Aerial Fetishism in Russian War Cinema: Helicopters, Jets, and Military Mythmaking

• In Event: Militarized Masculinity and Soviet-Afghan War Veterans in Post-Soviet Russia

Abstract

This paper examines the persistent fascination with military aviation in post-Soviet Russian war cinema, where helicopters and jets serve as narrative focal points, symbols of technological prowess, and sites for the performance of heightened masculinity. From Black Shark (1993) to Caravan Hunters (2010) to Sky (2021), from Afghanistan in the 1980s to Syria in 2015, these films glorify aerial combat, portraying Russian military superiority through the bond between pilots and their advanced machines. The fixation on helicopters and jets continues Soviet-era techno-fetishism (e.g., tractors and tanks) but shifts war narratives from the brute force of mechanized ground combat to the precision, speed, and strategic dominance of air power. Unlike tanks, symbols of battlefield endurance, helicopters and jets emphasize agility, individual skill, and high-tech warfare. This shift also reconfigures militarized masculinity through the image of an elite pilot whose skill and intuition forge an almost mystical bond with his aircraft, represented in scenes that linger on the physical connection between man and machine—hands gliding over metal, words whispered to the aircraft. By centering high-tech precision strikes and elite aviation units rather than large-scale, attritional battles, these films offer audiences a sleek, cinematic narrative of power, mastery, and intimate control over machines of war.

Author

• Holly Myers, U of Delaware