The Russian Naval Aviation () is the air arm of the Russian Navy, a successor of Soviet Naval Aviation. The Russian Navy is divided into four fleets and one flotilla: Northern Fleet, Pacific Fleet, Baltic Fleet, Black Sea Fleet, and Caspian Flotilla.
The air forces of the largest and most important fleets, the Northern and Pacific fleets, operate long range Tu-142 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft, Il-38 medium-range ASW aircraft, and Ka-27 shipborne ASW and search-and-rescue (SAR) helicopters. Formations operating supersonic Tu-22M3 bombers were transferred to the Russian Air Force's Long Range Aviation in 2011. The relatively small fleets, the Baltic and Black Sea, currently have only tactical Su-24 bombers and ASW helicopters in service.
The small Caspian Flotilla operates An-26 and Mi-8 transports, Ka-27PS rescue helicopters, as well as some Ka-29 and Mi-24 armed helicopters. In 2011, the Russian Navy Deputy Commander-in-Chief for Naval Aviation and Air Defense/Commander, Naval Air and Air Defense Forces is Major General Igor Kozhin.
[[Image:Su27K (Su33) DD-SD-99-06153.jpg|thumb|250px|A Sukhoi Su-33 from the 279th Shipborne Fighter Aviation Regiment, on Admiral Kuznetsovs flight deck]]
History
Beginning
On May 30, 1912, the Vice-Admiral of the Imperial Russian Navy, Vice-Admiral Alexander Karl Nikolai von Lieven submitted a written report No. 127 on the plan for the creation of aviation detachments in the fleets . This document, approved with some reservations by the Naval Minister Vice Admiral Ivan Grigorovich, acquired the character of an order for the Naval Ministry. The logical continuation of the report was a letter from MGSh No. 1706/272 dated 06/02/1912 to the head of the General Staff School on the formation of the infrastructure of aviation units in 1913.
As of January 1, 1913, there was one seaplane and two wheeled airplanes in the Baltic, and five seaplanes on the Black Sea. In the spring of 1914, by the decision of the Minister of the Navy, an aviation department was introduced into the staff of the Naval General Staff, consisting of three people.
World War I
The beginning of the World War I found the Russian Naval Aviation at the stage of organizational formation. In total, by August 1, 1914, the Naval Ministry had about three dozen aircraft of various types and about 20 certified pilots. About 10 more officers underwent flight training directly in the fleets. By the beginning of the war, there were only 10 seaplanes in the Baltic, based in Libau, and 8 seaplanes in the Black Sea, in Sevastopol, and Kilen Bay. It was planned to deploy air detachments in the Pacific Ocean only by the summer of 1915, but this was not implemented due to the outbreak of the war.
At the beginning of March 1915, the Naval Aviation already had 77 aircraft, including 47 in the Baltic, and 30 seaplanes in the Black Sea. They were served by 78 officers and 859 lower ranks. As of 1 January 1917, the Russian Naval Aviation was an impressive force and included 264 airplanes of various types. Of these, 152 aircraft and 4 small controlled balloons were in the Black Sea Fleet, 88 aircraft in the Baltic. Another 29 aircraft were available in the Petrograd and Baku officer aviation schools.
From September 1916 to May 1917 alone, the Naval Department received 61 Grigorovich M-11 and M-12 seaplanes. 26 of them flew in the Black Sea, about 20 entered the Baltic. In the Black Sea and Baltic aviation units, respectively, 115 and 96 officers, 1039 and 1339 conductors, non-commissioned officers and privates served.
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 76 obsolete hydroplanes. Scanty and technically imperfect, it was mostly used for resupplying the ships and the army.
In the second half of the 1920s, the Naval Aviation order of battle began to grow. It received new reconnaissance hydroplanes, bombers, and fighters. In the mid-1930s, the Soviets created the Naval Air Force in the Baltic Fleet, the Black Sea Fleet and the Soviet Pacific Fleet. The importance of naval aviation had grown significantly by 1938–1940, to become one of the main components of the Soviet Navy. By this time, the Soviets had created formations and units of the torpedo and bomb aviation. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, all of the fleets (except for the Pacific Fleet) had a total of 1,445 aircraft.