BE-12 Chaika (Nato:Mail)

This is an ASW aircraft that entered service during the Soviet Union and continued to serve into the new century.  It is believed that several of the aircraft are still operational with the Black Sea fleet.

The Mail looks like it is a relic of Wold War II, but it if fact entered the fleet in 1960.

150 of the aircraft were built, with its primary mission being ASW and maritime patrol. 

The Be-12 is an amphibious aircraft that is often referred to as a flying boat. 

In addition to serving in the Soviet Navy and later the Russian Navy, the Be-12 served with a number of other navies, including Egypt and Syria. 

Russia is currently testing a new ASW aircraft and with its appearance the last of the Mail's should be retired. 

Tartus, Syria

This city has been in the news a lot lately. I have heard of Tartus often in articles about the Russian Navy, and knew that it was a port facility that the Russian Navy often used. What I didn't know about was the history of how and why the Russian Navy maintained a presence in Tartus.

Russian facilities in Tartus

The Soviet Navy first began using Tartus in the 1970's, along with other ports in the Mediterranean Sea. At the time the Soviet Navy maintained 5th Mediterranean Squadron. Eventually only Tartus was used for support and repair of vessels that were deployed to the Mediterranean Sea. 

Russian and Syria naval officers in Tartus

After the fall of the Soviet Union the Russian navy very rarely sent and ships out into the Mediterranean Sea, but they still maintained a presence in Tartus. 

Through various agreements with the Syrian government the Russian Navy is currently expanding and modernizing its facilities in Tartus. 

Currently the facilities are supporting anti-piracy operations.

Russia has invested a lot of time and money into the facility in Tartus, and I believe that with the current situation in Syria the Russian Navy is worried about losing that investment. 

Busy Busy

The busiest ships in the Russian Navy are the Udaloy class destroyers. 

These ships were designed and built for the Soviet Navy. They were intended to be primarily anti-submarine platforms, but have become all-purpose ships filling a variety of roles.  They have participated in anti-piracy operations, fishing ground protection, and most recently war games with maritime partners.

A single follow-on vessel of the Udaloy II class was commissioned in 1995. Other ships of this class were planned, but never finished. 

 The first of the Udaloy’s will soon be going in for major overhaul, probably to modernize them and give them a more balanced role.

In 2008 Admiral Chabanenko became the first Russian warship to transit the Panama Canal since World War II.

Admiral Chabanenko

Udaloy with missile hatchs open

The Future of Carrier Aviation 

RIA Novosti

     The Russian Navy this week made it official,  it will be transitioning to the MiG-29K as its carrier based aircraft. On the 29th of February it was confirmed by defense minister Anatoly Serdyukov and MiG general director Sergei Korotkov that a contract for 24 aircraft had been finalized. 20 of the MiG's will be single-seat MiG-29k's, and the remaining 4 will be dual cockpit MiG-29UB's. These new aircraft will be delivered to the Russian Navy in several years, and will replace the Su-33's. 

Su-33

      The MiG-29K is a variant of the MiG-29, which is a land based multi-role fighter. The MiG-29 started its service with the Soviet Air Force in the early 1980's, and has undergone upgrades through out the years  in order to maintain its role as a front line fighter. 

     The MiG-29K lost the competition to the Su-33 to become the carrier based aircraft of the Soviet Navy. Because of this many analysts were confused that the Russian Navy returned to the MiG as an option. However I don't see why there is any confusion. The Indian Navy is already successfully operating the MiG-29K,  in which  MiG has updates on-board sensors and avionics. Instead of trying to develop a new platform for naval aviation, the Russian Navy went with what was already working.  The Russian Navy is committed to carrier-based aviation. The Admiral Kuznetsov will enter a refit and overhaul period later this year, and the plans for a new aircraft carrier should also be revealed later this year. 

     It will be interesting to see the future of Russian carrier based aviation. Only time will tell if the Sukhoi T-50 will be developed into a carrier based aircraft. Some think that is already in the works. 

T-50 during flight trials

Other news from this week:

Photo: RP Defense

The Russian Northern Fleet and the Norwegian Navy will conduct joint exercises. 

Udaloy ASW ship

Russian warship visits the Seychelles