Mongolian People's Army Air Force

Mongolian People's Army Aviation
Roundel
Active 1925–1992
Disbanded 1945
Country Mongolian People's Republic
Branch Mongolian People's Army
Type Air Force
Size 294 Aircraft
Garrison/HQ Ulaanbaatar
Nickname(s) MPAF
Colors Red and Yellow
Engagements Battles of Khalkhin Gol
Soviet–Japanese border conflicts
Soviet invasion of Manchuria
Battle of Baitag Bogd
Cold War

The Mongolian People's Army Air Force was the air force of the Mongolian People's Army and the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party

History

On May 25, 1925 a Junkers F.13 entered service as the first aircraft in Mongolian civil and military aviation.[1] By 1935 Soviet aircraft were based in the country. In May 1937 the air force was renamed the Mongolian People's Republic Air Corps. During 1939–1945 the Soviets delivered Polikarpov I-15s, Polikarpov I-16s, Yak-9s and Ilyushin Il-2s. By 1966 the first SA-2 SAM units entered service, and the air force was renamed the Air Force of the Mongolian People's Republic. The MiG-15UTI and MiG-17 the first combat jet aircraft in the Mongolian inventory, entered service in 1970 and by the mid-1970s was joined by 25 MiG-21s, Mi-8s and Ka-26s.

After the end of the Cold War and the advent of the Democratic Revolution, the air force was effectively grounded due to a lack of fuel and spare parts. However, the government has been trying to revive the air force since 2001. The current Armed Forces maintains an Air Forces Defense Command (Агаарын довтолгооноос хамгаалах цэргийн командлал), under the command of the General Staff. The country has the goal of developing a full air force in the future.[2]

Mongolian People's Army Air Force in 1925–1945

The Mongolian People's Army Aviation drastically improved with Soviet training and vastly ameliorated within a time span of several years. In May 1925, a Junkers F.13 entered service as the first aircraft in Mongolian civil and military-related aviation. In March 1931, the Soviet Union donated three Polikarpov R-1s to the Mongolian People's Army, with Mongolia further purchasing three R-1s.[3] In 1932, an uprising broke out against Collectivization, which saw both Soviet and Mongolian-operated R-1s taking part in actions against the rebellion. The aircraft carried out reconnaissance, leaflet dropping, and bombing missions[4] Chinese intelligence reports that in 1945 the Mongolian People's Air Force had been with a three-fighter and three-bomber aviation-regiment, and one flight training school and greater air squadrons. It was reported that headquartered in the Mukden Manchukuo spy-section in October 1944 air force whole units had been 180 aircraft and 1231 airmen. The Mongolian People's Army Aviation demonstrated its full potential during the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, which was its largest engagement. Apart from intercepting intruding aircraft, People's Aviation was used heavily to repress domestic rebel movements.

The Mongolian People's Air Force has operated a variety of aircraft types and this was the inventory in WW2:

Trainer

Bomber and ground-attack aircraft

Fighter aircraft

Transport aircraft

Markings

The Mongolian People's Army Air Force roundel was a red star with a yellow Soyombo.[5]The top of the Soyombo in the Air Force marking is not a flame, but a yellow 5-pointed star and two eyes and center line are not yellow but black. The roundel for the Mongolian Arat Air Squadron was the Soviet red star

Inventory (1950-1990)

