The lack of full-fledged naval aviation has become a weak spot of the Navy, and its development should rely on Soviet experience. This opinion was expressed by Admiral Sergey Avakyants, former commander of the Pacific Fleet.
He recalled that in previous years, naval aviation performed various functions, including reconnaissance, missile carrying, and electronic warfare tasks.
It is necessary to create an analogue of the Soviet system — a naval space reconnaissance and target designation system that existed before. That is, it is necessary to create a large fleet of satellites that will work specifically for the navy.
Avakyants drew attention to the development of autonomous vehicles, which will be actively used, including in the Arctic.
And the ship of the future is not an aircraft carrier... Surface ships and submarines should be carriers of various robotic systems. We need to create robotic systems that can operate autonomously. Work in this direction needs to be accelerated and carried out very actively, otherwise we will lag behind.
Composition of the Fleet's "Wings"
The naval aviation of the Russian Navy includes about 17 ship-based Su-33s, 18 MiG-31BM units, 22 MiG-29Ks, about 30 Su-30s of various versions, and 26 Su-24s of all versions.
Patrol and anti-submarine aircraft are represented by 22 Tu-142 units, 22 Il-38s, 6 Be-12s, 1–3 Be-200s, 3 An-12s, 1 Il-18D. Transport tasks are assigned to two An-12s, 25 An-26s, 6 An-72s, 4 An-140s, 10 Tu-134s, and 2 Tu-154s. It should be emphasized that these are estimates by foreign analysts, and official data on the number of combat aircraft are not disclosed.
A few days ago, crews of Su-30SM, Su-30SM2 fighters and Su-24M bombers practiced the most difficult night refueling in the air from an Il-78.