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Aviation History
1993
1993 - 2793.PDF
WORLD'S AIR FORCES C-47 Dakota/AC-47 IAI-201 Arava EMB.110P Bandeirantes F28 Fellowship 1000 Citation II King Air C90 Queenair Commander 680/695 PA-31 Navajo/Cheyenne PA-44 Seminole Mitsubishi MU-2 Cessna 404/401/340 Cessna 310 DHC-2 Beaver H-550 Courier PA-32 Cherokee Six Cessna 185 Floatplane Bell 412 Bell 212 UH-60A Black Hawk UH-1B/H Iroquois UH-6A/Hughes 500MD Hughes 530MG/500E Bell 206B JetRanger UH-12E TH-55/Hughes 300C Bell 47D/G * on order 7/4 2 2 1 1 2 1 1/2 2/1 1 1 3/1/1 2 9 1 1 1 1 4 10/6* 9/31 11/10 6/2 10 4 6/7 3/8 trans/COIN trans VIP VIP VIP comms comms comms comms comms comms comms comms comms comms comms comms trans VIP/trans trans COIN/trans COIN COIN/trng liaison liaison trng trng Armada de Colombia Formed as recently as 1984, this small air arm operates four MBB BO. 105s from frigates and corvettes on liaison and communications duties and a fleet of light aircraft for similar land-based missions. Type No PA-31 Navajo 1 Commander 500 3 PA-28 Cherokee 4 B0.105CB 2 Role comms comms liaison comms/liaison The Colombian Army has a Cessna 404 and a Commander 500 for communications duties. COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES Since the collapse of the Soviet Union two years ago the new sovereign republics have been attempting to establish independent armed forces, in most cases inheriting military equipment of the former Soviet Army left on their territories. Six CIS member states (Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kirgizia, Uzbekistan and Tadjikistan) signed a collective security treaty, which in theory at least, gives the Chief Command of the CIS armed forces control over their troops. Belarus and Turkmenistan each signed bilateral agreements with Russia defining responsibilities over armed forces on their territories and agreeing who owns what. Azerbaidjan joined the CIS after defeats in its war with ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh prov ince, strongly backed by neighbouring Armenia itself. Georgia, which now has a leadership more friendly to Moscow, also joined the CIS, in October 1993. Ukraine does not co-operate much on collective defence with Russia or other CIS members and is dealt with as a potential danger rather than an ally. Three Baltic states (Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia) are strengthening their independence from Russia and the CIS and are pushing hard on the Russian troops to be withdrawn from their territory. So far only Lithuania has succeeded in achieving this goal. Russia itself contiunes with reforms of its armed forces. Their structure copies that of the Soviet Army with five separate services: strategic missile forces, land forces, air force, air defence force and the navy. Russia Russian Air Force The Voenno-Vozdushniye Sily Rossiskoi Federatsii (WS RF) inherited from the Soviet Air Force about 5,000 combat aircraft and more than 14,000 pilots. The CIS republics agreed their shares according to the treaty on the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE), and Russia's limits in the European theatre are 3,450 combat aircraft, 890 combat helicopters and 300 naval aircraft. WS RF will have four commands: the Long-Range (strategic) aviation (DA in Russian), the Military Transport Aviation (VTA), the Frontal Aviation (FA) and the Reserve and Training Command. The Reserve and Training Command is planned to be transferred from Moscow to somewhere in the province. Long Range Aviation (DA) Dalnyaya Aviatsiya (DA) lost its very improtant air bases in Estonia (Pyarnu and Tartu) and Ukraine (Uzin and Priluki). Moreover, Ukraine declared its command over strategic nuclear bomber forces offer ing its own interpretation of its non-nuclear status and the CIS agreements on the strategic forces. This has left only four Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack bombers in Russia which are now operated from Engels air base in Saratov region. The DA training centre and the major repair plant for bomber aircraft are at Dyagilevo base near Ryazan south of Moscow. Tupolev Tu-95 Bear bombers are operated from Mozdok in the Northern Caucuses and from Ukrainka air base in Khabarovsk region in the Far East. Several emergency dispersal basis in the north are maintained for strategic aircraft. Bears bases at Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan are under the CIS command. The production of the Tu-160 and the Tu-95 at plants in Kazan and Samara has been stopped mostly because of the lack of funding, though the purchase of more Blackjacks has been mooted. This should be resolved by the Defence Acquisition Programme which is to be submitted to the government by the end of 1993. Myasischev 3-MS tankers are being replaced by Ilyushin I1-78/78M Midas tankers. The only air refuelling regiment of the former Soviet Air Force equipped with the Il-78s (30 aircraft) fell into Ukrainian possession, and those aircraft are used mostly as commercial transports now. Frontal Aviation (FA) The FA operates about 3,500 front-line aircraft, with another 1,800 in supporting roles. The main FA roles are the support of the ground forces by tactical strike, interdiction, close-air support, counter-air operations and tactical reconnaissance. FA is set up as 7 air armies assigned to military districts in which Russia's territory is divided, another three air armies comprise forces in Germany, the Baltic statesv and Trans- Caucasian republics. The air armies ar.tf split into divisions, each comprised of two-four regfments. Each air regiment usually consists of three air squadrons on 10-14 aircraft. The 15th air army was expected to leave the Baltic states in 1993, but some units still remain to be withdrawn. The last air units of the 16th air army will be withdrawn from Germany in 1994. Functionally, FA regiments belong