More than 100 tanks, rocket launchers and armored vehicles, flanked by 8,000 soldiers, rattled across the tarmac, while sorties of jet fighters ripped through the sky as army generals saluted below.

The display wasn't in communist North Korea or China. It was a practice for a May 9 parade of Russian military hardware on Moscow's Red Square, the first since the Soviet era. The rehearsal on April 22 took place at Alabino, 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of Moscow, on an overcast morning and accompanied by a recording of Kremlin chimes.

``When you are dealing with other countries, you should not look weak,'' says Konstantin Fedotov, 82, a retired colonel who took part in the first parade in June 1945 and is one of about 20 veterans watching the rehearsal. ``We have to show that we are not toothless and can react to events against us now.''

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President Vladimir Putin has called the end of the Soviet Union a ``catastrophe,'' and when the army crunches the cobblestones in front of the Kremlin next month Muscovites will get another reminder of his efforts to restore Russian power and its symbols. Putin has endorsed a history book lauding Stalin and won popularity by facing up to the West with Cold War-style rhetoric.

The event will mark Victory Day, commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. This year, it arrives two days after Putin hands over the presidency to chosen successor Dmitry Medvedev after eight years.

`Military Might'

The display helps the government to justify defense spending as 20 percent of Russians struggle below the poverty line, according to Yevgeny Volk, a Moscow-based analyst for the Heritage Foundation, a U.S. research group.

It also demonstrates Russia's strength while former Soviet republics such as Georgia forge ties with the West. Russia's $1.4 trillion economy has been growing at an annual average rate of more than 7 percent under Putin, driven by energy resources.

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