Soviet Naval Aviation

Soviet Naval Aviation (Авиация военно-морского флота in Russian, or Aviatsiya Voenno-Morskogo Flota, literally "aviation of the military maritime fleet") was a part of the Soviet Navy.

Origins

The first naval aviation units in Russia were formed in 1912–1914 as a part of the Baltic Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet. During World War I, the hydroplane units were used in the Black Sea for conducting aircraft reconnaissance, bombing and firing at coastal and port installations and enemy ships, and destroying submarines and enemy aircraft on the airfields.

Civil War and Interwar Period

The regular Soviet naval aviation units were created in 1918. They participated in the Russian Civil War, cooperating with the ships and the army during the combats at Petrograd, on the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, the Volga, the Kama River, Northern Dvina and on the Lake Onega. The newborn Soviet Naval Air Force consisted of only 76 obsolete hydroplanes. Scanty and technically imperfect, it was mostly used for resupplying the ships and the army.

Soviet Navy

The Soviet Navy (Russian: Военно-морской флот СССР (ВМФ); Voyenno-morskoy flot SSSR (VMF), literally "Military Maritime Fleet of the USSR") was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy was a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic plan in the event of a conflict with the United States, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), or another conflict related to the Warsaw Pact. The influence of the Soviet Navy played a large role in the Cold War, as the majority of conflicts centered around naval forces.

The Soviet Navy was divided into four major fleets: the Northern, Pacific, Black Sea, and Baltic Fleets; under separate command was the Leningrad Naval Base. The Caspian Flotilla was a smaller force operating in the land-locked Caspian Sea. Main components of the Soviet Navy included Soviet Naval Aviation, Naval Infantry (Soviet Marines), and Coastal Artillery.

Most of the Soviet Navy was reformed into the Russian Navy after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, while some elements became the basis of the Ukrainian, Azerbaijani and Georgian navies.

Naval aviation

Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases.

In contrast, maritime aviation is the operation of aircraft in a maritime role, under the command of non-naval forces such as an air force (e.g., the former RAF Coastal Command) or a coast guard. An exception to this is the United States Coast Guard, which is considered part of U.S. naval aviation. In addition, in that the United States Marine Corps is part of the United States Department of the Navy and one of its naval services, that force's aircraft and aviation personnel are also considered part of U.S. naval aviation, whether based afloat or ashore.

Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-based aircraft must be sturdy enough to withstand demanding carrier operations. They must be able to launch in a short distance and be sturdy and flexible enough to come to a sudden stop on a pitching flight deck; they typically have robust folding mechanisms that allow higher numbers of them to be stored in below-decks hangars and small spaces on flight decks. These aircraft are designed for many purposes, including air-to-air combat, surface attack, submarine attack, search and rescue, materiel transport, weather observation, reconnaissance and wide area command and control duties.