The Russian Aerospace Forces were represented by the crews of Su-34, Su-35 and A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft
MOSCOW, January 24. /tass/. Russian and Syrian military pilots conducted the first joint air patrol along the Golan Heights and the Euphrates from the airfields of Khmeimim, Seikal and Dumair. This was reported to journalists in the Russian Defense Ministry.
"The patrol route ran along the Golan Heights, then along the southern border, up along the Euphrates and over the northern regions of the Syrian Arab Republic. <...> Russian pilots took off from the Khmeimim airbase, their Syrian colleagues - from the Seikal and Dumair airfields in the vicinity of Damascus," the military department said.
The Ministry said that the Russian Aerospace Forces were represented by the crews of Su-34, Su-35 and A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft, Mig-23 and Mig-29 aircraft took part in the patrol from the Syrian side.
According to the military department, "as part of the patrol, Syrian pilots were responsible for controlling airspace and fighter cover, Russian crews practiced strikes on ground targets." They explained that during the patrol, training missile launches were conducted against air targets and ground targets were hit at one of the landfills located in the central part of the country.
"According to the results of the joint patrol, the pilots of the two friendly countries gained skills in interacting in various situations. Such joint flights will now become regular," the Defense Ministry stressed.