# Russian Aerospace Forces

The Russian Aerospace Forces or Russian Air and Space Forces (VKS) 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. The VKS is headquartered in Moscow.

## 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:
* 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) | 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) | 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) | 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 2024: :
| Position | Name | Start date | End date |
| Commander of the Aerospace Forces | Colonel General Viktor Bondarev | 1 August 2015 | 26 September 2017 |
| Commander of the Aerospace Forces | Lieutenant General Pavel Kurachenko (acting) | 26 September 2017 | 22 November 2017 |
| Commander of the Aerospace Forces | Army General Sergei Surovikin | 22 November 2017 | 22 August 2023 |
| Commander of the Aerospace Forces | Colonel General Viktor Afzalov | 20 August 2023 (acting) 20 October 2023 |
| First Deputy Commander of the Aerospace Forces (Chief of the Main Staff) | Lieutenant General Pavel Kurachenko | 1 September 2015 | July 2018 |
| First Deputy Commander of the Aerospace Forces (Chief of the Main Staff) | Lieutenant General Viktor Afzalov | August 2018 | August 2023 |
| First Deputy Commander of the Aerospace Forces (Chief of the Main Staff) | Lieutenant General Aleksandr Maksimtsev | 20 August 2023 | |
| Deputy Commander of the Aerospace Forces | Lieutenant General Sergey Dronov | 1 August 2015 | 2019 |
| Deputy Commander of the Aerospace Forces | Lieutenant General Andrei Yudin | 2019 | 2023 |
| Deputy Commander of the Aerospace Forces | unknown | | |
| Deputy Commanders of the Aerospace Forces ||||
| Commander of the Air Force | Colonel General Andrei Yudin | 1 September 2015 | July 2019 |
| Commander of the Air Force | Lieutenant General Sergey Dronov | July 2019 | 24 July 2024 |
| Commander of the Air Force | Lieutenant General Sergey Kobylash | 24 July 2024 | |
| Commander of the Aerospace and Missile Defense Forces | Lieutenant General Viktor Gumyonny | 1 September 2015 | 2018 |
| Commander of the Aerospace and Missile Defense Forces | Lieutenant General Yury Grekhov | 2018 | 2021 |
| Commander of the Aerospace and Missile Defense Forces | Lieutenant General Andrey Dyomin | 2021 | May 2023 |
| Commander of the Aerospace and Missile Defense Forces | Lieutenant General Andrei Semyonov | May 2023 | |
| Commander of the Space Forces | Colonel General Aleksandr Golovko | 1 September 2015 | |
| Deputy Commander for Work with Personnel | Major General Andrei Kazakevich | unknown | unknown |
| Deputy Commander for Work with Personnel | Lieutenant General Aleksandr Maksimtsev | 2019 | 2023 |
| Deputy Commander for Logistics | Lieutenant General Vladimir Trishunkin | unknown | unknown |
| Deputy Commander for Logistics | Lieutenant General Zabit Kheirbekov | unknown | |
| Deputy Commander for Armaments | Colonel Andrei Medvedkov | unknown | unknown |
| Deputy Commander for Armaments | Major General Sergei Meshcheryakov | unknown | 2021 |
| Deputy Commander for Armaments | 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
### Officer ranks

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

### Other ranks

| Rank group | General / flag officers | General / flag officers | General / flag officers | General / flag officers | General / flag officers | General / flag officers | General / flag officers | General / flag officers | General / flag officers | General / flag officers | Senior officers | Senior officers | Senior officers | Senior officers | Senior officers | Senior officers | Junior officers | Junior officers | Junior officers | Junior officers | Junior officers | Junior officers | Junior officers | Junior officers |
| Russian Aerospace Forces vte | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Russian Aerospace Forces vte | Ста́рший пра́порщик Stárshiy práporshchik | Ста́рший пра́порщик Stárshiy práporshchik | Ста́рший пра́порщик Stárshiy práporshchik | Пра́порщик Práporshchyk | Пра́порщик Práporshchyk | Пра́порщик Práporshchyk | Старшина́ Starshyná | Старшина́ Starshyná | Ста́рший сержа́нт Stárshiy serzhánt | Ста́рший сержа́нт Stárshiy serzhánt | Сержа́нт Serzhánt | Сержа́нт Serzhánt | Сержа́нт Serzhánt | Сержа́нт Serzhánt | Сержа́нт Serzhánt | Сержа́нт Serzhánt | Мла́дший сержа́нт Mládshiy serzhánt | Мла́дший сержа́нт Mládshiy serzhánt | Мла́дший сержа́нт Mládshiy serzhánt | Мла́дший сержа́нт Mládshiy serzhánt | Мла́дший сержа́нт Mládshiy serzhánt | Мла́дший сержа́нт Mládshiy serzhánt | Ефре́йтор Efréĭtor | Ефре́йтор Efréĭtor | Ефре́йтор Efréĭtor | Ефре́йтор Efréĭtor | Рядово́й Ryadovóy | Рядово́й Ryadovóy | Рядово́й Ryadovóy | Рядово́й Ryadovóy | Рядово́й Ryadovóy | Рядово́й Ryadovóy | Рядово́й Ryadovóy | Рядово́й Ryadovóy | Рядово́й Ryadovóy | Рядово́й Ryadovóy |