Force Group in Syria. However, the
long-range bombers tended to fly to
Syria from their home bases or from
forward operating bases. When their
routing took them over the Caspian
Sea, Iran and Iraq, they tended to fly
unescorted. Their northern route via
Norway to the Mediterranean saw Il-78
tanker support joining them at crucial
phases of the mission, together withfighter pick-up at the Iraq-Syrian border
by the deployed Su-30SMs from Latakia/
Khmeimim air base.
With aircraft drawn from various units,
a reinforced squadron with 12 to 14
Tu-22M3s operated out of Mozdok in
North Ossetia as a forward operating
base. The base’s huge flightline as well as
its extensive fuel farm and bomb dump
made it an ideal operating location forAbove: The
majestic Tu-160
‘Blackjack’ has
made its mark
with high-profile
cruise missile
strikes on
Syrian targets.
Evgeniy Kazennov
Left top to
bottom: Kh-555
conventional
cruise missiles
have been
launched by
Tu-95MS strategic
bombers. The
missile’s pop-out
wings deploy
soon after it
leaves the
bomb bay.
Dmitriy Pichugin
A video screen-
grab of a Tu-160
dropping a Kh-101
on the November
17, 2015, mission.
Russian MoDthem. Imagery released by the Russian
Ministry of Defense over the following
two years indicated that aircraft came
from the former 52nd Guards Heavy
Bomber Regiment at Shaykovka and
Olenegorsk’s former 200th Guards Heavy
Bomber Regiment. Over the years the
jets started to sport mission markings
and some even featured sharks’ teeth
around their engine intakes.
Looking at the specific waves of Long-
Range Aviation missions, they kicked off
on the morning of November 17, 2015.
A dozen Tu-22M3s set off from Mozdok
bound for eastern Syria to unload their
cargo of iron bombs on targets near
Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor at dawn.
Some four hours later, a second wave
of five Tu-95MSs and between three and
six Tu-160s from the 6950th Guards Air
Base Unit embarked on their respective
combat debuts. They departed from
Engels air base in central Russia and
headed south towards Iran, before
turning west and into northern Iraq
and subsequently Syrian airspace. They
launched 34 Kh-55 and Kh-101 cruise
missiles at targets around Aleppo and
Idlib, additionally marking the first
combat use of these weapons.
Later that day President Putin strode
into the National Command Center in
Moscow to hold a remarkable event.
Putin took a seat on the stage andCOMBAT REPORT // RUSSIAN LONG-RANGE AVIATION
46 March 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
44-51 Russian Bombers C.indd 46 19/01/2018 15:09