Tag Archives: Russian Naval Aviation

Russian Su-30SM Crashes In Syria. Both Pilots Dead.

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A Su-30SM Flanker has crashed into the Med Sea shortly after taking off from Hmeymim airfield.

On May 3, 2018, at 06:45 GMT, a Russian Su-30SM belonging to the contingent deployed to Latakia, in northwestern Syria, crashed into the sea shortly after taking off from Hmeymim airfield. Both aboard the Flanker-derivative 4++ Gen aircraft were killed in the accident.

The Russian MoD said “a bird strike may have caused the crash”. According to journalist Babak Taghvaee, local witnesses said the aircraft was one of 43rd OMShAP examples (hence belonging to the Russian Naval Aviation) recently deployed to Syria to protect Russia Navy assets in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

A Syrian journalist also snapped some shots of the aircraft impacting the sea:

Previously, on Mar. 6, 2018 a Russian Antonov An-26 (NATO reporting name “Curl”) crashed near Hmeymim Air Base in Syria; 33 people died in the accident.

Image credit: Alan Wilson/Wiki and Mohammed Ghorab

Cockpit Video From Inside A U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer As The bomber Is intercepted Over The Baltic By A Russian Su-27 Flanker

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The Su-27 intercept as seen from the cockpit of the B-1B bomber over the Baltic Sea.

Our friends at Air Forces Monthly have obtained a pretty interesting footage: filmed from inside the cockpit of a “Bone” temporarily deployed to RAF Fairford, UK, to take part in BALTOPS exercise, the short clipo shows a Russian Naval Aviation’s Su-27 Flanker approaching the B-1B’s starboard wing, then banking to pass below the nose of the Lancer.

“AFM was told the Russian pilot acted in a non-aggressive manner throughout the manoeuvre, which saw the fighter assume position off the starboard side before banking and descending below the B-1,” says the story published on AFM’s website.

It’s not clear whether the clip was filmed on the very same day these fantastic shots were taken by U.S. Air Force photographer Staff Sgt. Jonathan Snyder from the boom position of a KC-135 tanker as a really unusual “formation” consisting of 2x B-1s, 1x B-52 and 1x KC-135 were involved in a photo hop in international airspace over the Baltic Sea when they were joined by a Su-27 Flanker on Friday Jun. 9.  In that case the U.S. Air Force stated that the intercept was conducted in a safe and professional way, in contrast with what happened after several previous incidents that the U.S. DoD defined “unsafe” or “unprofessional” with the Russian interceptors maneuvering aggressively in proximity of the American aircraft (read here or here for a couple of examples.)

Indeed, to be honest, the above clip seems to show the Su-27 dangerously close to the U.S. bomber, much more than one would expect from a “safe” maneuver: however, it might be a matter of perspective…

According to AFM, the Flanker in the intercept footage is a Su-27P interceptor belonging to the Fighter Aviation Squadron of the 72 Aviatsionnaya Baza (AvB, Aviation Base) of the Morskaya Aviatsiya Baltiyskogo Flota (MA BF, Naval Aviation of the Baltic Fleet), based at Chkalovsk air base in Kaliningrad Oblast.

H/T Thomas Newdick (@CombatAir) for posting the video.

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[Video] F/A-18C Hornet painted in Russian Flanker paint scheme takes part in Top Gun training

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U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18C in Adversary role at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina.

Eye-catching paint schemes which make fighter planes similar to their Russian counterparts have become a distinguishing feature of U.S. Aggressors and Adversary jets.

Along with “splinter” patterns, that are inspired by Russian 4th and 5th generation aircraft, more traditional camouflage, like that used by the Russian Naval Aviation, is applied to U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornets (that inadvertently invented the splinter paint design).

The following video shows Marine Corps VMFAT-101 F/A-18 and NSAWC (Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center) F-16s (including some Adversaries in Flanker color scheme) taking part in Top Gun jet fighter training at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, SC.

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