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Russian Aerospace Forces 
Summary
| Russian Aerospace Forces | |
|---|---|
| Воздушно-космические силы Vozdushno-kosmicheskiye sily | |
 Emblem of the Russian Aerospace Forces | |
| Founded | 1 August 2015 |
| Country |  Russia |
| Type | Air and Space force |
| Role | Air and Space warfare |
| Size | 165,000 personnel (2020)[1] |
| Part of |  Russian Armed Forces |
| Headquarters | Moscow |
| Patron | Saint Elijah the Prophet[2] |
| Colors | Blue, Gold, Gray |
| March | "Air March" (Russian: "Авиамарш") (official march past of the Air Force) "14 Minutes Until Launch" (Russian: "14 минут до старта") (official march of the Space Forces) |
| Anniversaries | Air Force Day (12 August) |
| Engagements | Intervention in the Syrian Civil War |
| Commanders | |
| Commander-in-Chief |  Col. Gen. Sergei Surovikin |
| First Deputy Commander-in-Chief | Lt. Gen. Viktor Afzalov |
| Deputy Commander-in-Chief | Lt. Gen. Andrey Yudin |
| Notable commanders | Col. Gen. Viktor Bondarev |
| Insignia | |
| Flag |  |
| Roundel |  |
| Patch |  |
| Middle emblem |  |
| Insignia |  |
| Russian Federation Armed Forces |
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| Staff |
| Services (vid) |
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| Independent troops (rod) |
| Special operations force (sof) |
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| Other troops |
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| Military districts |
| History of the Russian military |
Russian Aerospace Forces
Special Operations Forces
Logistical Support
President Putin presenting the banner of the Aerospace Forces to Viktor Bondarev
The Russian Aerospace Forces[3] or VKS (Russian: Воздушно-космические силы, tr. Vozdushno-kosmicheskiye sily) are the aerospace forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It was established as a new branch on 1 August 2015 with the merging of the Russian Air Force (VVS) and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces (VVKO) under the recommendations of the Ministry of Defence. It is headquartered in Moscow.[4] Several reasons were announced for the merging, including greater efficiency and logistical support.[5]
Organisation
Sub-branches
According to Jane's Information Group, with the merging of the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defense Forces, the new Russian Aerospace Forces consist of three sub-branches:[6]
- Air Force
- Air and Missile Defence Forces[7]
- Space Forces
| Command Staff | ||
|---|---|---|
| Commander-in-Chief Aerospace Forces (Главнокомандующий Воздушно-космическими силами) |
Colonel general | |
| Chief of the Main Staff - First Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces (Начальник Главного штаба — первый заместитель Главнокомандующего Воздушно-космическими силами) |
Colonel general / Lieutenant general | |
| Deputy Commander-in-Chief Aerospace Forces (Заместитель Главнокомандующего Воздушно-космическими силами) |
Colonel general / Lieutenant general | |
| Chiefs of branches, deputy commanders: | ||
| Commander of the Air Force, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Aerospace Forces
(Командующий Военно-воздушными силами — заместитель Главнокомандующего Воздушно-космическими силами) |
Commander of the Aerospace and Missile Defense Forces, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Aerospace Forces
(Командующий Войсками противовоздушной и противоракетной обороны — заместитель Главнокомандующего Воздушно-космическими силами) |
Commander of the Space Forces, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Aerospace Forces
(Командующий Космическими войсками — заместитель Главнокомандующего Воздушно-космическими силами) |
| Functional deputy commanders: | ||
| Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Aerospace Forces for Military-Political Work (Заместитель Главнокомандующего Воздушно-космическими силами по военно-политической работе) | Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Aerospace Forces for Logistics (Заместитель Главнокомандующего Воздушно-космическими силами по материально-техническому обеспечению) | Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Aerospace Forces for Armaments (Заместитель Главнокомандующего Воздушно-космическими силами по вооружению) |
Leadership
| Position | Name | Start date | End date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commander of the Aerospace Forces | Colonel General Viktor Bondarev | 1 August 2015 | 26 September 2017 |
| Lieutenant General Pavel Kurachenko (acting) | 26 September | 22 November 2017 | |
| Colonel General Sergei Surovikin | 22 November 2017 | ||
| First Deputy Commander of the Aerospace Forces (Chief of the General Staff) |
Lieutenant General Pavel Kurachenko | 1 September 2015 | unknown[6] |
| Lieutenant General Viktor Afzalov | unknown | ||
| Deputy Commanders of the Aerospace Forces | |||
| Commander of the Air Force | Lieutenant General Andrei Yudin | 1 September 2015 | c. July 2019 |
| Lieutenant General Sergei Dronov | c. July 2019 | ||
| Commander of the Aerospace and Missile Defense Forces | Lieutenant General Viktor Gumyonny | 1 September 2015 | 2018 |
| Lieutenant General Yury Grekhov | 2018 | ||
| Commander of the Space Forces | Colonel General Aleksandr Golovko | 1 September 2015[6] | |
| Deputy Commander for Work with Personnel | Major General Andrei Kazakevich | unknown | unknown |
| Major General Aleksandr Maksimtsev | 2019 | ||
| Deputy Commander for Logistics | Lieutenant General Vladimir Trishunkin | unknown | unknown |
| Major General Zabit Kheirbekov | unknown | ||
| Deputy Commander for Armaments | Colonel Andrei Medvedkov | unknown | unknown |
| Major General Sergei Meshcheryakov | unknown | ||
Order of Battle
The Aerospace Forces are organised in air armies.
