 | This article needs to be updated. (November 2010) |
| Moscow District of the Air Force and Air Defence Force Special Purpose Command | |
|---|---|
 Lineup of servicemen of the 4th Division of PVO, 9 April 2014 | |
| Active | c. 1945 – present Special Purpose Command: 2002 – July 1, 2009[1] |
| Country |  Soviet Union Russia |
| Branch |  Soviet Air Force Russian Air Force |
| Size | World War II: several air divisions Today: ~ 10+ air defence missile regiments |
| Part of | Russian Air Force |
| Garrison/HQ | Moscow |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Marshal Anatoly Konstantinov (dismissed 1988) |
The Special Purpose Command (Komandovaniye Spetsialnogo Naznacheniya) was a formation of the Russian Air Force, the strongest among the tactical aviation and anti-aircraft groupings. Its zone of responsibility amounted to 1.3 million km2, taking in 40 million people, as well as the country's capital, Moscow. On July 1, 2009 it was superseded by the Operational-Strategic Command for Air-Space Defence (ru:Объединённое стратегическое командование воздушно-космической обороны).[1]
As a result of the air force reforms implemented on June 1, 1998, the Moscow Air Defence District of the PVO and the 16th Air Army of the VVS became a single entity, the Moscow District of the Air Force and Air Defense. According to Krasnaya Zvezda of 16 December 2002, the former Moscow District of the VVS and PVO was reorganised as the Special Purpose Command in September 2002.[2] Interfax says the Moscow District was split into the reactivated 16th Air Army, a tactical force, and the Central Air Defence Zone, an air defense force.[3]
Pyotr Butowski, writing in 2004, seems to indicate that the Special Purpose Command (he makes no mention of ‘the Central Air Defence Zone’) is merely essentially a redesignation of the former Moscow District. The rearrangement of the Moscow District of the VVS and PVO into the Special Purpose Command is apparently connected with plans in the long term for the military-space defense of the central industrial region.
The initial commanding officer of the KSpN was General Lieutenant Yuri Solovyov, later promoted to Colonel-General.
- ^ a b "Одна голова лучше".
- ^ Olga Bozhyeva, 'New special command replaces Moscow Air Force and Air Defence District, Krasnaya Zvezda, 16 December 2002.
- ^ See also Interfax, 5 January 2002