HeliRussia-2022: a modest jubilee

The annual HeliRussia trade fair, which is held under the auspices of Russia’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, took place at the Crocus Expo exhibition centre in Moscow on 19th-21st May 2022 for the 15th time – a minor jubilee. In better days the event, which is traditionally held at this venue, was billed as Europe’s largest helicopter industry exhibition; however, HeliRussia-2022 was held on an unusually modest scale, occupying just one hall instead of the normal two. While the COVID-2019 pandemic is on the retreat, due to political developments all major foreign participants chose to stay away. Of the 108 participants only seven were non-Russian, and none of these were helicopter manufacturers.

2022 Moscow Victory Day flypast

It is now a well-established tradition that the annual 9th May military parade held in Moscow’s Red Square to celebrate the anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory in the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany includes an aviation component. The first such flypast was in 1995, but since 2005 it has become annual – weather permitting, of course. In recent years the number of participating aircraft equals the number of years that have passed since the war; this year, the 77th anniversary Victory Day flypast was to include 77 assorted aircraft – 15 helicopters and 62 fixed-wing aircraft.

Run-up to the Victory Day celebrations on 9th May

In the run-up to the Victory Day celebrations on 9th May, the Russian Air Force made two practice flypasts over Moscow’s Red Square on 3rd May and during the dress rehearsal of the V-Day parade on 7th May.