Why planes were canceled on May 9. Military pensioners for Russia and its armed forces

The expert told how the decision was made to ban flights over Red Square

To much that happened on a dank, rainy (and sometimes - an unheard of thing - snowy) Tuesday, May 9, on Red Square, the word "for the first time" was applicable. For the first time, military Arctic equipment appeared at the Victory Parade, guys from the Yunarmiya patriotic movement marched, showed a new general's uniform, similar to the one in which the participants in the 1945 parade marched, and demonstrated a new uniform for female military personnel. The air part of the parade was also canceled for the first time. But there are no hidden reasons to look for here. The weather this spring is merciless for Muscovites - and on the coldest and most cloudy Victory Day in more than 30 years, no one would risk giving the go-ahead to fly planes in low cloud cover.

In total, more than 10 thousand servicemen, over 100 units of modern weapons and military equipment took part in the parade. Direct participants in the Victory Parade - servicemen, cadets and Yunarmiya - began to arrive on Red Square early in the morning. The weather, apparently, decided to test their strength. On May 9 in Moscow, it was more like the beginning of winter. Heavy low clouds, gusty wind. The temperature in the morning was about -2 degrees, it was raining with snow. Since everyone was dressed in a summer dress uniform, in which it is easy to get wet to the skin, they decided to give them warm military jackets with hoods. But shortly before the start of the parade, the guys themselves threw off their outerwear. According to one of the officers, “everyone is now on such an adrenaline rush that they practically don’t feel the cold.”

The action itself, according to tradition, began at 10 am with the last blow of the chimes on the Spasskaya Tower. And certainly no element can prevent this tradition!

One of the innovations of the parade is an updated uniform, specially made for the generals of the Russian army: a sea-green tunic with a stand-up collar. In addition, ceremonial crews from the Combined Arms Academy and the Military Academy of the Aerospace Forces passed through Red Square in the same uniform. The uniform is certainly beautiful and pays tribute to the traditions of both the tsarist and the Soviet army. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, according to tradition, crossed himself before the start of the parade, greeted the parade "boxes", and then reported on readiness to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Speaking at the parade, the president emphasized that “no, there has not been and will not be a force that could conquer our people. He stood to the death, defending his native land, and did the seemingly impossible - he turned back the bloody wheel of the Second World War, drove the enemy from where he dared to come to our land, crushed Nazism, put an end to his atrocities. And we will never forget that it was our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers who won the freedom of Europe and the long-awaited peace on the planet.”

For the first time, guys from the patriotic movement Yunarmiya took part in the walking part of the parade. They, apparently, were the luckiest of all, as they were dressed in insulated uniforms - red berets, sand-colored jackets and trousers.

The most memorable was the passage of two women's parade "boxes". The girls, despite the cold, smiled radiantly. In one "box" there were young ladies in dazzling white uniforms, in the other, for the first time, a new female uniform was presented - blue tunics and white skirts.

At the parade, samples of Arctic technology could not help but surprise. Indeed: a formidable fighting vehicle - and suddenly a peaceful white color! Two-link all-terrain vehicles DT-30 carried on trailers short-range anti-aircraft missile and gun systems "Pantsir-SA" and short-range anti-aircraft missile systems "Tor-M2DT". As one spectator joked, “Arctic technology brought arctic cold to Moscow.”

Of course, promising models of military equipment also passed through Red Square: Armata tanks, Kurganets infantry fighting vehicles, Boomerang armored personnel carriers, Coalition self-propelled howitzers.

But the expected air parade was canceled at the last moment. Moreover, the flight of air equipment was canceled for the second time in the history of the parades. The first was... June 24, 1945, during the famous Victory Parade, when yesterday's front-line soldiers threw fascist banners to the Mausoleum. Then the planes could not lift into the air due to heavy rain.

Despite the fact that from the evening of May 8, aviation tried to disperse the clouds over Moscow, these attempts ended unsuccessfully.

