Russian Aerospace Forces

The Russian Aerospace Forces (Russian: VKS)^[2] or Russian Air and Space Forces^{[3][lower-alpha 1]} comprise the aerial, space warfare, and missile defence branches of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It was established on 1 August 2015 with the merging of the Russian Air Force (VVS) and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces (VVKO), as recommended by the Ministry of Defence to improve efficiency and logistical support.^[4] The VKS is headquartered in Moscow.^[5]

Russian Aerospace Forces
Воздушно-космические силы
Emblem of the Russian Aerospace Forces
Founded	1 August 2015; 9 years ago (2015-08-01)
Country	Russia
Type	Air and space force
Role	Aerial warfare Space warfare Missile defense
Size	165,000 personnel (2020)[1]
Part of	Russian Armed Forces
Headquarters	Arbat District, Moscow
Colors	Light Blue   Dark Blue   Gold   Silver
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 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Website	Official website
Commanders
Current commander	Colonel General Viktor Afzalov
Deputy Commander-in-Chief	Colonel General Sergey Dronov
Notable commanders	Colonel General Viktor Bondarev
Insignia
Flag
Roundel
Patch
Middle emblem
Insignia

President Putin presenting the banner of the Aerospace Forces to Viktor Bondarev

Organisation

Branches

With the merging of the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defense Forces, the Russian Aerospace Forces is a unified command consisting of the following branches:^[6][7]

• Air Force
• Air and Missile Defense Forces
• Space Forces

Main Command of the Aerospace Forces (Главное командование Воздушно-космическими силами)

Command Staff
Commander-in-Chief Aerospace Forces (Главнокомандующий Воздушно-космическими силами)		Army general / 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) Colonel general / Lieutenant general	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) Colonel general / Lieutenant general	Commander of the Space Forces, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Aerospace Forces (Командующий Космическими войсками — заместитель Главнокомандующего Воздушно-космическими силами) Colonel general / Lieutenant general
Functional deputy commanders:
Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Aerospace Forces for Military-Political Work (Заместитель Главнокомандующего Воздушно-космическими силами по военно-политической работе) Major general	Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Aerospace Forces for Logistics (Заместитель Главнокомандующего Воздушно-космическими силами по материально-техническому обеспечению) Major general	Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Aerospace Forces for Armaments (Заместитель Главнокомандующего Воздушно-космическими силами по вооружению) Major general

Leadership

As of October 2022:

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 2017	22 November 2017
	Army 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 Commander of the Aerospace Forces	Lieutenant General Sergey Dronov	1 August 2015	2019
	Lieutenant General Andrey Yudin	2019	2021?
	Lieutenant General Andrey Dyomin[8]	2021
Deputy Commanders of the Aerospace Forces
Commander of the Air Force	Colonel General Andrey Yudin	1 September 2015	c. July 2019
	Lieutenant General Sergey 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	2021
	Lieutenant General Andrey Dyomin	2021
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
	Lieutenant General Aleksandr Maksimtsev	2019
Deputy Commander for Logistics	Lieutenant General Vladimir Trishunkin	unknown	unknown
	Lieutenant General Zabit Kheirbekov	unknown
Deputy Commander for Armaments	Colonel Andrei Medvedkov	unknown	unknown
	Major General Sergei Meshcheryakov	unknown	2021
	Colonel General Yury Grekhov	2021

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 Air and Air Defence Forces Army (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 and AntiRocket 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, Moscow Oblast)

• 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

Main article: Aerospace Forces ranks and insignia of the Russian Federation

Officer ranks

Rank group	General / flag officers										Senior officers						Junior officers
Russian Aerospace Forces[9] v t e
			Генера́л а́рмии Generál ármii		Генера́л-полко́вник Generál-polkóvnik		Генера́л-лейтена́нт Generál-leytenánt		Генера́л-майо́р Generál-mayór		Полко́вник Polkóvnik		Подполко́вник Podpolkóvnik		Майо́р Majór		Kапита́н Kapitán		Старший лейтена́нт Stárshiy leytenánt		Лейтенант Leytenant		Mла́дший лейтена́нт Mládshiy leytenánt

Other ranks

Rank group	General / flag officers										Senior officers						Junior officers
Russian Aerospace Forces[9] v t e
	Ста́рший пра́порщик Stárshiy práporshchik			Пра́порщик Práporshchyk			Старшина́ Starshyná		Ста́рший сержа́нт Stárshiy serzhánt		Сержа́нт Serzhánt						Мла́дший сержа́нт Mládshiy serzhánt						Ефре́йтор Efréĭtor				Рядово́й Ryadovóy

See also

• Russian Naval Aviation
• Strategic Missile Forces
• United States Department of the Air Force
  • United States Air Force
  • United States Space Force

Notes

1. Russian: Воздушно-космические силы, ВКС, romanized: Vozdushno-kosmicheskiye sily, VKS

References

1. "Russian Armed Forces: Military Modernization and Reforms" (PDF). Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service. 20 July 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
2. "Russia establishes Aerospace Forces as new armed service — Defense Minister". Archived from the original on 2017-03-21. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
3. "6 Dead in Fire at Russian Aerospace Defense Research Institute – State Media". The Moscow Times. 21 April 2022.
4. Compare: Russia establishes Aerospace Forces as new armed service — Defense Minister Archived 2016-05-13 at the Wayback Machine, tass.ru, 3 August 2015. - "'The formation of the Aerospace Forces by combining the Air Force and the Aerospace Defense Force is the optimal option for improving the system of the country's aerospace defense,' Shoigu said. [...] 'Now the single command unites aviation, air defense and anti-missile defense troops, space forces and means of the armed forces' [...]."
5. Шойгу объявил о создании нового вида ВС - Воздушно-космических сил Archived 2015-08-05 at the Wayback Machine, ria.ru/defense, 3 August 2015
6. Russia creates new Aerospace Force service branch Archived 2015-12-27 at the Wayback Machine, janes.com, 4 August 2015
7. "Воздушно-космические силы". structure.mil.ru. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
8. "Демин Андрей Геннадьевич". structure.mil.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2023-07-26.
9. "Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 11 марта 2010 года № 293 "О военной форме одежды, знаках различия военнослужащих и ведомственных знаках отличия"". rg.ru (in Russian). Российской газеты. 12 March 2010. Retrieved 26 May 2021.

External links

• Russian Aerospace Forces official site (English)