The future of Russia's air- defence force is being seriously questioned with the Council of National Defence, with a presidential consultative body proposing that it be merged into the air force. The air-defence force, unlike its Western counterparts, is an independent body providing air defence for Russia.
The force's high command has previously managed to stave off attempts to subsume it within the air force, but its independence is now looking increasingly precarious. The move has the support of Col Gen Piotr Deinekin, the Russian air force Commander in Chief, who has previously recognised the likelihood that the "air force and the air-defence force" will be combined "into a single service branch".
Pulling the air-defence force into the air force offers operational and support advantages. The Council argues that it will allow the command structure to be rationalised and reduce operating expenses. The operational readiness of the air-defence force has decreased greatly in recent years, with poor aircraft availability being the main problem. A spate of incidents with the 6th Air Defence Army is symptomatic of the malaise affecting the whole force.
On 15 January, a 6th Air Defence Army Mikoyan MiG-31 Foxhound from Savvatia air base crashed during a check flight following maintenance. Both crewmembers were killed. In December 1996, the nose gear of a Mikoyan MiG-25PU Foxbat C collapsed during the take-off run. Both crewmembers ejected, but one was killed. In late 1995 another MiG-31 was lost when a missile, believed to be a Vympel R-33 (AA-9 Amos), exploded under the fuselage. The lack of adequate financing has also resulted in aircraft availability plummeting. Of the Savvatia regiment's 30 Foxhounds, only four are understood to be combat ready.
It will remain to be seen what effect drawing the air-defence force into the air force will have on its inventory. Both forces operate Sukhoi Su-27s, while the defence force operates mainly MiG-31s.
While in the medium term the MiG-31 is likely to remain in the air force inventory, the MiG-31M programme to upgrade the basic defence force Foxhound has stopped: to all intents and purposes, the project has been cancelled.
Despite the poor operational state of the defence force, senior officers claim that it continues to carry out its mission.
In 1996 the Corps responsible for the militarily sensitive Kola peninsula detected and tracked over 25,000 "air targets", 262 of which were combat aircraft, and a further 259 of which were reconnaissance aircraft.
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Source: Flight International
