Aircraft of Serbia And Neighboring Countries

[imalko]

I believe they are Tomo.

 

[imalko]

This is so cute I had to share the moment I saw it, as published on the blog of our renowned military photographer Dimitrije Ostojić:

"I have seen a lot of different animals inside the area of military air bases, but this one is the strangest so far. This young roe deer came from nowhere straight to the apron where MiG-29 fighters are located. The Bamby, as they call her, is a very curious youngster, which usually seems to be the case with all youngsters, except this one apparently loves airplanes. Even the sound of noisy RD-33 engines does not scare her. When the engine starts she just moves behind the safe line on the apron with the rest of the crew…Curious, but still very caution, she will come few feet from you but she will not let you touch her. The pilots and the ground crew from 101st Fighter Squadron "Vitezovi" (The Knights) take care of her every time she comes to visit them, which is on daily bases…"

More pictures here: Bamby on apron | Dimitrije Ostojic photo blog

 

[imalko]

I came to realize that, not counting the previous post about Bamby among MiG's, I actually haven't been updating this thread for almost three years now. So, I've decided to "catch up" by posting a retrospective of some events concerning the aviation on these here parts since 2011 until now.

For starters here are few posts about Air show held in celebration of 100th Anniversary of Military aviation in Serbia which was held in September 2012...

 

[imalko]

SEPTEMBER 2012 - CENTENNIAL AIR SHOW

Part 1 Helicopters and few random aircraft - Civilian An-2 on first two pictures is a veteran "mosquito destroyer", at least by the marking beneath the cockpit. To mark the occasion all our military aircraft were marked with special centennial logo. (All photos in this and fallowing posts regarding the centennial Air show were taken by myself.)

 

[imalko]

SEPTEMBER 2012 - CENTENNIAL AIR SHOW

Part 2 Serbian Air Force Aircraft - All aircraft in service with our Air Force were put on display. Here are few representative photos. Picture 1 shows the sole Galeb G-2 trainer still in service with our Air Force painted in the special scheme of the Flight Test Department. Picture 4 shows MiG-21 painted in a proposed fighter scheme in 2006. The scheme was not adopted and all the other MiG-21s kept the original all grey paint scheme. The last picture in the sequence shows the prototype of Lasta-95 basic trainer.

 

[imalko]

SEPTEMBER 2012 - CENTENNIAL AIR SHOW

Part 3 Foreign Aircraft - The Air Show was truly an international event with aircraft of fallowing countries taking part: Slovenia, Austria, United States, Turkey, Russia, France, Rumania, Bulgaria, Italy, Hungary and Denmark (hope I haven't forgot someone). Some of the aircraft displayed were already seen here on previous Air Show while others appeared for the first time. Particularly impressive were the large transport aircraft. One can only appreciate the immense size of Ilyushin Il-76 by standing next to it...

 

[imalko]

SEPTEMBER 2012 - CENTENNIAL AIR SHOW

Part 4 Stars of the Flight Display - The most anticipated part of flight program was a display of Russian Flight Team "Striži". However, they were experiencing some technical difficulties prior to the show and their team was not in full number. With only three aircraft available they performed just their "basic program", but were never the less greeted warmly by the crowd. For me the stars of the flight display were Eurofighter, MiG-35 and Danish F-16. Italian Spartan made some flight manouvers you wouldn't expect from a transport aircraft. Our own aircraft simulated a dog fight among MiG-21s and MiG-29s. One Hungarian Grippen also participated, but after finishing it's display it didn't land and flew back home to Hungary. Our J-22 Orao also performed well, including extremely low level pass over the runway.

 

[imalko]

SEPTEMBER 2012 - CENTENNIAL AIR SHOW

Part 5 MiG-35 - Participation of MiG-35 on this Air Show was not accidental as this aircraft is seen as most likely candidate for new multirole fighter in our Air Force. The occasion was used to demonstrate the performace of this aircraft to our pilot and officials.

 

[Wurger]

 

[imalko]

SEPTEMBER 2012 - CENTENNIAL AIR SHOW

Part 6 Random Pictures - Having been a very hot day Air show visitors used shadows beneath big transports. Some radio controlled models could also be seen. Two final pictures show mock up of the proposed Kobac turboprop coin aircraft with intended armament.

 

[Wurger]

Great images Igor.

 

[imalko]

Two brand new Mi-17V-5 helicopters were delivered to Serbian Air Force, first after more then 35 years. After arriving to "Nikola Tesla" international airport last week aboard the Antonov An-124 Ruslan transport they were flown over to Batajnica Air Base today. They are sporting newly adopted paint scheme for our Air Force transport helicopters (which was applied directly in the factory), but are yet to receive national markings and new serial numbers. Few pictures from various sources about the event:

 

[gjs238]

Two brand new Mi-17V-5 helicopters were delivered to Serbian Air Force, first after more then 35 years. After arriving to "Nikola Tesla" international airport last week aboard the Antonov An-124 Ruslan transport they were flown over to Batajnica Air Base today. They are sporting newly adopted paint scheme for our Air Force transport helicopters (which was applied directly in the factory), but are yet to receive national markings and new serial numbers. Few pictures from various sources about the event:

Isn't Serbia trying to join the EU?
I assumed Serbia would transition to western equipment.

 

[Wurger]

 

[imalko]

Isn't Serbia trying to join the EU?
I assumed Serbia would transition to western equipment.

Yes, it is. (Though I'm personally skeptical that it will ever happen.) However, this doesn't exclude operating equipment of Russian origin. Many NATO countries are doing just that - Poland, Croatia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, etc. You have to bear in mind that our Air Force has been operating this equipment for decades and generations of personnel has been trained on it. In times of budget cuts and economic crisis any transition would be impossible. Besides, if it does the job why change it...

 

[imalko]

To commemorate the 60th anniversary since its formation, the 241st Fighter-Bomber Aviation Squadron "The Tigers" (241. lovačko-bombarderska avijacijska eskadrila "Tigrovi") marked two of its J-22 Orao aircraft with appropriate tail-art.

 

[Wurger]

 

[imalko]

Today, after 58 years of service, legendary aircraft MiG-21 officially goes out of use in the Serbian Air Force...

 

[imalko]

 

[Wurger]