The Russian military’s regular live fire exercise provided an excellent opportunity to see the country’s latest hardware in action.

THE LATEST ITERATION of the now regular ‘Aviadarts’ competitive live fire exercise was staged from Ryazan from May 26 until June 2. It attracted a range of participants from the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) and Russian Navy. ‘Aviadarts’ is attended by the 60 best aircrews who have been whittled down in a preliminary stage held within the various military districts, which this year occurred in March.




The cross-service competition sees crews participating in several disciplines such as reconnaissance, formation work, air combat maneuvers (ACM) and suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD).