Marshal of Aviation who led the 17th Air Army to Prague and commanded Soviet Air Defence Forces
On 30 October 1961, a Tu-95V of Sudets' Long-Range Aviation dropped the 50-megaton Tsar Bomba over Novaya Zemlya — the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated. The shockwave circled the globe several times.
A Soviet Marshal of Aviation who commanded the 17th Air Army through the Kursk, Dnieper-Carpathian, Jassy-Kishinev, and Prague offensives, earning the title Hero of the Soviet Union in 1945. Post-war, as Chief of Main Staff and Deputy C-in-C of the Air Force (1946–1949), he drove the transition to jets; as Commanding General of Long-Range Aviation (1955–1962), he led the introduction of Tu-95K missile carriers and Tu-22 supersonic bombers and oversaw the Tsar Bomba drop in 1961. As C-in-C of PVO Strany and Deputy Minister of Defence (1962–1966), he expanded low-altitude air defence and directed PVO support for Operation Anadyr during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was among the few Soviet commanders also named People's Hero of Yugoslavia and Hero of the Mongolian People's Republic.
Career Timeline
- 1941–1942Commander, Air Forces of the 51st Army, then Volga Military District
- 1942–1943Commander, 1st Bomber Aviation Corps
- 1943–1946Commander, 17th Air Army
- 1946–1949Chief of Main Staff and Deputy C-in-C of the Soviet Air Force
- 1953–1955Commander, 26th Air Army
- 1955–1962Commanding General, Long-Range Aviation
- 1962–1966C-in-C of PVO Strany · Deputy Minister of Defence
- 1966–1981Inspector, Group of Inspectors General, Ministry of Defence