Russia Deepens Arctic Presence With Su-24M Bomber Refueling Missions Supported By Il-78 Tankers
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Russia’s Northern Fleet has conducted nighttime aerial refueling of Su-24M bombers with Il-78 tanker aircraft in complete polar darkness over the Arctic. The drill highlights Moscow’s focus on sustaining long-range aviation operations from the Kola Peninsula as Arctic airspace grows more strategically contested.
On December 17, 2025, Russia’s Northern Fleet disclosed that its Su-24M frontline bombers had carried out night-time aerial refueling over the Far North, in complete polar darkness, as reported by the Russian state news agency TASS. Conducted with Il-78 tanker aircraft, the training targeted one of the most demanding skills in Russian military aviation: safely connecting bomber and tanker in turbulent, low-visibility Arctic conditions. Beyond the technical feat, the exercise underscores Moscow’s effort to maintain long-range strike options out of the Kola Peninsula at a time when Arctic airspace is increasingly central to strategic competition. The announcement also comes shortly after an 11-hour Tu-160 patrol over Arctic waters, documented by Army Recognition, highlighting a broader pattern of Russian air operations designed to signal endurance and reach in the High North.
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Russia’s Northern Fleet has showcased its ability to sustain long-range bomber operations by conducting Su-24M aerial refueling with Il-78 tankers in complete Arctic polar darkness, reinforcing Moscow’s focus on endurance and reach in the High North (Picture Source: TASS)
According to the Northern Fleet, Su-24M crews from the Combined Aviation Corps executed the drill during a scheduled flight rotation, maneuvering in predefined areas to close in on an Il-78 tanker and establish contact with its hose-and-drogue refueling cones in full polar night conditions. The environment combined typical Far North challenges: low clouds, turbulence, icing risk and the loss of visual horizon, all of which compress reaction time and amplify any minor error in alignment. Fleet officials emphasized that crews successfully completed the mission, enabling each bomber to significantly extend its combat radius and time on station. For a platform originally designed to fly deep, low-level penetration profiles, adding reliable in-flight refueling under such conditions directly enhances the Northern Fleet’s ability to generate long-endurance sorties over the Barents and Norwegian Seas, and potentially further into the North Atlantic bastion Russia seeks to defend and control.
The Su-24M remains a key component of Russia’s strike aviation fleet. This supersonic, all-weather tactical bomber features variable-geometry wings and can carry up to 8,000 kilograms of ordnance across multiple underwing and fuselage hardpoints. Designed for precision attacks on ground and surface targets under any conditions, it employs a digital navigation and attack suite paired with terrain-following radar, enabling low-altitude flight in adverse weather while minimizing exposure to enemy radar and air defenses.
In its modernized variants, the Su-24M is equipped to deploy a wide range of guided munitions, including Kh-25L and Kh-29 laser- or TV-guided missiles, Kh-31 anti-radiation and anti-ship missiles, and KAB-500 and KAB-1500 precision-guided bombs. It also carries a six-barrel GSh-6-23 23 mm cannon and short-range air-to-air missiles for self-defense. Supported by aerial refueling, this aircraft, originally designed for deep tactical strikes over Europe, can now project power from Northern Fleet bases across expansive Arctic and maritime zones, execute stand-off strikes against coastal or naval targets, and sustain operations over key sea lanes far beyond the limits of its internal fuel capacity.
The Il-78 tanker is the enabler that turns this theoretical reach into sustained operational endurance. Derived from the Il-76MD strategic airlifter, the four-engined Il-78 carries additional fuel tanks in its cargo hold and is fitted with three refueling pods, two under the wings and one on the rear fuselage, allowing it to refuel two to three aircraft in the air during a single mission using the probe-and-drogue method. With a transferable fuel load that can exceed 80 tonnes in its baseline configuration, the aircraft has been in service since the mid-1980s and remains the only dedicated tanker type in Russian Aerospace Forces service. For the Northern Fleet, whose air assets must operate over sparsely equipped, ice-covered expanses with few diversion airfields, this capacity is critical: it makes it possible not only to extend Su-24M missions but also, in principle, to support long-range bomber movements, maritime patrol aircraft and other platforms moving between inland bases and Arctic staging airfields along the Kola Peninsula and beyond.
