Along with conducting independent air operations, the Russian Air Force provides air support for land and naval forces and aids in the recovery of troops in the field. As of 2017, the service operates more than 4,160 military aircraft with 148,000 active duty airmen.
Aircrafts
Combat aircraft, or “Warplanes”, are divided broadly into multi-role, fighters, bombers, attackers, and electronic warfare support.
249 MiG-29 Fulcrum (fighter)
132 MiG-31 Foxhound (fighter)
4 MiG-35 Fulcrum-F (multirole)
229 Su-27 Flanker (multirole)
Being replaced by Su-57 Felon
90 Su-30SM Flanker C (multirole)
12 Su-30SM2 Flanker C (multirole)
92 Su-35S Flanker-E (fighter)
124 Su-34 Fullback (attack)
9 Su-57 Felon (fighter)
16 Tu-160 (bomber)
Military transport aircraft or military cargo aircraft are used to airlift troops, weapons and other military equipment to support military operations. Transport aircraft can be used for both strategic and tactical missions, and are often diverted to civil emergency relief missions.
62 An-12 Cub
6 An-22 Cock
120 An-26 Curl
27 An-72 Cock
An airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system is an airborne radar picket system designed to detect aircraft, ships and vehicles at long ranges and perform command and control of the battlespace in an air engagement by directing fighter and attack aircraft strikes. AEW&C units are also used to carry out surveillance.
Special Electronic, the purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponent an advantage in the EMS and ensure friendly, unimpeded access to the EM spectrum portion of the information environment.
Aerial refueling is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one military aircraft (the tanker) to another (the receiver) during flight. The two main refueling systems are probe-and-drogue, which is simpler to adapt to existing aircraft.
