The lapel badge given to veterans of the 1st Guards Tank Army
The 1st Guards Tank Army (Russian: 1-я гвардейская танковая Краснознамённая армия, romanized: 1-ya gvardeyskaya tankovaya Krasnoznamonnaya armiya) is a tank army of the Russian Ground Forces. в/ч 73621.[4]
The army traces its heritage back to the 1st Tank Army, formed twice in July 1942 and in January 1943 and converted into the 1st Guards Tank Army in January 1944. The army fought as part of the Red Army on the Eastern Front during World War II. The army was commanded throughout most of the war by Mikhail Katukov.
After the end of the Cold War and the resultant withdrawal of Soviet units in Germany, the army was relocated to Smolensk, and disbanded in 1999. The army was reformed in 2014 as part of Russia's military expansion. This reformed army fought in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where it was claimed to have suffered heavy casualties following its eventual retreats from the north and later Kharkiv.
The 1st Tank Army was first formed within the Stalingrad Front from the 38th Army in July 1942, under the command of Major General Kirill Moskalenko. The army was encircled and partially destroyed. It was disbanded as a result in August 1942, its headquarters becoming the Southeastern Front headquarters.[5]
The 1st Tank Army was formed a second time on 30 January 1943 (order No.46021) from the headquarters of the 29th Army, under the command of famous armoured troops commander Lieutenant General of Tank Troops Mikhail Katukov, personally appointed by Stalin. The army was transferred to the North-Western Front. The 3rd Mechanised Corps (later to become 8th Guards Mechanised Corps) and 6th Tank Corps (later to become 11th Guards Tank Corps) joined it on formation, and served with the army throughout the war.[6] It was quickly transferred to the Voronezh Front for the defense of the Kursk salient's southern shoulder, adding the newly formed 31st Tank Corps to its subordinate commands.
31st Tank Corps (Major General of Tank Forces D. Kh. Chernienko)[10]
100th Tank Brigade
237th Tank Brigade
242nd Tank Brigade
71st Engineer Battalion
267th Engineer Battalion
316th Guards Mortar Regiment*
8th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division
797th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment
848th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment
978th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment
1063rd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment
* Guards Mortar Regiment (or Battalion) (Russian: гвардейский минометный полк (дивизион)) was the overt designation used for Katyusha rocket launcher units.
399th Guards Heavy Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment
362nd Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment
1454th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment
350th Light Artillery Regiment
270th Guards Mortar Regiment *
53rd Guards Mortar Battalion *
1018th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment
9th Guards Motorcycle Battalion
Army Troops
64th Guards Tank Brigade
11th Guards Separate Tank Regiment
19th Light Self-Propelled Artillery Brigade
197th Light Artillery Brigade
79th Guards Mortar Regiment *
17th Motorised Engineer Brigade
191st Guards Liaison Aviation Regiment
6th Motorcycle Regiment
12th Guards Motorcycle Regiment
* Guards Mortar Regiment (or Battalion) (Russian: гвардейский минометный полк (дивизион)) was the overt designation used for Katyusha rocket launcher units.
In July 1992 the 336th Independent Helicopter Regiment returned from Germany to Oreshkovo airfield and was placed under the Moscow Military District. The regiment then came under 1st Guards Tank Army from 31 December 1992.[13]
It commands the 2nd Guards Motor Rifle and the 4th Tank Divisions, which are considered the elite formations of their respective combat arms. The most decorated divisions of the Soviet Army, they were garrisoned the closest to Moscow for the city's defense.[17] Due to their proximity to the capital, extra scrutiny was applied to personnel of these formations, making these postings especially prestigious. These units received the latest hardware and were thus known as the 'household' divisions of the Soviet Army. Their loyalty to the government was demonstrated by their involvement in the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt. The divisions retained their elite status within the Russian Army. The army also included the 27th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade. While the 4th Guards Tank Division uses T-80 tanks, the rest of the Army uses T-72B and T-90 tanks, and Kurganets-25 fighting vehicles.[17]
During the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis, elements of the 1st Guards Tank Army were reported to have forward deployed to the Pogonovo training ground south of Voronezh. Main battle tanks, self-propelled and towed artillery, and long-range multiple rocket launchers (MRLs), reportedly drawn from the 4th Guards Tank Division and the 2nd Motorised Rifle Division, were reported to have been positioned in the vicinity of Voronezh.[25] A few months before the invasion, the 47th Guards Tank Division was formed from the 6th Separate Guards Tank Brigade.[26][27]
Ukraine reported in May 2022 that the Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate had obtained documents showing that after 3 weeks of fighting the 1st Guards Tank Army had sustained 409 casualties (61 KIA, 209 WIA, 44 missing, 96 surrendered), and 308 units of military equipment had been seized.[35]
The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence reported on 19 May 2022 that army commander General-Lieutenant Sergey Kisel had been suspended for his failure to capture Kharkiv.[36] Kisel was transferred to serve as chief of staff of the Russian troops in Syria.[37] On 13 September 2022, UK Defence Intelligence identified 1st Guards Tank Army as the primary force that retreated from Kharkiv Oblast during the Ukrainian Kharkiv counteroffensive. Having suffered "heavy casualties", the Ministry claimed that the army as "severely degraded" and its ability to counter NATO "severely weakened."[38] By December, the UK MoD reported that the Army had been replenished with recruits, and was active on the Luhansk Oblast front.[39]
^ abGlantz, David M. (2005). Companion to Colossus Reborn: Key Document and Statistics. Lawrence: University press of Kansas. p. 65. ISBN0-7006-1359-5.
^Military personnel of the Soviet Armed Forces, assigned to service in a guards unitsorformations, added to the particular rank designation the wording Guard …, e.g. Guard Lieutenant General. This tradition is continued in the Russian Federation.
Bonn, K.E. 'Slaughterhouse – The Handbook of the Eastern Front', Aberjona Press, 2005
Duncan, Andrew 'Russian Forces in Decline – Part 3', Jane's Intelligence Review, November 1996.
V.I. Feskov, Golikov V.I., K.A. Kalashnikov, and S.A. Slugin, The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II, from the Red Army to the Soviet (Part 1: Land Forces). (В.И. Слугин С.А. Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской (часть 1: Сухопутные войска)) Tomsk, 2013.
Glantz, David M. 'Companion to Colossus Reborn' University Press of Kansas, 2005.
Soviet Union (1942–1991)
Russia (1991–1999, 2014–present
Russian Ground Forces
Guards
Armies of the Russian Armed Forces
