US jets to fly at Russian air show

It used to be US spy satellites that circled above the once top-secret Soviet air base, but this week F-15 fighter jets and a B-52 bomber will slice through the skies over Zhukovsky airfield during the Moscow international air show, which opened yesterday.

For the first time, the US Air Force has brought some of its combat jets to the Russian show, held at what was once one of the Soviet Union's most tightly guarded facilities for testing new military aircraft.

"For us this is a very important opportunity to show the cooperation and the ever-developing ties between our two nations. This is the way forward," said Major General Edward LaFountaine, of the US air force.

President Vladimir Putin was one of the first to tour the show, which runs for six days and also features some of Russia's sleekest fighter jets and helicopter gunships, as well as a display of civilian planes.

After the tour, Mr Putin was treated to a display of air power kicked off by a MiG-29. Next up was a lone F-15 fighter jet, whose roar and vertical acceleration had Mr Putin leaning out of his chair. But it was the low-flying Russian Sukhoi fighters that stole the show, drawing applause as they rocketed past the grandstand.

The biennial air show began in 1992 as a way to show off Russia's aviation prowess and, officials hoped, close some multimillion-dollar deals. Most Russian aircraft makers found themselves struggling when government orders dried up after the 1991 Soviet collapse.