th Guards Fighter Valdai Red Banner Order of Kutuzov Air Division – Formed 18 March 1943 from 239th Fighter Aviation Division, fought in Operation Bagration, Vitebsk-Orsha, Polotsk, Riga, Memel, East Prussian, Konigsberg Offensives
7th Guards Fighter Rzhevskaya Red Banner Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov Air Division – Formed 1 May 1943 from 209th Fighter Aviation Division, fought in Velikiye Luki, Operation Iskra, Belgorod-Kharkov, Vitebsk-Orsha, Bagration, Sandomierz-Silesian, Berlin, Prague
8th Guards Fighter Kiev Red Banner Orders of Suvorov and Bogdan Khmelnitskiy Aviation Division – Formed 8 May 1943 from 217th Fighter Aviation Division, fought at Kursk, Belgorod-Kharkov, Kiev, Zhitomir-Berdichev, Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket, Lvov-Sandomierz, Dukla Pass, Sandomierz-Silesian, Lower Silesian, Upper Silesian, Berlin, Prague
10th Guards Fighter Stalingrad Red Banner Order of Suvorov Air Division – formed 24 August 1943 from 201st Fighter Aviation Division, fought at Kursk, Belgorod-Kharkov, Donbass Strategic, Dnieper, Kiev, Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket, Nikopol-Krivoy Rog, Odessa, Lvov-Sandomierz, Jassy-Kishinev, Dukla Pass, Prague
12th Guards Fighter Znamenskaya Red Banner Order of Bogdan Khmelnitskiy Air Division – Activated 5 February 1944 from 203rd Fighter Aviation Division, fought at the Battle of the Korsun–Cherkassy Pocket, Uman-Botosani, Lvov-Sandomierz, Dukla Pass, Sandomierz-Silesian, Lower Silesian, Upper Silesian, Berlin, Prague; with 2nd Fighter Aviation Corps 5.45; disbanded 1947
13th Guards Fighter Poltava-Alexandriyskaya Red Banner Order of Kutuzov Air Division – Activated 2 July 1944 from 294th Fighter Aviation Division, fought in Jassy-Kishinev, Belgrade, Debrecen, Budapest, Spring Awakening, Bratislava-Brno, Prague
14th Guards Fighter Kirovograd-Budapest Red Banner Order of Suvorov Aviation Division – Activated 2 July 1944 from 302nd Fighter Aviation Division, fought in Jassy-Kishinev, Belgrade, Debrecen, Budapest, Spring Awakening, Bratislava-Brno, Prague
15th Guards Stalingrad Red Banner Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky Fighter Aviation Division – Activated 19 August 1944 from 235th Fighter Aviation Division, fought in Jassy-Kishinev, Dukla Pass, Prague
16th Guards Svirskaya Red Banner Fighter Aviation Division. Activated 11.42 as the 258th Fighter Aviation Division. 27.2.43 renamed 258th Mixed Aviation Division. 24.8.43 renamed 1st Guards Mixed Aviation Division. 11.11.44 renamed 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Division. Comprised 19th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, 20th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, and 152nd Fighter Aviation Regiment in May 1945. Moved to Damgarten, DDR, in October 1953 and remained as part of Group of Soviet Forces in Germany until 30 October 1993. On that date it was moved to Millerovo, in the North Caucasus Military District and became part of the 4th Air Army.[32]
22nd Guards Kirovograd Order of Lenin Red Banner Order of Kutuzov Fighter Aviation Division – formed 27 October 1944 from 205th Fighter Aviation Division, fought at Dukla Pass, Vistula-Oder, Sandomierz-Silesian, Lower Silesian, Breslau, Upper Silesian, Berlin, Prague
23rd Guards Cherkassy Red Banner Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky Fighter Aviation Division – formed 27 October 1944 from 304th Fighter Aviation Division, fought at Dukla Pass, Vistula-oder, Sandomierz-Silesian, Lower Silesian, Upper Silesian, Berlin, Prague
2nd Guards Chernigov-Rechitskaya Order of Lenin Red Banner Order of Suvorov Assault Aviation Division – formed 18 March 1943 from 228th Assault Aviation Division, fought at Kursk, Operation Kutuzov, Operation Bagration, Berlin
