Naval aviation: how to replace the old aircraft?
Plans for the supply of new technology for Russian naval aviation remain unknown. At least, there have not yet been any public announcements, and even more official statements, in which the numbers and parameters of the procurement of aircraft for the Navy would be mentioned, except for the announcement of the purchase of 26 MiG-29 fighter jets for carrier-based naval aviation.
From unofficial reports and expert articles it is known about the modernization of the anti-submarine IL-38 and Tu-142 aircraft, and also that the purchase of 1000 new helicopters for the Armed Forces in the 2011-20 years will be purchased and marine vehicles.
In the last 20 years, the Navy has experienced extremely tough reductions, and these reductions were almost first of all touched by naval aviation. So, de facto naval rocket-carrying aircraft ceased to exist, the number of combat-ready anti-submarine aircraft repeatedly decreased, acute problems arose with deck aircraft, like with the wing of the only Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, and with deck helicopters based on cruisers, large anti-submarine ships, watchdogs. Against this background, the position of the Black Sea Fleet was particularly deplorable.
This situation is explained by the fact that of all the fleets of the USSR Navy, the Black Sea Fleet was the only one that was not re-equipped with ships and aviation technology of the new generation in the 80's, before the collapse of the Soviet Union. As a result, the Be-12 seaplanes remained in service with the aircraft of the Black Sea Fleet, which were retired from the other Russian fleets long ago. The fleet of helicopters of the Black Sea Fleet, represented by the Ka-27 and Mi-14, is quite old. However, these helicopter models are the main ones for the Russian Navy as a whole.
Replace helicopters Russia can. The country annually produces up to hundreds of vehicles for export and for its own needs, and given the more than impressive plans to purchase new helicopters under the state armaments program, it is worth expecting that naval aviation will receive its share.
More serious is the issue of replacing anti-submarine aircraft. Russia now has no more than 40 long-range vehicles - including approximately 26-28 Il-38 and 15 Tu-142 as part of Pacific and Northern Fleet aviation.
The Baltic Fleet does not have anti-submarine aircraft at all, and the Black Sea, as has already been said, has just 4 outdated Be-12 aircraft.
In recent years, coastal-based anti-submarine aircraft have changed a lot. In the majority of developed countries, as the avionics developed, during the course of modernization they began to turn into multi-purpose marine patrol vehicles. A striking example is the upgraded P-3 Orion US Navy, peers and classmates Russian IL-38.
In the course of evolution over the past 30 years, the Orions learned to attack surface ships with anti-ship missiles, work as an early warning radar and control aircraft, patrol the exclusive economic zone and territorial waters, searching for smugglers and poachers.
A similar modernization is planned on Russian anti-submarine vehicles. But for the whole range of tasks that Russia’s longest maritime border in the world, combined with the steady melting of polar ice, poses, 40 aircraft are clearly not enough - for example, the United States has 130 machines of this class. At the same time, many American experts also believe that this number is insufficient.
Russia cannot compete with the United States, catching up with the number of naval aviation, but there is room for substantial gain in naval aviation by purchasing new cars.
First of all, we are talking about the seaplane A-42, which was created on the basis of the A-80 Albatross developed in the 40-s of the last century. These machines, capable of boating, in addition to all other tasks of sea patrol aircraft, can be used in rescue operations.
The plans for the purchase of A-42 military department has already announced. In particular, in 2008, it was announced that it intended to purchase 2010 of such aircraft in search-and-rescue variant for 4, and then go on to purchase multi-purpose vehicles capable of carrying weapons. However, while these plans are not implemented. According to the ex-commander of the Air Force and Air Defense of the Navy, Lieutenant General Valery Uvarov, the Russian Navy would have enough 15-20 new seaplanes to cover the requirements for search and rescue aircraft. It is hardly possible to talk about the complete replacement of old machines with А-42 - taking into account the condition of the Taganrog plant where these machines are manufactured, as well as the smaller Be-200 purchased by the Emergency Situations Ministry, ordering at least 40 of such machines can take about 20 years .
Another option that would allow completely replacing the fleet of old aircraft in a reasonable time frame is the purchase of Tu-204P aircraft. This car, created on the basis of the Tu-204 liner, according to ideology, roughly corresponds to the latest American patrol aircraft P-8 Poseidon, created on the basis of the B-737 liner.
Deploying serial production of such machines on order of the Navy is a more realistic task than launching into the large A-42 series, and, among other things, it will support the production of Tu-204 aircraft for which there are practically no commercial orders. The production of 50-60 of such machines for 10 years in conjunction with a small series A-42, focused primarily on rescue tasks, could generally alleviate the problem and lay the foundation for the future development of naval aviation.
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