The Nevskoye Design Bureau has begun to develop a floating airfield for the Russian Armed Forces and humanitarian operations in the Arctic region.
The architectural and structural designs of floating airfields and islands are being worked out, TASS wrote with reference to the materials of the Design Bureau dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the enterprise.
These platforms can be used to support the operation of military, rescue and transport aviation in the Arctic, perform other tasks of the Ministry of Defense, and develop new gas fields.
Floating airfields ensure all-weather operation of aviation in the Arctic, countering the longitudinal and lateral rolling of the platform during takeoffs and landings, the Design Bureau noted.
The Nevskoe Design Bureau is the only Russian developer of aircraft-carrying ships and training complexes for them. The Soviet aircraft-carrying cruisers of the Kondor, Kiev and Krechet types, as well as the Admiral Kuznetsov heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser, were designed here.
Additionally, in April 2020, Russia announced that it was building a new all-weather runway at the Nagurskaya airfield of the Northern Fleet on Alexandra Land Island, Franz Josef Land Archipelago. Despite the ongoing construction work, it is already being used.
“The commissioned runway is suitable for most aircraft that are in service with the Russian Aerospace Forces and naval aviation of the Russian Navy,” the fleet’s press service reported.
According to the construction plans, the length of the runway will be increased by another kilometer, which will make it possible for all types of aircraft, including heavy long-range bombers to take off and land, on Alexandra Land Island.
It was also pointed out that Ilyushin IL-76 transport aircraft, which provided airborne landing exercises in the Arctic, had already used the Nagurskaya airfield.
Usually, when reports such as these surface, accusations of militarization of the Arctic are not far behind.
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