Pavel Nikolaevich Vlasov (; born 13 October 1960) is a Russian

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

, engineer, one of the

Gromov Flight Research Institute The Gromov Flight Research Institute or GFRI for short (, ) is an important Russian State Research Centre which operates an aircraft test base located in Zhukovsky, 40 km south-east of Moscow. The airfield is also known as Ramenskoye air ...

directors (2010–2017), chief of the

Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre The Yuri A. Gagarin State Scientific Research-and-Testing Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC; Russian: Центр подготовки космонавтов имени Ю. А. Гагарина) is a Russian training facility responsible for trai ...

(2017–2021) and

Hero of the Russian Federation Hero of the Russian Federation ( rus, Герой Российской Федерации, p=ɡʲɪˈroj rɐˈsʲijskəj fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨɪ), also unofficially called Hero of Russia ( rus, Герой России, p=ɡʲɪˈroj rɐˈsʲiɪ), is ...

Biography

Early years and military service

Vlasov was born on October 13, 1960, in the city of

Lebedyn Lebedyn (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and , ) is a city in Sumy Oblast, Ukraine. Lebedyn is located in Sumy Raion. Before July 2020, Lebedyn served as the administrative center of Lebedyn Raion; it was administratively incorporated as a City of ...

in the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

(current

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

). He graduated high school with a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

and in 1977 he entered the Gritsevets Military Aviation Higher School of Pilots. He trained there with

Aero L-39 The Aero L-39 Albatros is a high-performance jet trainer designed and produced by Aero Vodochody in the Czech Republic. In addition to performing basic and advanced pilot training, it has also flown combat missions in a light-attack role. Desp ...

and

MIG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan, Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB, Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nicknames in ...

aircraft and graduated with a "red diploma" in 1981. Upon graduation Vlasov was assigned to serve as a

flight instructor A flight instructor is a person who teaches others to operate aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate ...

and trained military pilots in the same flight school. In 1987 he was selected for

training at the

Fedotov Test Pilot School The Fedotov Test Pilot School or FTPS ('' or '') is one of two test pilot schools in Russia (the other one is a military test pilot school in Akhtubinsk). The school was established in 1947 when Russia was part of the USSR and is named after Al ...

Aerospace industry

Upon graduation from the Fedotov Test Pilot School in 1989 Vlasov worked for the MiG Corporation as a test pilot and as a deputy director general for flight testing (2002–2010). He participated in flight testing of

MiG-31 The Mikoyan MiG-31 (; NATO reporting name: Foxhound) is a supersonic interceptor aircraft developed for the Soviet Air Forces by the Mikoyan design bureau as a replacement for the earlier MiG-25 "Foxbat"; the MiG-31 is based on and shares de ...

heavy interceptor, accomplished maiden flights and flight testing of the carrier-based

MiG-29K The Mikoyan MiG-29K (; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum-D) is a Russian all-weather carrier-based multirole fighter aircraft developed by the Mikoyan Design Bureau. The MiG-29K was developed in the late 1980s from the MiG-29M. Mikoyan describe ...

fighter and thrust-vectoring version of

MiG-29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 (; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twinjet, twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the MiG-29, along with the large ...

(MiG-29OVT), MiG-29M/M2 and

MiG-35 The Mikoyan MiG-35 (; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum-F) is a Russian multirole fighter that is designed by Mikoyan, a division of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC). Marketed as a 4++ generation jet fighter, it is a further development of th ...

fighters and the

MiG-AT The Mikoyan MiG-AT () is a Russian advanced trainer and light attack aircraft that was intended to replace the Aero L-29 and L-39 of the Russian Air Force. Designed by the Mikoyan Design Bureau and built by the Moscow Aircraft Production As ...

trainer. Vlasov is type rated for 35 types of aircraft. As an

aerobatics Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aeroplane" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and gl ...

pilot he flew demonstration flights at international air shows in the UK, Germany, India, the United Arab Emirates, Poland, France and Slovakia, and was awarded several times for his skills. He headed the

from January 2010, while keeping his position in the MiG Corporation until February 2014. In 2010, he completed the

United Aircraft Corporation The PJSC United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) () is a Russian Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense corporation. With a majority stake belonging to the Russian government, it consolidates Russian private and state-owned Russ ...

strategic personnel reserve programme in the

Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO The Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO is a graduate business school located near Skolkovo, Moscow Oblast, nearby to Moscow, Russia. The school, founded in 2006, is a joint project between Russian and international business leaders. SKOLKOVO ...

. Vlasov worked as head of the Gromov Institute during its transformation into a public company, and became its Director General in 2012. In November 2017 he became the head of the

where worked until retirement on 1 June 2021.

TASS The Russian News Agency TASS, or simply TASS, is a Russian state-owned news agency founded in 1904. It is the largest Russian news agency and one of the largest news agencies worldwide. TASS is registered as a Federal State Unitary Enterpri ...

reported that in 2023 Vlasov worked at

as an advisor to the President of the corporation. In August 2024 he was in a position of an advisor to the

Roscosmos The State Corporation for Space Activities "Roscosmos", commonly known simply as Roscosmos (), is a State corporation (Russia), state corporation of the Russian Federation responsible for space science, space flights, List of space agencies, c ...

Director General and reportedly was one of the main candidates for the new position of the Roscosmos Deputy Director General for manned and automated spacecraft.

Family

In 1986, Vlasov married Elena Pavlovna Vlasova, a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

and

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

. Together they have a daughter Anna (born 1987) and a son Andrey (born 1993).

Awards and decorations

(1998) * Order of Courage (1996) * Merited Test Pilot of the Russian Federation (2003) * Honoured Aircraft Engineer of the Russian Federation * Golden Idea National Award (2004) * Golden Chariot Transport Award (2007)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vlasov, Pavel 1960 births Russian aerospace engineers Aerobatic pilots Russian aviators Living people Soviet Air Force officers Soviet test pilots Fedotov TPS alumni Golden Idea national award winners Gromov Flight Research Institute employees Heroes of the Russian Federation Recipients of the Order of Courage (Russia)