MOSCOW, August 12 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s Air Force will mark its 102th anniversary by holding a large-scale air show demonstrating advanced aircraft, Col. Gen. Viktor Bondarev, the Russian Air Force commander-in-chief said Tuesday.
“Wooden aircraft have evolved onto the cutting-edge, filled with electronics and other scientific and technical advances. Aviation has taken a great leap over this period of time,” Bondarev, who has recently been promoted to the rank of Colonel General, told the press.
Bondarev stressed that today all the aircraft entering Russian Air Force are supermaneuvrable, which distinguishes Russian military aviation from other countries’.
“I would like to congratulate all of those who serve in the Russian Air Force, the veterans of the Second World War, the aircraft builders and maintenance men … all those who sit in the fighter cabins … All those, who are linked with aviation,” said Bondarev.
Air-force units all across Russia will hold meetings and concerts in celebration of the event.
The anniversary of the Russian Air Force is on August 12 – the day the Imperial Russian Air Service became a separate branch of the Russian armed forces back in 1912. The Soviet Air Force, which was created on the basis of the Imperial Russian Air Service, was involved in numerous wars and conflicts worldwide, from the Second World War through Afghanistan. The successor to the Soviet organization, the Russian Air Force, is one of the largest in the world, possessing hundreds of combat aircraft units.
