Mig-29
INTRODUCTION
The US. Africa Command says that at least two MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jets, possibly piloted by shady Russian mercenaries, have crashed in Libya. Jared Szuba the Pentagon correspondent for AI-Monitor, Tweeted out that one of the jets was apparently lost on June 28, while the other went down on September 7, 2020.
This information had come in a statement from Rear Admiral Heidi Berg, U.S. Africa Command’s (AFRICOM) director of intelligence. Readers may also note that a video emerged on social media which seems to show a Russian-speaking pilot after an aircraft went down in Libya. The second half of the clip indicated that he was about to be picked up by a Mi-24 Hind gunship helicopter. This is not the first such incident and exposes the vulnerability of Russian forces.
BACKGROUND
Ankara and Moscow are the main outside players in Libya’s war and are backing opposite groups. Russia supports the eastern-based forces of Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA), while Turkey which is a NATO member backs Libya’s internationally accepted Government of National Accord (GNA).
The relation between Russia and Turkey has improved dramatically in the last few years. This came to the fore with the S-400 Triumph air defense deal which is considered to be one of the most powerful air defense systems in the world. Because of its capabilities, S-400 has the potential to change the tactical balance in a region. In July 2017, Turkey reportedly signed the deal to acquire the S-400 air defense system from Russia. It took delivery of the S-400 in July this year.
This was done against strong opposition by the U.S and NATO Turkey was one of the main partner nations when it comes to the F-35 program but because of the S-400 deal, it was eventually removed and is no longer responsible for F -35 manufacturing, neither will it receive the jets which it had ordered. Even after this massive development, Libya remains a sore point between Russia and Turkey.
RUSSIAN MILITARY INTERVENTION
Recent satellite images show Russian MiG-29 Fulcrums and Su-24 Fencers in the air at Al Jufrah Air Base in Libya. U.S. Africa Command or AFRICOM had released two new images of Al Jufrah, which it said were taken on June 18, 2020. One showed a Su-24 Fencer taking off from the base and the other one showed a MiG-29 parked in front of an aircraft shelter. A P-18 Spoon Rest radar is also visible.
Readers may note that the P-18 is a long-range surveillance radar that can be used for early warning and to provide general increased situational awareness and air traffic control. The images indicated that the Russians are getting more involved in Libya.
As per reports, Russia sent at least 14 combat jets, in total, to the North African country last month to support Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar and these jets are increasingly playing an active role. U.S. Marine Corps Brigadier General Bradford Gering, the director of operations at AFRICOM, said in a press release accompanying the images, "Russia's sustained involvement in Libya increases the violence and delays a political solution.
Russia continues to push for a strategic foothold on NATO's southern flank and this is at the expense of innocent Libyan lives.” MiG-29 Fulcrums is a twin-engine, multirole fighter jet, developed by the Soviets in the 1970s, but has been upgraded since.
PRONE TO ACCIDENTS
The Russian military has been encountering lots of accidents which cannot be just coincidence. Recently high winds from Typhoon Maysak caused a floating dry dock to break free. This happened in Russia's Vostochny Verf shipyard in the country's far eastern port city of Vladivostok. After this it drifted into a number of warships and submarines belonging to the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet, causing massive damage.
Even the flagship of the Russian Navy - Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier has suffered major incidents and is out of service. On 30 October 2018, Admiral Kuznetsov suffered a major mishap while undergoing overhaul work at a dockyard in Roslyakovo, near Murmansk and the aircraft carrier nearly sank. The Kuznetsov was stationed inside floating dock PD-50.
The dock capable of handling vessels up to 80,000 tons is the biggest one Russia had and one of the largest in the world. On 30 Oct, the dock's tank started to take in water and led to the tilting of the dock on one side. One of the PD-50’s two cranes which are 70-ton each fell on the deck of the Kuznetsov.
Somehow PD-50 did not capsize and as the water filled the dock, Kuznetsov floated and was tugged out. In about 4 hours, PD 50 went down and sank. The disaster could be have been even more catastrophic if Kuznetsov was not moved out. On December 12, 2019, a fire broke out during welding work to repair an electrical compartment on the ship’s lower deck, where several cables caught fire.
The fire spread to roughly 600 square meters or 6,458 square feet, and several repair personnel suffered injuries. Last year, on Aug an official state of mourning was declared in the Russian city of Sarov. This comes after 5 elite Russian scientists were killed in an accident. As per Rosatom, the explosion occurred while the engineers were testing a "nuclear isotope power source" for a rocket engine.
The radiation level in the city spiked after the incident though as per Russian sources it was not hazardous for health. Experts had linked the explosion to Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile which is also designated as SSC-X-9 Skyfall by NATO. Some other analysts had pointed fingers at Poseidon, a nuclear powered nuclear-capable torpedo. Other than these many aircraft crashes as well as other incidents have been reported in recent times.
ANALYSIS
Things have not gone Russia’s way in the last few years. International sanctions and a lackluster domestic economy have forced Russia to make cuts to its defense budget. For example, in May 2018, the Kremlin had announced a new round of budget cuts, slashing annual defense spending by almost 20% from the previous year.
This hasn’t stopped increased submarine activities which are now almost at the same level as during the Cold War neither development of new strategic weapons as well as an increase in surveillance missions. It seems to be impacting safety protocols and leading to increased incidents which will be massively problematic if Russia has to face a strong adversary.
It is no secret that President Putin’s aim's to resurrect the Russian military but for this, the economic situation needs to improve to sustain these endeavors.
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