The second day of the Air Force drills: what’s known at the moment?

Participation of the Russian Aerospace Forces in the drills is still quite limited.

The joint Air Force drills between Belarus and Russia began on May 27. Today, the following aviation activity was recorded:

• An-26 of the Belarusian Air Force flew from Machulishchy airfield to Baranavichy airfield. During the day, the aircraft was flying from Baranavichy, after which it returned to Machulishchy.
• Flights of aircraft of the 61st Fighter Air Base and the 116th Assault Air Base of the Belarusian Air Force were recorded. The flights lasted until 18:00.
• We should separately mention flights of the Il-22PP aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces (jamming and aerial reconnaissance aircraft). The aircraft has been stationed at Lida airfield since May 21. All these days, the aircraft has been making hours-long flights along the western border of Belarus.
• Flights of helicopters of the Belarusian Air Force, which had been previously redeployed to Baranavichy, were also recorded.
• An-26 military transport aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces arrived at Machulishchy airfield from Russia. The aircraft could have delivered, for example, ground support equipment for aircraft (helicopters) of the Russian Aerospace Forces.
• Participation of the Russian Aerospace Forces in the drills is still quite limited. With the exception of the Il-22PP, no information on the flights of Russian helicopters, fighters or reconnaissance aircraft was reported.
• In general, the drills are similar to the rehearsals of the “sudden inspection” of the duty forces of the Air Force and Air Defense Forces in Belarus, which took place on May 3. The only difference is the involvement of large aviation forces.
• The situation with the media coverage of the drills hasn’t changed. The Russian MoD is still ignoring them. Probably, “Russian colleagues” decided to keep the “fog of war” until the end of the drills.