Ukraine is studying the possibility of providing upon agreement with Russia the training complex of deck-based aviation NYTKA in Crimea to the armed forces of other countries, Deputy Defense Minister Oleksandr Oliynyk told the press, according to KW.
“We are working on options, for instance, if there will be no opportunity to fully load the training ground in cooperation with Russia, we want to acquire Russia’s consent to use it by the armed forces of other countries upon Russia’s consent,” the official said. The issue of leasing the training ground to Russia has not been finalized yet, which is why the Ukrainian side is working out different options of its use, he admitted.
NYTKA is a land-based aviation training ground used since 1982. It is located at Saki airfield in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. It is designed for aircraft take-off and landing technique from and to the aircraft carrier. The complex is an airfield with a steel take-off and landing strip in the shape of a ship deck equipped with a trampoline and arrester gear. Its size is equivalent to the parameters of the deck runway of the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier.
The NYTKA training ground is used by Russia based on a 1997 agreement between the governments ratified by Ukraine in 2004, KW wrote in the latest issue.
