COO174668
 Page: 6     of 14
 FBIS Concatenated Daily Reports, 1993
 Document 8 of 13                                                 Page   1
 Classification:   UNCLASSIFIED       Status:        [STATJ
 Document Date:      10 Apr 93        Category:      [CAT]
 Report Type:      Daily report       Report Date:
 Report Number;    FBIS-SOV-93-069    UDC Number:
 Headline:  Moscow Air Defense To Be Downsized, Receive Su-27's
 Source Line:  MK1004124493 Moscow MOSKOVSKIY KOMSOMOLETS in Russian
 10 Apr 93 p 1
 Subslug:  [Dmitriy Kholodov report: "Holiday Treats. Waiting for a
 Matthias Rust-]
 FULL TEXT OF ARTICLE:
 1.  [Dmitriy Kholodov report: "Holiday Treats. Waiting for a
 Matthias Rust"]
 2.  [Text] Today the Moscow air defense system [PVOJ can cope with
 over 1,000 aircraft and cruise missiles of a potential foe. The
 system's effectiveness has been demonstrated by the latest tactical
 exercise during which out of 27 targets, 26 were destroyed. In the
 near future, however, the PVO's combat capacity around Moscow will be
 reduced by 10 to 15 percent following cutbacks in missile and
 -aviat-tion- uni-ts  The---sout-hern--(-I)-f-lank-will--be-affected-most -     --_--------
 3.                 We are taking great pleasure in presenting this absolutely
 confidential information to the public in honor of a holiday-PVO Day.
 May our enemies beware, because soon not only cruise missiles, but
 even the notorious Rust will not get through to the glorious capital.
 4.  Our Moscow skies will now be guarded by new aircraft- Su-27's.
 Pilots at the Bezhetskiy PVO air regiment got them back in November,
 and they will start operating them beginning 1 August. Ten aircraft
 are brand-new.  The others are from Latvia, Georgia, and Uzbekistan.
 5.  This aircraft is remarkable for its outstanding performance.
 Russian air aces, performing demonstration flights, proved this
 convincingly: The machine is versatile and the rigid laws of physics
 can therefore be disregarded. It flies vertically upward and
 vertically downward, upside down, and on its side. In a fit of
 enthusiasm, the pilot put on a real top-class show: His Su-27 moved
 in for a landing, did not land, but after bouncing some on its rear
 wheels, without touching the ground with its front ones, it took off
 again.
 6.  Two squadrons in the Bezhetskiy regiment have been treated to the
 Su-27's. God loves a trinity, and so there will be a third one. Soon
 several Su-27's will fly to Astrakhan. There on a state testing range
 C00174668
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 FBIS Concatenated Daily Reports, 1993
 Document 8 of 13                                                Page   2
 the planes will do a little shooting, and then return to Moscow. The
 entire journey will be made without landing or refueling.
 7.  In honor of the holiday Moscow PVO district commander Anatoliy
 Kornukhov organized a press conference, where the above super-secret
 facts were presented.  Responding to a MOSKOVSKIY KOMSOMOLETS
 question about when the PVO had last detected a UFO, the commander
 said that although the radars did not pick them up, in 1989 he
 witnessed a strange disappearance without a trace of the most
 advanced interceptor, which was flown by an experienced pilot. During
 that time a UFO sighting was reported.
 UNCLASSIFIED