On the eve of the holiday, Air Force Commander Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin held a press conference where he told journalists about today's Russian Air Force and prospects for its development.
For the time being, the Russian Air Force comprises long-range strategic bombers armed with nuclear missile weapons, a tactical force, army aviation including interceptor fighters, a military airlift force for troop transport, maneuvers and airdrops, and early warning aircraft. Besides that, the Air Force includes air defense and radio-radar troops, who are detailed with protecting key government facilities, industrial areas and military command and control centers from air attacks. The Air Force's main duties are to provide air data to all levels of the command structure, radar data for combat support of aviation, anti-aircraft missile troops and radio-electronic warfare systems, electronic surveillance of Russia's air space and to guarantee secure flights for both military and civilian aircrafts.
The composition of the Russian Air Force is estimated by a number of sources to be as follows: 90 strategic bombers, including 16 Tu-160s (Blackjack) and 74 Tu-95MSs (Bear); 124 long-range Tu-22M3 (Backfire) bombers; 20 A-50 early warning aircraft; Su-25M close support aircraft, Su-24 (Fencer) tactical bombers and Su-34 (Fullback) fighter bombers totaling 800 planes; 725 MiG-31 (Foxhound), MiG-29 (Fulcrum), MiG-25 (Foxbat) and Su-27 (Flanker), including Su-27SMKs, interceptor fighters; around 300 An-12, An-22, An-124 (Condor) and Il-76 (Candid) airlifters and Il-78 (Midas) tanker planes; 650 Mi-8, Mi-17, Mi-24, Mi-26, Ka-50 and Mi-28N helicopters. In addition, it has 1900 anti-aircraft missile launchers, including S-300V, S-300P Favorit, S-400 Triumf and other systems.
General Zelin says by 2011, Russia's Mi-26 heavy airlift helicopters and Mi-24PN choppers will be upgraded. There are also long-term plans to acquire over 60 Mi-8MTV5, Mi-28N and Ka-52 helicopters. Between 2011 and 2015, over 100 units of new Mi-28N, Ka-52 and Mi-8 variants are expected to be purchased. New multirole fighters by Sukhoi and MiG will enter service, and tests of the fifth-generation fighter will be completed. The priority of Air Force's development, however, will be the improvement of the technology intensiveness of its units, which implies re-equipping with new and upgraded hardware, as well as maintaining and development of the infrastructure for daily life, combat training, and combat duty.
It's no secret that until recently, Russian military pilots had just 20 hours of flying time a year, while the standard was 150 hours. A rapid growth in oil prices had limited the availability of fuel and lubricants. Young graduates of flying schools could not gain the necessary experience as they were not allowed to conduct solo flights because of the potential risk of losing expensive hardware. Meanwhile, it was necessary to keep the older, more experienced pilots fit for combat duty. Simulators, no matter how perfect, cannot substitute for real flying experience.
These problems led to strange incidents. A few years ago Major Troyanov lost orientation in the Baltic sky and instead of Kaliningrad Region flew over Lithuania and had to eject from the aircraft when his plane ran out of fuel. It was later established that Troyanov had had just seven hours of flight experience in the year preceding the incident. Lack of combat experience was among the reasons for the loss of two planes during the peacekeeping operation in South Ossetia.
Currently, the Air Force has enough fuel, the general says. By now, the average flying time among tactical and army aviation pilots has risen to around 90 hours a year. Special attention is paid to young pilots. The flying time for the crews of strategic bombers has also increased considerably. Starting from August 17 last year, Tu-160 and Tu-95MS warplanes resumed flights over the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Arctic Ocean. Since then, the crews have conducted over 150 patrols amid "counteraction by aviation of neighboring countries," General Zelin said.
NATO fighters approached very close to our planes, sometimes beyond safety regulations, aiming their weapons, and our crews responded, although they have no combat missiles on board, by simulated firing at the "potential adversaries", practicing repelling "hostile" attacks. In fact, it was joint combat training.
During the 2007-2008 joint drills with Russia's Northern and Black Sea fleets in the Atlantic, long-range aircraft for the first time in many years saw intensive action far away from their bases. They rehearsed the destruction of naval targets together with ships, naval aviation, air defense and shipboard missile systems.
This year, army aviation crews have conducted a few dozen tactical training exercises with live firing of missiles at aerial, ground and naval targets. The exercises were usually part of joint drills with motorized infantry, coastal units and Navy vessels. This proves that the Armed Forces command is focused on simultaneous multirole combat employment of troops on the ground, in the air and at sea. Joint drills of long-range aviation and Navy ships are scheduled to be held in the Indian Ocean this year. Last year's cruise will be repeated, but with new objectives and in new conditions.
Another priority is the further development of the joint air defense system of the CIS countries, which is the only operational defensive system within the CIS, says General Zelin. Besides Russia, this system comprises the air defense troops of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Armenia and Ukraine. The CIS is now facing the task of improving the control system of the joint air defense and securing mutual information exchanges concerning the situation at the frontiers of the Commonwealth. Currently a universal automation equipment complex for command and control centers is under development on request by the CIS Air Defense Coordination Committee. Air defense troops from the member countries are engaged in joint combat duty. Around 100 warplanes at a time take part in drills within this system.
The Russian Air Force still has a lot of problems to be solved, Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin said. Nevertheless, it is clear that it is recovering, he added.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
