As the Department of Information and Mass Communications of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported on June 25, 2024, in the Kaliningrad region, pilots of the Leningrad Association of the Air Force and Air Defense of the Aerospace Forces performed training flights with training air battles. The crews of the Su-30SM2 multi-purpose fighters and Su-27 fighters, performing takeoffs from the home airfield, practiced target detection using on-board radar and conditionally hit them. In addition, the pilots practiced actions in simulated routine and emergency situations.
Su-27 fighters from the 689th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 6th Leningrad Red Banner Army of the Air Force and Air Defense of the Russian Aerospace Forces. The side numbers of the aircraft in the picture are retouched. Chkalovsk (Kaliningrad region), June 2024 (c) Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
In addition, during the flights, interaction with radio engineering troops and anti-aircraft missile forces was worked out. During the sorties, fighter aircraft took turns playing the role of conditional targets, and calculations of radio engineering troops and anti-aircraft missile forces practiced actions to detect and conditionally destroy air targets. This method of training flight personnel helps to achieve the best result when performing flight tactical tasks.
In total, more than 10 units of air equipment and more than fifty military personnel of flight and engineering personnel were involved in training flights.
BMPD comment. Thus, it can be stated that the 689th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, stationed at Chkalovsk airfield in the Kaliningrad Region and previously part of the 34th Mixed Aviation Division of the Baltic Fleet Naval Aviation, has now been transferred to the Russian Aerospace Forces, becoming part of the 6th Leningrad Red Banner Army of the Air Force and Air Defense. Judging by the photos from the above report, the Naval aviation emblems have already been painted over on the Su-27 and Su-27UB planes of the regiment, and the inscriptions "MA of the Russian Navy" have been replaced with "VKS of Russia".
Recall that the 689th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment was reassigned to Naval Aviation from the Air Defense Forces in December 1994 and became part of the aviation of the Baltic Fleet under the command of the Kaliningrad Special Defensive Area. On March 1, 2010, during the reform of the "New Look", the 689th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment was disbanded and became a fighter squadron as part of the 7054th Naval Aviation Base. Since June 2011, the fighter squadron was transferred to the Air Force and Air Defense and became part of the 7th Air Group of the 7000th Air Base of the 1st Air Force and Air Defense Command of the Western Military District, but in December 2014 it was re-incorporated into the 72nd Naval Aviation Base of the Baltic Fleet, which united all aviation formations in the Kaliningrad region. On December 1, 2018, the 689th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment was restored as part of the Naval Aviation of the Baltic Fleet and in 2019 became part of the new 34th Mixed Aviation Division, which united all aviation formations in the Kaliningrad region instead of the 72nd air base. In light of the current reassignment of the 689th VKS Regiment, the status of the 34th Air Division is now unclear.
It should also be noted that for the first time, mention was made in open sources of the presence of new Su-30SM2 fighters in the 689th regiment. Presumably, the regiment received four newly built Su-30SM2 fighters delivered to the Russian Aerospace Forces at the end of 2023.
It is unclear whether a similar decision has been made (or will be made) to reassign the VKS in relation to another fighter aviation unit of Naval Aviation - the 865th Fighter Aviation Regiment on MiG-31BM fighters, which is part of the Troops and Forces in the Northeast of Russia of the Pacific Fleet and stationed in Kamchatka.
In general, the reassignment of the Navy's fighter aircraft to the VKS can only be welcomed, since it is obvious that Naval Aviation occupies a frankly second-rate position in the Navy and in the eyes of the naval leadership, which, it seems, does not really know how to manage aviation assets. Admirals do not need aviation and are not interested in it. It seems advisable to completely transfer aircraft from the Navy to the VKS, leaving the fleet with only naval aviation (which also has no prospects) and helicopters.
Su-27 and Su-27UB fighters from the 689th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 6th Leningrad Red Banner Army of the Air Force and Air Defense of the Russian Aerospace Forces. The side numbers of the aircraft in the pictures are retouched. Chkalovsk (Kaliningrad region), June 2024 (c) Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
