The Zhukovsky – Gagarin Air Force Academy is a Russian military institution of higher education run by the

Russian Aerospace Forces The Russian Aerospace Forces or Russian Air and Space Forces (VKS) comprise the air force, aerial, space force, space warfare, and Missile defense, missile defence Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It was ...

. The full name is Russian Air Force Military Educational and Scientific Center Air Force Academy Professor N.E. Zhukovsky and Major Y.A. Gagarin based in

Voronezh Voronezh ( ; , ) 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 Southeastern Railway, which connects wes ...

Voronezh Oblast Voronezh Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Voronezh. Its population was 2,308,792 as of the Russian Census (2021), 20 ...

in southern

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

History

Roots

The ancestor of the current academy is considered to be the Military Aerodrome Technical School of the Air Force in Stalingrad, the decision to open which was made at the end of 1948 by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR, and the opening took place on January 1, 1950. In 1954, the school was relocated to the city of Michurinsk, Tambov Region (Voronezh Military District). In 1963, the educational institution was renamed the Michurinsk Military Aviation Technical School, and a few months later it moved to Voronezh and received a new name, Voronezh Military Aviation Technical School. In 1998, the school was transformed into the Voronezh Military Aviation Engineering Institute, and five years later it received a new name - the Voronezh Higher Military Aviation Engineering School (Military Institute). In August 2006, the Voronezh Higher Military Engineering School of Radio Electronics () was incorporated to the school.

Zhukovsky - Gagarin Academy in Moscow

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

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and Gagarin in

Monino Monino () 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 () on August 23, 1792. The name "Monino" or "M ...

, 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 * Yaroslavl Higher Military School of Anti-Aircraft Warfare 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

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

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

Yeysk Yeysk () 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 Azov. Population: ...

(

Krasnodar Krai Krasnodar Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and is administratively a part of the Southern Federal District. Its administrative center is the t ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and

Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk; , is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, seventh-largest city in Russia, with a population ...

. 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 №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. In 2010, the Federal State Research and Testing Center for Electronic Warfare and Evaluation of the Efficiency of Visibility Reduction was attached to the University. On September 1, 2011, by order of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the university received the training of trained officers of the operational-tactical level from the Air Force Academy named after Professor Zhukovsky and Gagarin. On February 21, 2020, the Russian Minister of Defense, General of the Army

Sergey Shoygu Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu; , . (born 21 May 1955) is a Russian politician and military officer who has served as Secretary of the Security Council of Russia, secretary of the Security Council of Russia, Security Council since 2024. He served ...

, presented the Academy with the

Order of Zhukov The Order of Zhukov () is a military decoration of the Russian Federation. The order is named in honour of Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov (1896–1974). History The Order of Zhukov was established by Presidential Decree 930 of May ...

for merits in strengthening the country's defense capability and training qualified military personnel.

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) * Chelyabinsk Red Banner Military Aviation Institute of Navigators (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 instrument, wind and percussion instruments. The conducting, conductor of a ...

s of the Volga-Ural Military District. As part of the consolidated band of the

Central Military District The Order of the Red Banner Central Military District () is a Military districts of Russia, military district of Russia. It is one of the five military districts of the Russian Armed Forces, with its jurisdiction primarily within the centr ...

, as part of the festival of military bands, it is included in the

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

as a member of the largest orchestra performing the FIFA Anthem. The band takes part in all the ceremonies and

military parades A military parade is a formation of military personnels whose movement is restricted by close-order manoeuvering known as drilling or marching. Large military parades are today held on major holidays and military events around the world. Mass ...

held in the city of

, dedicated to the Victory in the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...

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