Over 70 aircraft to fly over Red Square on Victory Day

Thứ Sáu, 14/04/2017, 09:26
A total of 17 helicopters and 55 combat planes, including Tupolev Tu-160 and Tu-95MS strategic bombers, will fly over Red Square in Moscow on Victory Day, Russia’s Defense Ministry press office said on Thursday.

"Seventy-two aircraft based at nine aerodromes in five Russian regions will be involved. They comprise 55 planes and 17 helicopters, including 20 types of military transport, long-range, tactical and army aviation," the ministry said in a statement.

Overall, the Victory Parade will involve 72 crews flying Tu-160 and Tu-95MS strategic missile carriers, Tu-22M3 long-range bombers, Il-78 refueling tanker aircraft, An-124 and Il-76MD military transport planes, Su-35S, Su-30SM, Su-27, MiG-29, MiG-31BM fighter jets, Su-34 and Su-24M frontline bombers, Su-25 attack aircraft, Yak-130 combat trainers and Mi-26, Mi-8AMTSh, Mi-28N, Ka-52 and Mi-35M helicopters.

This year, the airborne part of the parade will be opened by Mil Mi-26 and Mi-8 helicopters at an altitude of 150 meters, after which aircraft crews will begin demonstration flights.

The crews of Il-78 and Tu-160 long-range aircraft will simulate aerial refueling, after which pilots of the Lipetsk Aviation Center will fly in a tactical wing formation while pilots of the Russian Knights aerobatic group will perform the Cuban Diamond stunt aboard Sukhoi Su-30SM fighters. The parade will end with the flyover of six Su-25 planes emitting the smoke in the colors of the Russian flag.

Eight aerodromes in the Moscow, Tver, Bryansk, Saratov, Kaluga, Voronezh, Lipetsk and Nizhny Novgorod Regions will be engaged for aircraft flights.

TASS