Russia starts major air force drill involving jet fighters and bombers.

A bilateral command-staff exercise involving Commands 1 and 2 of the Russian Air Force and Air Defense, which are part of the Western and central Districts, will be held under the command of the commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force on August 4-8, the Defense Ministry reported. "The training will involve over 100 aircraft of various branches of aviation such as the destroyers Su-27, MiG-31, multi-function complexes Su-34, frontline bombers Su-24, helicopters Mi-8, Mi-24, and Mi 28N," Colonel Igor Klimov, an official representative of the Russian Air Force, told on Monday.

The training "is a stage in the training of the junctions and military units of the Russian Air Force in 2014 and is being conducted for the first time on the territory of three military districts," he said.

The maneuvers will involve fights "involving practical and tactical use of aviation munitions on ground and air targets on new firing ranges, real and electronic launches of surface-to-air missiles on the firing range Ashuluk, Astrakhan region, which is intended for practicing the interaction between aviation and air defense systems," Klimov said. The large-scale training involves aviation and air defense systems from different regions of the country.

At the first stage, the aviation will be transferred from the northern aerodromes of the Western Military District to the aerodromes of the Central Military District, the source said. At the second stage, combat use of aviation will take place form the operative aerodromes located in the southern regions (Armavir, Krymsk, Mozdok, Morozovsk, etc.). "The air tankers Il-78 will also conduct in-flight refueling of MiG-31 destroyers and Su-34 bombers behind the polar circle. The time in flight will double and will reach some eight hours," the Air Force spokesman said.