Alexander Alexandrovich Novikov (; – 3 December 1976) was the chief marshal of aviation for the

Soviet Air Forces The Soviet Air Forces (, VVS SSSR; literally "Military Air Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; initialism VVS, sometimes referred to as the "Red Air Force") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Sovie ...

during the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

's involvement in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Lauded as "the man who has piloted the Red Air Force through the dark days into the present limelight", and a "master of tactical air power", he was twice given the title of

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...

as well as a number of other Soviet decorations. A gifted air force commander and one of the leading men of the Soviet armed forces, Novikov was involved in nearly all exploits of the air force during the war and was at the forefront of developments in command and control and of air combat techniques.''Chief Marshal of Aviation AA. Novikov – His 100th Birthday''
retrieved August 31, 2007 After the war, Novikov was arrested by order of the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

, and was forced by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

chief,

Lavrentiy Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria ka, ლავრენტი პავლეს ძე ბერია} ''Lavrenti Pavles dze Beria'' ( – 23 December 1953) was a Soviet politician and one of the longest-serving and most influential of Joseph ...

, into a "confession" that implicated Marshal

Georgy Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov ( 189618 June 1974) was a Soviet military leader who served as a top commander during World War II and achieved the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. During World War II, Zhukov served as deputy commander-in-ch ...

in a conspiracy. Novikov was then imprisoned until the death of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

in 1953, whereupon he became an avionics teacher and writer until his death.

Early life and career

Novikov was born in Kryukovo, a village in Nerekhta, in

Kostroma Oblast Kostroma 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 Kostroma and its population as of the Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census i ...

. In 1919 he became an infantryman in the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

, and in 1920 became a party member.Parrish p. 270 He served in the 384th regiment of the Russian 7th Army, helped put down the Kronstadt uprising in March 1921, and he served as a platoon commander during anti-guerrilla fighting in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

in 1922. Having graduated from the M. V. Frunze Military Academy in 1930, Novikov moved to the air force in 1933,MacCauley and served as chief of operations until 1935, when he took command of a light bomber squadron. Novikov was expelled from the party and the armed forces in 1937; however, he was re-admitted by the Commissioner of the

Byelorussian Military District The Byelorussian Military District (; alternatively Belarusian; ) was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces. Originally formed just before World War I as the Minsk Military District out of the remnants of the Vilno Military District an ...

, A. I. Mezis, who was in turn arrested. Novikov served as chief of the air force staff of the

Leningrad Military District The Order of Lenin Leningrad Military District () is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The district was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1968. In 2010, it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern ...

prior to serving in the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

during 1939 and 1940. For his service in the conflict he was promoted to major general and earned the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

. He continued to command the

Air Forces of the Leningrad Military District An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

until the outbreak of World War II.

World War II

During the early setbacks of the Russian army at the hand of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

, Novikov and the Leningrad air forces took part in a number of strikes against the advancing German armies, including the first Soviet air operation of the war, from 25 to 30 June 1941, which cost the Germans 130 aircraft. During this time, Novikov was noted for his skill in command and for his innovation, particularly the then unknown use of radio to coordinate bomber flights. In July 1941, Novikov expanded his command from Leningrad to include air forces of the Northern Front, Northwestern Front and the Baltic Fleet, and as the Germans approached Leningrad, Novikov and his forces flew 16,567 sorties. Novikov briefly held the position of first deputy to the air force commander from February until 11 April 1942. He then became commander of the Red Army Air Force – deputy to the people's commissar of defense of the USSR for aviation, a position from which he began to reorganize the Soviet air force. He worked specifically for the creation of separate divisions and air corps, as well as the improvement of front line coordination. During the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad ; see . rus, links=on, Сталинградская битва, r=Stalingradskaya bitva, p=stəlʲɪnˈɡratskəjə ˈbʲitvə. (17 July 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, ...

, Novikov successfully persuaded

and, in turn,

that the air force was not ready for a planned counter-offensive, an argument to which both commanders eventually conceded. After a substantial period of development, Novikov was able to provide Zhukov with an aerial blockade of the German forces at

Stalingrad Volgograd,. geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area o ...

