On May 4, a rehearsal of the Victory Parade took place in Moscow. Formations of the Military Space Forces of Russia of the th Federation took part in it - planes and helicopters flew over the capital of Russia. Our photojournalist Vladimir Velengurin watched the strategic bombers with his own hands.

- The most exciting moment of the parade on Red Square is the flight of aircraft. Millions of eyes are riveted on aces pilots. I also decided to be on the other side of the parade. My task is to fly an IL-78 and photograph a Tu-160 flying over Red Square. Usually the road to Red Square from home takes me no more than an hour, this time I got to the heart of Moscow for almost a day. Landing on my plane was at a military airfield in the city of Engels Saratov region. Over Red Square, the IL-78 will imitate the refueling of the most powerful strategic bomber TU-160. From the rear cockpit of the IL-78 in the tail of the aircraft, where the tanker operator is located, there is a small window. From there, the refueling process is controlled, and there I will take pictures. The operation is similar to the passage of a camel through the eye of a coal. The refueling operator releases a hose with a length of more than 20 meters, which is “sucked” in flight by an aircraft that needs refueling.

Our photojournalist had to start ahead of time, although the flight itself was rather short. At the same time, the planes that fly over Red Square have "spare":

- At 8 am we started from the airfield. A Tu-160 joined us behind us. He flew all the way to Moscow, clinging to our tail at 30-100 meters, terrifying me. If we translate the distance between the planes into a car, then the distance was critical. What if we make an emergency stop? The planes at the Victory Parade are the same movie stars. Everyone has their own doppelgänger. If suddenly there is some kind of problem with the main apparatus, then an understudy will immediately take its place. And at the parade, no one will notice the substitution. From military airports middle lane countries in the morning start planes and helicopters. By 11 am, all participants in the parade flock to the Kubinka airfield, line up and fly to Red Square at intervals of several tens of seconds. But no duplicates.

It turned out to be quite difficult to take a picture and I had to work hard to make the shot successful:

- The height of the flight over the Red Square is different for everyone. From 150 to 500 meters. Our tandem flies at an altitude of 500 meters. At this height, usually due to air currents, strong turbulence begins at the IL-78. And shooting becomes simply unbearable! The sensations are as if you are riding a bicycle at great speed along the sleepers. I am thrown in a cramped booth from one wall to another, I touch the low ceiling. But I concentrate and try to hold myself and not lose the picture in the camera viewfinder. the main task- remove the flight of TU-160 over Red Square! Long road- here is the Red Square. She flashed for a few seconds and that's it. So fast that I barely have time to press the trigger. No impressions due to technical reasons. All my emotions went into the fight against turbulence - how not to drop or break the camera and take a picture in time.

For many pilots, this flight was the first and there were many emotions:

- After Moscow - back to Engels. The whole way there and back is about 4 hours. Upon arrival, I spoke to the crew. For most of them, this was the first flight over Red Square. And they have a lot of impressions from the flight. Only the best of the best manage to get to the Parade. I got photos. But not to say that I was pleased with them. Not everything depends on the photographer. The clouds prevented me, or rather the shadow from them, which fell directly on the Kremlin. It turned out to be somewhat shaded, but the details of its towers and buildings are visible. But the photograph is still impressive in its scale. Giant TU-160 in flight over Red Square against the backdrop of the panorama of Moscow!

DIRECT SPEECH

Prior to this, aviation trained at other sites. The air equipment that participates in the parade is well known to everyone, said Artem Sherstyukov, spokesman for the Defense Ministry, before the rehearsal. - These are strategic missile carriers Tu-160 and Tu-95 MS, long-range bombers TU 23 MZ, transport aircraft, and all modern fighters, attack aircraft and helicopters. The most spectacular moments of the parade will be the flights of the Russian Knights aerobatic team on the SU 30 SM, and 6 SU-25 attack aircraft will paint the sky with the colors of the Russian flag with smoke. Crews of long-range aviation IL 78 and TU 160 carry out an imitation of refueling in the air. The parade will be attended by 55 aircraft, 17 helicopters, 77 crews in total.

Due to unfavorable weather conditions in the Moscow region, the Ministry of Defense decided to cancel the flight of military aircraft over Red Square during the Victory Parade. It was planned that 72 planes and helicopters would fly over the square.

Aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces over Red Square on dress rehearsal May 7 Victory Parade (Photo: Ekaterina Shlyushenkova / RBC)

The Ministry of Defense canceled the air part of the parade in honor of the 72nd anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic war, reports TASS with reference to the press service of the department.

The decision was made due to adverse weather conditions in Moscow and the region.

