Press releases

MINSK, 15 August (BelTA) – Teams representing the Air Force and Air Defense Command of the Belarusian army have returned victorious from the international pilot crew contest Aviadarts 2018, BelTA learned from Chief of the Air Force and Air Defense Command of the Armed Forces of Belarus Igor Golub on 15 August.

According to the source, the Belarusian teams secured prizes in three nominations. Belarusian pilots flew recently acquired Yak-130 aircraft and came in second in the Assault Aircraft nomination. New Mi-8MTV-5 helicopters helped secure another second place in the nomination for army pilots flying transport and combat helicopters. Mi-24 helicopters snatched only the bronze award in the nomination for army pilots on combat helicopters. “These helicopters have been refitted in Belarus, have been commissioned by the army, and already take part in competitions,” said the officer.

Igor Golub said that fight for the prizes had been really tough. “Training levels of the participating teams get considerably better every year. This year we’ve fought for every point, for every hit on target. We mainly send young teams to the contest so that they could get some hands-on practice in a training combat. The good results indicate that training standards in Belarusian Air Force are rather high,” said the officer.

The international army pilots contest Aviadarts 2018 took place in Ryazan, Russia on 16 July – 12 August. The best practices of accomplishing missions were shared in the course of the contest. The experience of flying cutting-edge aircraft and helicopters used by the Russian and Kazakh armies was examined.