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There were a number of military academies in the Soviet Union of different specialties.
Soviet military and police facilities named "academy" (, akademiya) are not a degree-level school (like Western military academies such as West Point), but a post-graduate school for experienced officers. Such schools were compulsory for officers applying for the rank of colonel.
Budyonny Military Academy of Communications
Budyonny Military Academy of Communications () was created in 1932 in Leningrad. It is named after Semyon Budyonny.
Dzerzhinsky Military Academy of Rocket Forces
Dzerzhinsky Military Academy () was based on the Mikhaylovskaya Artillery Academy of Imperial Russia created in 1820 in St. Petersburg. It is named after Felix Dzerzhinsky.
The Dzerzhinsky Rocket Forces Academy is located next to the Rossiya Hotel on the embankment near the Kremlin. Formerly the Artillery Academy of the Red Army, it was moved from Leningrad to Moscow in 1958, the year before the Strategic Rocket Forces were formed. Officers in command positions in the Strategic Rocket Forces would seek admission to this academy. All information about this academy is highly classified. Its two major faculties are "command" and "engineering."
Frunze Military Academy
Frunze Military Academy () was founded in 1918 as the academy of the General Staff. In 1921, it was transformed into the RKKA Military Academy. It is named after Mikhail Frunze.
After graduation from this academy, every graduate officer used to receive a diploma and a silvern romb on their uniform or civil suit which had to be located on the right side of the chest above all other military or civil decorations.
Gagarin Military Air Academy
The Gagarin Military Air Academy is located at Monino, northeast of Moscow, in an area closed to foreigners. Almost all the senior officers in the Soviet Air Forces will have attended this academy. It is charged with the preparation of "command cadres of various aviation specialties and is a scientific center for working out problems of operational art of the Air Forces and tactics of branches and types of aviation." Part of the course involves developing new techniques in the operational use of the aircraft.
Govorov Military Engineering-Radio Technical Academy of Air Defense
The Govorov Military Engineering-Radiotechnical Academy of Air Defense is located in Kharkov. As any tourist to the Soviet Union can note, the nation appears blanketed with radars and communications facilities. This academy prepares officers of the Troops of Air Defense in these two areas. Faculty members engage in research, and their technical publications are known throughout the Soviet Union.
Grechko Naval Academy
The Grechko Naval Academy is the Soviet navy's only senior service school. Its faculty included many more admirals than did the Frunze. The students are lieutenant commanders, commanders, and some captains, with ages 30–35 years. All naval officers (including naval aviation) holding positions above the regiment (wing) level are graduates of this school. Some Soviet air force officers are assigned to the faculty, but no air force officers are permitted in the student body.
Kalinin Military Academy of Artillery
Kalinin Military Academy of Artillery () was created in 1953 in Leningrad as a spin-off of the Dzerzhinsky Academy. It is named after Mikhail Kalinin.
Kuybyshev Military Academy of Engineer Troops
Lenin Political-Military Academy
Specialized in training political officers for the entire Soviet Armed Forces.
Malinovsky Military Academy of Armored Forces
Malinovsky Military Academy of Armored Forces () was created in 1932 in Moscow as the Stalin Academy of Mechanization and Motorization of the Red Army. It is named after Rodion Malinovsky.
It had the mission of training Soviet and Warsaw Pact commanders, staff officers, and engineers for armored and mechanized units. The best-qualified graduates were also selected for the centralized operations division of the General Staff. Students entered as captains and majors (with some lieutenant colonels), indicating it was about on an intermediate level with the Army's Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell AFB, Alabama. The program of instruction was three years for commanders and staff officers and four years for engineers.
Makarov Military Academy of Rear Services and Transport
Military Academy of Rear Services and Transport () was created in 1918 in Leningrad.
Timoshenko Military Academy of Chemical Defense
Timoshenko Military Academy of Chemical Defense () was created in 1932 in Moscow. It is named after Semyon Timoshenko.
Vasilevsky Military Academy of Army Air Defense
Vasilevsky Military Academy of Army Air Defense () was created in 1977 in Kiev. It is named after Aleksandr Vasilevsky.
Voroshilov Military Academy of the USSR Army General Staff
Voroshilov Military Academy of the USSR Army General Staff () was foundeded in 1936 in Moscow by Leonid Govorov. It is named after Kliment Voroshilov.
The Voroshilov Academy of the General Staff is located in Moscow, on 14 Kholzunova Lane, not far from the Frunze Military Academy. The "best and the brightest" officers of all the Soviet Armed Forces were selected to attend this senior and most prestigious of all the Soviet academies. Most were colonels or newly promoted generals. Officers selected for this academy first would have attended the appropriate service or branch academy. Graduates who were not already generals or admirals usually were promoted to this rank a short time after completing the course. Length of the academy was only two years, in contrast to the three years for the branch and service academies.
Zhukov Command Academy of Air Defense
The Zhukov Military Command Academy of Air Defense is located on the banks of the Volga River in Kalinin (now Tver), a city between Moscow and St. Petersburg. In addition to its educational and training tasks, this academy is a research center for studying problems of operational art and tactics, as well as command, communications, and control (C3) on air defense matters.
Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy
Zhukovskyi Air Force Engineering Academy () named after Nikolai Yegorovich Zhukovsky was founded in 1920 in Moscow to train engineers for the Soviet Air Force as well as lecturers and scientists. It still exists in Russian Federation.
The Zhukovsky Military Air Engineering Academy is located in Moscow, on Leningrad Prospekt immediately across from Central Airfield. Course length is five years. In addition to being an institution of higher learning, it also is a scientific center for working out problems in the areas of aviation technology, its technical exploitation, and combat utilization.
Military research institutes
Seven of these institutes existed in the Soviet Union. These were specialist research & training facilities.
GLITs/NII VVS
The NII VVS (R&D Institute of the Air Force, ), Akhtubinsk.The History
- 21 September 1920 - Scientific-experimental airfield at the Main Agency of Workers' and Peasants' Red Air Fleet (Научно-опытный аэродром (НОА) при ГУ РККВФ)
- 6 October 1922 (24 October 1924) - Scientific-experimental airfield of the Air Force of the USSR (Научно-опытный аэродром ВВС СССР)
- 12 (26) October 1926 - R&D Institute of the Air Force of Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (НИИ ВВС РККА)
- 1 June 1944 (1 May 1944) - The State Red-Banner R&D Institute of the Air Force (Государственный Краснознаменный (ГК) НИИ ВВС)
- 1965 - The State R&D Institute, Red-Banner awarded, of the Air Force (ГНИКИ ВВС)
- 1967 - The 8-th State R&D Institute of the Air Force named after V.P.Chkalov (8 ГНИИ ВВС им.Чкалова)
- 1990 - The State Flight and Test Center of the Ministry of Defsnse of Russian Federation named after V.P.Chkalov (Государственный летно-испытательный центр (ГЛИЦ) МО РФ им. В.П.Чкалова)
Test Ranges
- 929 GLITs VVS, Akhtubinsk
- Test Center "Chkalovski"
- Test Center "Volsk"
- Test Center "Nalchik"
- Naval Test Center "Gelendzhik" (under construction?)
Externel References
NII BT
The NII BT (R&D Institute of the Armoured Forces, ), Kubinka.External References
Military of the Soviet Union | Education in the Soviet Union | Military academies
"Soviet military academies"