OUTSIDE VIEW: RUSSIAN AIR POWER — PART 2
By Nikita Petrov

United Press International
Aug 19 2008

Past problems with lack of funding for pilot and crew training have
led to strange incidents in the Russian air force.

A few years ago, a Maj. Troyanov lost orientation in the Baltic sky
and, instead of Kaliningrad region, flew over Lithuania and had to
eject from the aircraft when his plane ran out of fuel. It was later
established that Troyanov had had just seven hours of flight experience
in the year preceding the incident. Lack of combat experience was
among the reasons for the loss of two planes during the peacekeeping
operation in South Ossetia.

Currently the Russian air force has enough fuel, three-star
Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin, the commander of the Russian air force,
told a recent news conference in Moscow. By now, the average flying
time among tactical and army aviation pilots has risen to around 90
hours a year. Special attention is paid to young pilots.

The flying time for the crews of strategic bombers has also increased
considerably. Starting from Aug. 17, 2007, Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack and
Tupolev Tu-95MS Bear war planes resumed flights over the Atlantic,
Pacific and Arctic oceans. Since then, the crews have conducted
more than 150 patrols amid "counteraction by aviation of neighboring
countries," Zelin said.

NATO fighters approached very close to Russian planes, sometimes
beyond safety regulations, aiming their weapons, and the Russian
crews responded, although they had no combat missiles on board, by
simulating firing at the "potential adversaries," practicing repelling
"hostile" attacks. In fact, it was joint combat training.

During the 2007-2008 joint drills with Russia’s Northern and Black
Sea fleets in the Atlantic, long-range aircraft for the first time
in many years saw intensive action far away from their bases. They
rehearsed the destruction of naval targets together with ships,
naval aviation, air defense and shipboard missile systems.

This year Russian army aviation crews have conducted a few dozen
tactical training exercises with live firing of missiles at aerial,
ground and naval targets. The exercises were usually part of joint
drills with motorized infantry, coastal units and navy vessels. This
proves that the Russian armed forces command is focused on simultaneous
multirole combat employment of troops on the ground, in the air and
at sea.

Joint drills of long-range aviation and navy ships are scheduled to
be held in the Indian Ocean this year. Last year’s cruise will be
repeated, but with new objectives and in new conditions.

Another priority is the further development of the joint air defense
system of the Russian-led Commonwealth of Independent States, which
is the only operational defensive system within the C.I.S. countries,
Zelin said.

Besides Russia, this system comprises the air defense troops of
Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Armenia and
Ukraine. The C.I.S. countries are now facing the task of improving
the control system of the joint air defense and securing mutual
information exchanges concerning the situation at the frontiers of
the commonwealth.

Currently a universal automation equipment complex for command and
control centers is under development on request by the C.I.S. Air
Defense Coordination Committee. Air defense troops from the member
countries are engaged in joint combat duty. Around 100 warplanes at
a time take part in drills within this system.

The Russian air force still has a lot of problems to be solved,
Zelin said. Nevertheless, it is clear that it is recovering, he added.