Geostrategically, the recent training aligns with a broader pattern of Russian activity that leverages long-range aviation and Arctic basing to reinforce deterrence and strategic signaling. On November 25, 2025, a Tu-160 “Blackjack” strategic bomber conducted an 11-hour patrol over neutral Arctic waters, remaining entirely within international airspace. The mission, as noted by Army Recognition, underscored the ability of Russia’s nuclear-capable bomber fleet to execute sustained sorties across the High North, demonstrating both endurance and operational reach.
Taken together, the Tu-160 patrol and the Northern Fleet’s polar-night refueling drills illustrate two complementary dimensions of Russia’s aerial posture: heavy bombers capable of projecting nuclear and conventional power over intercontinental distances, and tactical or naval aviation able to uphold a continuous, combat-credible presence across Arctic maritime approaches in extreme conditions. These developments occur amid heightened NATO activity in the region, marked by Finland and Sweden’s accession and the Alliance’s efforts to strengthen deterrence from the Arctic Ocean to the Baltic and North Seas. Within this context, each training flight that enhances Russian aircraft endurance in darkness and severe weather conditions contributes directly to the credibility of Moscow’s “bastion” defense concept centered on the Kola Peninsula, home to many of its strategic and naval assets.
By demonstrating that legacy platforms such as the Su-24M and Il-78 can still be combined to generate long-range, all-weather strike potential over the Arctic, the Northern Fleet sends a clear message: despite modernization challenges and the strain of ongoing operations in Ukraine, Russia continues to invest in the skills and procedures needed to fight and deter in the High North. The recent Tu-160 endurance patrol and the polar night refueling drills are two sides of the same coin, linking strategic nuclear aviation with theatre-level strike assets under a single Arctic deterrence narrative. For NATO planners and Arctic states, these flights are not routine technical milestones but indicators that any future crisis in the region would unfold under the shadow of Russian aircraft able to stay longer in the air, operate farther from home, and deliver a diverse range of precision-guided munitions from protected bastions into a contested Arctic and North Atlantic battlespace.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
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Russia’s Northern Fleet has conducted nighttime aerial refueling of Su-24M bombers with Il-78 tanker aircraft in complete polar darkness over the Arctic. The drill highlights Moscow’s focus on sustaining long-range aviation operations from the Kola Peninsula as Arctic airspace grows more strategically contested.
On December 17, 2025, Russia’s Northern Fleet disclosed that its Su-24M frontline bombers had carried out night-time aerial refueling over the Far North, in complete polar darkness, as reported by the Russian state news agency TASS. Conducted with Il-78 tanker aircraft, the training targeted one of the most demanding skills in Russian military aviation: safely connecting bomber and tanker in turbulent, low-visibility Arctic conditions. Beyond the technical feat, the exercise underscores Moscow’s effort to maintain long-range strike options out of the Kola Peninsula at a time when Arctic airspace is increasingly central to strategic competition. The announcement also comes shortly after an 11-hour Tu-160 patrol over Arctic waters, documented by Army Recognition, highlighting a broader pattern of Russian air operations designed to signal endurance and reach in the High North.
Russia’s Northern Fleet has showcased its ability to sustain long-range bomber operations by conducting Su-24M aerial refueling with Il-78 tankers in complete Arctic polar darkness, reinforcing Moscow’s focus on endurance and reach in the High North (Picture Source: TASS)
According to the Northern Fleet, Su-24M crews from the Combined Aviation Corps executed the drill during a scheduled flight rotation, maneuvering in predefined areas to close in on an Il-78 tanker and establish contact with its hose-and-drogue refueling cones in full polar night conditions. The environment combined typical Far North challenges: low clouds, turbulence, icing risk and the loss of visual horizon, all of which compress reaction time and amplify any minor error in alignment. Fleet officials emphasized that crews successfully completed the mission, enabling each bomber to significantly extend its combat radius and time on station. For a platform originally designed to fly deep, low-level penetration profiles, adding reliable in-flight refueling under such conditions directly enhances the Northern Fleet’s ability to generate long-endurance sorties over the Barents and Norwegian Seas, and potentially further into the North Atlantic bastion Russia seeks to defend and control.
