Long Range Aviation - After The Fall of The Soviet Union

After The Fall of The Soviet Union

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian Air Force was left with three air armies (1100 combat aircraft), which included 30 Tu-16 (missile carriers), 33 Tu-22KD (missile carriers) 30 Tu-22P (reconnaissance aircraft), 36 Tu-22M3, 23 Tu-95MS, 19 Tu-160, 20 Ilyushin IL-78 aerial refueling aircraft, as well as large stockpiles of missiles: 1068 X-55s and 423 Kh-22s.

In 1992 Ukraine also received much of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, including the 2nd Guards Maritime Missile Aviation Division (Gvardeyskoye, Crimean Oblast), with three regiments of maritime attack Tu-22M2s and an independent Maritime Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment (Saki-Novofedorovka, Crimean Oblast) of Tu-22Ps. The 1995/96 edition of the Military Balance continued to list the remnant of these forces under now-Ukrainian Naval Aviation. In 1994 Tu-22M2s, Tu-16Ks and a large part of the Tupolev Tu-22Ps were shipped to storage bases and then disposed of.

The reasons for the elimination of Ukrainian long-range bombers included::

• The deep economic crisis in the Ukraine after the collapse of the USSR
• Pressure from the U.S. State Department on Ukraine
• Lack of support of Manufacturer plants and design bureaus, which remained in Russia
• The weight reduction and dismissal from the armed forces experienced pilots and other professionals needed to operate long-range aircraft
• Expiration of the resource on a number of components and assemblies

Funding for the elimination of strategic aviation of Ukraine was allocated by the U.S. government as part of an agreement "to provide assistance to Ukraine in the elimination of strategic nuclear weapons and to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction", signed on November 25 1993 between Ukraine and the United States. In 2000 in the agreement was extended to 31 December 2006..

With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Long Range Aviation in Russia entered a period of decline, along with the other former components of the Soviet Armed Forces. This culminated when the command was formally disbanded in 1998 as part of the amalgamation of the Russian Air Defence Force and the Air Forces. It was replaced by the 37th Air Army of the Supreme High Command.