Zelin Alexander Nikolaevich: biography and photos

Zelin Alexander Nikolayevich is the assistant to the Russian Defense Minister since May 2012. Previously, he was commander of the Russian Air Force. Since 2008, he was a member of 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 part of the Air Force and Air Defense. Honored military pilot of the Russian Federation and a candidate of military sciences has the rank of colonel-general. Let us examine his biography in more detail.

Childhood and adolescence

Zelin Alexander Nikolayevich was born in 1953 (May 6). The birthplace was the town 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 Lugansk region.

Alexander graduated with honors from the Kharkov Higher Military Aviation School in 1976. Then he was redirected to serve in the 787th Fighter Regiment on the basis of Eberswalde-Finow, located in Germany (a special group of Soviet troops). There, he rose to the commander of the link, later became commander-in-chief of the squadron.

Zelin Alexander Nikolayevich 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, where he took part-time education.

Career development

In the mid-1990s, Zelin Alexander Nikolayevich, whose photo is presented below, becomes the leader (the first deputy commander of the 23rd Air Army) in Chita. Seven years later, the officer graduates from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. 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 executive 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 commander of the 4th Army in Rostov-on-Don (North Caucasus Military District). In the summer of 2002, Lieutenant-General was appointed deputy chief of the Air Force commander.

Further development

In the spring of 2007, already in the post of Colonel-General, Zelin Alexander Nikolayevich is headed by 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 OAO Tupolev, which later became part of the unified aircraft construction company. There, Colonel-General Zelin Alexander Nikolayevich represented the government as a member of the director's council (2008). Further activities in this direction were also carried out in the next year.

In the press there were rumors that the resignation of the commander was planned from his post. This was due to the fact that Zelin did not consider the development and integration of air and space forces in one vector. Subsequently, this information was refuted.

Appointment to the main post

President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev on April 27, 2012 signed a decree on the dismissal of the commander-in-chief of the Air Force from military service. In May of the same year he signed a decree that Zelin Alexander Nikolayevich is an assistant to the Russian Defense Minister.

The Colonel-General was awarded the title of Honored Pilot of the Russian Federation. During his career, he 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 while in the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, he continued to fly, and also led the organization of parades in honor of Victory Day.

Awards

Colonel-General Zelin Alexander Nikolaevich, whose biography is presented above, was awarded high awards and honors. During his activity he received:

• Order "For Service to the Fatherland", "Red Star" and "For Military Merit".
• Medals of various categories.
• The highest military award of the Russian Federation is the Order of St. George of the 2nd degree.
• Reward memorable signs concerning a successful military operation in a five-day confrontation with Georgia.

Excerpts from the interview

In one of his conversations with media representatives, military leader Zelin Alexander Nikolayevich discussed the modernization of modern aviation. He said that the industry is moving into a fundamentally new formation. For example, the decimeter range of service broadcasting is transformed into a meter. This is largely due to the development of digital broadcasting.

In addition, the possibility of landing military aircraft on any civil aerodrome is being considered. Some funds are allocated for this purpose, and decisions are made at the legislative level. To expand capabilities, it is planned to free military aviation from payment for airfield services and parking.

Such an approach will allow flying throughout the territory of Russia, using the maximum 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, intended for autonomous flights outside the radar coverage areas. This will enable the car to be used anywhere in the country, including Kamchatka, the Far East and the Arctic.

On the reforms in aviation education

On this occasion arose a famous scandal concerning the transfer of academies named after Zhukovsky and Gagarin to Voronezh. As noted by Alexander, this is due to the optimization of the learning process, as a result of which profile universities are not located throughout the state, and are concentrated in several locations. The Museum of Aviation in Monino remains, despite some unconfirmed statements about its restructuring.

For comparison, the colonel-general cited the experience of the United States. In a fairly large, well-to-do 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 visited the training camp where Pavel Stepanovich Kutakhov (1976) spoke. Marshal clearly distributed the tasks to the pilots of the first, second and third class. In today's environment, when they want to cancel the surcharge for qualifications, this is also relevant. This should not be allowed, since leveling will lead to a decrease in the quality of flights and will reduce the motivation of novice pilots.

In conclusion

Assistant to the Minister of Defense of Russia Zelin Alexander Nikolayevich does not particularly advertise his family. It is known only that he is married.

The Colonel-General proved himself to be a true patriot of his country, had a decent path from a novice pilot to a leader of high rank in military aviation.

This is a good example for the younger generation. At one time, Alexander Nikolayevich managed to fly over three thousand hours, having studied more than a dozen types of combat aircraft. At the same time, he made considerable efforts to develop modern domestic aviation, although his position sometimes ran counter to the opinion of top management. Perhaps, this character trait gave an opportunity to gain the existing authority, and also to defend one's opinion in difficult situations.