The Russian air force is to bear the brunt of a new round of defence cuts in which the armed services will be slashed by around 8%, or 100,000 personnel, by the end of this year. The air force's Tupolev Tu-22M3 bomber force is to be cut by two regiments and the service will lose 36,000 personnel, says the Russian daily Kommersant.
Strategic aviation will suffer the heaviest cuts, with the 200th and 444th Regiments' Tu-22M3s to be placed in combat reserve. The air force's Tu-95MS and Tu-160 cruise missile-armed bomber fleets will not be affected.
Further cuts will see RSK MiG MiG-29 fighters assigned to the air force's 28th and 159th Regiments mothballed, along with the 790th and 941st Regiments' MiG-31 and Sukhoi Su-27 fighters. Strike elements to be cut include the Sukhoi Su-24M-equipped 959th and 302nd Regiments and the 187th and 461st Regiments, which fly the Su-25. The 11th Reconnaissance Regiment's Su-24MRs will also be retired. Air force training is to be rationalised, with two of the service's four training regiments operating the Aero Vodochody L-39 advanced jet trainer to be disbanded.
Most aircraft will be mothballed, with the ability to return to service in emergencies. Some airfields to close, including Engels and Krasnodar, will accept civil traffic.
Russia's army aviation branch is to lose several squadrons of Mil Mi-8T utility and Mi-24 attack helicopters. Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces will lose one division, with others placed on reduced readiness.
HOWARD GETHIN / MOSCOW
Source: Flight International
