MOSCOW, July 29. /TASS/. The Russian Defense Ministry will hold an international military aviation competition in the country’s central and western regions. The competition involving the Air Force of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and China will be held between August 1 and August 15. Although purporting to be a competition, it’s very much akin to military drills, considering the complexity of the scenario objectives and the scope of the combat aircraft involved, which are almost 100-percent Russian-made.
More than 50 crews will take part in the international stage of the Aviadarts-2015 competition. It will involve more than 100 pilots, 15 types of aircraft and helicopters and three airfields in the Ryazan, Bryansk and Kaluga regions. Taking part in the competition will be the Sukhoi SU-24M, SU-25, SU-27, SU-30SM, SU-34, Mikoyan MiG-29SMT, Ilyushin IL-76, Tupolev TU-22M3 aircraft, [Chinese fighter aircraft] JH-7 and the Kamov Ka-52, Mil Mi-35 and Mi-8 helicopters.
"The launching sites of anti-aircraft missile systems will be used as the targets at the shooting range for the first time. Aside from that, ground-based targets will imitate the maneuver enemy’s airfield, the airport’s ramp, a wing of fighter aircraft on combat alert duty on the runway strip and a convoy of armored vehicles," the Defense Ministry press service has said.
Overall, "more than 50 ground-based targets of various types, including 20 Mikoyan MiG-29 aircraft, T-72 tanks, armored vehicles and shield targets for shooting from aircraft cannons and unguided missile launches" will be presented at the shooting range.
During the competition, "the crews of fighter, bomber aircraft, the assault and army aviation will practice the use of missile munitions and aircraft guns, long-range aviation pilots will carry out the bomb dropping, and the crews of the military and transport aviation will practice touchdown accuracy during the aerial delivery of the cargo weighing 7 tons."