* This is an aircraft you don't read about everyday.

Russian Su-33 warplanes exercise in Mediterranean

15:38 | 08/ 01/ 2008
MOSCOW, January 8 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Navy carrier Su-33 aircraft and combat helicopters have launched a training exercise over the Mediterranean, an aide to the Russian Navy commander said on Tuesday.
Capt. 1st Rank Igor Dygalo said a Joint Naval Task Force, comprised of the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, the Udaloy-Class Large Anti-submarine Ship Admiral Levchenko, the Sergei Osipov auxiliary vessel, and other vessels continued to perform a variety of missions in the central part of the Mediterranean Sea.
The Admiral Kuznetsov's main fixed-wing aircraft is the multirole Su-33 (NATO reporting name 'Flanker-D'), which can perform air superiority, fleet defense, and air support missions and can also be used for reconnaissance and the searching for naval mines.
The two-month expedition, which started on December 5, is aimed at ensuring a naval presence "in the operationally key areas of the world oceans" and establishing conditions for secure Russian maritime navigation.
Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said previously that a total of four warships and seven other vessels of Russia's Northern, Black Sea and Baltic Fleets, as well as 47 airplanes and 10 helicopters, would take part in the 12,000-mile expedition.




Full story
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080108/95710715.html

ooooooo....

I know for us it's nothing to write home about but for Russia's navy this is a big deal. There mix in the Bear's or other bombers to they always do I part is to show off to Algeria too.