As military expert Viktor Murakhovsky told MK, the meteorological conditions on May 9 were extremely unfavorable.

It is clear that in the first place now was the provision of flight safety. Of course, our aviation is all-weather and can solve combat missions in the most abnormal conditions. However, one must understand that for flights over the city, especially in the parade air formation, good weather conditions are needed.

According to Murakhovsky, the flight manager can cancel the overflight. During the parade, a command post is set up in one of the Kremlin towers, from which it monitors the actions of aviation. Airplanes and helicopters go to the starting points of their route from different airfields. The flight director manages them online. He relies not only on the data that comes to him from the GLONASS system, from military meteorologists, but also monitors information coming from the pilots.

In order to make a decision to cancel flights, there are several factors, - Murakhovsky explained. - A mandatory requirement is the visual visibility of aircraft from the ground. In addition, the pilots themselves must see their colleagues in the air in low cloud conditions. Wind speed and gusts are also taken into account. Probably, these data did not satisfy the conditions.

It doesn’t matter how many planes were involved in dispersing the clouds, and no matter how much money was spent, the cyclone would not allow creating the visibility necessary for the viewer, - added Yury Varakin, head of the situational center of Roshydromet. - Alas, we do not always have power over the weather. The fact is that today's clouds look like a layered cake, some of the layers were removed with special reagents, which made it possible to avoid rain and snow, and some remained. The lower edge of the clouds hung at a height of 300 meters, so military equipment could not fly under it.

According to Varakin, the planes began to fight the clouds early in the morning on the border with the Tver region, but the lower edge of the front was still oversaturated with steam. In addition, he noted that if there were no active influences on the clouds, then the spectators of the parade would expect a repetition of the Monday snow storm.

According to eyewitnesses, the overflight attempt was nevertheless carried out. The planes took off from their base airfields and reached the assembly point in the Tushin area. However, having received the command, they turned around and returned to their airfields.

Also, due to unfavorable weather conditions in St. Petersburg, warships could not participate in the parade. At least this version was voiced by one of the high-ranking officers of the Western Military District. AT maritime parade 13 ships and auxiliary vessels were to take part. Including the large landing ship "Minsk", landing boats "Denis Davydov" and "Lieutenant Rimsky-Korsakov", small missile ships "Rain", "Serpukhov" and large missile boat "Morshansk".

However, there is another version. Now NATO is active on the borders of the Russian Federation with the Baltic countries. So, on April 25, several fifth-generation F-35 aircraft arrived at the Estonian air base at Emari, and in early May, NATO ships began to arrive in the Baltic. So, in the Gulf of Gdansk there is now the USS Carney missile destroyer with guided missile weapons (URO), equipped with the Aegis system. According to some reports, the forces and means of the Baltic Fleet were sent to neutral waters to escort NATO ships.

HOW THE CLOUDS DISSOLVE

Cloud dispersal technology was invented by Soviet scientists back in the 80s of the last century. First, the forecasters study the meteorological situation, and they prepare for the crews of aircraft with special spray guns containing the reagent - silver iodide - a map from which it becomes clear where, at what time and what cloud needs to be sprayed to make a "hole" of the required size reached Red Square at a certain time. From water vapor, that is, the cloud itself, nuclei are formed, and rain is shed - allegorically: the cloud is losing weight. If it were not for the anomalously cold and wet front with occasional cumulus clouds, these measures would have been enough, and the sun, as in all previous years, came out at the right time.

Despite the fact that 98 million rubles were allocated for the dispersal of clouds in Moscow by May 9, the parade flight of military aircraft on Victory Day was canceled. And in St. Petersburg, without explanation, the naval part of the parade was canceled

dress rehearsal Victory Parade in Moscow (Photo: Valery Sharifulin / TASS)

Moscow without aviation

The Victory Parade on Red Square this year was held without aviation. The reason, as in the Ministry of Defense, was unsuitable weather in the capital and the region. Later, this is the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov. He emphasized that the order of neither the Supreme Commander-in-Chief nor the Minister of Defense was needed to cancel the air part of the parade. “There are safety conditions due to weather conditions when military aviation cannot perform its tasks,” Peskov said, noting that the cloud cover was almost 150 meters, and aircraft should not fly below 500 meters of cloud cover.