“The planes and helicopters involved in the Victory Parade on Red Square will return to their base airfields,” the defense ministry said in a statement.

In 2017, about 10,000 military personnel and 114 units of ground equipment took part in the parade.

It was assumed that 72 aircraft and helicopters would take part in the air parade. The air column was to be led by the world's largest military transport helicopter Mi-26, accompanied by four Mi-8s. The parade was to be attended by Tu-160, Tu-95MS and Tu-22M3 strategic and long-range bombers, as well as fighters, including the latest Su-35S, front-line bombers and attack aircraft, Yak-130 combat training aircraft, military transport vehicles and aircraft - tankers. It was also planned that Mi-26 and Mi-8AMTSh, Mi-28N, Ka-52 and Mi-35M helicopters would fly over Red Square. Aviation was concentrated at eight airfields in eight regions of Russia.

At the military parade in St. Petersburg, the flight of aviation went according to plan. “The most experienced crews of Su-35, MiG-29, Su-27, Su-34 fighters, Ka-52, Mi-8, Mi-24, Mi-26 helicopters, An-12 transport aircraft, An-26, Tu-134, more than 40 units of aviation equipment in total, ”TASS was told in the press service of the Western Military District.

However, the St. Petersburg parade took place without the participation of ships, Interfax reports. Earlier it was reported that ships of the Baltic and Leningrad naval bases of the fleet will take part in the celebrations in the Neva on Victory Day. In total, it was planned to use more than ten ships, boats and support vessels of the Baltic Fleet. However, despite their announced participation in the celebrations, the ships did not appear in St. Petersburg.

In 2016, 71 units of military equipment flew over Moscow in an air formation. This year, among other things, they were supposed to fly over the capital attack helicopters Ka-52 and the Russian Knights aerobatic team.

As previously RBC, according to the public procurement website and according to RBC estimates, more than 509 million rubles were spent on the celebration in Moscow.

The expert told how the decision was made to ban flights over Red Square

To much that happened on a dank, rainy (and sometimes - an unheard of thing - snowy) Tuesday, May 9, on Red Square, the word "for the first time" was applicable. For the first time, military Arctic equipment appeared at the Victory Parade, guys from the Yunarmiya patriotic movement marched, showed a new general's uniform, similar to the one in which the participants in the 1945 parade marched, demonstrated new form for female military personnel. The air part of the parade was also canceled for the first time. But there are no hidden reasons to look for here. The weather this spring is ruthless to Muscovites - and in the coldest and most cloudy for 30 seconds extra years On Victory Day, no one would risk giving the go-ahead for the flight of aircraft in low cloud cover.

In total, more than 10 thousand servicemen, over 100 units of modern weapons and military equipment took part in the parade. Direct participants in the Victory Parade - servicemen, cadets and Yunarmiya - began to arrive on Red Square early in the morning. The weather, apparently, decided to test their strength. On May 9 in Moscow, it was more like the beginning of winter. Heavy low clouds, gusty wind. The temperature in the morning was about -2 degrees, it was raining with snow. Since everyone was dressed in summer dress uniform, in which it is easy to get wet to the skin, they decided to give them warm military jackets with hoods. But shortly before the start of the parade, the guys themselves threw off their outerwear. According to one of the officers, “everyone is now on such an adrenaline rush that they practically don’t feel the cold.”

The action itself, according to tradition, began at 10 am with the last blow of the chimes on the Spasskaya Tower. And certainly no element can prevent this tradition!

One of the innovations of the parade is an updated uniform specially made for generals. Russian army: a sea-green tunic with a stand-up collar. In addition, ceremonial crews from the Combined Arms Academy and the Military Academy of the Aerospace Forces passed through Red Square in the same uniform. The form is certainly beautiful and pays tribute to the traditions of both the royal and Soviet army. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu traditionally crossed himself before the start of the parade, greeted the parade "boxes", and then reported on readiness to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Speaking at the parade, the president emphasized that “no, there has not been and will not be a force that could conquer our people. He stood to the death, defending his native land, and did the seemingly impossible - he turned back the bloody wheel of the Second World War, drove the enemy from where he dared to come to our land, crushed Nazism, put an end to his atrocities. And we will never forget that it was our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers who won the freedom of Europe and the long-awaited peace on the planet.”

For the first time, guys from the patriotic movement Yunarmiya took part in the walking part of the parade. They, apparently, were the luckiest of all, as they were dressed in insulated uniforms - red berets, sand-colored jackets and trousers.

