Two Russian anti-submarine warfare planes perform scheduled flight over Pacific

Military & Defense August 06, 2019, 16:47

The Tu-142 planes were escorted by a pair of MiG-31BM fighter-interceptors of the Pacific Fleet’s naval aviation

MOSCOW, August 6. /TASS/. Two Russian Tu-142 anti-subsurface warfare planes have performed a scheduled flight over the Pacific, Russia’s Eastern Military District said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Two Tu-142 long-range anti-submarine warfare aircraft of the Pacific Fleet’s naval aviation have performed a scheduled flight in the airspace over the neutral waters of the Pacific Ocean along the northern coast of the Aleutian Islands and the western coast of Alaska and Canada," the statement says.

The Tu-142 planes were escorted by a pair of MiG-31BM fighter-interceptors of the Pacific Fleet’s naval aviation that had taken off from the Yelizovo airfield in the Kamchatka Region, the Eastern Military District specified.

"At the designated point, the fighter pilots met the anti-submarine warfare aircraft, performed visual and radio contact with the crews and provided for their escort in the area of the Pacific Fleet’s responsibility," the statement says.

The Tu-142 planes performed a 13-hour non-stop flight. They were refueled midair by Il-78 aerial refueling tankers of the Russian Aerospace Force’s long-range aviation.

As Russia’s Defense Ministry stated, the anti-submarine warfare aircraft conducted their flight "in strict compliance with the international rules of using the airspace."

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