Antonov An-71: Difference between revisions

Prior to the fall of the Soviet Union, the Air Force was divided into three aircraft based groups of units. They were the VVS-DA (Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily Dal'naya Aviatsiya) or Long Range Aviation (Bombers), the VVS-FA (Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily Frontovaya Aviatsiya) or Frontal Aviation (Fighters, Fighter Bombers and Attack aircraft), and the VVS-VTA (Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily Voenno-Transportnaya Aviatsiya) or Military Transport Aviation. The PVO (Voyska protivovozdushnoy oborony or Voyska PVO) which was the primary fighter / interceptor and surface-based defensive force was not part of the VVS; as a result, the [[Beriev A-50|A-50 Mainstay]] AWACS aircraft and its predecessor the [[Tupolev Tu-126|Tu-126 Moss]] served exclusively with the Voyska PVO and did not assist in the direction of tactical aircraft. The An-71 was designed to be used overland to support the VVS-FA in tactical operations. This doctrine of each force having its own AWACS planes is contrary to most Western air forces' use of land based AWACS aircraft; this doctrinal difference lead in part to the fallacy that the An-71 was designed to be used by the Soviet Navy on its aircraft carriers.<ref name="Red Star 23">{{cite book|last=Gordon|first=Yefim|title=Red Star Volume 23 Soviet/Russian AWACS aircraft|year=2005|publisher=Midland/Ian AllenAllan Publishing|location=England|isbn=1 85780 215 2|pages=61–84}}</ref>