The most memorable was the passage of two women's parade "boxes". The girls, despite the cold, smiled radiantly. In one "box" there were young ladies in dazzling white uniforms, in the other for the first time a new female form- blue tunics and white skirts.

At the parade, samples of Arctic technology could not help but surprise. Indeed, ominous fighting machine- and suddenly peaceful White color! Two-link all-terrain vehicles DT-30 carried on trailers short-range anti-aircraft missile and gun systems "Pantsir-SA" and anti-aircraft missile systems short range "Tor-M2DT". As one spectator joked, “Arctic technology brought arctic cold to Moscow.”

Of course, promising models of military equipment also passed through Red Square: the Armata tanks, the Kurganets infantry fighting vehicle, the Boomerang armored personnel carrier, self-propelled howitzers"Coalition".

And here is the expected air parade canceled at the last minute. And span aerial technology was canceled for the second time in parade history. The first was... June 24, 1945, during the famous Victory Parade, when yesterday's front-line soldiers threw fascist banners to the Mausoleum. Then the planes could not lift into the air due to heavy rain.

Despite the fact that from the evening of May 8, aviation tried to disperse the clouds over Moscow, these attempts ended unsuccessfully.

As military expert Viktor Murakhovsky told MK, the meteorological conditions on May 9 were extremely unfavorable.

It is clear that in the first place now was the provision of flight safety. Of course, our aviation is all-weather and can decide combat missions under the most anomalous conditions. However, one must understand that for flights over the city, especially in the parade air formation, good weather conditions are needed.

According to Murakhovsky, the flight manager can cancel the overflight. During the parade, a command post is set up in one of the Kremlin towers, from which it monitors the actions of aviation. Airplanes and helicopters go to the starting points of their route from different airfields. The flight director manages them online. He relies not only on the data that comes to him from the GLONASS system, from military meteorologists, but also monitors information coming from the pilots.

In order to make a decision to cancel flights, there are several factors, - Murakhovsky explained. - A mandatory requirement is the visual visibility of aircraft from the ground. In addition, the pilots themselves must see their colleagues in the air in low cloud conditions. Wind speed and gusts are also taken into account. Probably, these data did not satisfy the conditions.

No matter how many planes were involved in dispersing the clouds, and no matter how much money was spent, the cyclone would not allow creating the visibility necessary for the viewer, - added Yury Varakin, head of the situational center of Roshydromet. - Alas, we do not always have power over the weather. The fact is that today's clouds look like a layered cake, some of the layers were removed with special reagents, which made it possible to avoid rain and snow, and some remained. The lower edge of the clouds hung at an altitude of 300 meters, so military equipment I couldn't fly under it.

According to Varakin, the planes began to fight the clouds early in the morning on the border with the Tver region, but the lower edge of the front was still oversaturated with steam. In addition, he noted that if there were no active influences on the clouds, then the spectators of the parade would expect a repetition of the Monday snow storm.

According to eyewitnesses, the overflight attempt was nevertheless carried out. The planes took off from their base airfields and reached the assembly point in the Tushin area. However, having received the command, they turned around and returned to their airfields.

Also, due to unfavorable weather conditions in St. Petersburg, warships could not participate in the parade. At least this version was voiced by one of the high-ranking officers of the Western Military District. 13 ships and auxiliary vessels were to take part in the naval parade. Including the large landing ship "Minsk", landing boats "Denis Davydov" and "Lieutenant Rimsky-Korsakov", small missile ships "Rain", "Serpukhov" and large missile boat "Morshansk".

However, there is another version. Now NATO is active on the borders of the Russian Federation with the Baltic countries. So, on April 25, several fifth-generation F-35 aircraft arrived at the Estonian air base at Emari, and in early May, NATO ships began to arrive in the Baltic. So, in the Gulf of Gdansk there is now missile destroyer US USS Carney steerable missile weapons(URO), equipped with the Aegis system. According to some reports, the forces and means of the Baltic Fleet were sent to neutral waters to escort NATO ships.

HOW THE CLOUDS DISSOLVE

Cloud dispersal technology was invented by Soviet scientists back in the 80s of the last century. First, the forecasters study the meteorological situation, and they prepare for the crews of aircraft with special spray guns containing the reagent - silver iodide - a map from which it becomes clear where, at what time and what kind of cloud needs to be sprayed to make a "hole" of the required size reached Red Square at a certain time. From water vapor, that is, the cloud itself, nuclei are formed, and rain is shed - allegorically: the cloud is losing weight. If it were not for the anomalously cold and wet front with occasional cumulus clouds, these measures would have been enough, and the sun, as in all previous years, came out at the right time.