The Academy was established in 2008 after the merger of the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy and the Gagarin Air Force Academy by Government Resolution on March 7, 2008. Both institutions had long histories of aerospace education and research. The Gagarin Academy specialized in preparing high-ranking commanding officers, while the Zhukovsky Academy focused on aviation engineering. The number of military and civilian personnel in the new academy was limited to 4,614 and both campuses were retained, but it was envisioned that the new Academy would fully relocate to Monino by the end of 2011. In 2008-2009, when the Ministry of Defence continued the process of consolidation of its training and research institutions, six other military schools were named affiliated entities and later subsidiaries of the academy:
The study of natural resources by means of aerospace
Electronics and automation of physical facilities
Robotic systems of aircraft weapons
Technical maintenance of aircraft and engines
Technical maintenance of aircraft electrical systems and flight control and navigation systems
Technical maintenance of the mobile radio equipment
Metrology and metrological support
Means of electronic warfare
The software of computers and automated systems
Planned merger
Order of the Russian Minister of Defence on 12 July 2011, a decision was made to reform the academy. It directed to transfer within 45 days, "the preparation of students from the Zhukovsky – Gagarin Air Force Academy to the Military Aviation Engineering University” located in Voronezh. The same order liquidated subsidiaries of the academy in the cities of Yeysk, Saint Petersburg and Chelyabinsk. Order was signed by the Minister of Defence, Anatoliy Serdyukov, the appendix to the order - by the head of the Education Department of the Ministry of Defence, Elena G. Priezzheva. De jure, the order has not eliminated Zhukovsky – Gagarin Air Force Academy. However, it happened de facto, since the educational activities were the main purpose of the academy, and the transfer of preparation of students to the Military Aviation Engineering University in practice meant an end to the existence of the Zhukovsky – Gagarin Air Force Academy. The vast majority of the Zhukovsky – Gagarin Air Force Academy faculty did not move to Voronezh. More than fifteen hundred people were laid off in Monino. Order of the Ministry of Defence has caused fierce criticism from the scientific and pedagogical community of the academy. Exponent of this position is the head of the working group of the Academic Council of the academy Ivan Naidenov a part of the 30th Central Scientific Research Institute, Ministry of Defence. The need for reorganization of the Russian Air Force research and educational institutions has been realized at all levels of military establishment since the late 1980s. Options discussed included the reorganization and different forms of association of Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy and Gagarin Air Force Academy, and sometimes 30th Central Scientific Research Institute. The criteria for the effectiveness of the reforms were not only the reductions in personnel and budget, but also sustainment of the scientific and pedagogical potential of research and educational institutions. According to Ivan Naidenov, the reform of 2011 resulted in almost complete loss of the Zhukovsky – Gagarin Air Force Academy potential, and restoration of the lost positions in the Military Aviation Engineering University will take at least 10 – 15 years. At the end of September 2011, when implementation of the Defence Ministry Order N 1136 was in full swing, Government Resolution of September 27, 2011 № 1639-r was issued. This resolution ordered the creation of Federal State Governmental military educational institution of higher education Zhukovsky – Gagarin Air Force Academy of the Defense Ministry "by changing the type of the existing" federal state of military educational institutions of higher education Zhukovsky – Gagarin Air Force Academy, while maintaining its main purpose of activity and total number of full-time employees. Moscow and Monino were assigned as the locations of the academy. At the time of this writing, reliable sources of information on the implementation of the RF Government Resolution on September 27, 2011 № 1639-r were not available. This decree, while designating it as a Military Educational and Scientific Centre, ended the planned merger between the two institutions, saving the academy for good.
The history of the cadet band began in 1936, when the Chelyabinsk Higher Military Aviation School of Navigators was created. Major I. Vasilyev was its first director and laid the glorious traditions of performing art and musical culture. The band is a laureate of more than one competition of military bands of the Volga-Ural Military District. As part of the consolidated band of the Central Military District, as part of the festival of military bands, it is included in the Guinness Book of Records as a member of the largest orchestra performing the FIFA Anthem. The band takes part in all the ceremonies and military parades held in the city of Chelyabinsk, dedicated to the Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