This is enough to land the planes - the airports worked as usual, Roman Vilfand, director of the Russian Hydrometeorological Center, told RBC. But such weather is not suitable for demonstration flights, he said. “The plane would just go into the clouds, nothing would be visible. If the clouds were of the middle tier - at a height of 3 km, then it would be possible to make those figures that were supposed to be, ”explained the director of the Hydrometeorological Center of Russia.

On March 23, 2017, a tender worth 293.6 million rubles was posted on the public procurement website. for "performance of work on weather protection of Moscow" on May 1, May 9 and June 12. About 98 million rubles. was assigned to ensure a cloudless sky over Moscow on Victory Day. The customer of the work is Expertavtodor, the contractor is the Agency of Atmospheric Technologies. On May 9, RBC was unable to contact her; the company did not answer phone calls.

The impact on clouds, their dehydration by spraying reagents leads to a decrease in the intensity of precipitation, Vilfand noted. “Such operations were carried out, the intensity of precipitation was reduced. But no one set the task of creating a clear sky. It's impossible. Especially under the condition of the synoptic process that was, ”he stated. On the eve of May 8, it was raining and sleet in the capital.

Technically, aircraft could fly over Red Square, says Aeroflot civil aviation pilot, former military pilot Vitaly Sokolovsky. At the moment, the Russian Aerospace Forces have the necessary training and full equipment for flights in any weather conditions, he noted.

Rehearsal for the Victory Parade (Photo: Denis Tyrin / AP)

“There are special devices and systems that allow you to do this. But still, the confidence was 99%,” Sokolovsky said. “With such visibility, one should not forget about 1%, which accounts for disasters and emergency situations.”

Given that the flights were supposed to take place over a densely populated area, the authorities did not take risks and reasonably canceled the air part of the parade, said the head of the flight test complex of the Flight Research Institute. Gromova, Honored Pilot of Russia Boris Barsukov. In order to fly over Red Square, the pilots would have to “break through” the clouds on the descent, he pointed out. “Everything could happen in such conditions, including collisions of aircraft, so they would go in a fairly dense battle formation,” Barsukov said. According to the pilot, on May 9 there were powerful fronts of the cyclone, and the fact that during the parade itself it was possible to ensure the absence of precipitation is already an achievement.

That the aviation part of the Victory Parade in Moscow will be represented by 17 helicopters and 55 aircraft, including the Tu-160 and Tu-95MS strategic missile carriers, as well as the MiG-31 supersonic fighter-interceptor. A demonstration of Ka-52 attack helicopters was planned, which, according to the head of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff, Sergei Rudsky, played a decisive role in the second liberation of Palmyra. The performance of the aerobatic team "Russian Knights" was also planned. In conclusion, six Su-25BM attack aircraft were supposed to paint the sky over Red Square in the colors of the Russian tricolor.

At the same time, the cost of aviation kerosene, which would have been spent during the parade, amounted to about 14 million rubles.

Petersburg without ships

In St. Petersburg, the Victory Parade also did not go according to plan - the participation of warships was canceled, Interfax reported. Earlier it was assumed that more than ten ships of the Baltic and Leningrad naval bases of the fleet would take part in the celebrations in the Neva water area. The Ministry of Defense has not yet commented on the cancellation of the naval part of the parade in St. Petersburg. RBC is awaiting an official response to its request.

The Petersburg edition of "Fontanka" that the ships of the Baltic Fleet entered the waters of the Neva on May 3, but left it three days later. The reason allegedly was the American destroyer USS Carney, which entered the Gulf of Gdansk, which may carry Tomahawk cruise missiles, the publication claimed. An unnamed Baltic Fleet officer told Fontanka that dispersing ships at sea is a common navy tactic in the event of a sudden missile attack.

