Every year Russia holds the Victory Day parades, where it celebrates the defeat of Nazi in World War II, called the Great Patriotic War in the country.
Parades are held in various cities across the country, but the biggest one takes place on Red Square in Moscow, where hundreds of troops and vehicles parade for top Russian officials such as President Vladimir Putin and war veterans.
One of the highlights of the parade is precisely its aerial portion, where dozens of planes and helicopters of various types and models fly over Moscow, in formations that even form numbers and symbols.
In this year's edition, the air parade was canceled due to weather conditions. The low height of the clouds prevented a safe overflight of the aircraft, something that last happened in 2017
Even so, we cannot forget to the beautiful flyovers in other parades, such as the videos below, which show the rehearsals and aerial celebrations of 2018.
The air parade opens with the rotating wings of Russian Army Aviation. The first formation has as lead aircraft a Mil Mi-26 Halo, the largest production helicopter in the world, escorted by four Mi-8AMTSh.
Then come three other formations, each consisting of four Mi-28 Havoc, Ka-52 Alligator/Hokum-B and Mi-24 Hind helicopters. The Havocs belong to the Berkuts demonstration squadron, the only one in Russia that uses helicopters.
After the age of the helicopters, it is the turn of the so-called Long Range Aviation. The formation of five aircraft is led by the Tu-160 Blackjack bomber, one of the fastest and most powerful aircraft in the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS), escorted by another four Tu-22M3 Backfire bombers.
After the larger formation, three Il-76MD Candid heavy freighters follow, followed by three Tu-95MS Bear bombers. The Bear is one of Russia's most famous aircraft and in the video you can hear the characteristic sound of its Kuznetsov NK-12 counter-rotating turboprop engines, one of the most powerful in history.
After the six planes, the Tu-160 appears again, this time in in-flight refueling formation with an Il-78, the tanker version of the Il-76. The Il-78 is called Midas by NATO and can carry more than 105 tons of fuel, transferred to other aircraft through three hoses installed in the wings and fuselage.
After the bombers, it's time for fighter and attack aircraft from VKS Tactical Aviation. First up are four MiG-29SMT Fulcrum fighters, followed by four Su-24M Fencer ground attack jets. The Su-24 emerged in the late 1960s as a response to the US F-111 Aardvark tactical bomber.
While the US model was retired in 1996, the Su-24 is still in operation in several variants to conduct strike, interdiction, reconnaissance and electronic warfare missions.
Then it's the turn of four MiG-31s, a powerful Russian interceptor and the fastest fighter in service in the world, capable of reaching 3000 km/h. Close behind are the Su-34 Fullback, a long-range fighter-bomber and one of the most modern in the Russian fleet. However, nine of these planes were lost in the recent conflict with Ukraine.
The Su-34s are followed by a pair of Su-57 Felon fighters, the first (and only) fifth-generation fighter produced in Russia. The 2022 edition would have the participation of three of these aircraft, which still exist in small numbers within VKS.
An even larger delta formation of four Su-34s, four Su-30SM Flanker-Cs and two Su-35 Flanker-Es follows shortly thereafter.
Soon after, it is the turn of the two main VKS demonstration squadrons: the Russian Knights, with five Su-30SM, and the Swifts (Strizhi) with four MiG-29s. This formation draws attention by firing flares, countermeasures that look like fireworks, used to throw heat-guided missiles off course.
Another beautiful formation flies over Red Square soon after, consisting of six Su-25 Frogfoot ground attack jets, which belch smoke in the red, blue and white colors of the Russian flag.
The air parade then ends with two more MiG-31Ks, this time carrying one of the newest Russian weapons: the Kinzhal hypersonic missile. The greatest advantage of this air-launched ballistic missile is precisely its ability to exceed Mach 10 (10 times the speed of sound), making detection and interception difficult. Each Kinzhal can carry a conventional warhead of 500 kg or a thermonuclear warhead of at least 100 kilotons.
The 2018 parade brought a total of 74 military aircraft into the skies over Moscow, marking the first appearance of the MiG-31 with Kinzhal missiles.
Indeed, the Victory Day parades have always been recognized as an event where new Russian weapons are shown to the public for the first time. This is what happened with the T-14 Armata tank, for example, which appeared for the first time during the 2015 parade.
