Russian air force gaining strength

MOSCOW, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- On Aug. 12, Russia traditionally celebrates Air Force Day. Although one Russian pilot was killed and three were taken prisoner during the recent conflict in South Ossetia, the national holiday cannot be crossed out of the calendar.

On the eve of the holiday, the Russian air force commander, three-star Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin, held a press conference at which 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 Russian 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 Russian 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 aircraft.

The composition of the Russian air force is estimated by a number of sources to be as follows: 90 strategic bombers, including 16 Tupolev Tu-160s -- Blackjack -- and 74 Tupolev Tu-95MSs -- Bear; 124 long-range Tupolev Tu-22M3 -- Backfire -- bombers; 20 A-50 early warning aircraft; Sukhoi Su-25M -- Frogfoot -- close support aircraft; Sukhoi Su-24 -- Fencer -- tactical bombers and Sukhoi Su-34 -- Fullback -- fighter bombers totaling 800 planes; 725 Mikoyan-Gurevitch MiG-31 -- Foxhound, MiG-29 -- Fulcrum, MiG-25 -- Foxbat and Sukhoi Su-27 -- Flanker, including Sukhoi Su-27SMKs, interceptor fighters; around 300 Antonov An-12, Antonov An-22, Antonov An-124 -- Condor -- and Ilyushibn 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 1,900 anti-aircraft missile launchers, including S-300V, S-300P Favorit, S-400 Triumf and other systems.

Zelin said that by 2011, Russia's Mi-26 heavy airlift helicopters and Mi-24PN choppers will be upgraded. There are also long-term plans to acquire more than 60 Mi-8MTV5, Mi-28N and Ka-52 helicopters. Between 2011 and 2015, more than 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 the Russian 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.

(In Part 2: Boosting pilot and crew training experience.)

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(Nikita Petrov is a Russian military commentator. This article is reprinted by permission of the RIA Novosti news agency. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.)

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