, latin_name = , logo = Great emblem of the Zhukovsky – Gagarin Air Force Academy.svg , image =File:Military parade on Red Square 2016-05-09 010.jpg , caption = Cadets of the academy at the

2016 Moscow Victory Day Parade The 2016 Moscow Victory Day Parade was a military parade that took place in Red Square in Moscow on 9 May 2016 to commemorate the 71st anniversary of the capitulation of Nazi Germany in 1945. The annual parade marks the Allied victory in World Wa ...

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Military Academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...

for Aviation , endowment = , staff = , faculty = , president = , provost = , principal =Gennady Zibrov , rector = , chancellor = , vice_chancellor = , dean = , head_label = , head = , students = Future Russian Air Force officers , undergrad = , postgrad = , doctoral = , city =

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

and

Monino Monino (russian: Мо́нино) is an urban locality (a work settlement) in Shchyolkovsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located east of Moscow. Population: History Monino was founded in the Muninskaya Wasteland (russian: Мунинс ...

, Moscow Oblast , state = , country =

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, campus = , free_label = , free = , colors = , colours = , mascot = , nickname = , affiliations = , website = The Zhukovsky – Gagarin Air Force Academy is a Russian military institution of higher education run by the Ministry of Defence. The full name is Russian Air Force

Military Educational and Scientific Center A Military Educational and Scientific Center (MESC) (russian: Военный учебно-научный центр - ВУНЦ) is a type of military institution in the Russian Armed Forces. The institutions were established in the 2000s to amalg ...

Air Force Academy Professor N.E. Zhukovsky and Major Y.A. Gagarin.

History

Foundation

The Academy was established in 2008 after the merger of the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy and the Gagarin Air Force Academy by Government Resolution on March 7, 2008. The Gagarin Academy specialized in preparing high-ranking commanding officers, while the Zhukovsky Academy focused on aviation engineering. The number of military and civilian personnel in the new academy was limited to 4,614 and both campuses were retained (Zhukovsky in

and Gagarin in

, east of Moscow), but it was envisioned that the new Academy would fully relocate to Monino by the end of 2011. In 2008-2009, when the Ministry of Defence continued the process of consolidation of its training and research institutions, six other military schools were named affiliated (separate organizational units) entities and later subsidiaries of the academy: * (named after twice Hero of the Soviet Union, pilot-cosmonaut V. M. Komarov) * (named after Hero of the Soviet Union A. K. Serov) * Syzran Higher Military Aviation School * *

Chelyabinsk Red Banner Military Aviation Institute of Navigators The Chelyabinsk Military Aviation Institute of Navigators is a Russian Air Force school, located in Chelyabinsk Shagol Airport. The previous name's translation was the Chelyabinsk Higher Military Aviation Red Banner Navigation School named after ...

Yaroslavl Higher Military School of Anti-Aircraft Warfare Yaroslavl Higher Military School of Anti-Aircraft Warfare (russian: Ярославское высшее военное училище противовоздушной обороны) is Russian higher military school conducting commissioned offic ...

The total number of employees (military and civilian personnel) of the academy (with subsidiaries) was set at 37,481 people. The academy offered programs in a variety of fields: * Command and control of military units and formations * The study of natural resources by means of aerospace * Electronics and automation of physical facilities * Robotic systems of aircraft weapons * Technical maintenance of aircraft and engines * Technical maintenance of aircraft electrical systems and flight control and navigation systems * Technical maintenance of the mobile radio equipment * Metrology and metrological support * Means of electronic warfare * The software of computers and automated systems

Planned merger

Order of the Russian Minister of Defence on 12 July 2011, a decision was made to reform the academy. It directed to transfer within 45 days (until September 1, 2011), "the preparation of students from the Zhukovsky – Gagarin Air Force Academy (Moscow and Monino) to the Military Aviation Engineering University" located in

Voronezh Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on ...

. The same order liquidated subsidiaries of the academy in the cities of

Yeysk Yeysk (russian: Ейск) is a port and a resort town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated on the shore of the Taganrog Gulf of the Sea of Azov. The town is built primarily on the Yeysk Spit, which separates the Yeya River from the Sea of Azo ...

(

Krasnodar Krai Krasnodar Krai (russian: Краснода́рский край, r=Krasnodarsky kray, p=krəsnɐˈdarskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and administratively a part of ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

and

Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk ( rus, Челя́бинск, p=tɕɪˈlʲæbʲɪnsk, a=Ru-Chelyabinsk.ogg; ba, Силәбе, ''Siläbe'') is the administrative center and largest city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the seventh-largest city in Russia, with a ...

