Soviet Air Force

The Soviet Air Force (Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sily, VVS) was the air arm of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1918 to 1991, distinct from the separate PVO air-defence branch until the late-Cold-War reorganisation. The VVS operated frontline tactical aviation, strategic bombers (Long-Range Aviation), transport aircraft, and naval aviation support.

UAP-Related Operations

VVS pilots accumulated a substantial body of UAP-encounter reports across the Soviet period, including interceptions of unknown aerial objects over bases in Moscow, Leningrad, the Baltic states, and the Far East. Documented cases linked to the VVS in UAP records include radar-vectored intercepts under PVO direction, pilot encounters during routine training, and the 1970s-1980s wave of UAP sightings over Soviet nuclear-armed aviation bases. Reports flowed through the VVS inspection system to the Soviet Ministry of Defence and, where relevant, to SETKA programme analysts.

Dissolution and Successor

After 1991, the VVS was largely absorbed into the Russian Air Force, which in 2015 was merged with Russian Aerospace Defence Forces to form the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS). Historical VVS archives remain one of the largest untapped sources for comparative Cold-War UAP analysis.