5th Corps of Air Force and Air Defense

The 5th Corps of Air Force and Air Defense (Serbo-Croatian: 5. korpus ratnog vazduhoplovstva i protivvazdušne odbrane/ 5. корпус ратног ваздухопловства и противваздушне одбране) was a joint unit of Yugoslav Air Force established in 1964 as 5th Aviation Corps (Serbo-Croatian: 5. vazduhoplovni korpus / 5. ваздухопловни корпус).

5th Corps of Air Force and Air Defense
5. korpus ratnog vazduhoplovstva i protivvazdušne odbrane
Active1964–1992
Disbanded1992
Country Yugoslavia
BranchYugoslav Air Force
TypeCorps
Size5 regiments
HQZagreb

History

5th Aviation Corps

The 5th Aviation Corps was formed by order from May 8, 1964, due to the "Drvar 2" reorganization plan of the Yugoslav Air Force. It was created by transformation of 5th Air Command and its consolidation with units from 9th Air Command. It consisted of all aviation units from western part of Yugoslavia at military airports Pleso, Lučko, Cerklje, Bihać, Pula and Zemunik.

By order from February, 1986, it was renamed as the 5th Corps of Air Force and Air Defense.

In this period commanders of 5th Aviation Corps were Viktor Bubanj, Enver Čemalović, Radoje Ljubičić, Slobodan Alagić, Anton Tus, Čedomir Kovačević, Nikola Benić and Đorđije Zvicer.[1]

5th Corps of Air Force and Air Defense

The 5th Corps of Air Force and Air Defense was for me in February 1986, by order to organize three corps of Air Force and Air Defense. The corps area of responsibility was of northwest Yugoslavia.

Units of 5th Corps of Air Force and Air Defense have participated in combat operations since end of June 1991. During the combats, in September 1991 command of corps has been dislocated to Bihać Air Base. Due to the withdrawal of Yugoslav People's Army units from hostile territory of Slovenia and Croatia, the area of responsibility has been reduced and some military airports, barracks and bases have been abandoned.

The units of 5th Corps have been intensively engaged in combat due they were located at the territory affected by wars in Slovenia, Croatia and later in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is notable that units of 5th Corps had only Yugoslav Air Force air-to-air victory and that four pilots of Croatian nationality have defected with their MiG-21 fighters.

There was plan to reorganized corps in to 2nd Corps of Air Force and Air Defense from units that have been withdrawn to territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina and but that plan was never realized.

By May 12, 1992, the 5th Corps of Air Force and Air Defense has been disbanded. It was planned to withdraw all units and equipment from territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Serbia and Montenegro. Some units consisting mostly of Bosnian Serbs refused that order forming the new Republika Srpska Air Force.

In this period commanders of 5th Corps of Air Force and Air Defense were Zvonko Jurjević, Živan Mirčetić, Marjan Rožić and Ljubomir Bajić.[2]

Assignments

Previous designations
  • 5th Aviation Corps (1964-1986)
  • 5th Corps of Air Force and Air Defense (1986-1992)

Organization

1964-1966

1966-1968

1968-1978

1978-1986

1986-199

Headquarters

Commanding officers
Date appointed Name
1964-1970 Viktor Bubanj
1970-1972 Enver Čemalović
1972- Radoje Ljubičić
Slobodan Alagić
-1981 Anton Tus
1981-1983 Čedomir Kovačević
1983-1985 Nikola Benić
1985-1986 Đorđije Zvicer
1986-1987 Zvonko Jurjević
1987-1990 Živan Mirčetić
1990-1991 Marjan Rožić
1991-1992 Ljubomir Bajić

References
  1. Dimitrijević, Bojan. Jugoslovensko Ratno Vazduhoplovstvo 1942-1992. Beograd, 2006, p. 352.
  2. Dimitrijević, Bojan. Jugoslovensko Ratno Vazduhoplovstvo 1942-1992. Beograd, 2006, p. 352.
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