Original title: Analysis on the development of logistics equipment support of Russian naval aviation

Russian naval aviation Su-27UB fighter refuelled at the airport section.

　　 Russian naval aviation MiG-31 fighter receives ground power supply at the airport.

The continuous conflict between Russia and Ukraine has once again confirmed that logistics equipment support capability is crucial to maintain stable combat effectiveness in combat operations. Different services and arms and equipment have their own independent requirements for equipment maintenance and support. Naval aviation is a branch of the Russian navy. Its main task is to search and destroy the combat forces of the enemy fleet, landing units, convoys and individual ships at sea bases, protect its own ships from air attacks, and conduct aerial reconnaissance. With Finland becoming the 31st member of NATO, the importance of Russian naval aviation deployed in the Gulf of Finland and the northern waters of Murmansk is even more prominent. In order to ensure the aviation force to execute the combat task and restore the combat capability in time, the level of material and equipment support must be improved. The analysis of Russia's measures and methods to improve the support capacity of naval aviation special logistics equipment has certain reference significance for China's equipment application and capacity building.

　　 Russian logistics support system

In recent years, Russia has reformed its military maintenance support system. In response to the problems of overstaffed logistics support command structure and low coordination efficiency, Russia has merged logistics and equipment technology support departments, and established a unified logistics equipment support system (material technology support system) for the whole military by simplifying the hierarchy, optimizing the structure, and reducing personnel, It has realized the intensification, integration and socialization of material supply and equipment maintenance support force construction.

The material and technical support system of the Russian army is a three-level vertical command structure, including the central level, the service and arms, the military region level, and the force level. At the central level, the Ministry of National Defense has set up a deputy minister in charge of material and technical support for unified management; At the military region/arms level, a deputy commander of material and technical support is set up in the military region. Each service has a deputy commander in charge of equipment support, a headquarters in charge of material and technical support, and a bureau of material and technical support planning and coordination, a logistics support bureau, a technical support bureau, and a railway corps bureau, which is responsible for organizing and leading the technical support of general equipment of the group army or its own service; At the troop level, there are material and technical support units, and strategic, campaign and tactical material and technical support command and management systems are set up in accordance with the concept of combining peacetime and wartime to ensure the autonomy of military logistics support.

Since the reform of the logistics system, the Russian army is in accordance with the new strategic direction and the task of the Joint Strategic Command, based on the original bases and warehouses of the theater and fleet, establishing a number of comprehensive material and technical support bases in each new theater, so as to centrally store and echelon deploy various necessary military technical materials and maintenance support equipment, and further integrate support force resources, So as to maximize its benefits. At present, there are 14 comprehensive material and technology support bases in Russia. The mission of the peacetime base is to provide continuous logistics support to the troops within its jurisdiction. In wartime, it will transfer staff and equipment to form temporary maintenance points to support battlefield maintenance support. For example, in February 2024, the Russian army launched a large-scale military operation in the South Donetsk region, which was followed by an increase in the wear and tear of vehicles and equipment. In order to quickly restore the combat effectiveness of the Russian front-line forces, the Russian engineering forces set up a new maintenance plant near the front, so as to repair damaged equipment with the fastest speed.

　　 Influencing factors of naval aviation logistics support

The demand for material and technical support of Russian naval aviation not only has naval characteristics, but also reflects the characteristics of aviation equipment. Its future development is mainly affected by geopolitical factors and equipment utilization.

1. Geopolitics From a geographical point of view, Russia is surrounded on three sides by the sea. Its maritime boundary and coastline are very long, and it is close to the Arctic Ocean, the Baltic Sea, the Pacific Ocean, the Black Sea and other sea areas. Marine security is an important part of national security. In particular, the western sea area is directly facing military pressure from NATO. Ukraine is located in the north of the Black Sea, and St. Petersburg and Finland face each other across the sea. On April 4, 2023, Finland officially joined NATO, and the common border between NATO countries and Russia increased from 1215 km to 2600 km, further increasing NATO's operational space. The operational mission needs of the Russian naval aviation force are strengthened. It is necessary to expand the airport network and build new dedicated logistics equipment support infrastructure, increase equipment and energy resources to adapt to the dynamic increase of aviation equipment operations, and restore the operational capability of the naval aviation force in a short time.

