Jalfrezi @ Army 2017 (large post!)

[jalfrezi]

Had the pleasure of another trip to Russia in August to visit the Army 2017 Expo. This post will just concentrate on what was at Kubinka airbase, there were a few helos at the Patriots Park Expo but it was mainly vehicles, so not really my area of interest, though the museum at Patriots Park is pretty special but that will be for another time. Weather was pretty appalling for the days we were there, but I tried to make the best of it! C&C welcome.

Ok, so we'll start with the Tu-95MSM, this is the latest version with the underwing pylons for carrying 8 stealth cruise missiles.
Tupolev Tu-95MSM - 2 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

My new favourite aircraft the naval Su-30SM, great paint scheme on these!
Sukhoi Su-30SM - 14 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Sukhoi Su-30SM - 16 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Sukhoi Su-30SM - 25 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Next up the Su-35S, these were displaying as part of the Falcons of Russia demo team.
Sukhoi Su-35S - 22 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Sukhoi Su-35S - 40 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Sukhoi Su-35S - 30 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

The Ka-52 made an appearance on the first day, though the weather was pretty bad at the time, so these are heavily processed!
Kamov Ka-52 Alligator - 10 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Kamov Ka-52 Alligator - 12 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Kamov Ka-52 Alligator - 13 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

As was the Mi-28 this flew solo and as part of the Golden Eagles (Berkuts) diaplay team
Mil Mi-28N - 43 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Mil Mi-28N - 52 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Mil Mi-28N - 65 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Golden Eagles - 16 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

The Russian Knights were also in attendance, they were also displaying in the Su-30SM
Sukhoi Su-30SM - 45 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Sukhoi Su-30SM - 42 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Sukhoi Su-30SM - 34 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Sukhoi Su-30SM - 49 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Was very happy to catch this Il-20M ELINT aircraft!
Ilyushin Il-20M - 2 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

There were quite a few gems in the static, and due to the lack of people attending much easier to photograph than at MAKS. Here's the Tu-22M3 Backfire
Tupolev Tu-22M3 - 5 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Il-38N Sea Dragon, this maritime aircraft is based on the Il-18 airframe
Ilyushin Il-38N Sea Dragon - 9 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

An-12BK-IS, this was used as an ECM platform, though it may have been converted back to the cargo role
Antonov An-12BK-IS - 5 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Su-24M Fencer
Sukhoi Su-24M - 3 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Su-34 Fullback
Sukhoi Su-34 - 3 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Su-27SM
Sukhoi Su-27SM - 2 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Open Skies An-30's
Antonov An-30B - 3 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Naval Mig-29K
Mikoyan MiG-29K - 3 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

MiG-31BM Foxhound (woohoo!)
Mikoyan MiG-31BM - 8 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Tu-134UBL - crew trainer for the Tu-160 (and Tu-22M3?)
Tupolev Tu-134UBL - 8 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Beriev A-50U Mainstay - modernised AWACS platform
Beriev A-50U - 13 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Tu-160M Blackjack - latest upgrade with new engines and avionics
Tupolev Tu-160M - 8 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

And I'll finish with the MiG-17 gate guard
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 - 3 by Nick Jennings, on Flickr

Thanks for looking! More shots from Kubinka are available here - https://flic.kr/s/aHsm8mTapt

[Airwolfhound]

Very nice pics Nick, do love those helicopters

[austinp]

Fantastic, thanks for sharing

[zigzag]

Lovely shots there in what looks like far from ideal weather. First shots Ive seem of this event and there is some superb quality stuff there

Couple of questions if I may (Im asking because Ive heard a rumour that MAKS will be at Kubinka from now on)
Were these all taken from inside? (& if not is outside access easy?)
How does the venue compare in a photographic sense to Zhukovsky (thinking the riverside naughty field here as Zhukovsky from inside isnt great unless on the media platform)
Were displays different day to day?

[jalfrezi]

Couple of questions if I may (I'm asking because I've heard a rumour that MAKS will be at Kubinka from now on)
Were these all taken from inside? (& if not is outside access easy?)
How does the venue compare in a photographic sense to Zhukovsky (thinking the riverside naughty field here as Zhukovsky from inside isnt great unless on the media platform)
Were displays different day today?

Thanks for the comments

Yes they were all taken from inside, but to be fair the weather was probably somewhat of a blessing as it's very similar to Zhukovsky in that you face into the sun all day, however unlike Zhukovsky you can't really get to the other side of the airfield.

Not really sure about the displays as they were heavily affected by the weather and it was (apart from the first day) pretty much restricted to helicopters. Apparently they flew more on the public days at the weekend, but if you want to see flying I think MAKS would be the better choice.

The only aircraft flying in the displays were the Golden Eagles (Mi-28), The Swifts (MiG-29), Russian Knights (Su-30), Falcons of Russia (Su-35), Ka-52, Mi-28, Navy Su-30, Yak-130, Mi-17 troop drop, and the Turkish Stars. Some of these only displayed at the Alabino firing range.