Zelin Alexander Nikolaevich has been Assistant Minister of Defense of Russia since May 2012. Previously, he was the commander of the Russian Air Force. Since 2008, he served on the board of directors of the United Aircraft Company. In addition, he served as deputy commander in chief of the aviation department of the Air Force, was the chief of staff of the 14th Army in the Air Force and Air Defense. Honored Military Pilot of the Russian Federation and Candidate of Military Sciences has the rank of Colonel General. Let's consider his biography in more detail.
Childhood and teens
Zelin Alexander Nikolaevich was born in 1953 (May 6). The birthplace was the city of Perevalsk, Voroshilovgrad region of the Ukrainian SSR. Previously, the settlement was called the city of the Paris Commune, now it is part of the Luhansk region.
Alexander graduated with honors from the Kharkov Higher Military Aviation School in 1976. He was then redirected to serve in the 787th Fighter Aviation Regiment based on the Eberswalde-Finov base, located in Germany (a special group of Soviet troops). There he rose to the rank of commander, and later received the post of commander in chief of the squadron.
Zelin Alexander Nikolaevich in the eighties of the last century was deputy commander of the 115th Guards Aviation Regiment of fighters. Its main forces were deployed in Uzbekistan (Turkestan Military District). The future general headed the air group, base, fighter regiment and division. In 1988, he graduated from the Air Force Academy named after Yuri Gagarin, in which he studied in absentia.
Career development
In the mid-nineties, Zelin, Alexander Nikolaevich, whose photo is presented below, becomes the leader (first deputy commander of the 23rd Air Army) in Chita. Seven years later, the officer graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia. After the transformation of the air army into a separate corps (1998), he becomes its commander in chief. In the same year, Zelin managed to visit senior positions in the Trans-Baikal and Siberian military districts.
In 2000-2001, the officer served as commander of the 14th Army of the Air Force and Air Defense of the Siberian Military District (Novosibirsk), and in the summer of 2001 became the commander of the 4th Army in Rostov-on-Don (North Caucasus Military District). In the summer of 2002, the lieutenant general was appointed to the post of deputy chief commander of the Air Force.
Further development
In the spring of 2007, already in the position of Colonel-General, Zelin Alexander Nikolaevich headed the main committee of the Air Force of the Russian Federation. In this post, he replaced the retired V. Mikhailov. At one time, he was the boss of his successor.
It is worth noting that the future deputy defense minister was a member of the board of directors of Tupolev OJSC, which later became part of the united aircraft manufacturing company. There, Colonel General Alexander Zelin represented the government as a member of the board of directors (2008). Further activities in this direction were also carried out next year.
There were rumors in the press that it was planned the resignation of the military commander from his post. This was due to the fact that Zelin did not consider the development and integration of the air and space forces in one vector. Subsequently, this information was refuted.
Primary appointment
On April 27, 2012, President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree dismissing the Air Force Commander-in-Chief from military service. Already in May of that year, he endorsed the decision that Alexander Zelin was an assistant to the Minister of Defense of Russia.
Colonel General awarded the title of Honored Pilot of the Russian Federation. During his career, he has mastered the management of more than ten types of aircraft. In addition, the officer is a candidate of science. The total flight time of the former pilot is three thousand hours. Even as the Air Force Commander-in-Chief, he continued to make sorties, and also led the organization of Victory Day parades.
Awards
Colonel General Alexander Zelin, whose biography is presented above, has been awarded high honors. During his career, he received:
- Order of Merit to the Fatherland, Red Star and Military Merit.
- Medals of various categories.
- The highest military award of the Russian Federation is the Order of St. George of the 2nd degree.
- Award memorials relating to a successful military operation in a five-day confrontation with Georgia.
Excerpts from the interview
In one of the conversations with the media, military leader Zelin Alexander Nikolaevich discussed the issue of modernizing modern aviation. He said that the industry is moving into a radically new formation. For example, the decimeter range of an intercom broadcast is transformed into a meter. This is largely due to the development of digital broadcasting.
In addition, the possibility of landing military aircraft at any civilian airfield is being considered. Certain funds are allocated for this purpose, and decisions are made at the legislative level. To expand capabilities, it is planned to exempt military aircraft from charges for airfield services and parking.
Such an approach will allow flying all over Russia, using as much as possible the network of airfields, including not only civilian, but also military aviation. It is assumed that the first of these aircraft will be the MiG-31, which flies at high latitudes, designed for autonomous flights outside areas of radar coverage. This will make it possible to use the machine anywhere in the country, including Kamchatka, the Far East and the Arctic.
On reforms in aviation education
A well-known scandal arose regarding the transfer of the Zhukovsky and Gagarin Academies to Voronezh. As noted by Alexander Nikolaevich, this is due to the optimization of the educational process, as a result of which specialized universities are not located throughout the state, but are concentrated at several points. The Monino Aviation Museum remains, despite some unconfirmed claims of restructuring.
For comparison, Colonel General cited the experience of the United States. In a rather large, wealthy and well-armed country, there are only three military higher educational institutions. In many European countries, quality also prevails over quantity.
About motivation
As a young pilot, Zelin attended a training camp where Pavel Stepanovich Kutakhov performed (1976). The marshal clearly distributed tasks to the pilots of the first, second and third class. In today's situation, when they want to cancel the co-payment for qualifications, this is also true. This should not be allowed, since leveling will lead to a decrease in flight quality and reduce the motivation of novice pilots.