to the Bomber Aviation (BA), Fighter-Bomber Aviation (FBA), Fighter Aviation (FiA), or Reconnaissance Aviation (RA). Each branch of the FA has its own combat training procedures, combat manuals and specific tasks. Principal type in BA service is the Su-24 Fencer. Several hundred remain in Russian service in deep interdiction and strike roles. The FBA's inventory consists mostly of dedicated tactical strike aircraft including Su-17 Fitter, Su-25 Frogfoot and MiG-27 Flogger D/J. An early version of the Flogger D has been upgraded to J standard. All MiG-21 Fishbeds have been withdrawn from service. Fighter regiments still have more than 1,500 MiG-23 Floggers. Ambi tious plans of the Russian Air Force to sell abroad around 1,600 combat aircraft from its inventory, mostly MiG-21s and MiG-23s, have not produced any results, and the aircraft are going to scrap to comply with the CFE treaty. The principal type for tactical reconnaissance is the Su-24MR Fencer E which retains its missile-carrying capability. High altitude, high-speed reconnaissance missions are flown by MiG-25R/RB Foxbat B/D, which exists in both photo and various side-looking radar- mapping configuations. Several tens of MiG-25BM defence-suppression aircraft are also operational. The Sukhoi Su-30MK developemnt of the Flanker, may in part be earmarked as a replacement for this. Military Transport Aviation The Ilyushin 11-76 Candid transport is in production in Tashkent in now-independent Uzbekistan and is probably the most marketable aircraft now in the CIS. Many orders from new civil independent carriers ready to pay even in hard currency to acquire the Candids presents strong competition to the air force needs for further supplementing the ageing Antonov An-12 Cubs. One regiment of Antonov An-124 Ruslans is in service, based near Bryansk. A new military transport, the Antonov An-70T, is under development to meet the former Soviet air force requirement. The aircraft is to be powered by four Progress D-27 propfans and its maiden flight is expected in December or January. Ilyushin works on a rival transport design IL-106 powered by four Kuznetsov Trud NK-93 shrouded propfans. The gov ernment financing for both the airframe and the engines continues. An-24/26 Coke/Curl turboprops continue in use, while VIP transport is carried out by the 11-62 Classic, Tu-154 Careless and Tu-134 Crusty. The lack of a dedicated small VIP aircraft is a serious difficulty for the VTA because of the cost of operating larger types. Reserve and Training Command A fundamental reform is planned for the pilot training system. Several military pilot schools are to be closed, the number of officers graduation from pilot schools each year will be halved. Only one school in Kacha will train cadets for fighter aviation. Eisk will train fighter-bomber pilots, Barnaul - tactical bomber crews, one more school will prepare pilots for long-range strategic and naval heavy bomber aviation. The Russian air force have Czech-built Aero L-20s and L-39s aircraft as both primary and advanced trainers, many of them approach the end of their service life. Work on designing an indigenous jet trainer goes on at Yakovlev and Mikoyan design bureaux with first flight expected in 1994-95. Naval Aviation The Russian Navy's fleets — the Baltic Fleet, Northern Fleet, and Pacific Fleet — are supported by the land-based aviation commands. The total number of fixed-wing aircraft in service is more than 1,500 plus about 500 helicopters. The dispute between Ukraine and Russia over the Black Sea Fleet resulted in signing a temporary agreement freezing the status quo until 1995 and starting negotiations on future sharing of combat ships and around 300 aircraft. Naval Aviation has 75 Tu-95/142 Bears and about 80 Tu-16 Badgers on maritime reconnaissance and ASW duties, with another 75 or so Badgers in the tanker role. About 20 Tu-22R Blinders are used for short-range, high-speed reconnaissance, while modi fied An-12s and Il-18s are used as electronic intelli gence gatherers. The Naval Aviation strike force is spearheaded by the Tu-22M Backfire, with 160 aircraft operational, backed up by 240 Tu-16 Badgers. Land- based are Be-12 Mail amphibians and about 50 11-38 Mays, plus some Tu-95 Bear-Fs. The Bear-J VLF communications platform is also in service. Fighter-bomber and attack squadrons are equipped with Sukhoi Su-17 Fitters and Su-25 Frogfoots. Some of the units of tactical aircraft including the MiG-29 Fulcrum were transferred to the naval aviation from the air force in 1989 to avoid the limitations of the CFE treaty before it was signed. The Navy is reported to have ordered about ten new Be-42 Albatross amphibians for SAR roles but further defence cuts threaten even this launch order. Three out of four VTOL carriers are non- operational, Kiev is at Murmansk repair plant, Minsk and Novorossiysk have been decommissioned in the Far East and wait for mothballing. The fourth VTOL carrier Gorshkov and the first conventional carrier Kuznetsov are at the Northern Fleet. Operations of Yak-38 Forger VTOL fighters have been suspended. The first squadron of the Su-27K naval Flanker has been declared operational, but mostly for land-based operations. Ukraine does not allow to use the naval training base at Saki in the Crimea in which many million of roubles have been invested for training naval pilots for carrier operations. The MiG-29K naval fighter has fallen a victim of the defence cuts^ Rumours about possible selling of the second conven tional carrier, the Varyag, to China have been energet ically denied by both Russia and Ukraine. Air Defence Force Istrebitelnaya Aviatsiya Protivo-Vozdushnoy Oborony (PVO) belongs to the ADF, a branch of the airmed forces completely separate from the air force. 50 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 24 - 30 November, 1993
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