A video has appeared with Tu-22M3 bombers with supersonic anti-ship missiles (PKR) X-22, as well as MiG-31K fighters with the Dagger aviation complex, which Russia has transferred to Syria against the background of the presence of NATO aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean Sea.
Footage showing the take-off and landing of aircraft at the Khmeimim airfield, as well as the launch of shells at conditional opponents.
"The crew of the Tu-22M3 aircraft has completed the relocation from the permanent deployment airfield to the Khmeimim airfield. The flight range was more than 1.5 thousand km, the flight took place normally," Pyotr Ivanov, the commander of the Tu-22M3 crew, told the TV channel.
It is noted that the Soviet long-range supersonic missile carrier-bomber Tu-22M3 carried a supersonic anti-ship air-launched missile X22 "Storm". Currently, the Tu-22M3 pilots are working out specific tasks over the sea.
"Flying over water is the most difficult type of flight training and combat training. Undirected terrain, bad weather conditions. And the level of our flight personnel, starting with a lieutenant and ending with senior officers, allows us to perform any tasks," said Andrey Pakhomov, Chief of Naval Aviation of the Russian Navy.
In addition, as it became known to the TV channel, MiG-31 fighters with a hypersonic Dagger missile were also transferred to Syria. The Su-30SM fighters provide cover during naval exercises.
On February 15, it was reported that the head of the Russian Defense Ministry, Army General Sergei Shoigu, inspected the Russian airbase in the Syrian Hamim. Shoigu spoke with Russian pilots of long-range Tu-22 bombers and Mig-31 interceptor fighters and handed a special air helmet to a pilot from the airbase's flight crew who had flown more than 300 sorties.
Earlier that day, Tu-22M3 and MiG-31K long-range aircraft with the Dagger aviation complex arrived at the Khmeimim base. They will take part in a naval exercise of the Navy's inter-fleet grouping in the eastern Mediterranean.
At the same time, the Russian military department clarified that, judging by Western media reports, aircraft carrier groups of NATO ships will observe the exercises of the Russian Federation in the Mediterranean Sea.
