The multifunctional Su-30SM fighter will become the main aircraft of the Russian Navy and will be used in operational-tactical missions, the naval chief of the navy, Major-General Igor Kozhin, said.
“In 2017, we carried out an upgrade in several directions: for example, the work on re-equipping the coastal-based operational-tactical aviation forces on Su-30SM aircraft was completed, we received six aircraft, and in the future we will change almost the whole fleet of operational-tactical aircraft to the Su- 30SM – it will be our base aircraft, “said Kozhin.
The aircraft were commissioned in 2012. Kozhin noted that in 2018 the naval aviation of the Navy will continue work on the modernization of the fleet of aircraft with significant service life. This concerns the modernization of the Il-38 aircraft in the Il-38N Novella variant and the renewal of the Ka-27 helicopter fleet on the Ka-27M. In the near future, the Ka-27M will form the backbone for anti-submarine forces of the Russian Navy. The long-range supersonic Tu-22M3 bomber aircraft in the navy inventory was transferred to the Russian Air Force in 2011. The service currently operates long-range anti-submarine warfare aircraft Tu-142.
The Russian Navy is divided into four fleets and one flotilla: Northern Fleet, Pacific Ocean Fleet, Baltic Fleet, Black Sea Fleet, and Caspian Flotilla.
