16.09.2009
The group of pilots of Northern Fleet shipborne fighter regiment could not depart for Ukraine to train on naval aviation simulator NITKA in Crimea over again. As the Russian Navy Staff representative said, "despite the statements that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to conduct training of Russian pilots in Crimea made in Minsk by Ukrainian Minister of Defense Yuri Ekhanurov in May, that all was only words".
The Russian Navy Staff expressed regret that Ukrainian fluid political environment and inefficiency of Ukrainian politics in keeping their words overset plans, including the training program of Russian pilots. Ukraine has been receiving lease payments for the simulator for several years but breaks all agreements, while absence of obligatory training will call in question the real flight capability of young pilots.
The Ukrainian General Staff said that Russian pilots were not authorized to train on the simulator because of technical reason - the service life termination of aircraft arrester. This version was said by Press Secretary of Ukrainian General Staff Sergey Kuzmin on Tuesday, informs
Interfax.
The Northern Fleet wing is currently the only Russian flying unit which pilots have an experience of carrier landing and takeoff. The only one Russian aircraft-carrying cruiser
Admiral Kuznetsov is also in service in Northern Fleet.
The necessity of training centre for Russian naval pilots appeared as a result of the collapse of the USSR; then ground-based naval training system
NITKA at
Novofedorovka airbase near Saki in Crimea moved to Ukraine. Nowadays it is the property of Ukrainian Air Force.
The
NITKA simulator was specially designed for practicing takeoff and landing on decks of air-carrying ships without catapult. It includes the deck (assembly), spring device (analog of catapult), steam power plants, aircraft arrester, ramp, holdback devices and emergency supply. Besides, it has air-traffic control point (analog of ship ATC tower), and also on-course and glide-path beacons, the
Luna optical landing system, providing accuracy of deck-landing. Landing assembly copies a ship's deck; it is capable to sway imitating sea disturbances.
The landing on the
NITKA simulator is performed on the speed of 250 kph. An aircraft hooks one of four transverse wires of aircraft arrester stretched 30 cm higher than assembly by landing hook. The wire uncoils from slow-down cylinders, damps the speed and the aircraft stops having run 90-100 m.
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