The Su-24M remains a key component of Russia’s strike aviation fleet. This supersonic, all-weather tactical bomber features variable-geometry wings and can carry up to 8,000 kilograms of ordnance across multiple underwing and fuselage hardpoints. Designed for precision attacks on ground and surface targets under any conditions, it employs a digital navigation and attack suite paired with terrain-following radar, enabling low-altitude flight in adverse weather while minimizing exposure to enemy radar and air defenses.
In its modernized variants, the Su-24M is equipped to deploy a wide range of guided munitions, including Kh-25L and Kh-29 laser- or TV-guided missiles, Kh-31 anti-radiation and anti-ship missiles, and KAB-500 and KAB-1500 precision-guided bombs. It also carries a six-barrel GSh-6-23 23 mm cannon and short-range air-to-air missiles for self-defense. Supported by aerial refueling, this aircraft, originally designed for deep tactical strikes over Europe, can now project power from Northern Fleet bases across expansive Arctic and maritime zones, execute stand-off strikes against coastal or naval targets, and sustain operations over key sea lanes far beyond the limits of its internal fuel capacity.
The Il-78 tanker is the enabler that turns this theoretical reach into sustained operational endurance. Derived from the Il-76MD strategic airlifter, the four-engined Il-78 carries additional fuel tanks in its cargo hold and is fitted with three refueling pods, two under the wings and one on the rear fuselage, allowing it to refuel two to three aircraft in the air during a single mission using the probe-and-drogue method. With a transferable fuel load that can exceed 80 tonnes in its baseline configuration, the aircraft has been in service since the mid-1980s and remains the only dedicated tanker type in Russian Aerospace Forces service. For the Northern Fleet, whose air assets must operate over sparsely equipped, ice-covered expanses with few diversion airfields, this capacity is critical: it makes it possible not only to extend Su-24M missions but also, in principle, to support long-range bomber movements, maritime patrol aircraft and other platforms moving between inland bases and Arctic staging airfields along the Kola Peninsula and beyond.
Geostrategically, the recent training aligns with a broader pattern of Russian activity that leverages long-range aviation and Arctic basing to reinforce deterrence and strategic signaling. On November 25, 2025, a Tu-160 “Blackjack” strategic bomber conducted an 11-hour patrol over neutral Arctic waters, remaining entirely within international airspace. The mission, as noted by Army Recognition, underscored the ability of Russia’s nuclear-capable bomber fleet to execute sustained sorties across the High North, demonstrating both endurance and operational reach.
Taken together, the Tu-160 patrol and the Northern Fleet’s polar-night refueling drills illustrate two complementary dimensions of Russia’s aerial posture: heavy bombers capable of projecting nuclear and conventional power over intercontinental distances, and tactical or naval aviation able to uphold a continuous, combat-credible presence across Arctic maritime approaches in extreme conditions. These developments occur amid heightened NATO activity in the region, marked by Finland and Sweden’s accession and the Alliance’s efforts to strengthen deterrence from the Arctic Ocean to the Baltic and North Seas. Within this context, each training flight that enhances Russian aircraft endurance in darkness and severe weather conditions contributes directly to the credibility of Moscow’s “bastion” defense concept centered on the Kola Peninsula, home to many of its strategic and naval assets.
By demonstrating that legacy platforms such as the Su-24M and Il-78 can still be combined to generate long-range, all-weather strike potential over the Arctic, the Northern Fleet sends a clear message: despite modernization challenges and the strain of ongoing operations in Ukraine, Russia continues to invest in the skills and procedures needed to fight and deter in the High North. The recent Tu-160 endurance patrol and the polar night refueling drills are two sides of the same coin, linking strategic nuclear aviation with theatre-level strike assets under a single Arctic deterrence narrative. For NATO planners and Arctic states, these flights are not routine technical milestones but indicators that any future crisis in the region would unfold under the shadow of Russian aircraft able to stay longer in the air, operate farther from home, and deliver a diverse range of precision-guided munitions from protected bastions into a contested Arctic and North Atlantic battlespace.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
