Russian Air Force pilots were caught on film while flying their heavy Su-34 jets over the snow-covered countryside near Chelyabinsk, in the Urals. The exercise was to hone their flying and missile-launching techniques.

Wearing winter fatigues and helmets, the pilots are filmed doing pre-flight briefings before climbing to the cockpit. Once cleared for take-off, the Su-34s roll towards the runway and disappear into the air.

A while later, the crews are seen flying at low-altitude over the desolate countryside outside the city of Chelyabinsk. At some point, cameras installed inside the cockpit capture aerobatic stunts the planes performed somewhere over the Urals.

As part of the drills, the Su-34s carried out “one-in-one and group dogfights” using mock missiles, the ministry said.

The top-notch two-seater jet comes to replace the time-tested Su-24 fighter-bomber that saw action in countless local wars over the past decades. Known to NATO as Fullback, the Su-34 can carry precision bombs and air-to-surface missiles, while at the same time being almost as maneuverable as regular fighter jets.

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