The 159th IAP, a fighter aviation regiment stationed at Besovets-Petrozavodsk Air Base in Russia’s Western Military District, is reportedly re-equipping with new Su-35S multi-role fighters to supplement and eventually replace the Su-27P and Su-27SM Flankers assigned to its two squadrons.
On November 25, 2016, the Russian Ministry of Defence announced that 159th IAP pilots and ground crews had accepted a second batch of Su-35S fighters at the KnAAZ plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur ready for a 4,315-nautical-mile (8,000km) ferry flight to Besovets. Two days later, four of the Su-35S intended for delivery to the 159th IAP were deployed Hmeimim Air Base in Syria.
New Su-35S aircraft assigned to the 159th IAP are the first from a followon contract for 50 additional Su-35S fighters ordered by the Russian Ministry of Defence in December 2015.
Alexander Mladenov
