Presentation of the banner of Air-space forces 03

The Russian Aerospace Forces or Russian Air and Space Forces (VKS) comprise the aerial,

space warfare Space warfare is combat in which one or more belligerents are in outer space. The scope of space warfare includes ''ground-to-space warfare'', such as attacking satellites from the Earth; ''space-to-space warfare'', such as satellites attacki ...

, and

missile defence Missile defense is a system, weapon, or technology involved in the detection, tracking, interception, and also the destruction of attacking missiles. Conceived as a defense against nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), ...

branch A branch, also called a ramus in botany, is a stem that grows off from another stem, or when structures like veins in leaves are divided into smaller veins. History and etymology In Old English, there are numerous words for branch, includ ...

es of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It was established on 1 August 2015 with the merging of the

Russian Air Force The Russian Air Force () is a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces, the latter being formed on 1 August 2015 with the merging of the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the reb ...

(VVS) and the

Russian Aerospace Defence Forces The Russian Aerospace Defence Forces (VVKO) () was a branch of the Russian Armed Forces responsible for aerospace defence, operation of Russian military satellites and the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. It was established on 1 December 2011 and dissolved ...

(VVKO), as recommended by the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

to improve efficiency and logistical support. The VKS is headquartered 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 ...

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:Russia creates new Aerospace Force service branch
, janes.com, 4 August 2015 *

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

* Air and Missile Defense Forces * Space Forces

Leadership

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 The Western Military District () was a Military districts of Russia, military district of Russia, in existence from 2010 until its abolishment as a unitary military command on February 26, 2024, succeeded by the newly reconstituted Moscow Mil ...

'': ** 6th ''Leningrad Red Banner'' Army of Air Forces and Air Defence (''6-я Ленинградская Краснознамённая армия ВВС и ПВО'') (

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 ...

) * ''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 Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...

) * ''operationally subordinated to 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 ...

'': ** 14th ''Red Banner'' Army of Air Forces and Air Defence (''14-я Краснознамённая армия ВВС и ПВО'') (

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg (, ; ), alternatively Romanization of Russian, romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( ; 1924–1991), is a city and the administrative centre of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Ural Federal District, Russia. The ci ...

) * ''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 Khabarovsk ( ) is the largest city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China–Russia border, at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, about north of Vladivostok. As of the 2021 Russian c ...

) * ''operationally subordinated to the

Northern Fleet Joint Strategic Command The Northern Fleet Joint Strategic Command (), was a Military districts of Russia, military district of the Russian Armed Forces, with its jurisdiction primarily within the northern region of European Russia and the Arctic Ocean. The Northern F ...

'': ** 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 Naval aviation / Aeronaval is the application of Military aviation, military air power by Navy, navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. It often involves ''navalised aircraft'', specifically designed for naval use. Seab ...

and the ground-based missile air defence units belong to the Air Forces air defence branch. Air Defence and Anti-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 Balashikha ( rus, Балашиха, p=bəlɐˈʂɨxə) is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Pekhorka River east of the Moscow Ring Road. Population: Etymology In Finno-Ugric languages, ''Bala-shika'' means ''land of celebration ...

Moscow Oblast Moscow Oblast (, , informally known as , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). With a population of 8,524,665 (Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census) living in an area of , it is one of the most densely populate ...

) - 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 system The S-400 Triumf ( – Triumf; translation: Triumph; NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler), previously known as the S-300 PMU-3, is a mobile surface-to-air missile (SAM) system developed in the 1990s by Russia's NPO Almaz as an upgrade to the S ...

s) ** 5th Air Defence Division (''5-я дивизия ПВО'') ( Petrovskoe, Moscow Oblast) (armed with the S-300PM and the

s) ** 9th Anti-Ballistic Missile Defence Division (''9-я дивизия ПРО'') ( Sofrino, Moscow Oblast) (armed with the

A-135 anti-ballistic missile system The A-135 (NATO reporting name, NATO: ABM-4 Gorgon) is a Russian anti-ballistic missile system deployed around Moscow to intercept incoming warheads targeting the city or its surrounding areas. The system was designed in the Soviet Union and enter ...

) 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 Tambov 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 Tambov. As of the Russian Census (2010), 2010 Census, its population was&n ...

)

Ranks and rank insignia

;Officer ranks ;Other ranks

Notes

References

External links

Russian Aerospace Forces official site
(English) {{Leadership of the Russian Aerospace Forces 2015 establishments in Russia Military units and formations established in 2015 Military of Russia Russian military aviation Space units and formations