Russian Navy to Form Second Aircraft Carrier Aviation Regiment with MiG-29K/KUB.

According to Kozhin, the Russian Navy decided to organize a new carrier based fighter wing consisting of 24 new MiG-29K (single seat) and MiG-29KUB (dual seat) multirole fighter aircraft. It is expected that the formation of the new regiment will be completed by the end of 2015. Kozhin said that at this point the manufacturer Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG (RAC "MiG") is to perform the final delivery of dozens of MiG-29K for an existing contract for these fighters.

Currently, the Russian Navy naval aviation has only one aviation regiment, the 279th separate naval fighter regiment of the Northern Fleet, based at the Severomorsk-3 air base (Murmansk Region). It is composed of two types of aircraft: Sukhoi Su-33 carrier-based twin-engine air superiority fighter, as well as Su-25UTG trainer aircraft (based on the Su-25 Frogfoot close air support aircraft).

The 279th naval fighter regiment is so far the only air wing for Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov. Earlier reports indicated that this regiment received 20 MiG-29K and four MiG-29KUB following a contract in 2012 to replace or supplement the Su-33. However, the statement of Kozhin suggests that the MiG aircraft will instead form a new rigment, while the existing 279th regiment is set to get renovated and modernized Su-33.