Russian Naval Aviation to get first upgraded Be-12 ASW aircraft in 2019.

The Naval Aviation (Morskaya Aviatsiya) will receive the first upgraded Beriev Be-12 (NATO reporting name: Mail) anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft this year, the Commander of the service Major General Igor Kozhin told the official newspaper of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) Red Star (Krasnaya Zvezda). "We are bringing the Be-12 to the modern standard. The first updated aircraft will be issued to the Black Sea Fleet [Chernomorskiy Flot] this year," said Kozhin.

The Beriev Be-12 Chayka ("Seagull", NATO reporting name: Mail) is a Soviet turboprop-powered amphibious aircraft designed for anti-submarine and maritime patrol duties. (Picture source: Romanoff via airforce.ru)

According to the general, the modernization of the Sukhoi Su-33 (Flanker-D) shipborne fighter jets has already been started. "The Su-33 has entered its update, and the first stage of the update program has been finished. We are preparing the aircraft for the second stage, the implementation of which will result in the increase of the performance of the platform`s engines and targeting system, etc. In other words, the Su-33 will become a multipurpose platform to the full extent. We do not scrap the platforms that have not run their course yet and fit them with updated subsystems," said Kozhin.

The general emphasized that the Project 11435 heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser ‘Admiral Kuznetsov’ (Kuznetsov- class) would receive new and upgraded shipborne fighter jets. "The works in this field will be continued," said Kozhin, adding that the ship would carry the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29K (Fulcrum-D) naval fighters among other air platforms.

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