Creation of the army

One of the first actions of the new Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party authorities was the creation of a native communist army in 1921 under the leadership of adept cavalry commander Damdin Sükhbaatar in order to fight against Russian troops from the White movement and Chinese forces. The decision to create an army was made on 9 February 1921.^[1]

On 13 March 1921, four cavalry regiments were formed from partisan detachments.^[2] The MPRA was aided by the Red Army of the Russian SFSR, which helped to secure the Mongolian People's Republic and remained in its territory until at least 1925. A Military Council was formed soon after among the military leadership,^[3] while the General Staff was led by Soviet specialists.^[4]

In September 1923,^[5] on the outskirts of Urga, the first cavalry school and an artillery school were opened, and a year later, the publication of the army newspaper began.^[6] On October 16, 1925, Mongolia adopted a law on universal conscription, and in 1926, the creation of temporary detachments of the people's militia began.^[7]

1930s conflicts and WWII

Initially during the native revolts of the early 1930s and the Japanese border probes beginning in the mid-1930s, Soviet Red Army troops in Mongolia amounted to little more than instructors for the native army and as guards for diplomatic and trading installations. Domestically, it took part in the suppression of the 1932 armed uprising. It also involved in many border conflicts against Manchukuo and the Kwantung Army (one of the largest parts of the Imperial Japanese Army) and the Chinese National Revolutionary Army. The Imperial Japanese Army recorded 152 minor incidents on the border of Manchuria between 1932 and 1934. The number of incidents increased to over 150 per year in 1935 and 1936, and the scale of incidents became larger.

In January 1935, the first armed battle, Halhamiao incident (哈爾哈廟事件, Haruhabyō jiken) occurred on the border between Mongolia and Manchukuo.^[8] Scores of Mongolian cavalry units engaged with a Manchukuo army patrol unit near the Buddhist temple of Halhamiao. The Manchukuo Army incurred slight casualties, including a Japanese military advisor.

Between December 1935 and March 1936, the Orahodoga incident (オラホドガ事件, Orahodoga jiken)(ja) and the Tauran incident (タウラン事件, Tauran jiken) (ja) occurred. In these battles, both the Japanese and Mongolian Armies use a small number of armoured fighting vehicles and military aircraft.

In the 1939 Battles of Khalkhin Gol (or Nomonhan) heavily armed Red Army forces under Georgy Zhukov assisted by Mongolian troops under Khorloogiin Choibalsan decisively defeated Imperial Japanese Army forces under Michitarō Komatsubara. During a meeting with Joseph Stalin in Moscow in early 1944, Choibalsan requested military assistance to the MPRA for border protection.^[9] Units of Mongolian People's Army were also supported and allied with the Soviet Red Army on the western flank of the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in 1945. As part of the Cavalry mechanized group of the Transbaikal Front under General Issa Pliyev, Mongolian troops under General D. Lhagwasuren comprised the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th Cavalry Divisions, the 7th Motorized Armored Brigade, the 3rd Tank Regiment, and the 3rd Artillery Regiment.^[10]

• 
  Georgy Zhukov and Khorloogiin Choibalsan (left) consult during the Battle of Khalkhin Gol.
• 
  Mongolian cavalry in the Khalkhin Gol (1939).
• 
  Mongolian troops defend against a Japanese counterattack on the western beach of river the Khalkhin Gol, 1939.

Stalinist repressions against Mongolian People's Army

During the 18 months of violence, Monks who were not executed were forcibly conscripted into the MPA.^[11] At the same time, 187 persons from the military leadership were killed soon the orders of Marshal Choibalsan.^[12] The army stayed linked to Soviet Red Army intelligence groups and the NKVD.

Cold war era

During the Pei-ta-shan Incident, elite Qinghai Chinese Muslim cavalry were sent by the Chinese Kuomintang to destroy the Mongols and the Russians positions in 1947.^[13] The military of Mongolia's purpose was national defense, protection of local communist establishments, and collaboration with Soviet forces in future military actions against exterior enemies, up until the 1990 Democratic Revolution in Mongolia. In February 1957, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the MPRP passed a resolution on the establishment of a voluntary association to assist the People's Army.^[14] In 1961, the Defense and Labor Association was established by the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Mongolia.^[14] The first civil defense in the country was established in 1964 as the 122nd Civil Defense Battalion of the MPA.^[15] Moreover, all Mongolian citizens were obliged to participate in civil defense training organized by the Civil Defense Office of the Ministry of Defense.^[16]

