T
HE 4TH NATIONAL Air
Personnel Preparation and
Military Evaluation Center of the
Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS)
at Lipetsk played a leading role
in the Victory Day air parade
over Red Square in Moscow on May 9.
A full-scale rehearsal took place on April
20 in advance of the 74-aircraft ypast to
mark the 73rd anniversary of the event.
The Lipetsk aviation center committed
33 aircrews to the spectacle, mostly
operating directly from their home base
in two main elements. A ‘tactical wing’ of
10 aircraft comprised four Su-34 ‘Fullbacks’,
four Su-30SM ‘Flanker-Hs’ and a pair of
Su-35Ss, accompanied by a second group
of four Su-24M ‘Fencers’. In addition, six
Su-25 ‘Frogfoot’ ground attack aircraft ew from Kubinka and trailed smoke in
the colors of the Russian ag. A ‘Cuban
Diamond’ of ve Su-30SMs and four
MiG-29s from the Russian Knights and
Swifts teams, plus a four-ship of MiG-31
‘Foxhounds’, also featured.
The training day allowed the crews to
nalize the split-second timings required
when marshaling various formation
elements from di erent air elds. This
is made particularly di cult by having
to bring the aircraft together in an area
of dense air tra c activity and at low
altitude. The Lipetsk crews are some of the
most seasoned in the VKS, and most have
experience of such events. Indeed, within
the formation was one ‘Hero of the Russian
Federation’ pilot and three ‘Honored
Military Pilots of Russia’.Main image:
A four-ship
of Lipetsk-
based Su-34
‘Fullbacks’
during the April
20 rehearsal.
Top:
A Su-30SM
section pulls up
into a barrel roll
when making a
formation arrival
back at Lipetsk.http://www.combataircraft.net // July 2018 53
52-53 Russian Flypast_v2 C.indd 53 20/05/2018 11:24