Kuban Republic
The Kuban Republic is a former Soviet Republic that was able to break free during the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Kuban is located on the Black Sea between Ukraine and Georgia. Its capital is Novoukrainsk on the Black Sea, Sochi and Soncedar are the other 2 major cities of the country. (more lore to be added)
Thanks to Ro-Po for making this map for me!
KubanAir and KubanAir Cargo
Kuban has a national flag carrier named KubanAir and its cargo department named KubanAir Cargo. The airline is for 30% owned by the government. KubanAir has a fleet of former Soviet aircraft, new European aircrafts and some used aircrafts. The airline conducts flights between Kuban-Western Europe, to and from Russia and surrounding nations. KubanAirs hub is located at Sochi International Airport. Most aircraft from the Soviet era that are in the fleet were claimed by the Kuban government when they decleared independence. The Fokker 50's were bought from the bankrupted airline VLM from Belgium, at the same time 4 McDonnell Douglas MD-11F freighters were bought from KLM (2) and MartinAir (2). In 2018 KubanAir started modernization of its fleet by placing the order for the Airbus A330-800neo, Airbus A320neo and Antonov An-140-100. These planes mark a new era for the airline and will serve for years to come.
KubanAir fleet:
6x Tupolev Tu-154 Reg: KBA to KBF
8x Yakovlev Yak-42 Reg: KAB to KAI
10x Antonov An-24 Reg: KCA to KCJ
10x Fokker 50 Reg: KAF to KAO
8x Airbus A320neo Reg: KBG to KBL
12x Airbus A321neo Reg: KBM to KBY
6x Antonov An-140 Reg: KAP to KAU
4x Ilyushin Il-86 Reg: KEA to KED
6x Airbus A330-800neo Reg: KFA to KFF
8x Embaer E-175 Reg: KCK to KCR
KubanAir Cargo Fleet:
4x Ilyushin Il-76 Reg: KDA to KDD
6x Antonov An-12 Reg: KDF to KDK
4x Antonov An-32 Reg: KAA to KAD
4x McDonnell Douglas MD-11F Reg: KGA to KGD
Kuban Military
Shortly after the break up from the Soviet Union a military was created of left behind equipment from the Soviet era. Most of this equipment was modernized and still in use today. In 2018 the Kuban Military started a wide modernization program to strenghten its power to be able to protect the people of Kuban. The Kuban military exists consists of the Kuban Air Force, Kuban Navy and Kuban Army.
Kuban Air Force
The Kuban Air Force is dedicated to the protection of Kubans airspace and to provide support to our allies. Kuban MiG-21 Bison are frequently scrambled to intercept Russian military aircraft that try to penetrate the Kuban Airspace. The Kuban Air Force had plans to modernize in the early 2000's but due budget concerns only new light attack aircraft were bought, the Aero L-159 Alca. In 2015 a program was started to find a replacement for the aging fleet of MiG-21 Bisons, a selection of contenders was made and included the: Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Fighting Falcon, Saab JAS 39E/F Gripen, surplus Ukrainian MiG-29's, CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder and KAI FA-50 Golden Eagle. The Ukranian MiG-29's and the JF-17 dropped out quick due costs of maintenance and the supply chain. The finale would be between the F-16, FA-50 and Gripen. After many negotiations the Kuban Air Force decleared the Saab 39E/F Gripen the winner, Saab and Kuban Aerospace made the agreement that Kuban Aerospace would construct spare parts for the Gripens and that they would perform all form of maintenance on the aircraft. The Gripen will also replace the Su-25 Frogfoots which were mostly grounded due lack of spares over the time. The Kuban Air Force also made the decision to upgrade the fleet of Mi-24 Hind attack/transport helicopters to the Mi-24 Super Hind Mk V. The Mil Mi-17 transport helicopters would be replaced by the new Airbus H225M Caracals which were build in Romania, Kuban Aerospace will perform the maintenance on them as well. To replace the aging cargo aircraft a deal was made with Antonov for 5 An-178's and 10 An-132D's, the An-178's will have pods for aerial refueling.
Currently the Kuban Air Force aircraft inventory consists out of:
-Fighterjets:
14x MiG-21 Bison (10 single seaters, 4 dual seaters/to be phased out)
Reg: 401 to 415
15x Su-25KM Frogfoot (to be phased out)
Reg: 421 to 435
24x Gripen E/F (20 E models, 4 F models/on order)
Reg: 451 to 474
(img: soon)
-Transport Aircraft:
20x Kuban Aerospace M-28 Skytruck Reg: 210 to 229
10x Kuban Aerospace M-28 Skytruck Light Attack Transport Reg: 280 to 289
10x Antonov An-32 (to be phased out)Reg: 200 to 209
6x Antonov An-12 (to be phased out) Reg: 110 to 115
5x Antonov An-178 (on order) Reg: 120 to 124
(img: soon)
4x Ilyushin Il-76M Reg: 125 to 128
10x Antonov An-132D (on order) Reg: 130 to 139
(img: soon)
1x Boeing 737-700NG BBJ (VIP) Reg: 102
1x Fokker 70 (VIP) Reg: 100
1x Gulfstream G550 (VIP) Reg: 101
-EAW&C
4x Gulfstream G550 EAW&C Reg: 801 to 804
-Maritime Patrol Aircraft:
6x Antonov An-132 MPA (on order) Reg: 301 to 306
(img: soon)
6x Be-12 Chayka Reg: 295 to 300
-Unmanned Aerial Vehicles:
10x Hermes 900 Reg: 506 to 515
(img: soon)
6x Hermes 450 Reg: 500 to 505
(img: soon)
-Helicopters:
30x Mi-17 Hip (to be phased out) Reg: 10 to 39
25x Mi-24P Hind (to be modernized) Reg: 49 to 74
10x HH-65 Dolphin Reg: 80 to 89
30x H225M Super Cougar (on order) Reg: 1 to 30
10x Leonardo AW159 Wildcat Reg: 90 to 99
12x PZL W-3PL Głuszec Reg: 401 to 412
8x Leonardo AW149 Reg: 521 to 428
-Trainers:
34x L-159 Alca (also light attack) Reg: 300 to 333
28x PC-7 Turbottainer Reg: 340 to 367