Held at ZHUKOVSKY between 16th and 21st August 2011.

Our reporter was drawn to MAKS by the promise of the first public display by the new Russian 5th generation fighter aircraft, the Sukhoi PAK T-50 and the rumours that this will be the last display by The Russian Knights and Swifts Display teams. The T-50 did indeed display on Saturday but an engine problem prevented it flying on Sunday. Visually it very much resembles the F-23 which lost out to the Raptor in USA and it did a gentle display as you would expect from such a new fighter. The Knights and Swifts both did impressive displays on Saturday but the weather was not at its best.
Static Display

The static display was quite impressive with a fine line-up of Russian hardware including SU-35, SU-34, Su-30,SU-25, MIG-35, MIG-31,MIG-29 and a large gathering of Helicopters .A small enclosure held a few stored aircraft including a pair of Flagons.The USA attended with B-52, KC-10,F-15E, F-16C, A-10C and P-3C aircraft.


Flying Display

Dominated by Russian Aircraft but also including Rafale and F-15E, the comprehensive flying display included no less than five Russian Display teams and a Fire Fighting display by a Beriev Amphibian Flying Boat. The SU-35 and MIG-29 both used thrust-vectoring nozzles to great effect in their displays while a pair of MIG-29s did a simulated refuelling display.Finally a MIG-29 with Indian Air Force markings but still in primer did a test flight late after the main display