Events

MOSCOW, 14 September (BelTA) – A number of units of the Russian Aerospace Forces acted as targets to test the performance of the air defense units of the Western Military District as part of the Belarusian-Russian strategic army exercise Zapad 2017, BelTA learned from representatives of the Information and Mass Communications Department of the Russian Federation Defense Ministry.

More 20 aircraft and helicopters of various types — Su-34, Su-35S, Tu-134, An-26, Mi-8, and Ka-52 — simulated trespassers in the responsibility area of the Western Military District air defense units. The aircraft and helicopters were instructed to pass the responsibility area undetected by radars. With this in mind the units of the Russian Aerospace Forces flew at altitudes varying from 50m to 10,000m at various speeds and in different directions.

Most of the units switched off their friend-or-foe transponders. They flew the nap of the earth. They flew in tight formations and used radio jamming. The units flew in day and at night. The flights were recorded by onboard systems and the ground ones.

The on-duty units of the radio warfare troops of the Western Military District practiced detecting aerial targets, classifying them, and feeding flight coordinates to the air defense command station.