. De jure, the order has not eliminated Zhukovsky – Gagarin Air Force Academy. However, it happened de facto, since the educational activities were the main purpose of the academy, and the transfer of preparation of students to the Military Aviation Engineering University (Voronezh) in practice meant an end to the existence of the Zhukovsky – Gagarin Air Force Academy. The vast majority of the Zhukovsky – Gagarin Air Force Academy faculty did not move to Voronezh. More than fifteen hundred people were laid off in Monino. Order of the Ministry of Defence has caused fierce criticism from the scientific and pedagogical community of the academy. Exponent of this position is the head of the working group of the Academic Council of the academy Ivan Naidenov (Lieutenant General of aviation, retired, a former deputy chief of the Gagarin Academy for Education and Science, Doctor of Military Sciences, Professor, Honored Scientist of Russia, and earlier - Head of the Russian Air Force Research Center for the Command and Control Systems ( :ru:Научно-исследовательский центр систем управления ВВС) a part of the

30th Central Scientific Research Institute, Ministry of Defence (Russia) 30th Central Scientific Research Institute, Ministry of Defence () was a scientific research organization operated by the Ministry of Defence of Russia which was dedicated to leading a wide range of studies in support of enhancing the Russian Ai ...

. The need for reorganization of the Russian Air Force research and educational institutions has been realized at all levels of military establishment since the late 1980s. Options discussed included the reorganization and different forms of association of Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy and Gagarin Air Force Academy, and sometimes 30th Central Scientific Research Institute. The criteria for the effectiveness of the reforms were not only the reductions in personnel and budget, but also sustainment of the scientific and pedagogical potential of research and educational institutions. According to Ivan Naidenov, the reform of 2011 resulted in almost complete loss of the Zhukovsky – Gagarin Air Force Academy potential, and restoration of the lost positions in the Military Aviation Engineering University (Voronezh) will take at least 10 – 15 years. At the end of September 2011, when implementation of the Defence Ministry Order N 1136 was in full swing (academy equipment was transported to Voronezh, employees at the academy in Monino were laid off), Government Resolution of September 27, 2011 № 1639-r was issued. This resolution ordered the creation of Federal State Governmental military educational institution of higher education Zhukovsky – Gagarin Air Force Academy of the Defense Ministry "by changing the type of the existing" federal state of military educational institutions of higher education Zhukovsky – Gagarin Air Force Academy, while maintaining its main purpose of activity and total number of full-time employees. Moscow and Monino were assigned as the locations of the academy. At the time of this writing (February 2012), reliable sources of information on the implementation of the RF Government Resolution on September 27, 2011 № 1639-r were not available. This decree, while designating it as a ''Military Educational and Scientific Centre'', ended the planned merger between the two institutions, saving the academy for good.

Structure

Faculties and branches

*Command *Faculty of Aviation Support *Hydrometeorological Faculty *Faculty of Aerodrome Technical Support of Aviation *Faculty of Engineering and Airfield Support *Faculty of Unmanned Aircraft *Faculty of Electronic Warfare (and Information Security) *Faculty of Aircraft *Faculty of Aviation Arms *Faculty of Aviation Equipment *Faculty of Aviation Radioelectronic Equipment *Faculty of Radio Engineering *Faculty of Aviation Communications *Faculty of Retraining and Continuing Education *Special Faculty * Syzran Higher Military Aviation School (branch of the Academy) *

(branch of the Academy) **Navigator Training Faculty **Faculty of Combat Aviation and Air Traffic Control

Academy band

The history of the cadet band began in 1936, when the Chelyabinsk Higher Military Aviation School of Navigators was created. Major I. Vasilyev was its first director and laid the glorious traditions of performing art and musical culture. The band is a laureate of more than one competition of

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the ti ...

s of the

Volga-Ural Military District Idel-Ural ( tt-Cyrl, Идел-Урал, translit=Idel-Üral, russian: Идель-Урал), literally Volga-Ural, is a historical region in Eastern Europe, in what is today Russia. The name literally means ''Volga-Urals'' in the Tatar language. T ...

. As part of the consolidated band of the

Central Military District The Central Military District (Russian: Центральный военный округ) is a military district of Russia. It is one of the five military districts of the Russian Armed Forces, with its jurisdiction primarily within the ...

, as part of the festival of military bands, it is included in the Guinness Book of Records as a member of the largest orchestra performing the

FIFA Anthem The "FIFA Anthem" or "FIFA Hymn" is an instrumental song played at the beginning of FIFA-sponsored events, such as futsal and association football matches and tournaments (like international friendlies, the FIFA World Cup or any other association ...

. The band takes part in all the ceremonies and

military parades A military parade is a formation of soldiers whose movement is restricted by close-order manoeuvering known as drilling or marching. The military parade is now almost entirely ceremonial, though soldiers from time immemorial up until the lat ...

held in the city of

, dedicated to the Victory in the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sou ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhukovsky - Gagarin Air Force Academy Air force academies Military academies of Russia Military education and training in Russia Military academies of the Soviet Union Soviet Air Forces education and training