2. Equipment application According to the 2024 Military Balance data of the London International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Russian naval aviation currently has 208 combat aircraft and 142 helicopters, including MiG-31B/BS interceptors, Su-33 and MiG-29K carrier based fighters, Bie-12PS seaplanes, etc. The helicopters include Mi-8, Mi-24P, Ka-27PS, Ka-29, etc., which can implement anti submarine Search and rescue. The demand for logistics support for the development of naval aviation equipment and capability improvement includes the following aspects:

——Due to the purchase and delivery of new and improved aircrafts and helicopters, the number of aircrafts of Russian naval aviation has increased, and the logistics force and equipment need to be increased to provide high-quality support;

——It can support the dispersed and echelon deployment of naval aviation forces in a short time, so as to maneuver from one operational direction to another;

——A large amount of labor costs are required for aviation equipment maintenance in factory conditions and military maintenance in domestic airports.

The development of external geopolitics and aviation equipment has a significant impact on the structure and functional characteristics of Russia's logistics support system, which determines the direction of future development, construction and improvement.

　　 Key Development Points of Naval Aviation Logistics Support

In addition to general materials, equipment supply and maintenance joint support, the Russian naval aviation force also has unique requirements in aviation equipment support, airport engineering support, airport technical support and electrical support. These are important directions for improving the material technology support capability. Many experts from the Russian Naval Research Institute put forward a number of measures and suggestions.

1. Aviation equipment support The tasks to be solved for the aviation equipment support of the Russian naval aviation force include:

——Provide aviation equipment and weapon support for the naval aviation force to keep it in combat readiness;

——Carry out technical maintenance on aviation equipment for combat use; Supplement the use and maintenance tools to make them in good condition and ready for use at any time. High level maintenance capability and equipment are the basis for completing tasks with quality and quantity guaranteed.

According to the operation situation and experience of the logistics support system in recent years, experts from the Russian Naval Academy believe that measures can be taken in the following directions to improve the aviation engineering support capability of the naval aviation force:

——Reconstruct the conventional aviation maintenance plant at the regiment level, and equip it with necessary equipment, machine tools, maintenance materials and spare parts of different aircraft types. The maintenance plant at the aviation brigade level can complete the repair of slightly and moderately damaged aircraft within 6 to 24 hours;

——At each operational airport and evacuation airport, an aviation headquarters is required in peacetime and wartime, equipped with a standard number of general flight ground support facilities, to ensure that aircraft and helicopters can be prepared for the second flight and loading necessary weapons in a short time;

——Complete sets of spare parts and components shall be provided on the support ship or floating base for aviation equipment maintenance, and new aircraft shall be transported to the aircraft carrier and other platforms through containers in time to replace damaged equipment.

2. Airport engineering supports the continuous and efficient activities of the naval aviation force through rapid preparation and maintenance of the airport network. The purpose of airport engineering support is to timely prepare and maintain the daily maintenance of the airport network, ensure that the aviation forces and their evacuated bases are in a high combat readiness state, and ensure their viability and mobility during combat operations. The main tasks of airport engineering support of Russian naval aviation include the following aspects:

——Survey, design, construction and improvement of airports and landing sites, and preparation of airport sections of expressways;

——Use airport engineering equipment, reinforced concrete and metal airport pavement to repair the damaged airport, and establish necessary material reserves to quickly repair the airport;

——Plan the use and maintenance of the airport, airport facilities and airport equipment, and monitor the completion of the plan.

