A video has appeared on the Web showing the crew of a Russian Il-38 patrol turboprop reconnaissance aircraft flying around the latest American nuclear aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford. The "meeting" took place in the Mediterranean Sea.
Gerald R. Ford sailed to the shores of Latin America from Split, where he arrived on October 22. In the Mediterranean, the aircraft carrier led a strike group of four US destroyers.
It is known that the ship usually covers an air wing of E-2 Hawkeye long-range radar detection aircraft and F/A-18 Super Hornet deck fighters. One of them appeared on the video while escorting the Il-38.
The Il-38 was developed at the Ilyushin Design Bureau on the basis of the Il-18V civilian aircraft. Its first flight took place in 1961. The aircraft can be a carrier of tactical nuclear weapons.
Despite its solid age, the Il-38 is capable of flying up to 6,500 km and carrying up to 8,400 kg of combat load in the form of sea mines, torpedoes or anti-submarine bombs.
Earlier www1.ru reported that Uralvagonzavod simulated the battle of the T-90M "Breakthrough" with Abrams and Leopard.