43rd Rocket Army

The 43rd Red Banner Rocket Army was an army of the Soviet Strategic Rocket Forces. It was formed in Vinnytsia from the 43rd Air Army of Long Range Aviation. In 1991, it became part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and was dismantled by 1996.

43rd Rocket Army
Active1960-1996
Country Soviet Union (1960-1991)
 Ukraine (1991-1996)
BranchStrategic Missile Troops (1960-1991)
Armed Forces of Ukraine (1991-1996)
TypeInter-Continental Ballistic Missile
Size6 divisions
Garrison/HQVinnytsia
DecorationsOrder of the Red Banner
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Alexander Shevtsov

History

On 9 April 1946 8th Air Army was renamed 2nd Air Army DA, and transferred to Vinnitsa, Vinnitsa Oblast. In 1946 the 2nd Air Army DA comprised the 2nd Guards Bomber Aviation Corps (2nd and 13th Guards Bomber Aviation Divisions) and the 4th Guards Bomber Aviation Corps (14th and 15th Guards Bomber Aviation Divisions). On 10 January 1949 2nd Air Army DA was redesignated 43rd Air Army DA.[1]

43rd Rocket Army was formed at Vinnitsa within the Kiev Military District's boundaries on 1 September 1960 from the previous 43rd Air Army of the Long Range Aviation.[2]

In 1961 the 43rd Rocket Army comprised the 44th Rocket Division (Kolomiya, Ivano-Frankovsk Oblast, previously 73rd Engineer Brigade RVGK at Kamyshin[3]), the 19th Rocket Division (Gaisin, Vinnitsa Oblast), the 50th Rocket Division (Belokorovichi, Zhitomir Oblast), the 46th Rocket Division (Pervomaisk, Mykolaiv Oblast), 43rd Guards Rocket Division (Romny, Sumy Oblast), the 35th Rocket Division (Ordzhonikidze, North Ossetia), and the 37th Guards Rocket Division (Lutsk, Volyn Oblast).[2]

On 19 March 1970, the 33rd Guards Rocket Division became part of the army.[2] On 25 May 1972, the 60th Rocket Regiment transferred from control of the 19th Rocket Division to direct army subordination.[4] The 434th Rocket Regiment also moved from the 46th Rocket Division to direct army subordination.[5] On 25 May 1975, the army was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.[2]

The 434th Rocket Regiment transferred to Olovyannaya and became part of the 47th Rocket Division there on 1 July 1979.[5] On 12 December 1981, the 35th Rocket Division left the army and moved to Barnaul, becoming part of the 33rd Guards Rocket Army.[6] On 15 October 1984, the 60th Separate Rocket Regiment became part of the 50th Rocket Division.[4]

On 31 March 1990 the 44th Rocket Division at Kolomiya was disbanded. In June 1990 the 50th Rocket Army at Smolensk was disbanded, and its 32nd and 49th Guards Rocket Divisions were reassigned to the 43rd Rocket Army.[7]

Workers destroying a SS-24 silo at Pervomaisk

Organisation 1990:

The 50th Rocket Division was disbanded 30.4.91, followed by the 43rd Guards Rocket Division 31.12.92 and the 37th Guards Rocket Division 31.12.93. On 6 December 1991, the army withdrew from the Strategic Missile Troops and became part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The dismantling of missile units began as barracks and other facilities were transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The missile warheads were sent to Russia.[7] The 43rd Rocket Army's last commander was Colonel-General Vladimir Alekseevich Mikhtyuk, who served from 10.1.1991 to 8.5.1996. In March 1993, the 33rd Guards, 49th Guards and 32nd Rocket Divisions (all stationed in Belarus) were transferred to the 27th Guards Rocket Army. By 1995, only the 19th and 46th Rocket Divisions remained as part of the army. It was finally disbanded on 8 May 1996.[2]

Commanders
  • Colonel-General of Aviation Georgy Nikolaevich Tupikov, 22.11.60 - 25.11.61[9]
  • Colonel-General Pavel Borisovich Dankevich, 25.11.61 - 7.7.62
  • Colonel-General Aleksandr Grigorevich Shevtsov, 24.8.62 - 20.6.66
  • Colonel-General Mikhail Grigorevich Grigorev, 20.6.66 - 25.4.68
  • Colonel-General Aleksey Dmitrievich Melekhin, 25.4.68 - 15.7.74
  • Colonel-General Yury Petrovich Zabegaylov, 15.7.74 - 18.12.75
  • Colonel-General Vadim Serafimovich Nedelin, 18.12.75 - 15.8.82
  • Colonel-General Aleksandr Petrovich Volkov, 15.8.82 - 22.7.87
  • Lieutenant-General Valery Vasilevich Kirilin, 22.7.87 - 10.1.91
  • Colonel-General Vladimir Alekseevich Mikhtyuk, 10.1.91 - 8.5.96

See also

References
  1. Holm, Michael. "43rd Air Army DA". Soviet Armed Forces 1945-1991. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  2. Holm, Michael. "43rd Missile Army". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 2016-02-21.
  3. Holm, Michael. "44th Missile Division". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 2016-02-21.
  4. Holm, Michael. "60th Missile Regiment". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 2016-02-21.
  5. Holm, Michael. "434th Missile Regiment". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 2016-02-21.
  6. Holm, Michael. "35th Missile Division". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 2016-02-21.
  7. "43-я ракетная армия" [43rd Rocket Army]. ruzhany.info (in Russian). Retrieved 2016-02-21.
  8. Michael Holm, 46th Missile Division
  9. Michael Holm, 43rd Red Banner Missile Army, accessed August 2011

Further reading
  • Joseph P. Harahan, Combining Military Professionalism, Technological Mastery of Nuclear Weapon Systems, and Diplomacy: General-Colonel V. A. Mikhtyuk and the Decommissioning, Dismantlement, and Destruction of the 43rd Rocket Army (Nuclear) in Ukraine, 1994-2002, paper given at ICOHTEC 33rd Symphosium, Leicester, 2006
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