In late 2016, 114 brTA finally emerged from
the shadow of the more prominent 40 brTA- its number of operational MiG-29s was
brought on par with that of 40 brTA (a full
squadron of single-seat MiG-29s) and it was
selected to host an important training event
for young MiG-29 pilots. Last July it was
named as the best aviation unit in the PS for
the first half of the year, an honour shared
with 831 brTA – the Su-27 unit at Myrhorod.
Restoring potential
In spring 2014, 114 brTA had just seven airworthy
MiG-29s plus two L-39C trainers. Although this
situation wasn’t ideal, it could have been worse,
considering the general levels of airworthiness
in the PS at that point. However, it was the final
Ukrainian unit to have operated the older MiG-
29 izdeliye 9.12 Fulcrum-A variant, the last of
this type still being active in 2008. The brigade
was handicapped by having so many stored 9.12
aircraft (a total of 17, or almost 50% of its storedaircraft), ranging from the earliest examples
built in 1983, to the newest built in 1986.
With most of its newer stored MiG-29 izdeliye
9.13 Fulcrum-C jets being judged unsuitable,
114 brTA technicians had managed to restore
just two to active service by April 2014 (‘04
White’ and ‘58 White’). Being the nearest
MiG-29 unit to the Lvivs’kyy Derzhavnyy
Aviatsiynyy Remontnyy Zavod (LDARZ, Lviv
State-owned Aircraft Repair Plant), in April
2014 it sent two additional stored 9.13 aircraft
(‘44 White’ and ‘59 White’) for overhaul.
Finally, 114 brTA also managed to contribute
to a flight of MiG-29s lent to 204 brTA - the
MiG-29 unit only recently evacuated from the
Crimean Peninsula (see Ukraine’s Superbase
Kul’bakino, June 2016, p36). More tangible
support from 114 brTA came at the end of
2014, when three of its aircraft – two 9.13s
and a two-seat MiG-29UB Fulcrum-B trainer -
transferred to 204 brTA straight after overhaul at
LDARZ; these jets became ‘41 Blue’, ‘43 Blue’A brief
history of
114 brTA
The unit was formed as
the 159 Istrebitel’nyy
Aviatsionnyy Polk
(IAP, fighter aviation
regiment) of the Soviet Air Force on September
24, 1940 at Grivochki air base near Dno
(Pskov region, in Russia). It was awarded the
honorary title ‘of Tallinn’ and the Order of the
Red Banner at the end of 1944 for exceptional
gallantry during combat on Estonian territory.
After World War Two, the 159 IAP operated
from various air bases throughout the USSR (in
Estonia and Ukraine), and in Hungary. It was
part of the Soviet invasion forces that occupied
Czechoslovakia in late August 1968, remaining
there until withdrawal in early 1991. The unit’s
numerical designator changed on November
25, 1972 and it became the 114 IAP.
When it relocated from Milovice air base to Ivano-
Frankivs’k in February 1991 it was in the process
of replacing its MiG-23s with new MiG-29s (the
latter operated by just one of its squadrons). To
speed things up, it took some of the MiG-29s
from the local 145 IAP that had disbanded in June- As the 145 IAP was one of the first units
to have received the MiG-29, some of its aircraft
were the earliest 9.12 variant (with ventral fins).
In January 1992, the servicemen of the unit swore
an oath of allegiance to Ukraine. In common with
other Ukrainian units, it went through many reforms
and organisational changes, until it became the
114 brTA on February 25, 2008. On June 5, 2009
it received the honorary title ‘of Ivano-Frankivs’k’
to denote its current location. Its full title is ‘114
Ivano-Frankivs’ka Tallinns’ka ordena Chervonogo
Prapora brihada taktichnoyi aviatsiyi’. The final
change came on November 18, 2015 – all the
honorary titles (including the one given to it in 2009
- no doubt due to clerical error!) were removed
as a result of the decommunisation process
in Ukraine, which outlawed all communist-era
symbols and awards. Today, the 114 brTA’s full
title is simply ‘114 brihada taktichnoyi aviatsiyi’ and
it’s also frequently referred to as ‘unit A1349’.
Below: Aircraft receive last-minute attention from ground crews on the military apron of Ivano-Frankivs’k
before the beginning of the day’s training fl ights. The 204 brTA contributed by lending some of its
instructor pilots and aircraft, including two-seat MiG-29UB ‘86 Blue’ (c/n 50903018194). Interestingly, it
originally served with 114 brTA as ‘10 White’.114 brTA
90 // JUNE 2018 #363regiment) of the Soviet Air Force on SeptemberAbove left: The unit’s current
offi cial emblem. Earlier
variants, with the ribbon of the
Order of the Red Banner around
the coat of arms of Ivano-
Frankivs’k (centre) and/or the
honorary title ‘Tallinns’ka’ (‘of
Tallinn’) below the ‘114’, also
exist. Vladimir Trendafilovski
Right: A trainee pilot taxies to
the runway in the single-seat
MiG-29 9.13 ‘04 White’ of 114
brTA, one of the two aircraft
restored to service in 2014.