Name Origin Type Versions In service Notes
Fighter aircraft
Polikarpov I-15 Soviet Union Fighter I-15 1+[6]
Polikarpov I-16 I-16 1+[6]
Polikarpov Po-2 Mule U-2a 20[6]
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 Fagot MiG-15bis 48[6]
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 Fresco MiG-17F 36[6]
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 Fishbed MiG-21PFM/MF 30+12[7][6][8]
Bomber
Polikarpov R-Z Soviet Union Light Bomber R-Z unknown number
Transport aircraft
Boeing 727 United States of America Narrow-body jet airliner Boeing 727-200 unknown number
Tupolev Tu-104 Camel Soviet Union Transport aircraft Tu-104 2[9]
Tupolev Tu-154 Careless Tu-154B-2 unknown number
Ilyushin Il-2 Bark Il-2 Could be up to 72
Ilyushin Il-12 Coach Il-12
Ilyushin Il-14 Crate Il-14 6[9]
Antonov An-2 Colt An-2 30[9]
Antonov An-12 Cub An-12 15[9]
Antonov An-14 Clod An-14 2[9]
Antonov An-24 Coke An-24 22[9]
Antonov An-26 Curl An-26 4[9]
Antonov An-32 Cline An-32 1[9]
Harbin Y-12 China utility aircraft Y-12 5[9]
PZL-104 Wilga Poland Wilga-2 3[9]
Training aircraft
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 Fagot Soviet Union Transport aircraft MiG-15UTI 1[10]
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 Fresco MiG-17PF 8[10]
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 Fishbed MiG-21US unknown number
Yakovlev UT-2 Mink UT-2 1+[9]
Yakovlev Yak-6 Frank Yak-6 unknown number
Yakovlev Yak-9 Frank Yak-9U
Yakovlev Yak-11 Moose Yak-11 10[10]
Yakovlev Yak-12 Creek Yak-12 unknown number
Yakovlev Yak-18 Max Yak-18 10[10]
Attack Helicopter
Mil Mi-24 Hind Soviet Union Attack helicopter Mi-24D/V 10[9] Ground support/Anti tank
Transport Helicopter
Mil Mi-1 Hare Soviet Union Light helicopter Mi-1 5[9][11] Transport
Mil Mi-2 Hoplite Mi-2 1[9][12]
Mil Mi-4 Hound Mi-4A 5[9][13]
Mil Mi-8 Hip Mi-8T/MT 10[9][14]
Kamov Ka-26 Hoodlum Light utility Ka-26 unknown number
Mil Mi-17 Soviet Union utility Mi-17T/MT unknown number
SAM
S-75 Dvina Soviet Union Strategic SAM system S-75 Dvina 1 24 missiles
S-200 Angara/Vega/Dubna S-200 unknown number[15]
9K31 Strela-1 Vehicle-mounted SAM system 9K31 Strela-1
Strela-2 Man portable SAM launcher Strela-2 1250
Air Defence Artillery
ZPU-4 Soviet Union Anti-aircraft machine gun ZPU-4 unknown number[16][17]
ZU-23-2 Anti-Aircraft Twin Autocannon ZU-23-2
ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun ZSU-23-4
S-60 Autocannon 57 mm S-60
61-K Air defense gun 37 mm M1939

References

  1. ↑ Scramble.nl (2001). "Mongolian Air Force". Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  2. ↑ "Б.БАЯРМАГНАЙ: ЗЭВСЭГТ ХҮЧНИЙГ ГЭРЭЛТЭЙ, ГЭГЭЭТЭЙ ИРЭЭДҮЙ ХҮЛЭЭЖ БАЙНА". 2011-11-07. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
  3. ↑ Walg Air Enthusiast November/December 1996, pp. 18–19.
  4. ↑ Walg Air Enthusiast November/December 1996, pp. 19–20.
  5. ↑ Mongolia Air Force. globalsecurity.org. Retrieved on 2013-10-12.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 World Air Forces - Historical Listings Mongolia (MON) Archived 5 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine.. worldairforces.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-27.
  7. ↑ SIPRI
  8. ↑ "World Air Forces 2013 – Pictures & Photos on FlightGlobal Airspace." Flightglobal.com, 11 December 2012. Retrieved: 28 July 2013.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 World Air Forces - Historical Listings Mongolia (MON) Archived 5 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine.. worldairforces.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-27.
  10. 1 2 3 4 SIPRI
  11. ↑ "1971 Military Helicopter Market Pg. 579". flight. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  12. ↑ World Air Forces - Historical Listings Mongolia (MON) Archived 2012-09-05 at the Wayback Machine.. worldairforces.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-27.
  13. ↑ "Military Helicopter Market 1971 pg. 579". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  14. ↑ World Air Forces – Historical Listings Mongolia (MON) Archived 2012-09-05 at the Wayback Machine.. worldairforces.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-27.
  15. ↑ World Missile Directory, FLIGHT international, 1985
  16. ↑ "ZSU-23-4". Jane's Information Group. 2008-10-30. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
  17. ↑ "Image: p17rfqp4nd1o441a9p1b1h1eibjp429.JPG, (2128 × 1416 px)". ulaanbaatar.mn. Retrieved 2015-09-01.
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