The Russian Navy has opted to upgrade its existing Il-38N maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft to improve the fleet’s surface and sub-surface detection capabilities.
There are eight aircraft currently in regular service, the first of which received the Novella-P-38 integrated mission suite in 2009 and was handed over to the Russian Navy in 2012. The remainder are set to get new mission suites by 2025.
The initiative could also involve a number of the original Il-38s which still use the analogue Berkut mission suite developed in the 1960s. Original Russia Navy plans dating from the early 2010s called