In 1971–72, Mongolian forces were listed as two infantry divisions; 40 T-34 and 100 T-54/55 tanks; 10 SU-100 tank destroyers, BTRs, and Air Force of 1,000 men with no combat aircraft. The Air Force has transports, trainers, and 10 Mil Mi-1 and Mil Mi-4 helicopters.^[17][18]

Political indoctrination

The central Political Administration Unit was established in the army in 1921 to supervise the work of political commissars (Politruk) and party cells in all army units and to provide a political link with the Central Committee of the MPRP in the army. The unit served to raise morale and to prevent enemy political propaganda. Up to one third of army units were members of the party and others were in the Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League.

The Red Mongol Army received sixty percent of the government budget in early years and it was expanded from 2,560 men in 1923 to 4,000 in 1924 and to 7,000 in 1927. The native armed forces stayed linked to Soviet Red Army intelligence groups and NKVD, Mongolian secret police, and Buryat Mongol Comintern agents acted as administrators and represented the real power in the country albeit under direct Soviet guidance.

Training

By 1926 the government planned to train 10,000 conscripts annually and to increase the training period to six months. Chinese intelligence reports in 1927 indicated that between 40,000 and 50,000 reservists could be mustered at short notice. In 1929 a general mobilization was called to test the training and reserve system. The expected turnout was to have been 30,000 troops but only 2,000 men presented. This failure initiated serious reforms in recruiting and training systems.

Strength

In 1921–1927, the land forces, almost exclusively horsemen, numbered about 17,000 mounted troops and boasted more than 200 heavy machine guns, 50 mountain howitzers, 30 field guns, seven armored cars, and a maximum of up to 20 light tanks.

Basic units and motorization

The basic unit was the 2,000-man cavalry regiment consisting of three squadrons. Each 600-plus-man squadron was divided into five companies: a machine gun company, and an engineer unit. Cavalry regiments were organized into larger units--brigades or divisions—which included artillery and service support units. The chief advantage of this force was mobility over the great distances in Mongolia: small units were able to cover more than 160 km in 24 hours.

Mongolian People's Army reenactors in 2006.

Special troops of the Ground Forces

Mongolian People's Army Air Force

Roundel of the Mongolian People's Army Air Force

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.^[19] 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.^[20] 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.

Ground Forces (1950–1990)

Equipment	Origin	Versions	Number	Notes
Main Battle Tank/Medium Tank
SU-100	Soviet Union	Self-propelled gun	10[22]
T-34/85		Medium Tank	40[22]
T-54			250[22]
T-55			250[22]
T-62		Main Battle Tank	100[22]
Infantry Fighting Vehicle/Armored Personnel Carrier
BMP-1	Soviet Union	Infantry Fighting Vehicle	400[22]
BTR-40		Wheeled armoured personnel carrier	200[22]
BTR-60			50[22]
BTR-152
BRDM-1		Armored Personnel Carrier	150[22]
BRDM-2		Armored Personnel Carrier	120[22]
Multiple rocket launcher
BM-21 Grad	Soviet Union	122 mm Multiple rocket launcher	130[22]
Towed artillery
85 mm divisional gun D-44	Soviet Union	85 mm divisional gun	unknown number
122 mm gun M1931/37 (A-19)		122 mm towed gun	20[22]
152 mm howitzer M1943 (D-1)		152 mm field gun	unknown number
122 mm howitzer 2A18 (D-30)		122 mm howitzer	50[22]
122 mm howitzer M1938 (M-30)			100[22]
130 mm towed field gun M1954 (M-46)		130 mm towed field gun	unknown number
152 mm howitzer-gun M1937 (ML-20)		152 mm howitzer gun
Mortar
BM-37	Soviet Union	82 mm calibre mortar	unknown number
PM-43		120 mm calibre smoothbore mortar
M-160		160 mm Divisional mortar
Anti-tank gun
SPG-9	Soviet Union	73 mm anti-tank gun	unknown number
85 mm antitank gun D-48		85 mm anti-tank gun
100 mm field gun M1944 (BS-3)		100 mm field gun	25[22]
T-12 antitank gun		100 mm anti-tank gun	25[22]

Air Force (1950–1990)

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