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In January 2008, military forces of the Russian Far East started training flights of SU-24, upgraded bombers which they received from the Russian Air Force last December.

The bombers took off from the military airfield Pereyaslavka in the Khabarovsk region, Russian Air Force Assistant Commander Col. Alexander Drobyshevsky revealed in late January according to Khabarovsk news reports.

The flights were observed by representatives from St. Petersburg’s Research Institute and Novosibirsk Aviation Plant, Drobyshevsky noted.

The first flight was performed by an experienced crew in rough weather conditions common for the Russian Far East region.

Altogether ten training flights were performed and pilots who graduated in 2006 and 2007 had a chance to command the bombers. In February the flights will be conducted four times a week, Drobyshevsky said.

The upgraded SU-24 bombers arrived in Khabarovsk from the Novosibirsk plant where engineers had equipped them with state-of-the-art technology. The SU-24 bomber has been in operation in the Russian Air Force since 1975.