In June Russian airbornes forces will air-drop 20,000 paratroopers and 10 combat vehicles 0706141

Posted On
a

Defence & Security News - Russia
 
 
Saturday, June 7, 2014 09:04 AM
 
In June Russian airbornes forces will air-drop 20,000 paratroopers and 10 combat vehicles.
Command of Russian airborne forces will air-drop about three divisions in June training planned in 15 regions with participation of more than 40,000 men and organic equipment, airborne forces spokesman Yevgeny Meshkov said on Friday, June 6, 2014.
     

Russian paratrooper after air-drop during field military exercise
     

About 20,000 paratroopers along with 10 combat and support vehicles will be dropped from Ilyushin Il-76 military aircraft, more than 2,000 will jump from An-26, Meshkov said. More than 20,000 jumps are planned from An-2 aircraft and Mi-8 helicopters.

The training will employ special parachute systems, Arbalet-1 and Arbalet-2, used with success for jumps in tough weather conditions, in particular at the North Pole and Mount Elbrus, and capable to carry 150 kilograms. Cargoes can be dropped from aircraft cruising at a speed of up to 400 kilometers an hour.

The Russian armed forces have carried out 250 military exercises and 8,000 firing practices so far this year, including the first ever mass jump near the polar base Camp Barneo, as well as the Novosibirsk archipelago in the Arctic Ocean.

Task groups training in the western and southern military districts on the border with Ukraine (40,000 military men) in April-May has been the biggest event so far. The main upcoming military maneuvers are Cooperation-2014 with the Collective Security Treaty Organization forces scheduled for August in Kazakhstan and East-2014 that will take place in Russia’s east in September.

The Russian Airborne Troops or VDV is a military branch of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The total active manpower of Russian airborne troops is around 35,000 paratroopers.