User:B.Velikov/sandbox/Structure of the Bulgarian Air Forces during the Cold War

The severing of the ties with the Third Reich in the beginning of September 1944 and the fighting between the Bulgarian Army and the retreating from Greece Wehrmacht forces has put a heavy strain on the Bulgarian Air Force. The lack of spare parts forced the canibalisation of aircraft, which dramatically reduced the number of machines in service. His Majesty's Air Troops (Въздушните на Негово Величество Войски (ВНВВ)), the official name of the Royal Bulgarian Air Force, followed the German tactical organisation:

• Pair (двойка) = Rotte = 2 airplanes
• Wing (крило) = Schwarm = 4 airplanes, two pairs
• Flock (ято) = Staffel = 12 airplanes, three wings
• Bevy (орляк) = Gruppe = ~ 40 airplanes, three flocks and an HQ wing
• Regiment (полк) = Geschwader = ~ 120 airplanes, three bevies

As the Bulgarian Army entered actual combat in the end of 1944 with four armies being subordinated to Marshal Feodor Tolbukhin's 3rd Ukrainian Front. The BuAF underwent a reorganisation, combining the operational units into an Air Squadron (Въздушна Ескадра) with the purpose to provide support support to the ground echelons in their pursuit of the retreating German divisions:

• Regular Air Units (Въздушни строеви части)
  • Headquarters Squadron (Щабна Ескадрила), flying Messerschmitt Me.108 and Fieseler Fi.156 (2, of them 1 operational, 1 in repair)
  • 1st Reconnaissance Regiment (1ви Разузнавателен Полк), flying Dornier Do-17Ka, Focke-Wulf Fw-189, Letov-Smolnik S-328 and Kaproni Balgarski KB-11A
    • III. Bevy - Fw-189, nicknamed "Flying Eye" or "Cyclope" (14, of them 12 operational, 2 in repair)
    • IV. Bevy - Dornier Do-17Ka, nicknamed "Hurricane" (5, of them 4 operational, 1 in repair), Letov-Smolnik S-328, nicknamed "Raven" (9, all operational) and Kaproni Balgarski KB-11A, nicknamed "Pheasant" (9, all operational)
  • 2nd Ground Attack Regiment (2ри Щурмови Полк), flying Junkers Ju-87 and Avia-534
    • I. Bevy - Junkers Ju-87D, nicknamed "Northern pike", because of the Bulgarian word for the fish "щука" (which is pronounced exactly as the GermanStuKa - dive attack) (29, of them 21 operational, 8 in repair)
    • II. Bevy - Avia-534, nicknamed "Falcon" (4, of them 3 operational and 1 in repair)
  • 5th Bomber Regiment (5ти Бомбардировъчен Полк), flying Dornier Do-17M and Avia B-71
    • I. Bevy - Dornier Do-17M, nicknamed "Hurricane" (11, of them 7 operational, 4 in repair)
    • II. Bevy - Avia B-71, nicknamed "Stork" (20, of them 11 operational, 9 in repair)
  • 6th Fighter Regiment (6ти Изтребителен Полк), flying Messerschmitt Me-109G-2, G-6 and Devoitine D.520
    • I. Bevy - Devoitine D.520, no nickname, called by manufacturer (17, of them 12 operational, 5 in repair)
    • II. Bevy - Messerschmitt Me-109G-6, nicknamed "Arrow" (13, of them 6 operational, 7 in repair)
    • III. Bevy - Messerschmitt Me-109G-6, nicknamed "Arrow" (23, of them 11 operational, 12 in repair)
  • Carrying Flock (Преносно Ято), flying Junkers Ju-52m3 (4, all operational)

These flying units number 276 of the total of 415 airplanes in the air force's inventory. The chronic lack of spare parts did not improve their serviceability. The Hydroplane Flock with Arado Ar.196 stays in Hydroplane Airbase "Chayka" (Seagull, named for the village near Varna). The Air Force also included flying training and logistical units, AAA regiments and a German-trained Parachute Battalion (Парашутна Дружина).

The already obsolete types of airplanes and their mostly foreign origin to the Soviet Troops, in which the Bulgarian army units were integrated, made their use in the front line problematic, so they were mostly relegated to supporting roles on the flanks of the forces and in the rear. The forward Bulgarian echelons reached Klagenfurt in Austria by the end of the war in May 1944, after which Bulgaria was given the right to claim German airplanes as war trophies, in order to keep the air force's German airplanes' numbers to a meaningful level. Even by that time Soviet types of aircraft had begun arriving to reequip the Bulgarian Air Force. By March 1945, Soviet aircraft types started arriving at Graf Ignatievo airbase (the peacetime air base of the Bulgarian Ju-87s). A total of 343 airplanes, of which were 120 Yakovlev Yak-9 and additional 10 Yak-9 trainers, were delivered to fully reequip the Bulgarian Air Force. In 1949 the main combat force of the BuAF was the 6th Fighter-Ground Attack Air Division (6та Изтребително-Щурмова Авиационна Дивизия, the former 6th Fighter Regiment) with the 16th and 36th Fighter Air Regiments. The AAA regiments were transfered to the Land Forces. The period between 1949 and 1952 saw a radical reorganisation and increase of the air force's strength. The Air Troops (Въздушни Войски) became Air Forces (Военно-въздушни Сили) in line with the Soviet nomenclature. In 1950, the 6th FGAAD split into the 4th Fighter Air Division (4та Изтребителна Авиационна Дивизия) with the 11th, 18th and 43rd Fighter Air Regiments (in Karlovo, Vrazhdebna and Bozhurishte) and the 5th Ground Attack Air Division (5та Щурмова Авиационна Дивизия) with the 17th, 20th and 23rd Ground Attack Air Regiments.

