The Russian Navy Northern Fleet has reported on March 12, 2021, the crews of MiG-29K naval aviation aircraft have gone on experimental combat duty on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic for the first time.
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MiG-29K naval fighter aircraft of Russian Navy. (Picture source topwar.ru)
The MiG-31BM fighters based at the Northern Fleet’s Rogachyovo airfield have been replaced by MiG-29K fighter aircraft s of the 100th shipborne aviation regiment of the Northern Fleet’s Air Force and Air Defense Army, according to a Russian Navy statement.
The 100th shipborne aviation regiment is outfitted with generation 4+ MiG-29K fighters. The regiment’s pilots participated in the long-distance deployment of the Northern Fleet’s carrier group in the Mediterranean Sea led by Russia’s heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov.
The 100th Shipborne Fighter Aviation Regiment is a naval aviation regiment and a part of the Russian Navy's Naval Aviation. The regiment is equipped with Su-27 and MiG-29 fighter aircraft, L-39 jet trainer, and Su-25 close air support aircraft.
The MiG-29K NATO code-named Fulcrum-D) is a Russian all-weather carrier-based multirole fighter aircraft developed by the Russian company Mikoyan Design Bureau. The aircraft was developed in the late 1980s based on the MiG-29M.
The MiG-29K is modified using a reinforced airframe and undercarriage to withstand the stress experienced upon landing. Folding wings, an arrest hook, and catapult attachments were added for carrier operations.
The MiG-29K is armed with one GSh-30-1 30 mm cannon in the port wing root. It can be fitted with laser-guided and electro-optical bombs, as well as air-to-surface missiles like Kh-25ML/25MP, Kh-29T, Kh-31G/31A anti-ship missile, Kh-35U anti-ship missile, and rockets. A-31P passive radar seeker missiles are used as anti-radiation missiles. It can be also armed with air-to-air missiles like the RVV-AE, R-27ER/ET, and R-73E.
