Honoured Military Pilot of the USSR

The Honorary Title "Honoured Military Pilot of the USSR" (Заслуженный военный лётчик СССР) was a state military award of the Soviet Union established on January 26, 1965 by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet № 3230-VI to recognise and reward excellence in military aviation. It was abolished on August 22, 1988 by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet № 9441-XI.

Award Statute
The honorary title "Honoured Military Pilot of the USSR" was awarded to members of military flying units, military agencies, military schools, military organizations and other military or federal authorities, having qualified military pilots 1st class or military pilot-instructors 1st class, for outstanding achievements in the development of aviation technology, high performance in education and training of flight personnel and long-term trouble-free flight operations in military aviation.

The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was the main conferring authority of the award based on recommendations from the Ministry of Defence of the USSR.

The insignia "Honoured Military Pilot of the USSR" was worn on the right side of the chest and in the presence of other orders, placed over them. If worn with honorary titles of the Russian Federation, the latter have precedence.

Award Description
The honorary title of "Honoured Military Pilot of the USSR" was a 27mm wide by 23mm high silver and nickel polygon with raised edges. At the top of the obverse, the relief inscription in three lines covered to the left "HONOURED MILITARY PILOT" (ЗАСЛУЖЕННЫЙ ВОЕННЫЙ ЛËТЧИК), in the center, the gilt tombac image of a jet plane climbing diagonally towards the right its nose and tail slightly protruding over the edges, at the bottom, the relief inscription "USSR" (СССР) superimposed over a laurel branch.

The insignia was secured to a standard Soviet square mount by a silver plated ring through the suspension loop. The mount was covered by a silk moiré red ribbon.

Recipients (partial list)
The individuals below were all recipients of the honorary title of "Honoured Military Pilot of the USSR".


 * Marshal of Aviation Yevgeniy Yakovlevich Savitzky
 * Chief Marshal of Aviation Pavel Stepanovich Kutakhov
 * Lieutenant General Vitaly Ivanovich Popkov
 * Former Russian Air Force Commander in Chief Vladimir Sergeyevich Mikhaylov
 * Major General Nikolay Vasil'yevich Sutyagin
 * Colonel General Vladimir Ivanovich Andreev
 * Colonel General Alexander Ivanovich Babaev
 * Colonel General Vasily Petrovich Babkov
 * Major General George Arturovich Baevskii
 * Lieutenant General Leonid Ignatievich Beda
 * Colonel General Vladimir Mikhalovich Bezbokov
 * Marshal of Aviation Alexander Nikitovich Volkov
 * Colonel General Victor Iosifovich Davidkov
 * Army General Peter Stepanivich Deinekin
 * Colonel General Gregory Ustinovich Dol'nikov
 * Lieutenant General Vladimir Porfirievich Dragomiretsky
 * Marshal of Aviation Aleksandr Nikolaïevitch Efimov
 * Marshal of Aviation Peter Semenovich Kirsanov
 * Colonel Pavel Dmitrievich Klimov
 * Lieutenant General Leo Vasil'evich Kozlov
 * Lieutenant General Boris Dmitrievich Melekhin
 * Colonel General Michael Petrovich Odintsov
 * Major General Sulambek Susarkulovich Oskanov
 * Colonel General Valentin Epifanovich Pankin
 * Marshal of Aviation Ivan Ivanovich Pstygo
 * Lieutenant General Anatoly Ivanovich Pushkin
 * Colonel Sultan Aslambekovich Sosnaliyev
 * Lieutenant General Anton Dmitrievich Yakimenko