Amet-Khan graduated from military aviation school in 1940. With the German attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941 he was a pilot with the 4th Fighter Regiment, based around Odessa, flying the I-16. He claimed his first victory on 31 May 1942, ramming a Junkers Ju-88 with his Hawker Hurricane fighter. In October 1942 he transferred to the elite 9th GIAP Guards Fighter Regiment, equipped at various times with the Yak-1, P-39 Airacobra and finally the Lavochkin La-7. In action over the Briansk, south-western, Stalingrad, southern, Ukrainian, and Belo-Russian fronts, Amet-Khan flew some 603 sorties participated in 150 air battles, and personally claimed 30 planes shot down, with 19 more victories shared.