Admiral Kuznetsov heavy aircraft carrier to be ready for remote deployment this fall - source
MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Navy's only heavy aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, part of the Northern Fleet, will start a far-away deployment this fall, a source familiar with the situation told Interfax-AVN on Monday.
"The dates when the cruiser will begin its far-away deployment are determined both by the volume of the work needed to restore its technical readiness and pilot training time," the source said.
"There are some problems with ship repair," he said.
Several media outlets said earlier that the Admiral Kuznetsov will begin the far-away deployment this summer.
"At any rate, the far-away deployment of the Admiral Kuznetsov is being planned," the source said without specifying its duration and purpose.
The source doubted the feasibility of plans "to put on the carrier two carrier-based aviation regiments, N279 and N100, by the beginning of this deployment."
"The pilots of the recently formed 100th separate carrier-based fighter aircraft regiment have just started flying from the airfield of the 859th tactical deployment center and retraining Naval Aviation pilots in Eisk on new Mikoyan MiG-29KR and MiG-29KUBR aircraft.
"Given that the ground training simulator NITKA [for pilots] in Eisk will be ready by the end of the year, and extension of its service and conducting of necessary repairs on its counterpart in Saky [Republic of Crimea] will, at best, take two months, the pilots of this regiment are unlikely to be able to complete all necessary preparatory procedures in time for the ship's deployment," he said.
"They missed out, because the training of pilots on MiGs could have been started a year ago on NITKA simulators in Saky," the source said.
The 279th separate carrier-based fighter aircraft regiment is armed with Sukhoi Su-33 and Su-25YTG aircraft.