Swifts

The Swifts is an aerobatic demonstrator team of the Russian Air Force. It was formed on May 6th, 1991, on the basis of the 234th Guards Proskurov Aviation Regiment from the best pilots of the Kubinka airbase near Moscow. It is part of the I. N. Kozhedub Aviation Equipment Show Center and performs formation and solo aerobatics on multipurpose highly manoeuvrable MiG-29 fighters jets.

"Swifts" are based at the Kubinka Air Base located 60 kilometres from Moscow. The pilots of Kubinka were the first in the USSR to master solo and formation aerobatics on fighter jets. Today Kubinka is known as the number 1 school of aerobatic skills in Russia. In early May 2011, the Swifts aerobatic team celebrated its 20th anniversary with a new display routine. Five years later, on May 21st, 2016, the Strizhi aerobatic team celebrated its quarter-century anniversary, which they celebrated together with the Russian Knights.

The "Swifts" aerobatic group is part of the 234th Guards Proskurovsky Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 16th Air Army. Its history dates back to the 1950s when the formation of the new 234th Fighter Aviation Regiment began and the aerobatic pilots became the backbone of the flight crew. The main task of the regiment was to prepare and conduct traditional air parades over Moscow, the first of which took place on May 1st, 1951.

Since the mid-1950s, ground and flight demonstrations of military aviation equipment have been held in Kubinka for students of military academies, the leadership of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff, the leaders of the Soviet state and the Communist Party, delegates to the CPSU congresses, as well as state and military delegations of foreign states. Since the early 1960s, the pilots of the 234th "aerobatic" regiment, in addition to combat training, participation in air parades and demonstrations of aviation equipment, began to regularly escort the aircraft of heads and leaders of foreign states arriving in Moscow in the air. In addition to the aircraft of official delegations, the pilots of the regiment also escorted aircraft carrying the first Soviet cosmonauts.

On July 9th, 1961, on the Day of the USSR Air Force, a grand air parade was held in Tushino, in which the pilots of the 234th regiment took an active part

In 1983, the 234th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment was the first in the Soviet Air Force to begin flying the MiG-29 fighter jets. In 1986, a group of six MiG-29s visited the Finnish Rissal airbase, during which Soviet fourth-generation fighters were shown abroad for the first time. In 1990, the squadron pilots flying the MiG-29 were tasked with mastering aerobatics in close formation, consisting of six aircraft. The pilots flew with an interval and distance of about 3 meters, performing a complex set of figures.

In 1988, two MiG-29 visited the air show in Farnborough (UK), a year later they showed in Le Bourget (France). Preparing for the international debut, the pilots thought about the image side of their activities. For the MiG-29 and MiG-29UB planes, they came up with an original colouring - white fuselages and bright blue keels, blue lightning passed along the sides, the group's emblems appeared on the air intakes under the influx - black swifts on a red background. These nimble birds gave the name to the group - the group went down in history under the name "Swifts".

On May 6th 1991 the Swifts performed their debut display under the current name and showed off their original colours, this event was closed to the public. Later this month the team travelled to Sweden and displayed at the Uppsala Airshow an event also closed to the public with only a few media representatives allowed access. The first public display of the Swifts took place in May 1992, when the group was invited to take part in a grand air festival at Reims Air Base, held in honour of the 50th anniversary of the famous Normandie-Niemen regiment. For two years, the team performed more than 50 displays at airshows and official events in Kubinka and various cities of Russia.

In 1993, the group took part in the MAKS-93 air show, and in the fall of the same year visited Belgium and Thailand. In December, the Swifts were invited to participate in the LIMA-93 air show. The planes were delivered to Malaysia disassembled by military transport aircraft. Then the aerobatic team "Swifts" was awarded the title of "The best aerobatic team in the world."

In 1994, the Swifts took part in an air show at the Sprenger airfield in Germany. In May 1995, the squadron served as an escort for the Tu-160 leader's plane over Poklonnaya Gora during a grand air parade in honour of the 50th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. In August of the same year, they took part in the MAKS-95 air show.

In 1996, they took part in the Gelendzhik-95 seaplane show and also travelled abroad, taking part in an air show at the Finnish base of Oulu. 1997 was marked by a rich program of performances at an air show in the Bulgarian city of Varna, a visit to Holland as part of a Russian military delegation, a performance at MAKS-97, as well as performance over Tushino at an air festival in honour of the 850th anniversary of Moscow. At the 1997 international air show in Finland, the group commander Nikolai Dyatel won first place in solo aerobatics.

In 1999 most of the team pilots retired and the team was disbanded. On the 23rd of November 2000, the team was reborn with new pilots and flew only four aircraft.

The year 2001, which opened the new millennium, became in some ways a milestone for "Swifts". The ranks of the group were replenished with new pilots. Guards Lieutenant Colonel Vadim Shmigelsky began to work out the solo aerobatics program, and in October 2001, at a festival in Astrakhan, he performed his first show. Guards Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Loginov, Guard Majors Valery Morozov, Igor Sokolov, Sergey Osyaykin, Dmitry Koposov, Guard Captain Alexei Prokhorov began to master formation aerobatics. Winter and spring were spent on intense training, and in September 2002 the group brilliantly performed over the sea bay in Gelendzhik during the next seaplane show.

In the winter of 2003, the MiG-29 aircraft underwent scheduled repairs and acquired a new paint scheme. MiGs were repainted in a new red and white uniform with a bright blue silhouette of a swift above and below, the letters "MiG" on the keels. For the first time in a new guise, they were shown to the public on March 15th, 2003 during the celebration of the 65th anniversary of the regiment. From this moment, active cooperation with the aerobatic team " Russian Knights " began. This year, at the Kubinka airbase, a huge work was carried out to replace the coating and equipment of the runway, during which the aerobatic teams flew to the airbase in Andreapol. On the 27th of July 2003, one of the team's two-seat MiG-29UB crashed after takeoff from Perm's airport in Russia where the Strizhi landed to refuel. It was reported that the bad runaway conditions caused the pilot to lose control and crash into the grass beside the runway. Both pilots managed to eject successfully.

In subsequent years, the group actively participated in air shows in Russia and abroad. In 2007, seven MiG-29 aircraft took off from the runway of the Kubinka airbase, headed to the United Arab Emirates where the team was invited to participate at the Al Ain Airshow. "Swifts" have also taken part in every MAKS air show and on May 9th, 2010, the group flew over Red Square together with the "Russian Knights" during the air part of the Victory Parade.

In early June 2011, information appeared that the aerobatic team will be disbanded something that later proved to be wrong.

At the beginning of May 2012, the team, together with Russian Knights, was supposed to take part in the KADEX-2012 exhibition in Astana. The visit, however, was disrupted for unknown reasons, despite the existing international agreements and lengthy preparations. On the scheduled days, the pilots flew through Engels to Chelyabinsk, but they never received permission to cross the border and fly to Kazakhstan from the Russian government. On May 5th, the team returned to Kubinka where it remains to this day.