WOULD-BE Mavericks from across the globe are heading to the south west this summer for a real-life Top Gun display.

The Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford from July 7 to 8 will be a chance for some of the world’s best pilots to show off their skills.

And they will be doing so in a selection of top training jets, including a Russian attack aircraft, the Yak-130, which has never been seen before outside its home country with a full complement of weapons.

More than 20 military chiefs will be attending from countries as far afield as Algeria, Oman, South Africa, the Ukraine, Thailand and the US, with a slice of the multi-billion pound military trainer market at stake.

Craig Hoyle, defence editor of aviation website Flightglobal, said: “The main prize for the trainer manufacturers within the next few years will be the US Air Force’s T-X deal, which could see orders placed for 350 new aircraft.

“But many other nations also have an urgent need to acquire new trainers, making this one of the most hotly contested sectors of the military aircraft business.”

Representing the UK will be BAE Systems’ Hawk T1 and T2 jets, and the T1 will be flown by Fairford’s own flying ace, Flt Lt Phil Bird.

The United Arab Emirates will be showing off their Italian-built Alenia Aermacchi MB-339A, and South Korea is close to confirming the first ever foreign display by its T-50B Golden Eagles.

Other international military trainers on show at the Air Tattoo include the European debut of Colombia's T-90 and the RAF’s modified Brazilian trainer, the Tucano T1.

Air Tattoo organisers said this week’s announcement that such a rare and exciting Russian aircraft would be taking part in this summer’s airshow has prompted them to extend their early bird ticket offer by 11 days to April 11.

Standard day admission will be kept at £34, with no booking fee, rising to £39 with a £4 booking fee after Easter. Tattoo spokesman Richard Arquati said: “For many enthusiasts, seeing Russian aircraft display in the UK is the ultimate experience because they rarely come over.

“We took the decision that, as this is such an exciting addition to our flying display, we would give people a little more time to take advantage of our special early bird price.

“I cannot remember the last time we had so many incredible aircraft lined-up to appear.”

For details, log onto www.airtattoo.com or call 0800 107 1940. All accompanied under-16s do not have to pay and parking is free.