Although Russia's pilots have suffered from a lack of air time and other problems since the collapse of the Soviet Union 15 years ago, General Vladimir Mikhailov was upbeat about the air force's ambitious plans over the next few years, which should see several new aircraft commissioned and innovative technology applied.
In particular, the commander said a fifth-generation plane, whose development should be completed in 2007, would be virtually invisible to air-defense systems.
"We have been using technologies that have existed since the 1980s to develop the fifth-generation plane," Mikhailov said, adding that Russian-made air-defense systems had intercepted and shot down a U.S. Stealth bomber during the 1999 NATO air-strikes against Yugoslavia.
The general said Russia was close to completing the development of military unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), but refrained from giving a specific timeframe. All R&D work has been recently assigned to the MiG corporation, Russia's leading manufacturer of military aircraft, he said.
Mikhailov also said the air force would start the mass procurement of Su-34 Fullback fighter-bombers, Yak-130 trainers and Mi-28 Havoc attack helicopters in 2006.
He said the Su-34 development program had been corrected in 2002 and the plane had been largely improved, especially in terms of new avionics and electronic equipment. "Therefore, it [the Su-34] will not need modernization for the next 10 years," Mikhailov said, adding that the plane would be deployed not only by the air force but also by the navy.
Speaking about the Mi-28, the general said it would become the backbone of Russia's attack helicopter fleet. He added that a unified helicopter-manufacturing corporation similar to a new airplane corporation, which should consolidate manufacturers in a single holding, would be established soon.
Mikhailov said the delayed delivery of Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers to the air force had been caused by a decision to modernize the aircraft during their assembly, but was quick to add that the long-range aircraft would nevertheless enter service in the near future.
"We will start receiving new Tu-160s very soon," he said.
Head of the Strategic Air Command Igor Khvorov said last year that two new Tu-160 bombers would be deployed in 2006 taking the total of aircraft under his command to 14.
General Mikhailov also said Russia was ready to lend transport planes to NATO for carrying cargo and expressed the hope that the issue could be coordinated during the G8 summit in St. Petersburg in July.
