ABSTRACT
Traditionally, air power has played a very important role in the security and defense of the Russian Far East. Since the mid-1930s, the Soviet Union has made systematic efforts in building up its tactical and strategic offensive and defensive air power capability. This chapter begins with an introduction to the origins and drivers of Russian air strategy since 2000, especially as relations soured with the established Western powers after 2014. It goes on to catalog the direct application of Russian airpower in the Indo-Pacific through an examination of the organizational structure, order of battle, ongoing modernization, and operational activities of the Voenno Kosmicheskie Sily Rossiiskoi Federatsii in the Eastern Military District. The chapter concludes with an examination of the indirect exercise of Russian airpower via the export and provision of air technology, especially advanced air defense systems that present a substantial deterrent to external intervention.
