Russian Pilots Perform Over 4,000 Flights Aboard New Su-30SM in 2015

According to Russia’s Eastern Military District, its pilots performed more than 4,000 flights aboard the new Sukhoi Su-30SM warplanes in 2015.

KHABAROVSK (Sputnik) – The flight crew of Russia’s Eastern Military District (EMD) air regiment carried out over 4,000 flights aboard the advanced Su-30SM Flanker jets this year, the head of EMD’s press service said Thursday.

"The crews for the first time worked out in-air refueling tasks, advanced maneuvers at very low altitudes and over water, on Lake Baikal, and made long-distance flights with stopovers at unfamiliar airports," Col. Alexander Gordeev told reporters.

Gordeev said the tally included training flights as well as combat missile launches and bomb maneuvers at a specialized range in Buryatia.

Among the year’s highlights was the air regiment’s participation in the flyover as part of World War II commemorations in the southeastern city of Chita, and joining the Sokoly Rossii aerobatic group at an air show, the spokesman added.

The Su-30SM, commissioned in 2013-14, is a two-seat derivative of the earlier Su-27UB Flanker capable of air-to-air and air-to-ground missions with a wide variety of precision-guided munitions.