Russian General Details Strategic Bomber Practice

Text of report by corporate-owned Russian military news agency Interfax-AVN website

Engels (Saratov Region), 20 February: Five aviation regiments of the long-range (strategic) aviation are making flights at the Engels air base in Saratov Region.

“Yesterday and today, five aviation regiments were making flights at the Engels airfield. Over 30 aircraft are involved in the flights, who made more than 70 sorties over the two days. In particular, more than 20 Tu-22 planes successfully dropped bombs at the Guryanovo range in Saratov Region,” the Engels air base commander, Maj-Gen Oleksandr Blazhenko, told journalists on Wednesday [20 February].

Immediately after the order “On air patrols” was issued, the long- range aviation’s strategic bombers “resumed air patrols in the regions of Russia’s national interests”, he noted.

“Long-range aviation pilots have been carrying out air patrol missions in a worthy manner over neutral waters of the Arctic, the Atlantic, the Black Sea and the Pacific Ocean, [taking off] both from base as well as operative airfields,” Blazhenko said.

He said that air crews raise the level of their skills while flying over northern areas, those which lack any landmarks, etc. “In military training, we actively use Russia’s existing ranges, where pilots practice cruise missile launches, drop bombs and fire the aircraft’s weapons,” the general said.

He stressed that various issues are worked on during flights, such as coordination within air crews, practising various elements of flight training, including the most difficult one – in-flight refuelling involving Il-78 in-flight refuelling tankers.

This element is considered to be the pinnacle of flight skills, Blazhenko said: two 200-tonne machines flying at a distance of 20 metres from each other and at speeds of 600 km/h get linked with a “cone-hose” flexible fuelling system, “plus they are being escorted by NATO fighters”. Refuelling makes it possible for strategic missile carriers to spend up to 24 hours and more in the air performing their tasks. During the flights, the aircraft are escorted by NATO fighter jets (F-15, F-16, F-18, EF-22) in neutral airspace, the general said.

He stressed that all flights by Russian Air Force aircraft “during air patrolling are carried out in strict accordance with international airspace regulations over neutral waters without violating other countries’ borders”.

“Having survived the hard era of the 1990s, the long-range aviation managed to preserve its combat potential, costly aviation systems and, most importantly, its air crews, engineers and technicians. The Engels air base is a good example of this,” Blazhenko said.

“This week is no exception,” he went on. “Pilots are making scheduled flights to ranges, refuel in-flight and train younger people.”

The general specified that flights taking place in Saratov Region on Tuesdays and Wednesdays involve regiments whose commanders are Guards Col Aleksey Serebryakov on Tu-160 aircraft, Col Vladimir Popov on Tu-95 aircraft, Guards Col Dmitriy Kostyunin on Il-78 aircraft, Col Aleksandr Tsilev and Col Roman Oparin on Tu-22 aircraft.

Foreign media have for several months in a row now been taking a keen interest in the raised intensity of scheduled training of long- range pilots. Over 100 foreign reporters have visited the Engels base since November last year, the general noted.

Thanks to the normalization of their flight activity, the air base’s pilots increased the time spent in the air to 100 hours in 2007, some of them to 170 hours, he said. “Two-three flight shifts per week is a norm these days,” Blazhenko said.

Originally published by Interfax-AVN military news agency website, Moscow, in Russian 0705 20 Feb 08.

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