The 45th Army of the Air Force and Air Defense of the Northern Fleet (military unit 06351)[1] was formed in December 2015 on the basis of an order of the President of the Russian Federation in order to strengthen the air situation control system in the Arctic zone.

From November to December 2016, from the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov", the pilots performed 420 sorties, 750 sorties to perform search and rescue tasks and aviation support.

The army is part of the joint strategic command "Northern Fleet".

In 2018, the Northern Fleet resumed air patrols in the Arctic.

In February 2019, it became known that the Russian Ministry of Defense plans to significantly increase the combat power of the Northern Fleet and deploy two squadrons of MiG-31 fighter-interceptors in the Murmansk region.