RBC's source in the Ministry of Defense called this explanation "nonsense". However, when asked why the ships did not appear in St. Petersburg on May 9, the interlocutor found it difficult to answer. “It was decided to return them, and that's it. Why, I don't know, but it has nothing to do with the American destroyer. We would not transfer all forces for the sake of one ship, ”he said.

According to Fontanka, the government of St. Petersburg spent about 4 million rubles on the preparation of the naval part of the parade. The money was used to install mooring barrels for ships in the Neva and to pay for extracurricular work of port services for the night placement of ships in the Neva on May 3.

If the decision to cancel naval parade Petersburg on May 9 was taken because of the American destroyer approaching the internal waters of Russia, then, most likely, “it was the decision of a non-military person,” military expert Vladimir Shcherbakov believes. He also noted that weather conditions could hardly have played a decisive role, since they could only affect the "visual perception of the spectacle."

The editor-in-chief of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine, retired colonel Viktor Murakhovsky, also does not believe that the naval part of the parade in St. Petersburg was canceled because of the American destroyer. In his opinion, this may be due to the actions of the Russian armed forces in Syria.

We are talking about the concentration of the ship grouping in the Eastern Mediterranean, admitted Murakhovsky. “This is necessary, first of all, in order to deter provocations aimed at disrupting the process that Russia, Iran and Turkey provide in Syria,” the military expert concluded.

The parade in honor of the 72nd anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War was held this year in 28 cities of Russia, the Ministry of Defense reported. More than 90 thousand servicemen took part in it. The parade in Moscow was the largest - more than 10 thousand military personnel and 114 units of ground military equipment took part in it. In St. Petersburg, more than four thousand people, 96 units of military equipment and more than 40 aircraft were involved in the celebration.​​​​

Due to abnormal weather conditions, aviation did not take part in the air part of the Victory Parade. The overflight of aircraft was canceled for the second time in the history of the parades. The first was on June 24, 1945, when the planes were unable to take off due to heavy rain.

"MK" asked military expert Viktor Murakhovsky for what reasons the air parade was canceled and who exactly could make such a decision.

Cancellation of the air part of the parade is possible only in case of the most adverse weather conditions. Unfortunately, on May 9 in Moscow the weather was more like late autumn. Heavy low clouds, sleet, gusty wind. Despite the fact that from the evening of May 8, aviation tried to disperse the clouds over Moscow, these attempts ended unsuccessfully.

According to Murakhovsky, the meteorological conditions were extremely unfavorable, and for flights over Moscow there are quite serious restrictions on the border of the lower cloud cover and on the visibility range.

— It is clear that the priority now was to ensure flight safety. Of course, our aviation is all-weather and can solve combat missions in the most abnormal conditions,” Murakhovsky says. - However, one must understand that for flights over the city, especially in the parade air formation, good weather conditions are needed.

According to Murakhovsky, the flight manager can cancel the overflight. During the parade in one of the towers of the Kremlin, a control point is equipped from which the leader monitors the actions of aviation. Airplanes and helicopters go to the starting points of their route from different airfields. The flight director manages them online. He relies not only on the data that comes to him from the GLONASS system, from military meteorologists, but also monitors information coming from the pilots.

In order to make a decision to cancel flights, there are several factors, the expert says. - A mandatory requirement is the visual visibility of aircraft from the ground. In addition, the pilots themselves must see their colleagues in the air, in low cloud conditions. Wind speed and gusts are also taken into account. Probably these data did not satisfy the conditions. Even if the planes had flown over Red Square, everyone would have heard only the rumble of cars.

According to him, the permissible limits of flight over Red Square for aircraft of operational-tactical, long-range and military transport aviation are 300 meters. They are not allowed to go below. Therefore, even if aviation had flown by, the audience would have heard only the rumble of airplanes and helicopters.

According to eyewitnesses, an attempt to overflight was still carried out. The planes took off from their base airfields and reached the collection point in the Tushino area. However, having received the command, they turned around and returned to their airfields.