Air Forces High Command (Главное командование ВВС) (Moscow)
- Units directly subordinated to the High Command (Части центрального подчинения ВВС)
- operationally subordinated to the High Command:
- Military Transport Aviation Command (Командование военно-транспортной авиации) (Moscow)
- Long-Range Aviation Command (Командование дальней авиации) (Moscow)
- operationally subordinated to the Western Military District:
- 6th Leningrad Red Banner Army of Air Forces and Air Defence (6-я Ленинградская Краснознамённая армия ВВС и ПВО) (Saint Petersburg)
- operationally subordinated to the Southern Military District:
- 4th Red Banner Army of Air Forces and Air Defence (4-я Краснознамённая армия ВВС и ПВО) (Rostov-on-Don)
- operationally subordinated to the Central Military District:
- 14th Red Banner Army of Air Forces and Air Defence (14-я Краснознамённая армия ВВС и ПВО) (Yekaterinburg)
- operationally subordinated to the Eastern Military District:
- 11th Red Banner Army of Air Forces and Air Defence (11-я Краснознамённая армия ВВС и ПВО) (Khabarovsk)
- operationally subordinated to the Northern Fleet Joint Strategic Command:
- 45th Army of Air Forces and Air Defence (45-я Армия ВВС и ПВО) (Severomorsk-2) - uniquely the aviation units of the 45th Army belong administratively to the Naval Aviation and the ground-based missile air defence units belong to the Air Forces air defence branch.
Air Defence and Anti-Ballistic Missile Defence Forces Command (Командование войск ПВО-ПРО) (Moscow)
- 1st Order of Lenin Air Defence and Anti-Ballistic Missile Defence Army (Special Purpose) (1-я ордена Ленина армия противовоздушной и противоракетной обороны (особого назначения)) (Balashikha, Moscow Oblast) - air cover of the Moscow area
- 4th Air Defence Division "Hero of the Soviet Union Lt.-Gen. B. P. Kirpikov" (4-я дивизия ПВО имени Героя Советского Союза генерал-лейтенанта Б.П. Кирпикова) (Dolgoprudny, Moscow Oblast) (armed with the S-300PM/PS and the S-400 missile systems)
- 5th Air Defence Division (5-я дивизия ПВО) (Petrovskoe, Moscow Oblast) (armed with the S-300PM and the S-400 missile systems)
- 9th Anti-Ballistic Missile Defence Division (9-я дивизия ПРО) (Sofrino, Moscow Oblast) (armed with the A-135 anti-ballistic missile system)
Space Forces Command (Командование космических войск) (Krasnoznamensk)
- 15th Aerospace Forces Army (Special Purpose) (15-я армия Воздушно-космических сил (особого назначения)) (Krasnoznamensk)
- 1st State Test Cosmodrome of the Russian Federation Ministry of Defence "Plesetsk" (1-й Государственный испытательный космодром Министерства обороны Российской Федерации «Плесецк»)
- Space Forces Arsenal (Арсенал космических войск) (Znamenka-1 village, Tambov Oblast)
Ranks and rank insignia
- Officer ranks
| Equivalent NATO code |
OF-10 | OF-9 | OF-8 | OF-7 | OF-6 | OF-5 | OF-4 | OF-3 | OF-2 | OF-1 | OF(D) and student officer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Russian Aerospace Forces |
No equivalent | 
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| Army general генера́л а́рмии |
Colonel general генера́л-полко́вник |
Lieutenant general генера́л-лейтена́нт |
Major general генера́л-майо́р |
Colonel полко́вник |
Lieutenant colonel подполко́вник |
Major майо́р |
Captain капита́н |
Senior lieutenant ста́рший лейтена́нт |
Lieutenant лейтена́нт |
Junior lieutenant мла́дший лейтена́нт |
Cadet Курсант | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Other ranks
| Equivalent NATO code |
OF-10 | OF-9 | OF-8 | OF-7 | OF-6 | OF-5 | OF-4 | OF-3 | OF-2 | OF-1 | OF(D) and student officer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Russian Aerospace Forces |
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| Senior warrant officer Ста́рший пра́порщик |
Warrant officer Пра́порщик |
Master sergeant Старшина́ |
Senior sergeant Ста́рший сержа́нт |
Sergeant Сержа́нт |
Junior sergeant Мла́дший сержа́нт |
Corporal Ефре́йтор |
Private Рядово́й | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
See also
References
- ^ https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/IF11603.pdf
- ^ Main Cathedral of Russian Armed Forces. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
- ^ "Russia establishes Aerospace Forces as new armed service — Defense Minister". Archived from the original on 2017-03-21. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
- ^ Шойгу объявил о создании нового вида ВС - Воздушно-космических сил Archived 2015-08-05 at the Wayback Machine, ria.ru/defense, 3 August 2015
- ^ Russia establishes Aerospace Forces as new armed service — Defense Minister, tass.ru, 3 August 2015
- ^ a b c Russia creates new Aerospace Force service branch Archived 2015-12-27 at the Wayback Machine, janes.com, 4 August 2015
- ^ "Air and Missile Defence Forces". Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation. Archived from the original on 2018-07-23. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Russian Aerospace Forces. |
- Russian Aerospace Forces official site (English)