3rd Guards Valdai-Kovel Red Banner Order of Suvorov Assault Aviation Division – formed 18 March 1943 from the 243rd Assault Aviation Division, fought at Operation Bagration, Lublin-Brest, Vistula-Oder, East Pomeranian, Berlin
4th Guards Kiev Red Banner Order of Kutuzov Assault Aviation Division – formed 1 May 1943 from 212th Assault Aviation Division, fought at Belgorod-Kharkov, Second Kiev, Zhitomir-Berdichev, Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket, Lvov-Sandomierz, Budapest, Vienna, Bratislava-Brno, Prague
5th Guards Zaporizhia Red Banner Order of Suvorov Assault Aviation Division – formed 1 May 1943 from the 267th Assault Aviation Division, fought at Kursk, Belgorod-Kharkov, Donbass Strategic Offensive, Nikopol-Krivoy Rog, Lvov-Sandomierz, Vistula-Oder, Lower Silesian, Upper Silesian, Berlin, Prague
6th Guards Zaporizhia Twice Red Banner Orders of Suvorov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky Assault Aviation Division – formed 24 August 1943 from the 290th Assault Aviation Division, fought at Donbass, Nikopol-Krivoy Rog, Odessa, Lvov-Sandomierz, Vistula-Oder, Lower Silesian, Upper Silesian, Berlin, Prague
7th Guards Debrecen Red Banner Assault Aviation Division – formed 3 September 1943 from 232nd Assault Aviation Division, fought at Second Smolensk, Jassy-Kishinev, Debrecen, Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Bratislava-Brno
8th Guards Poltava Red Banner Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky Assault Aviation Division – formed 5 February 1944 from the 266th Assault Aviation Division, fought at Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket, Uman-Botosani, Lvov-Sandomierz, Dukla Pass, Lower Silesian, Upper Silesian, Berlin, Prague
9th Guards Krasnogradsky Red Banner Order of Suvorov Assault Aviation Division – formed 5 February 1944 from 292nd Assault Aviation Division, fought at Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket, Uman-Botosani, Lvov-Sandomierz, Dukla Pass, Sandomierz-Silesian, Lower Silesian, Upper Silesian, Berlin, Prague
10th Guards Voronezh-Kiev Red Banner Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov Assault Aviation Division – formed 5 February 1944 from 291st Assault Aviation Division, fought at Lvov-Sandomierz, Jassy-Kishinev, Belgrade
11th Guards Nezhinskaya Red Banner Order of Suvorov Assault Aviation Division – formed 19 August 1944 from the 299th Assault Aviation Division, fought at Operation Bagration, East Pomeranian Offensive, Berlin Offensive
12th Guards Roslavl Red Banner Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky Assault Aviation Division – formed 27 October 1944 from the 231st Assault Aviation Division, fought at Budapest, Vienna, Prague and Bratislava-Brno
15th Guards Stalingrad Red Banner Assault Aviation Division – formed 7 September 1944 from the 2nd Guards Stalingrad Red Banner Night Bomber Division, fought in Prague Offensive
Other Guards
1st Guards Svir Red Banner Mixed Aviation Division – formed 24 August 1943 from 258th Mixed Aviation Division, fought at Svir-Petrozavodsk and Petsamo-Kirkenes, became 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Division 11 November 1944
10th Guards Transport Aviation Division GVF
21st Guards Port Arthur Transport Aviation Division
Aviation divisions formed post-war
Source : Michael Holm
Assault
172nd Kuban Red Banner Order of Suvorov Assault Aviation Division – formed 1949 from 230th ShAD, became 172nd IBAD 1956
186th Assault Aviation Division – formed 1949 from 253rd ShAD, became 186th IAD PVO 1956
10th Mixed Aviation Division – activated 1970 at Ucharal, Alma-Ata Oblast. Redesignated 10th Fighter Aviation Division in 1980.
24th Mixed Aviation Division - activated 9.70 in Taldy-Kurgan, Taldy-Kurgan Oblast, Central Asian Military District.[33] Became 24th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Division 1980.