Two new air divisions were formed in 1951 - the 1st Fighter Air Division with the 22nd, 25th and 27th FARs and the 10th Fighter Air Division with the 15th, 19th and 21st FARs. The 22nd Fighter Air Regiment was formed at Dobrich (Tolbukhin) air base and moved shortly afterwards to Bezmer. The 25th FAR was formed at Dobrich air base and moved to Graf Ignatievo and then to Cheshnegirovo air base. 27th FAR was formed at Bezmer air base and moved to Balchik air base. In the 10th FAD the 15th FAR was formed at Bezmer and then moved to Ravnets, the 19th FAR was permanently stationed at Graf Ignatievo (and is the forerunner of Bulgaria's sole modern fighter air base) and the 21st FAR formed at Graf Ignatievo and moved to Uzundzhovo.

In April 1952 the 4th FAD's units also shuffled with the 11th FAR moved to Gabrovnitsa and the 18th and 43rd FAR relocated together to Dobroslavtsi. All these relocations were the result of the air force's rapid building of new air bases, suitable for the new jets. In the spring of 1951 the first combat jets (the Yak-23 fighters and Yak-17U trainers) entered Bulgarian service, with the considerably superior MiG-15 and UMiG-15s following suit in the autumn. 1952 also saw the rapid expansion of the Radio-technical Troops (Радио-технически войски, the radar units) in the form of command posts for Aerial Surveillance, Reporting and Signals (Въздушно Наблюдение, Оповестяване и Свръзки (ВНОС), initially only by visual and sound recognition) for the combat control of the fighter units and as radio-technical companies at the airfields for the air traffic control of the units.

This time period also saw a constant violation of the Bulgarian airspace by airplanes and reconnaissance balloons and this put a strain and a need to raise the combat readiness on the air force. 1953 saw the introduction of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis and the first radar-equipped fighters came in 1955 in the form of 12 MiG-17PF for the 19th Fighter Air Regiment. The first Bulgarian supersonic fighters - the MiG-19s, also called second-generation jet fighters, arrived in the end of 1957. Fifty-nine of the MiG-19S variant were delivered. They formed two squadrons of the 19th FAR at Graf Ignatievo and two squadrons of the 21st FAR at Uzundzhovo air bases. In 1958 a third squadron of the 19th FAR converted to 12 MiG-19P interceptors only to convert to the more modern 12 MiG-19PM a year later and the MiG-19Ps to transfer to Gabrovnitsa air base.

At the end of the 1950s also started the build-up of Missile Air Defence Troops (Зенитно-ракетни Войски), with the 1st Missile Air Defence Division (battalion equivalent) officially formed on June 16, 1960 by the transformation of an AAA-division of the 72nd AAA Regiment. The 1st Missile Air Defence Brigade for the defence of Sofia was formed in 1961, subordinated to the 1st Air Defence Corps, headquartered in Bozhurishte.

So in 1961 the Air Forces were renamed to Air Forces and Air Defence (Военно-въздушни Сили и Противо-въздушна Отбрана (ВВС и ПВО)). The forces were organised in the 1st and 2nd Air Defence Corps and the 10th Fighter Air Division with additional independent units for logistical support and training. In the autumn of 1961 there was a reorganisation. The two ADCs were disbanded. The 10th FAD was expanded into the 10th Mixed Air Corps with its headquarters formed by the merger of the 10th FAD and the 2nd ADC headquarters. The fighter and ground based missile air defence units were subordinated to a single Main Command Post for the air defence, co-located with the AFAD Staff and formed on the base of the disbanded 1st ADC headquarters.

In 1963 the 11th Fighter Air Regiment disbanded, with its personnel being absorbed into the 18th FAR. A mix of MiG-19P/S rearmed the 1st FAS of the 18th FAR at Dobroslavtsi air base. The MiG-21 arrived in Bulgaria in 1963, when 12 MiG-21F-13 rearmed the 2/19 Squadron at Graf Ignatievo. In the end of 1964 personnel from the 18th FAR at Dobroslavtsi started the conversion to MiG-21PF. The following 1965 a squadron at Gabrovnitsa converted to MiG-21PF, followed in two years by a squadron of 15th FAR at Ravnets on the MiG-21PFM. The rapid build-up of the fighter, missile air defence and radar units and the lessons learned from the 1967 Arab-Israeli conflict lead to the formation of the 1st and 2nd Air Defence Divisions in the end of 1968:

• 1st Air Defence Division (1ва Дивизия ПВО (1ва дПВО)), headed by Major-General Stoyan Shindarov and headquartered at Bozhurishte airfield included a Staff and Command Post, 18th Fighter Air Regiment based at Dobroslavtsi and Gabrovnitsa air bases, 1st (around Sofia) and 2nd (around Plovdiv) Missile Air Defence Brigades and 1st Radio-technical Brigade (headquartered at Bozhurishte).
• 2nd Air Defence Division (2ра Дивизия ПВО (2ра дПВО)), headed by Major-General Stanyo Stanev and headquartered in Yambol included a Staff and Command Post, 15th Fighter Air Regiment based at Ravnets and Balchik air bases, 3rd (around Burgas and Varna) Missile Air Defence Brigade and 10th Radio-technical Regiment (headquartered in Yambol).

Their structures remained basically the same until their disbandment in 1996, only the fighter air regiments fluctuated between two- and three-squadron structure.

...

References

• All information is from the "Air Defence Corps" Club Wings booklet of Air Group 2000, also from the year 2001. ("Корпус ПВО")