Two Russian military aviation training evolutions are attracting the attention of U.S. analysts.
A Tu-160 Blackjack bomber made a record 24-hr. flight in early June, followed by a second record-setting cross-country flight by four strike aircraft, two Sukhoi Su-34 Fullbacks and two Su-24M Fencers that were refueled twice en route from Lipetsk air base near Moscow to the Far East Military District.
The Fullback and Fencer missions were conducted by senior Lipetsk pilots assigned to specialty test and evaluation units. They are often used in high-profile exercises to avoid using less well-trained line-unit aircrews. U.S. officials suggest that this practice limits the effects of advanced training in front-line forces.
Russian armed forces have been showing off their new look in a series of events in the wake of new reforms ordered by the defense ministry. The two record flights were part of the lead up to the Vostok (East) 2010 exercise this month, involving more than 10,000 troops, ships and dozens of strike and support aircraft. The Su-34s deployed from Lipetsk took part in Vostok 2010, as did the Su-24s.
Perhaps the most interesting aviation event was the Russian Federation Air Force’s 3,300 nm., 8-hr. flight involving two Su-24 Fencers and two Su-34 Fullbacks that were refueled twice by pre-positioned Il-78 Midas tankers during the flight from Lipetsk to Dzemgi air base.
While the exercise showed the ability of top-line Russian air crew to carry out extended-range combat missions, it also highlighted the air force’s need for more tanker aircraft.
A comparatively small number of Ilyushin Il-78M Midas B tanker aircraft are in the air force inventory. The air force lost most its original tanker fleet, based at Uzin in Ukraine, with the collapse of the Soviet Union. It has 20 Il‑78M Midas Bs now, although serviceability has not always been particularly high. Russian press reports say the air force is pushing to acquire additional tankers.
It is not known if the Fencers were part of the fleet which has undergone a modest upgrade to improve the type’s cockpit avionics and ability to use a wider range of air-to-surface weapons with greater precision, though it would seem likely. The upgrade aircraft, the Su-24M2, will extend the Fencer’s service life, to complement the slow build-up of the Su-34 fleet.
State trials of the Su-34 are continuing at the air force test center at Akhtubinsk, with a handful of the aircraft also delivered to Lipetsk. Previously known as the Su-27IB, the prototype first flew in 1990. The Su-34 was originally intended to enter service in the latter half of the 1990s as a replacement for the Fencer, but the program has been badly hampered by funding problems. Thirty-two of the type are now due for delivery by 2015, with further orders expected to follow.
And let's get one thing straight. There's a big difference between a pilot and an aviator. One is a technician; the other is an artist in love with flight. — E. B. Jeppesen