, along with the destruction of 1,200 enemy planes. Later operations over

Kuban Kuban ( Russian and Ukrainian: Кубань; ) is a historical and geographical region in the North Caucasus region of southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Don Steppe, the Volga Delta and separated fr ...

destroyed another 1,100 planes. At the

Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk, also called the Battle of the Kursk Salient, was a major World War II Eastern Front battle between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in southwestern Russia during the summer of 1943, resulting in ...

, Novikov introduced new innovations such as shaped-charge bombs, night fighters and ground-attack aircraft. The

Battle of Königsberg The Battle of Königsberg, also known as the Königsberg offensive, was one of the last operations of the East Prussian offensive during World War II. In four days of urban warfare, Soviet Union, Soviet forces of the 1st Baltic Front and the 3 ...

saw 2,500 combat aircraft under Novikov being made available to the besieging armies, with the Soviet air marshal recommending low-level heavy night bombers being used. 514 of these dropped 4,440 tons of bombs on the beleaguered city. For his part in the operation Novikov was made Hero of the Soviet Union, and on 24 June 1944 the United States awarded him a

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

. Novikov then transferred to the Pacific Theatre to fight against Japan, where he was made Hero of the Soviet Union a second time for his Far Eastern efforts.

Post-war career

On 16 January 1946 Novikov submitted to Stalin plans that would lay the groundwork for the modern Soviet air force and the industry that would supply it. On 22 April 1946, however, before these could be enacted, Novikov was stripped of his rank and titles and arrested. The reason for this was that at the Potsdam Conference it was discovered that the United States had better spy planes than the

. He was interrogated and tortured the next day, and again between 4 and 8 May 1946 by

before being forced to read a confession to the

implicating Zhukov. Novikov was tried by the Military Collegium and sentenced to fifteen years in a

labour camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see British and American spelling differences, spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are unfree labour, forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have ...

.Taylor p. 177 Novikov was released on 29 June 1953, six years into his sentence following Stalin's death, and reinstated as chief marshal of aviation, where he was able to put his ideas into practice. A plan for using newly available

jet aircraft A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by one or more jet engines. Whereas the engines in Propeller (aircraft), propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much ...

and

nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either nuclear fission, fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and nuclear fusion, fusion reactions (thermonuclear weap ...

to wage a possible future war with the United States was laid out by Novikov and shown to

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...

, who turned the proposal down in favor of

ballistic missiles A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are powered only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) typica ...

. Following his retirement in 1958, Novikov accepted an offer to become head of the Higher Civil Aviation School in Leningrad, where he worked for ten years. He became a professor and was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

in 1961. In retirement, Novikov wrote a number of works on aviation and warfare, which were used to educate new Soviet air force pilots. He died, aged 76, on 3 December 1976.

Honours and awards

;Soviet Union ;Foreign

Notes

References

* Kerr, Walter ''The Russian Army: Its Men, Its Leaders and Its Battles'', 2005 * Kurowski, Franz ''Luftwaffe Aces: German Combat Pilots of World War II'', 2004 * Lauterbach, Richard Edward ''These are the Russians'', 1945 * MacCauley, Martin ''Who's Who in Russia Since 1900'', 1997 * Parrish, Michael ''Sacrifice of the Generals: Soviet Senior Officer Losses, 1939–1953'', 2004 * Taylor, Brian D. ''Politics and the Russian Army: Civil-military Relations, 1689–2000'', 2003

External links

* Kornukov, A. M
''Chief Marshal of Aviation AA. Novikov – His 100th Birthday''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Novikov, Alexander 1900 births 1976 deaths People from Kostroma Governorate People from Kostroma Oblast Frunze Military Academy alumni Tashkent Higher Tank Command School alumni Second convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Heroes of the Soviet Union Chief Commanders of the Legion of Merit Foreign recipients of the Legion of Merit Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov, 1st class Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 1st class Soviet Air Force marshals Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Soviet military personnel of the Winter War Soviet rehabilitations Soviet World War II pilots Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery