Ukraine
Black Sea defenders
U
kraine operates a number
of aircraft that are tasked
to conduct regular
maritime patrol, surveillance, anti-
submarine warfare (ASW) and
SAR operations along part of its
southern border stretching into
the Black Sea and the Sea of
Azov. These are flown over the
country’s territorial waters and its
exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in
the Black Sea. Primary Ukrainian
MPA operators are the Viys’kovo-
Mors’ki Syly (VMS, Ukrainian
Navy) and Derzhavna Prykordonna
Sluzhba Ukrayiny (DPSU, State
Border Guard Service of Ukraine).
The only VMS aviation unit is
10 mors’ka aviatsiyna brihada
(mabr, naval aviation brigade)
at Kul’bakino air base near
Mykolayiv. For maritime patrol
tasks, the unit operates a pair of
Be-12 amphibians and two An-26
transports, all inherited from the
former USSR. The Be-12s (one
aircraft is a Be-12PL ASW variant,
the other a Be-12PS SAR variant)
have not flown since the Sea
Breeze exercise in September- However, they are kept
in operational condition and, if
the situation requires, can return
to active duty at short notice.
Currently the only VMS aircraft
regularly used for maritime patrol
tasks are the An-26s. These
have no task-specific onboard
sensors but are frequently
fitted with four BD3-34 bomb
racks – a pair on each fuselage
side – used for carrying
maritime orientation markers.
As part of the modernisation of
the Zbroyni Syly Ukrayiny (ZSU,
Ukrainian Armed Forces), the
10 mabr is expected to receive
two brand new indigenous
An-148-300MP MPAs by next
year as replacement for itsobsolete Be-12s. However, this
depends on many other factors
(including foreign orders) and
the projected service entry date
may be subject to change.State Border
Guard Service
The DPSU has two aviation
units. The Pivdenne Rehional’ne
Upravlinnya (PdRU, Southern
Regional Administration) at
Odessa controls the okrema
aviatsiyna eskadrylya (oae,independent aviation squadron)
at the Shkil’nyy military apron
of Odessa International Airport
(IAP). Meanwhile, the Skhidne
Rehional’ne Upravlinnya (SkhRU,
Eastern Regional Administration)
at Kharkiv controls an oae at
Kharkiv IAP (also known as
Kharkiv-Osnova). Among other
types, these two units operate
a total of nine light four-seat
patrol/surveillance aircraft built
by Diamond Aircraft of Austria- five DA40 NG, two DA42 NG
Be-12PL ‘02 Yellow’ (c/n 0602004) of 10 mabr in one of the protected hardstands at Kul’bakino. Despite not being fl own since late September 2014, the pair of
naval Be-12s is regularly maintained and kept in operational condition. Sergey Smolentsevhttp://www.airforcesmonthly.com #363 JUNE 2018 // 43Above: An-26 ‘09 Yellow’ (c/n 3605) of 10 mabr taxies to the naval apron at Kul’bakino air base after returning from a
routine mission. Both VMS An-26s are in standard transport confi guration and have no specialised sensors on board.
Sergey Smolentsev