Russia Deploys Top MiG-29 Fighter Unit For Arctic Exercises

<p >The Russian Navy Northern Fleet has deployed MiG-29K fighter aircraft for a series of operations in the Arctic, which included flight exercises after the end of the polar night under twilight conditions. The fighter unit practiced key combat manoeuvres and aerobatic techniques at a range of altitudes, including targeting and interception exercises focusing on the ability to engage simulated enemy aircraft. The MiGs returned to their permanent base at Severomorsk-3 at the end of the training cycle. Exercises in the Arctic occurred as Russian and Western military attentions have been increasingly focused on the region, in part as a result of President Donald Trump’s statements following his election regarding intentions to annex the strategically located Arctic territory of Greenland. The conclusion of MiG-29K exercises also closely coincides with the first deployment of Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers for long overflights over international waters in 2025, which occurred in the Arctic. </p><p ><img src=" title="Su-33 and MiG-29K on Carrier Admiral Kuznetsov"></p><p >The MiG-29K is by far the most capable MiG-29 variant operational in the Russian Armed Forces, and is a navalised derivative of the <a href=" >MiG-29M ‘4+ generation’ </a>medium weight fighter with an electronically scanned array radar, glass cockpit, and access to a range of modern air to surface, air to air and anti ship missile classes. The fighter’s development was financed by an orders for 42 of the aircraft by the Indian Navy in the early 2010s, allowing Russia to then order a single regiment’s worth of 22 aircraft for its <a href=" >own aircraft carrier the Admiral Kuznetsov</a>. This represented one of the only orders for newly built MiG-29s by Russia since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, with the Russian Defence Ministry otherwise having strongly favoured the much larger and longer ranged Su-27 Flanker and its derivatives over the MiG.</p><p >Although an enhanced variant of the Su-27 modified for aircraft carrier operations was previously reportedly favoured by the Russian Navy, the fact that a production line for the MiG-29K had already opened led procuring the aircraft to be seen as a more cost effective option. Major delays in returning the Admiral Kuznetsov to service has resulted in training for MiG-29Ks occurring primarily from ground based facilities, with the aircraft also having been employed for frontline operations such as <a href=" >interceptions</a> of NATO aircraft in Eastern Europe. The MiG-29K was also previously deployed for combat operations against Islamist insurgents in Syria in 2015, during which its superior precision targeting systems to older Russian fighters were reported to have proven particularly valuable. A failed landing at the time resulted in one fighter falling into the sea.</p>

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