The first group of Russian aircraft redeploying to Russia after Syria air war has left Hmeymim airbase.
On Mar. 15, the Russian Defence Minister General of the Army Sergei Shoigu ordered to redeploy a large part of the the Russian Aerspace Forces contingent deployed to Syria to fight terrorists.
The redeploy order saw technical staff at Hmeymim airbase, near Latakia, started preparing aircraft for the long-range flight to airfields located in mainland Russia: the aircraft, first of all Su-34 “multidimensional bombers” (this is definition used by the Russia’s MoD) based on the footage released so far, are returning home with long-range flight (more than 5,000 km), inflight refueling and intermediate flight stops at the Russian Federation airfields.
The redeployment is supported by a Tu-154 or an Il-76, acting as “leader” of the formation made by the transport plane and the Russian warplanes transporting engineering and technical personnel, and logistics items.
The formation follows the assigned route over Iraq, Iran and the Caspian Sea, until it reaches the border of the Russian Federation where all the aircraft split the formation to reach their destinations independently.
According to the Russian MoD the first group of Su-34 bombers earlier today has already arrived at the military airfield of the Western military district in the #Voronezh region; before landing, the aircraft performed a celebratory fly over at low altitudes over the military airfield.
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