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The expert told how the decision was made to ban flights over Red Square

To much that happened on a dank, rainy (and sometimes - an unheard of thing - snowy) Tuesday, May 9, on Red Square, the word "for the first time" was applicable. For the first time, military Arctic equipment appeared at the Victory Parade, guys from the Yunarmiya patriotic movement marched, showed a new general's uniform, similar to the one in which the participants in the 1945 parade marched, and demonstrated a new uniform for female military personnel. The air part of the parade was also canceled for the first time. But there are no hidden reasons to look for here. The weather this spring is merciless for Muscovites - and on the coldest and most cloudy Victory Day in more than 30 years, no one would risk giving the go-ahead to fly planes in low cloud cover.

In total, more than 10 thousand servicemen, over 100 units of modern weapons and military equipment took part in the parade. Direct participants in the Victory Parade - servicemen, cadets and Yunarmiya - began to arrive on Red Square early in the morning. The weather, apparently, decided to test their strength. On May 9 in Moscow, it was more like the beginning of winter. Heavy low clouds, gusty wind. The temperature in the morning was about -2 degrees, it was raining with snow. Since everyone was dressed in a summer dress uniform, in which it is easy to get wet to the skin, they decided to give them warm military jackets with hoods. But shortly before the start of the parade, the guys themselves threw off their outerwear. According to one of the officers, “everyone is now on such an adrenaline rush that they practically don’t feel the cold.”

The action itself, according to tradition, began at 10 am with the last blow of the chimes on the Spasskaya Tower. And certainly no element can prevent this tradition!

One of the innovations of the parade is an updated uniform, specially made for the generals of the Russian army: a sea-green tunic with a stand-up collar. In addition, ceremonial crews from the Combined Arms Academy and the Military Academy of the Aerospace Forces passed through Red Square in the same uniform. The uniform is certainly beautiful and pays tribute to the traditions of both the tsarist and the Soviet army. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, according to tradition, crossed himself before the start of the parade, greeted the parade "boxes", and then reported on readiness to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Speaking at the parade, the president emphasized that “no, there has not been and will not be a force that could conquer our people. He stood to the death, defending his native land, and did the seemingly impossible - he turned back the bloody wheel of the Second World War, drove the enemy from where he dared to come to our land, crushed Nazism, put an end to his atrocities. And we will never forget that it was our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers who won the freedom of Europe and the long-awaited peace on the planet.”

For the first time, guys from the patriotic movement Yunarmiya took part in the walking part of the parade. They, apparently, were the luckiest of all, as they were dressed in insulated uniforms - red berets, sand-colored jackets and trousers.

The most memorable was the passage of two women's parade "boxes". The girls, despite the cold, smiled radiantly. In one "box" there were young ladies in dazzling white uniforms, in the other, for the first time, a new female uniform was presented - blue tunics and white skirts.

At the parade, samples of Arctic technology could not help but surprise. Indeed: a formidable fighting vehicle - and suddenly a peaceful white color! Two-link all-terrain vehicles DT-30 carried on trailers short-range anti-aircraft missile and gun systems "Pantsir-SA" and short-range anti-aircraft missile systems "Tor-M2DT". As one spectator joked, “Arctic technology brought arctic cold to Moscow.”

Of course, promising models of military equipment also passed through Red Square: Armata tanks, Kurganets infantry fighting vehicles, Boomerang armored personnel carriers, Coalition self-propelled howitzers.

But the expected air parade was canceled at the last moment. Moreover, the flight of air equipment was canceled for the second time in the history of the parades. The first was... June 24, 1945, during the famous Victory Parade, when yesterday's front-line soldiers threw fascist banners to the Mausoleum. Then the planes could not lift into the air due to heavy rain.

Despite the fact that from the evening of May 8, aviation tried to disperse the clouds over Moscow, these attempts ended unsuccessfully.

