Russian pilots win Aviadarts Air Force competition cup at International Army Games

MOSCOW, September 2. /TASS/. Russian military pilots emerged as the winners of the Aviadarts-2021 Air Force competition, claiming the contest’s trophy, the press office of the International Army Games reported on Thursday. "The Russian crews triumphed in the bomber, assault, long-range and army aviation on combat and transport-combat helicopters, claiming the top spot and winning the competition’s cup," the press office said in a statement. "The crews of an upgraded Su-34 bomber from Lipetsk, Su-25SM3 ground attack aircraft from the Krasnodar Region, a Tu-22M3 long-range bomber from the Irkutsk Region, Mi-28N attack and Mi-8AMTSh transport-combat helicopters from the Rostov Region were the best in the Russian team," the statement says. Chinese military pilots scored wins in the fighter and military transport aviation competitions, flying J-10 and Y-9 aircraft. The Chinese flight personnel also took two second places in the long-range and bomber aviation categories and the third spot in the military transport aviation contest, the Games’ organizers said. The crews of the Belarusian Air Force won three sets of silver medals in the assault and army aviation competitions flying combat and transport-combat helicopters, they said. "In calculating the points scored, we revealed a pair of crews that set the competition’s fourth record this year. The pair of the crews from the Rostov Region scored 641 points in the army aviation contest on transport-combat helicopters," the press office quoted Chief of the Competition Headquarters Colonel Alexei Dmitriyev as saying. The closing ceremony of the competition, and the awarding of the winners and prize-holders, will take place at the Dyagilevo airfield in the Ryazan Region in central Russia on September 4. The captain of the winning team will get the Aviadarts Cup, the Games’ organizers said. Aviadarts records Following the results of the final stage of the Aviadarts-2021 competition, its two records were revealed, the press office reported. In particular, a pair of crews of Mi-8 transport-combat helicopters of the Belarusian Air Force scored a record 314 points in the army aviation category while the crew of a J-16 aircraft of the Chinese Air Force gained 323.5 points in the bomber aviation contest. Prior to that, the crews of Mi-8 choppers from the Stavropol Region scored the largest amount of 184 points in the competition’s history for piloting techniques, the organizers said. The Aviadarts-2021 international flight skills competition is running on August 22 - September 4 in the Ryazan Region. The competition has brought together about 60 crews from the teams of China, Belarus and Russia. The flight contests involve J-10 and J-16 (Jian), H-6 (Hong) and Y-9 and Y-20 (Yun) aircraft of the Chinese Air Force, Su-25 ground attack planes and Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters of the Belarusian Air Force and Su-35S fighters, Su-34 bombers, Mi-28N and Ka-52 gunships of Russia’s Aerospace Force and other types of aircraft. Read more