The Russian military detected over one million aircraft in proximity to Russia’s borders throughout the past year, according to the Defense Ministry's Information and Mass Communications Department.
"While conducting combat duty in aerospace defence in 2020, subdivisions of the radio-technical troops (RTT) of the Aerospace Forces discovered and escorted about 2,900 combat and more than 1,100 reconnaissance aircraft," the statement said.
It was noted that more than six thousand servicemen were on alert daily, conducting radar reconnaissance, participating in combat checks using control targets, and carrying out air defence drills in response to conditional aircraft violating the country’s border and airspace.
Supersonic missile-carrying bomber Tu-22M3 strikes a #bomb #attack on the ground target at the Ashuluk firing range#Russia #RuAF #Aviation pic.twitter.com/DdIS7k4oZD
— Russian Air Force (@Ruaf_Hmeimim) September 19, 2017
"Despite the restrictions associated with the coronavirus pandemic, more than 100 tactical exercises and special drills were carried out involving radio-technical troops and units of the Russian Aerospace Forces in 2020," the Defence Ministry added.
About 30 percent of such drills were conducted at the Ashuluk training ground in the Astrakhan region, and the Telemba specialised training ground in the Republic of Buryatia in the Eastern Military District, and at the Pemboy training grounds in the Komi Republic, said the statement of the Russian Defence Ministry's Information and Mass Communications Department.
PHOTO: Russian «Tor-M2U» #Airdefense #Missile Systems exercise at the Telemba range in Siberia ©Lex Kitaev pic.twitter.com/w5InyysmkT
— Missilito (@Missilito) April 21, 2016
Today RuAF checked its arsenal TU-160s performing cruise missiles launches over Pemboy and Kura training areas v RIA pic.twitter.com/G4GtsjT8Nu
— KURYER🤔 (@RSS_40) October 30, 2015
Su-30 Russian Aerospace Forces pic.twitter.com/aLhvCyTtse
— Andrey_MG /scale models моделизм/ (@_Andrey_MG_) December 28, 2020
The radio-technical troops of the Russian Aerospace Forces discovered 40 percent more foreign reconnaissance aircraft in proximity to the country’s borders in 2020 than in 2019, the Ministry of Defence stated earlier in December.
The number of interceptions at the Russian border increased in the last month of the year. On 8 December a Su-30 fighter was scrambled to intercept two US Air Force aircraft and one French Air Force aircraft over the Black Sea, while NATO reconnaissance vessels were spotted by Russian airspace controls.
