Russia’s military flight training system is currently running at surge capacity while suffering from the shortage of aircraft to cope with the sharply increased demand for new pilots.
AS RUSSIAN MILITARY aviation enjoys a continued resurgence, its fixed-wing flight training system is facing a serious problem. A lack of aircraft is affecting the ability to address the backlog of hundreds of student pilots in the socalled operative tactical streams who should be bound for fighter and frontalbomber/attack units. The problem chiefly lies in the airworthiness of aging Czech-made L-39C training aircraft, as acknowledged this September by the Russian defense minister Sergey Shoygu. He asked why aircraft availability rates in training units is at such a low ebb and insisted that urgent measures would be taken to address the situation.
