Russian air force to hold first-ever joint exercises with US

Aug 17, 2011, 10:45 GMT

Moscow - Russian and US combat pilots will participate in the two countries' first-ever joint air force training exercise, a senior Russian officer said Wednesday.

US military pilots and aircraft will fly in at Russian air warfare training ranges in 2012, and Russian air force units will perform similar training above the US in 2013, said colonel general Aleksandr Zelin, commander of the Russian air force.

Russian pilots during the US phase of the training will operate Russia's top-line aircraft, either MiG-29 or Su-35 fighters, he said.

Currently the two countries' military fliers meet only occasionally, typically in Cold War-style US fighter intercepts of Russian maritime patrol aircraft near Alaska or over the North Pacific.

Military airmen from Russia and NATO in early June participated in an exercise aimed at tracking and eventually forcing to land a simulated hijacked passenger plane moving through both sides' airspace.

It was the first-ever joint training between the Russian and NATO air forces.

Fighter pilots from the Russian, Polish, and Turkish air forces participated in the five-day exercise, which took place over Poland and the Black Sea.

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