Russia Brings Together Some of the World’s Best Fighter Pilots

Aviadarts is Moscow’s Top Gun

by THOMAS NEWDICK

Chinese and Russian fighter pilots have been testing their skills in an unprecedented series of maneuvers in southeast Russia. Some observers have billed the Aviadarts exercise as a Russian Top Gun—a reference to the U.S. Navy’s fighter tactics schoolhouse, which the sailing branch established after losing a shocking number of pilots during the Vietnam War.

The reality is not as straightforward, but it’s significant that Moscow is inviting foreign fighter jocks—the Chinese, namely—to test their mettle against the best Russia has to offer.

Russian air force units long have pursued advanced tactics and combat training, including a competitive element. Russian adversary units fly specially marked aircraft, like their U.S. equivalents do. There have even been occasions when the Russians—more accurately, Soviets—have flown captured Western equipment against Soviet designs, much like America’s 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron flew captured Soviet jets.

Aviadarts is different, however, since it has been conducted in the full glare of publicity. Indeed, the Russian media has made much of this fighter pilot competition, in a bid to show off an air force that is now, finally, dragging itself out of the doldrums after years of under-funding and piecemeal re-equipment.

While it may serve to identify the most proficient combat pilots, unlike similar Western gunnery competitions, all branches of the air force have the chance to take part, including bombers, helicopters and even transports. Crews of the latter display their accuracy by dropping simulated payloads onto landing zones.

Should a competing pilot win in their category at the competition, they get an automatic place at the air academy at Voronezh, Andrey Zinchuk and Alexander Mladenov explain in their report in the current issue of Combat Aircraft. Entry to the air academy, equivalent to a Western air command and staff college, otherwise would require passing various exams.