The Russian Naval 1st Aviation Squadron "Eagles" is part of the 279th shipborne Fighter Aviation Regiment based at Severomorsk-3. The main administrative base for the Russian Northern Fleet is located at Severomorsk which is a closed town on the Barent Sea. Severomorsk is also the home base for the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov and the 279th FAR. The ship serves as a missile carrying cruiser as well as an aircraft carrier. Su-33 Red 67 s/n 49051006305 produced in July 1993 and lost in 2016 when arrestor wires broke.
Designed by the Soviet Union to challenge the superiority of fourth generation US fighters such as the F-15 Eagle, the Su-27 was first flown on May 20, 1977. This one seat Mach-2 fighter had the Soviet Union's first operational fly-by-wire system. The aircraft is very large compared to the MiG-29, its closest Soviet counterpart, but it is built with a high percentage of titanium, which helps minimize its weight. It is exceptionally agile and is perhaps most famous for its "Cobra" maneuver, which is a short, sustained level flight at a 120 degree angle of attack, often performed at air shows.
