Press of Ukraine: By transferring aviation to Crimea, Russia “exposes” the Arctic
Russia transfers two deck regiments to the "occupied" Crimea at once aviation Northern fleet, thereby "exposing" the Arctic.
This is the conclusion reached by the Ukrainian edition of Defense Express.
According to Defense Express, the Russian Ministry of Defense intends to conduct training in the Crimea for two regiments of carrier-based aviation at once. For this, up to forty Russian aircraft will be deployed to the Saki airfield, where the NITKA ground training complex is located. At least the author of the article counted this number of aircraft.
The publication, referring to the Russian media, writes that the 279th separate shipborne fighter regiment of the Northern Fleet, armed with Su-33 and Su-25UTG fighters, will first arrive in Crimea. After him will arrive the 100th naval aviation regiment of the Northern Fleet on carrier-based MiG-29K fighters.
The main task of transferring such a number of aircraft to the "occupied" Crimea, according to the newspaper, is a "demonstration of force" to Ukraine and other countries of the Black Sea region. This is in addition to the training of carrier-based aviation pilots, while the only Russian aircraft-carrying cruiser "Admiral Kuznetsov" is under repair.
Further, Defense Express makes a "profound" conclusion that although the event is considered "planned" by the Russian Ministry of Defense, the transfer of such a number of aircraft will "bare" the Arctic, since earlier carrier-based MiG-29Ks were deployed on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago.
For our part, we note that the command of the Northern Fleet did indeed report the deployment of carrier-based aircraft fighters at one of the Arctic airfields. In March, for the first time, MiG-29K carrier-based fighters from the 100th naval aviation regiment were involved in experimental combat duty on Novaya Zemlya. However, the main role in protecting the airspace in the Arctic is played by long-range MiG-31 interceptors stationed there on a permanent basis. So there is someone to defend the Arctic even without carrier-based fighters.
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