For the airport engineering support capability of the naval aviation, Russian experts believe that measures can be taken from the following aspects:

——Build and develop an airport at a safe distance away from the area damaged by the enemy's large-scale missile attack, as a permanent (main) base for the naval aviation force;

——Repair and construct the operational airport and evacuation airport, ensure the necessary material inventory, and support the completion of equipment overhaul: each aviation unit (aviation regiment with three squadrons) has 2-3 operational airports, and each squadron has evacuation airports;

——Each combat airport and evacuation airport has an airport maintenance company, which can support at least 2-3 aviation squadrons at the same time;

——Construct reinforced concrete bunkers at main airports for each naval fighter, aircraft and material reserve of naval assault aviation force;

——To construct, develop and repair the airport section on the expressway. According to the standard conditions, the area is at least 1800m × 40m, and the asphalt thickness is at least 28~32cm. The prepared section can be used for aircraft landing and secondary flight;

——Increase the reserve of maintenance materials to meet the standard requirements (see Table 1), and adopt cost-effective flow process method to rebuild and maintain the airport in emergency;

——On the basis of determining the necessary varieties and quantities, unify the equipment of the airport engineering battalion to reduce the time and cost of airport reconstruction;

——Through the introduction of new technical solutions, improve the repair technology of the destroyed airport pavement, carry out preparatory earthworks, install concrete airport pavement and connect.

These suggestions on hardware facilities and material reserves can improve the daily airport engineering support capability, ensure the aviation force's mobility or redeployment in the naval base system, and complete the expected tasks. In addition, it is necessary to take some organizational measures to strengthen the special support for the naval aviation force and promote the airport operation and management coordination. For example, at least one airport engineering battalion, one engineering camouflage battalion and one pipeline battalion should be established in each fleet of the naval aviation force, which are subordinate to the naval aviation command of the fleet, Establish engineering divisions in each airport engineering battalion and aviation equipment base.

3. Airport technical support and electrical support On the basis of aviation equipment support and airport engineering support, the naval aviation force must also have timely and high-quality airport technical support and electrical support to successfully complete tasks. Airport technical support is a set of measures designed to prepare the airport, airport facilities, ground and aviation equipment for flight. Electrical support is achieved by providing electrical equipment, electrical equipment, compressed and liquefied gases, electricity and other types of energy for the naval aviation force.

The tasks of airport technical support and electrical support include: using power generation devices in major airports to provide power and other types of energy for aviation equipment, and preparing takeoff and landing sites for flight, which requires considerable time and labor consumption.

Due to the impact of objective conditions such as the number of evacuated bases, aircraft and suspended weapons, it is necessary to improve the equipment and level of airport technical support and electrical support to ensure the combat capability of naval aviation. Experts from the Russian Naval Research Institute suggested that under modern conditions, the airport technical support and electrical support capabilities of naval aviation should be improved from the following aspects:

——Set up airport technical support battalion and airport maintenance company (platoon) in the aviation regiment of each fleet as the aviation equipment base to prepare for the takeoff of aviation forces at the operational airport and evacuation airport;

——Introduce technical operation and maintenance units (equipped with automobiles and special equipment) and fire fighting units into the organizational structure of the airport technical support battalion of the aviation force;

——Mandatory maintenance material reserve of necessary quantity shall be maintained at each airport with operational purpose, so as to quickly recover after the runway and taxiway are attacked by enemy missiles (Table 1);

——Replace outdated airport technical support and electrical support equipment with modern vehicles based on Kamaz, Ural and other brands and common to all aviation systems;

——Build modular and universal flight ground support equipment, and place the required special equipment on small chassis, trailers, trolleys, frames or skids;

——Develop small and general flight ground support equipment, so as to form a mobile and flexible transportation system to transport goods or weapons to the aircraft cargo hold and external storage points;

——Equipped with integrated fuel, power and natural gas supply systems for operational and evacuation airports;

——Special airport technical support equipment shall be placed on the general vehicle chassis for use by the Russian armed forces;

——Improve the general flight ground support equipment for unified mass production in the industry

There are types of aircraft to provide services.

　　 Summary

Vladimir Popov, an honorary pilot of the Russian Federation, believes that under the current military geopolitical situation, special attention should be paid to the development of naval aviation to safeguard the safety of the sea and maritime borders. Improving the special type support capability of naval aviation is conducive to improving the operational training quality of aviation forces in peacetime under modern conditions, ensuring the rapid deployment of base systems during the threat of direct aggression, restoring the operational capability of aviation equipment, and ensuring preparations for repeated attacks in wartime. (Zhang Hui)