The planned Yak-44 was intended to take over much of the strike-control role as well as providing airborne early warning. Reconnaissance data had to tell the strike force where an enemy task group was when weapons were released, since an earlier report could already be stale. Even satellite reports could age while a mobile group crossed a vast search area. An airborne commander could combine reports while moving and avoid exposing a surface ship as the obvious control node. The aircraft remained a target, but speed and relocation made it less predictable than a transmitting ship. Information and coordination were therefore as important to Soviet naval aviation as the bombers and missiles themselves.
Notable Point · 1:29:08-1:32:29
Why strike coordination had to be airborne
Accurate, current target information was vital for Soviet missile strikes, and aircraft could coordinate it farther forward with less risk than a ship.