Silantev, Aleksandr

Born Aug. 23, 1918, in Ekaterinburg (now Sverdlovsk). Soviet military leader; marshal of aviation (1976). Hero of the Soviet Union (Dec. 17, 1941). Member of the CPSU since 1942.

Silant’ev entered the Soviet Army in 1938. He graduated from a military aviation school in 1940, the Order of the Red Banner Air Force Academy in 1950, and the Military Academy of the General Staff in 1957.

During the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45, Silant’ev served on the Western, Leningrad, Volkhov, Voronezh, Southwestern, Karelian, First Byelorussian, and First Ukrainian fronts as commander of a flight and of a squadron and as a navigator in an air force fighter regiment. He flew 359 combat missions. After the war, Silant’ev held high troop-command positions and served in the administrative apparatus of the air force and the General Staff. In October 1969 he was named chief of the Main Headquarters of the Air Force and first deputy commander in chief of the air force.

Silant’ev has been awarded the Order of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the Patriotic War First Class, the Order of the Patriotic War Second Class, two Orders of the Red Star, the Order for Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR Third Class, and various medals. Silant’ev has also been awarded foreign orders and medals.