Rumour has it that nighly rehearsals will take place on 28, 30 April and 4 May above Red Square. Dress rehearsel is on 7 May 10.00hrs. although the article mentions 29 April and 3, 5 May.Twice as many aircraft, compared to last year, will participate in the annual Victory Parade on Red Square on the 9 May. In-flight refuelling of strategic bombers will be the high spot of the programme.
Despite fears and the economic crisis, annual celebrations of Victory Day in Russia on the 9 May are becoming more and more impressive. This year 112 military vehicles, as well as 69 planes and helicopters will take part in the parade, Gazeta.ru reports quoting Colonel Oleg Yushakov of the Moscow Military Circuit.
The most spectacular part of the programme is expected to involve Tupolev long-range strategic bombers – the Tu-95 and Tu-160 (also known as the ‘White Swan’). Both will simulate refuelling from the Ilyushin aerial refuelling tanker Il-78, while flying over Red Square, Interfax reports.
Other military aircraft, due to appear above Moscow during the parade, include Sukhoi Su-24 bombers, Su-25 air support aircrafts, Su-27 and Mikoyan MiG-29 fighters, MiG-31 interceptors and Su-34 fighter-bombers.
The stunning Antonov An-124, or ‘Ruslan’, – one of the world’s largest airplanes – is a transport aircraft which will also appear in Moscow skies, along with the Beriev A-50 AWACS [Airborne Early Warning and Control] aircraft, also known as the ‘Bumblebee’, and attack helicopters: the Mil Mi-28 (‘Night hunter’), Kamov Ka-50 (‘Black shark’) and Ka-52 (‘Alligator’).
Last year’s aerial programme involved only 32 airplanes and helicopters, with two famous aerobatic teams – the ‘Strizhi’ (‘The Swifts’) and the 'Russian Knights’, piloting Mig-29 and Su-27 fighters, rounding off the show.
Also of interest is the statement for 2010:
JaapAn even more impressive show is predicted for the 9 May 2010, to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. According to the RIA Novosti news agency, some of the genuine military hardware, which was actually used in the Great Patriotic War, is expected to take part.