The fleet's planes and helicopters will protect an important transport artery and the northern islands of the Russian Federation
The Northern Sea Route will protect the mixed Arctic air corps. It was formed as part of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy and has already begun to perform tasks. It included two fighter, mixed and helicopter aviation regiments. The new combat formation will cover not only the important Arctic transport artery, but also the northern islands from air, land, surface and underwater enemy forces. Experts note that the ownership of the Northern Sea Route of Russia is disputed by other countries, so the authorities need to strengthen the northern borders.
Arctic Defenders
A mixed aviation corps (SAK) has been formed as part of the Northern Fleet. The new association was created on the basis of the 45th Army of the Air Force and Air Defense. One of the main tasks of the SAC is to protect the Northern Sea Route from enemy air, land, surface and underwater forces, sources in the military department told Izvestia.
The Joint Command of the Northern Fleet included the 45th Army of the Air Force and Air Defense. Now it has been decided to transfer the army to the newly formed Leningrad Military District. It was planned that a new air army would be formed "from scratch" as part of the LenVO. But, according to Izvestia's sources, such a decision was abandoned.
The mixed aviation corps of the Northern Fleet included two fighter naval aviation regiments — the 279th and the 100th. As well as a mixed aviation regiment, it is armed with AN—12 and AN-26 transport aircraft and anti-submarine Il-38N. A helicopter regiment equipped with search-and-rescue and anti-submarine Ka-27, transport-strike Ka-29 and Mi-8AMTSh/MTV-5 also joined the SAC.
In addition to aviation, the corps command has anti-aircraft missile and radio engineering regiments at its disposal.
Aviation equipment of the mixed aviation corps has already started duty at Russian Arctic military bases. In particular, Su-33 and MiG-29KR fighters of naval aviation regiments perform tasks to cover the Northern Sea Route and other Arctic regions at the Rogachevo airfield on Novaya Zemlya.
At the board of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on December 19, the head of the military department, Sergei Shoigu, announced that this year two combined arms armies, 50 formations and military units, including four divisions, 18 brigades, 28 regiments, as well as a mixed aviation corps, were formed as part of the armed forces.
Deck-based multi-purpose fighter MiG-29K
Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti/Pavel Lvov
Areas of responsibility were divided between the newly formed Leningrad Military District and the Northern Fleet, military expert Dmitry Boltenkov told Izvestia.
— LenVO will be responsible for the defense of the border with Finland and Norway, — he believes. — The Northern Fleet will cover important naval bases, islands, the Northern Sea Route, our ships in the Barents and other seas. The tasks of the new mixed aviation corps will be defensive. There will be no peace in our North. In recent years, the activity of ships and spy planes on our northern borders has increased significantly, and the downward trend is not visible. On the contrary, it will only grow. NATO countries and a number of others are actually waging an undeclared war against us. In the event of an aggravation of the situation, the Northern Fleet will have to block the access of unfriendly fleets to the waters of the Northern Sea Route. Aviation is needed to solve this problem.
The Aviation Corps will play a crucial role in the Arctic latitudes, the Honored Test Pilot Hero of Russia Igor Malikov agrees.
— The northern borders were poorly protected at one time, — he noted. — It was believed that there were inaccessible territories and threats should not be expected from there. But this is not the case. Any bomber from the North Pole area can strike our territory with long-range cruise missiles. This possibility should be excluded. And most importantly, the United States and a number of other countries are now challenging our right to the Northern Sea Route.
The Russian carrier-based fighter of the fourth generation Su-33
Image source: Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov
The NSR is the shortest sea artery from Europe to Asia. That means a lot of money, he explained.
— They attract many people, — Malikov noted. — If we do not strengthen the Arctic direction today, Americans will be sailing there tomorrow. But these are our waters, and we must protect them.
The case is in action
Pilots of the mixed aviation corps of the Northern Fleet have already begun conducting exercises. In particular, training flights on Il-38 aircraft over the Barents Sea. In particular, on December 21, these aircraft fulfilled the tasks of group search and tracking of submarines of a simulated enemy with the integrated use of radar and sonar equipment. The flight missions were carried out in the conditions of the polar night.
The main purpose of the flights was to increase the coherence of the actions of pilots in groups when performing tasks for their intended purpose, the press service of the Northern Fleet reported.
On December 24, the Northern Fleet held exercises on the organization of security and defense of the airfield of the mixed aviation corps. At them, the military personnel were shown the features of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles of the quadcopter type and ways to combat them.
Ka-27 naval anti-submarine helicopter
Image source: Photo: TASS/The press service of the Northern Fleet
Prior to that, over the Kola Peninsula and the Barents Sea, the pilots of Ka-27 helicopters worked out interaction with the leadership group during flights at low temperatures.
On December 1, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation began to fulfill the president's instructions to build up the armed forces to 1 million 320 thousand people. The formation of the Leningrad and Moscow military districts is also continuing against the background of Finland's accession to NATO and Sweden's upcoming accession. When forming them, the agreement between Washington and Helsinki on the use of Finnish military facilities by the Americans, in particular air bases, is also taken into account.
Izvestia has already written that the Russian Defense Ministry has decided to create and deploy new military transport aviation regiments in the main strategic directions - western, northern and southern. And in the Far East, the first of them has already been created. The regiments will be equipped with Il-76, An-26 transport aircraft and, possibly, Mi-26 helicopters. The new units will allow for faster transfer of forces and funds to the threatened areas — this is necessary in a difficult military and political situation.
Bogdan Stepovoy
Alexey Ramm