Kuzya goes to war

Alexander Mladenov assesses the operational deployment off Syria of Russia’s ‘Admiral Kuznetsov’ aircraft carrier and her potent air wing. RUSSIAN CARRIER OPS Two Su-33s with different mission loads for combat missions over Syria. The aircraft on the left is configured for air-to-air combat, with R-27R/T (AA-10 ‘Alamo’) missiles for beyond-visual-range engagements and R-73s (AA-11 Archers) for close-in fighting. The jet on the right is fitted for air-to-surface sorties, armed with two FAB-500M-54 bombs (between the engines) and R-73 air-to-air missiles