Russia grounded half of its fighter jets

The Russian air force grounded its entire fleet of Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jets on Thursday after a fatal crash near Moscow. The Su-27, commonly known as Flanker — the code name given to it by NATO, which assigns one to every piece of Russian military hardware — is the backbone of Russia’s air force. The grounding means that about half of Russia’s fighter jets cannot take to the air.

According to Reuters, aviation sources told Russian agencies the crash looked like the result of an unspecified technical failure.

General Viktor Bondarev, the head of the air force, ordered the country’s fleet of the twin-engined fighter jet grounded until the reasons for the crash had been determined, Russian agencies reported.

Thursday’s crash occurred just outside Moscow and involved an Su-27 that was part of the air force’s aerobatic demonstration team, the Russian Knights, who have overflown annual Red Square military parades in the past.

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