As military expert Viktor Murakhovsky told MK, the meteorological conditions on May 9 were extremely unfavorable.

It is clear that in the first place now was the provision of flight safety. Of course, our aviation is all-weather and can solve combat missions in the most abnormal conditions. However, one must understand that for flights over the city, especially in the parade air formation, good weather conditions are needed.

According to Murakhovsky, the flight manager can cancel the overflight. During the parade, a command post is set up in one of the Kremlin towers, from which it monitors the actions of aviation. Airplanes and helicopters go to the starting points of their route from different airfields. The flight director manages them online. He relies not only on the data that comes to him from the GLONASS system, from military meteorologists, but also monitors information coming from the pilots.

In order to make a decision to cancel flights, there are several factors, - Murakhovsky explained. - A mandatory requirement is the visual visibility of aircraft from the ground. In addition, the pilots themselves must see their colleagues in the air in low cloud conditions. Wind speed and gusts are also taken into account. Probably, these data did not satisfy the conditions.

It doesn’t matter how many planes were involved in dispersing the clouds, and no matter how much money was spent, the cyclone would not allow creating the visibility necessary for the viewer, - added Yury Varakin, head of the situational center of Roshydromet. - Alas, we do not always have power over the weather. The fact is that today's clouds look like a layered cake, some of the layers were removed with special reagents, which made it possible to avoid rain and snow, and some remained. The lower edge of the clouds hung at a height of 300 meters, so military equipment could not fly under it.

According to Varakin, the planes began to fight the clouds early in the morning on the border with the Tver region, but the lower edge of the front was still oversaturated with steam. In addition, he noted that if there were no active influences on the clouds, then the spectators of the parade would expect a repetition of the Monday snow storm.

According to eyewitnesses, the overflight attempt was nevertheless carried out. The planes took off from their base airfields and reached the assembly point in the Tushin area. However, having received the command, they turned around and returned to their airfields.

Also, due to unfavorable weather conditions in St. Petersburg, warships could not participate in the parade. At least this version was voiced by one of the high-ranking officers of the Western Military District. 13 ships and auxiliary vessels were to take part in the naval parade. Including the large landing ship "Minsk", landing boats "Denis Davydov" and "Lieutenant Rimsky-Korsakov", small missile ships "Rain", "Serpukhov" and large missile boat "Morshansk".

However, there is another version. Now NATO is active on the borders of the Russian Federation with the Baltic countries. So, on April 25, several fifth-generation F-35 aircraft arrived at the Estonian air base at Emari, and in early May, NATO ships began to arrive in the Baltic. So, in the Gulf of Gdansk there is now the USS Carney missile destroyer with guided missile weapons (URO), equipped with the Aegis system. According to some reports, the forces and means of the Baltic Fleet were sent to neutral waters to escort NATO ships.
HOW THE CLOUDS DISSOLVE

Cloud dispersal technology was invented by Soviet scientists back in the 80s of the last century. First, the forecasters study the meteorological situation, and they prepare for the crews of aircraft with special spray guns containing the reagent - silver iodide - a map from which it becomes clear where, at what time and what cloud needs to be sprayed to make a "hole" of the required size reached Red Square at a certain time. From water vapor, that is, the cloud itself, nuclei are formed, and rain is shed - allegorically: the cloud is losing weight. If it were not for the anomalously cold and wet front with occasional cumulus clouds, these measures would have been enough, and the sun, as in all previous years, came out at the right time.

Our photographer Vladimir Velengurin was on board the tanker of a strategic bomber that flew over Red Square [video]

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A rehearsal of the air part of the Victory Parade-2017 took place over Moscow from the Il-78 tanker aircraft. The first rehearsal of the air part of the Victory Parade took place over Moscow. One of the most spectacular elements of the show was an imitation of the refueling of a Tu-160 strategic bomber by an Il-78 tanker aircraft. Vladimir VELENGURIN

On May 4, a rehearsal of the Victory Parade took place in Moscow. Formations of the Military Space Forces of Russia of the th Federation took part in it - planes and helicopters flew over the capital of Russia. Our photojournalist Vladimir Velengurin watched the strategic bombers with his own hands.

