RUSSIAN ‘TACAMO BEAR’ IN ACTION

THIS RARELY SEEN Tu-142MR ‘Bear-J’ strategic communications relay aircraft was photographed operating from its home base of Kipelovo-Fedotovo, in the Vologda region, in late March 2019. RF-34073 ‘17 Red’ —named Veliky Ustyug after a town in Vologda Oblast — is assigned to the 5th Independent Anti-submarine Aviation Squadron (OPLAE), part of the 45th Air Force and Air Defense Army of the Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet. The squadron operates various models of Tu-142, including at least seven airworthy Tu-142MK ‘Bear-F’ anti-submarine