MOSCOW. March 26 (Interfax-AVN) -Lieutenant General Ivan Fedin, commander of the naval aviation of the Russian Navy, said on Tuesday that positive tendencies had emerged in the naval aviation development after a period of complications that it went through during the reforms of 1995-2000.
Improvements are particularly noticeable in training of pilots, Fedin told Interfax-Military News Agency. "It is no secret that both aircraft and crews are aging, and every year we are losing the most qualified pilots who were trained in the Soviet times and currently constitute the core of the naval aviation's combat power," Fedin said.
"The first backlog was made last year when 17 pilots started training on a program of fighter and attack aviation using L-39 planes at facilities of our training center in the town of Ostrov in the Pskov region," the commander added.
"We are mounting efforts this year. We have launched training of even more pilots, including those of the deck aviation. This is one of the positive tendencies which gives an affirmative answer to the question whether the naval aviation will continue to exist," Fedin went on.
Speaking of the state of aircraft, the commander stressed that "we managed to stabilize the technical condition of the aircraft park last year." "Allocations for the 2002 state defense order make us sure that will preserve and even enhance combat readiness of naval aviation aircraft. This is the second component of our combat readiness."
Fedin praised organization of combat training, "which is the core of training of aerial combatants." Decisions that have been made, including conduction of training sessions at airfields, reduces expenses and makes it possible to reach the maximum efficiency, he added.
"The fourth issue we are worried about is the state of flight security. We are working on it as well," Fedin stressed. He said that the naval aviation got additional 12,000 tonnes of kerosene which are to be spend on training young pilots and maintaining the professional training level of experienced aviators.