- The most exciting moment of the parade on Red Square is the flight of aircraft. Millions of eyes are riveted on aces pilots. I also decided to be on the other side of the parade. My task is to fly an IL-78 and photograph a Tu-160 flying over Red Square. Usually the road to Red Square from home takes me no more than an hour, this time I got to the heart of Moscow for almost a day. Landing on my plane was at a military airfield in the city of Engels, Saratov region. Over Red Square, the IL-78 will imitate the refueling of the most powerful strategic bomber TU-160. From the rear cockpit of the IL-78 in the tail of the aircraft, where the tanker operator is located, there is a small window. From there, the refueling process is controlled, and there I will take pictures. The operation is similar to the passage of a camel through the eye of a coal. The refueling operator releases a hose with a length of more than 20 meters, which is “sucked” in flight by an aircraft that needs refueling.

Our photojournalist had to start ahead of time, although the flight itself was rather short. At the same time, the planes that fly over Red Square have "spare":

- At 8 am we started from the airfield. A Tu-160 joined us behind us. He flew all the way to Moscow, clinging to our tail at 30-100 meters, terrifying me. If we translate the distance between the planes into a car, then the distance was critical. What if we make an emergency stop? The planes at the Victory Parade are the same movie stars. Everyone has their own doppelgänger. If suddenly there is some kind of problem with the main apparatus, then an understudy will immediately take its place. And at the parade, no one will notice the substitution. Planes and helicopters start from military airports in the middle zone of the country in the morning. By 11 am, all participants in the parade flock to the Kubinka airfield, line up and fly to Red Square at intervals of several tens of seconds. But no duplicates.

It turned out to be quite difficult to take a picture and I had to work hard to make the shot successful:

- The height of the flight over the Red Square is different for everyone. From 150 to 500 meters. Our tandem flies at an altitude of 500 meters. At this height, usually due to air currents, strong turbulence begins at the IL-78. And shooting becomes simply unbearable! The sensations are as if you are riding a bicycle at great speed along the sleepers. I am thrown in a cramped booth from one wall to another, I touch the low ceiling. But I concentrate and try to hold myself and not lose the picture in the camera viewfinder. The main task is to shoot the TU-160 over Red Square! A long road - that's Red Square. She flashed for a few seconds and that's it. So fast that I barely have time to press the trigger. No impressions due to technical reasons. All my emotions went into the fight against turbulence - how not to drop or break the camera and take a picture in time.

For many pilots, this flight was the first and there were many emotions:

- After Moscow - back to Engels. The whole way there and back is about 4 hours. Upon arrival, I spoke to the crew. For most of them, this was the first flight over Red Square. And they have a lot of impressions from the flight. Only the best of the best manage to get to the Parade. I got photos. But not to say that I was pleased with them. Not everything depends on the photographer. The clouds prevented me, or rather the shadow from them, which fell directly on the Kremlin. It turned out to be somewhat shaded, but the details of its towers and buildings are visible. But the photograph is still impressive in its scale. Giant TU-160 in flight over Red Square against the backdrop of the panorama of Moscow!

DIRECT SPEECH

Prior to this, aviation trained at other sites. The air equipment that participates in the parade is well known to everyone, said Artem Sherstyukov, spokesman for the Defense Ministry, before the rehearsal. - These are strategic missile carriers Tu-160 and Tu-95 MS, long-range bombers TU 23 MZ, transport aircraft, and all modern fighters, attack aircraft and helicopters. The most spectacular moments of the parade will be the flights of the Russian Knights aerobatic team on the SU 30 SM, and 6 SU-25 attack aircraft will paint the sky with the colors of the Russian flag with smoke. Crews of long-range aviation IL 78 and TU 160 carry out an imitation of refueling in the air. The parade will be attended by 55 aircraft, 17 helicopters, 77 crews in total.