929th State Flight Test Centre named for V. P. Chkalov

Its headquarters is located at Akhtubinsk (air base), Akhtubinsk, Astrakhan Oblast, in the Southern Military District.


Most state flight tests are carried out in the GLITs and at its research centers, laboratories and test sites, including all flights for testing combat use and testing new weapons. Not a single type of aircraft, helicopter or model of aviation weapons enters service with the Russian Aerospace Forces, and in the past the Soviet Union, and other branches of the Armed Forces without passing tests at the GLITs. After 1991 and, with the expansion of the supply of Russian combat aircraft for export, the center is testing and new modifications of aircraft, specially developed under contracts with foreign customers.


From 1920 to the present, 'more than 390 types of aircraft have been tested here, of which 280 types have been put into service. In 1996, three production Sukhoi Su-27Ms were delivered to the 929th State Flight Test Centre at Akhtubinsk to perform weapons trials.^[1]


In 1999 alone, 191 test works was carried out at the GLITs. Research work at the GLITs is focused on methodological support for the assessment of advanced aircraft, the development of general technical requirements for the Air Force and the increase in the combat capabilities of production aircraft. The volume of R&D work in 1995 averaged 88 (of which 6 were flight, for comparison, in 1986 1320 R&D^[2]) plus up to 400 military scientific papers.^[3]


In May 2011, Sukhoi delivered the first Su-35S to Akhtubinsk to conduct state joint tests with the Defence Ministry to prepare for operational service.^[4]