The Syzran Higher Military Aviation School () is a military academy of 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 ...

, responsible for training airmen of the

Russian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military of Russia. They are organized into three service branches—the Russian Ground Forces, Ground Forces, Russian Navy, Navy, and Russi ...

. It is a branch of the

Zhukovsky – Gagarin Air Force Academy The Zhukovsky – Gagarin Air Force Academy is a Russian military institution of higher education run by the Russian Aerospace Forces. The full name is Russian Air Force Military Educational and Scientific Center Air Force Academy Professor Nikola ...

History

The school originated from the Saratov Military Aviation School of Pilots (SVAShP), formed in March 1940. In 1941, after the

Axis invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis powers, Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet ...

, the pilot school was transformed into a glider school. After the war, the school was transferred to

Pugachyov Pugachyov ( rus, Пугачёв, p=pʊgɐˈtɕɵf) is a town in Saratov Oblast, Russia, located on the Bolshoy Irgiz River (Volga's tributary), northeast of Saratov, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: History It was founded ...

Saratov Oblast Saratov Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the Volga Federal District. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Saratov. As of the 2021 Russian cens ...

and was renamed the Airborne Glider School. In 1952, the school received the name of the 160th Military School of Pilots and from 1953 passed to the development of a fundamentally new aircraft technology - helicopters. Since 1960 the school has been located in

Syzran Syzran ( rus, Сызрань, p=ˈsɨzrənʲ) is the third largest city in Samara Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of Saratov Reservoir of the Volga River. Population: History Founded in 1683 as a fortress, Syzran grew into an importa ...

Samara Oblast Samara 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 Samara. From 1935 to 1991, it was known as Kuybyshev Oblast. As of the Rus ...

, and from 1963 was named Syzran Military Aviation School for pilots. In 1966 the school was transferred to the status of a higher school. In 1998, the school was reorganized into the Syzran Military Aviation Institute. Graduates of the school have taken part in the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

peacekeeping operations in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

UNPROFOR The United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR; also known by its French acronym FORPRONU: ''Force de Protection des Nations Unies'') was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, UNAMSIL in

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and other countries. The school's 109th Training Aviation Regiment at Bezenchuk flying

Mil Mi-2 The Mil Mi-2 (NATO reporting name: Hoplite) is a small, three Helicopter rotor, rotor blade Soviet-designed multi-purpose helicopter developed by the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant, designed in the early 1960s and produced exclusively by PZL-Świdn ...

and

Mil Mi-8 The Mil Mi-8 (, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Union, Soviet Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute, Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) in the 1960s and introduced into the ...

helicopters was disbanded in 2003. The school now operates the Mil Mi-2, Mil Mi-8T and Mil Mi-24V,

Kazan Ansat The Kazan Ansat is a Russian light, multipurpose helicopter manufactured by Kazan Helicopters. History Kazan Helicopters in Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia has been one of the main Russian manufacturers of helicopters of the Mikhail Mil bureau design. ...

, and the

Kamov Ka-226 The Kamov Ka-226 (NATO reporting name: Hoodlum) is a small, twin-engine Russian utility helicopter. The Ka-226 features an interchangeable mission pod, rather than a conventional cabin, allowing the use of various accommodation or equipment co ...

T., see :ru:Сызранское высшее военное авиационное училище лётчиков (военный институт)< The school's units now include: * 131st Training Aviation Regiment — Saratov-Sokol — Mi-2,

Mi-8 The Mil Mi-8 (, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) in the 1960s and introduced into the Soviet Air Force in 1968. Russian production of t ...

* 484th Training Helicopter Regiment —

—

Mi-24 The Mil Mi-24 (; NATO reporting name: Hind) is a large helicopter gunship, attack helicopter and low-capacity transport helicopter, troop transport with room for eight passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and was introduced ...

* 626th Training Helicopter Regiment —

— Mi-2, Mi-8, Mi-24 * Branch in

Kirov, Kirov Oblast Kirov (, ), formerly known as Vyatka ( rus, Вя́тка, links=no, a=, p= �vʲatka until 1934 and as Khlynov () from 1457 to 1780, is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Kirov Oblast, Russia ...

Structure

*Faculty of Aviation *Special Faculty *Officer Courses

Commanders

The following officers commanded the school: * (1940–1942) * Mikhail Odintsov (1942–1946) * (1947–1953) * Dmitri Makarov (1953–1958) * (June 1958 – April 1961) * (1961–1969) * Valentin Aleksentsev (1970–1977) * Aleksey Didyk (1977–1986) * (1986–1999) * Alexey Pishenin (1999–2004) * Viktor Ukolov (2004–2009) * (2009–2013) * Alexander Asanov (2013–Present)

Notable graduates

* Mars Rafikov, Soviet

cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

* Sultan Sosnaliyev, former Minister of Defence of Abkhazia * Ruslan Polovinko, Ukrainian–Azerbaijani helicopter pilot * Yevgeny Karlov, Russian-born soldier during the

First Nagorno-Karabakh War The First Nagorno-Karabakh War was an ethnic conflict, ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nag ...

* Abdulla Xolmuhamedov, Commander of the

Uzbekistan Air and Air Defence Forces The Air and Air Defence Forces (; ) are the aerial arm of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Uzbekistan. It was formed following the collapse of the Soviet Union, in 1991, though the military was not created by the government of Uzbekistan, Uzb ...

* Ivan Yefimovich Zhukov, pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union

Gallery

File:Syzran Higher Military Aviation School on it's 75th anniversary (4).jpg, File:Syzran Higher Military Aviation School on it's 75th anniversary (1).jpg, File:Syzran Higher Military Aviation School on it's 75th anniversary (3).jpg, File:Syzran Higher Military Aviation School on it's 75th anniversary (2).jpg, File:Mil Mi-2U ’20 yellow’ (24221370448).jpg,

References

{{Commons category-inline Flying training schools of the Soviet Union Units and formations of the Russian Air Force Training units and formations of Russia Education and training establishments of the Soviet Army Military command schools Military units and formations established in 1940