Kazakh Air and Air Defence Forces
On the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the 24th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Division with three aviation regiments and three separate regiments was stationed in Kazakhstan. By late 1993 the Kazakhstan Air Force comprised a total of six regiments, with a further air defence fighter regiment. The 11th Division included the 129th Fighter-Bomber Regiment based at Taldy Kurgan, with MiG-27 'Flogger' aircraft and the 134th Fighter-Bomber Regiment at Zhangiz-tobe with MiG-27s. There was also the 149th Bomber Regiment at Zhetigen/Nikolayevka, with Sukhoi Su-24 'Fencers'; it is not entirely clear what this unit's direct superior was. Independent elements comprised the 715th Fighter Regiment at Lugovaya, with MiG-29s and MiG-23 'Floggers'; the 39th Reconnaissance Regiment at Balkhash, with MiG-25RBs and Su-24MR 'Fencer' aircraft, and the 486th Helicopter Regiment based at Ucharal with Mi-24 'Hind'. The sole air defence fighter aviation regiment was the 356th Fighter Aviation Regiment at Semipalatinsk with MiG-31 air defence fighters. The Air Force was under the command of Major General Aliy Petrovich Volkov.
The 134th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment at Zhangiz-tobe had originally been activated at Cherlyany, Lvov Oblast, in 1971, before being transferred to Central Asia that same year. It was equipped with MiG-17s, MiG-21s, and the MiG-23UB up to 1981, when it was reequipped with the MiG-27D/M/K. Two squadrons were deployed to Shindand, Afghanistan from 22 October 1988 to 6 February 1989 (joined by one squadron from the 129th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment). In early (January?) 1992, it was taken over by Kazakhstan, and disbanded in 1993. From 1980 to 1992 it was under the control of the 24th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Division which, according to Holm, also controlled the 129th Regiment in 1990. The 24th Division was itself subordinated to the 73rd Air Army, September 1970 - April 1980, the Air Forces of the Central Asian Military District, April 1980 - May 1988, and then to the 73rd Air Army once more from May 1988 to January 1992.
Air Force 12,000 (incl Air Defence) 1 air force division. Pilots fly approximately 100 hour per year.
Today the Kazakh Air and Air Defence Force has four fast jet bases:
- 600th Guards Air Base, Zhetigen, Nikolayevka, Almaty, with MiG-29s and Su-24s,
- 602nd Air Base, Chimkent, with Su-17s and Su-25s,
- 604th Air Base, Taldy-Kurgan, with MiG-27s and Su-27s,
- 610th Air Base, Sary-Arka Airport, Karaganda, with MiG-31s.
Read more about this topic: Armed Forces Of The Republic Of Kazakhstan
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