ROKAF F-15 Scrambled against Russian IL-38 entering South Korea Air Space

Seoul formally protested joint naval drills by China and Russia in the East China Sea that intruded into Korea’s air defense identification zone (Kadiz).
According to the Korean Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday, the training area for the military exercises conducted by Beijing and Moscow partly overlapped with the Korean and Japanese ADIZs.
A no-fly zone declared by China for the joint maritime drill with Russia intruded 230 kilometers (142 miles) northward into the Kadiz and 172 kilometers eastward, according to a Korean military official.
Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said that in a response, Korea stepped up surveillance and reconnaissance activities in the part of its air defense zone area in which China and Russia were conducting military exercises.
At around 8:40 a.m. yesterday, two Russian IL-38 maritime patrol aircraft crossed in Korea’s air defense zone for less than an hour.
In response, Korea scrambled two Air Force F-15K fighter jets and transmitted a radio message warning the planes to retreat. The Russian planes retreated.
Russian aircraft have violated the Kadiz before, and defense officials here did not confirm if these aircraft were a part of the China-Russia naval drills.
koreajoongdaily

Russian Navy to Expand Air Patrols in Arctic

Combat aircraft from Russia’s Northern Fleet will extend the ranges of their patrol flights over the Arctic in 2014 using a network of revamped Soviet-era airfields.
The fleet’s Tu-142 and Il-38 reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft carried out over 30 patrol missions in the Arctic last year.
As part of the ambitious program, the Russian military will reopen airfields and ports on the New Siberian Islands and the Franz Josef Land archipelago, as well as at least seven airfields on the continental part of the Arctic Circle that were mothballed in 1993.
Arctic territories, believed to hold vast untapped oil and gas reserves, have increasingly been at the center of disputes between the United States, Russia, Canada, Norway and Denmark as rising temperatures lead to a reduction in sea ice.
Russia has made claims on several Arctic shelf areas and is planning to defend its bid at the United Nations.
ria.ru

Russia, Norway to Hold Barents Sea Drills in June

Russian and Norwegian naval forces will conduct a joint exercise in the Barents Sea on June 4-7.
Russia’s Northern Fleet will contribute the tugboat SB-523, an Ilyushin Il-38 maritime patrol aircraft and an Mi-8 Hip helicopter to the Barents-2013 exercise.
The two nations' search and rescue services will test their interoperability in evacuation of crews and aircraft in distress at sea, and cleanup of oil spills.
The Barents exercise is conducted every year in accordance with a 1995 Russian-Norwegian intergovernmental agreement.
This year’s exercise, which has a rotating command system, will be under Russian control.
ria.ru

Russian Navy Warplanes Start Arctic Patrols

Russian Northern Fleet aircraft have started patrolling the Arctic Ocean on a regular basis, Defense Ministry spokesman Capt. First Rank Vadim Serga said on Thursday.
“So far this week, Northern Fleet aircrews have made three flights to the Arctic region,” he said.
Two flights were made by an Ilyushin Il-38 May maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft and one by a Tupolev Tu-142 Bear maritime reconnaissance and ASW aircraft, he said.

en.ria

Russia may deploy Il-38 in Djibouti

Russia wants to deploy two Il-38 naval reconnaissance planes at the French base in Djibouti for anti-piracy missions in the Gulf of Aden.

ria

LA ARMADA INDIA REFUERZA SUS EFECTIVOS AÉREOS/ INDIAN NAVY REFUERZA SU FLOTA AEREA

La armada India ha empezado el overhaul por valor de 1.5 billones de dólares de su anticuada flota de aviones de la era soviética, para reforzar su potencia en el Oceano Índico, donde China está amenazando su tradicional dominio.
La inversión es una de las mas importantes que ha realizado la Armada India en los últimos años y refleja la urgente necesidad de la India de modernizar su armamento, Su rival, Pakistán, ha declarado que esto podría ser la chispa que desencadenara una carrera armamentística en la zona y desestabilizar la zona.
India planea comprar 16 nuevos MIG-29 fighter jets, 18 LCA TEJAS, UAV y helicópteros multipropósito. Los concursos se prevee que sean publicados en breve. La Armada India tambien está modernizando sus Sea Harrier, los IL-38 antisubmarinos y se esperan 5 helicópteros KA-31 de patrulla, además de que pronto se recibirá un nuevo portaviones.
Los analistas coinciden en que la modernización era un tema pendiente de la Armada India, para contrarrestar el creciente poder de China sobre las aguas de la zona.India y China están librando una batalla para liderar la zona. Además Pakistán también está modernizando fuertemente su armada y aviación.
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India's Navy has started a $1.5 billion overhaul of its ageing Soviet-era fleet of aircraft, seeking to boost its air power in an Indian Ocean region where a growing China is threatening its traditional dominance.
The investment is one of the biggest the Indian Navy has made in recent years and reflects New Delhi's urgency to modernise its military, a move that rival Pakistan says could spark an arms buildup and destabilise an already roiled South Asia.
India plans to buy 16 new MIG-29 fighter jets, half a dozen light combat aircraft, unmanned patrol planes and multi-role helicopters. Tenders for these will be floated soon.The Navy is also upgrading its Sea Harrier fighter jets, IL-38 maritime anti-submarine warfare planes and acquiring five Kamov KA-31 patrol helicopters.
"We are acquiring new fighters and helicopters to ... supplement a new aircraft carrier we are getting soon," Commander PVS Satish, the Navy spokesman said in New Delhi on Thursday.
Analysts said the upgrade of the Navy was long due. "It is almost a matter of time before ships from China arrive in India's backyard," said Brahma Chellaney, professor of strategic studies at New Delhi's Centre for Policy Research.
India and China are locked in a battle to lead Asia. Indian officials said Pakistan, too, was modernising its Navy. Pakistan's National Command Authority (NCA), which oversees the country's nuclear weapons, said last week India's arms modernisation plans could destabilise the regional balance.