Mobile command and control stations redeploy from Urals to Kyrgyzstan for Peace Mission 2016 exercise - CMD official
MOSCOW. Sept 11 (Interfax) - Heavy transport aircraft Antonov An-124-100 "Ruslan," carrying mobile command and control stations and automated communications equipment, took off from the Koltsovo air base near Yekaterinburg and flew to Kyrgyzstan, Assistant Commander of the Central Military District (CMD) Col. Yakov Roshchupkin said.
"Our troops, along with armed forces from the SCO [Shanghai Cooperation Organization] states, will be involved in a joint anti-terrorist command post exercise, Peace Mission 2016, beginning at the Edelweiss mountain training center next week," Roshchupkin said.
For the first time the Russian contingent will be manned with members of the CMD's recently-formed 55th separate mountain brigade, who practiced interoperability with army aviation and other assigned forces at the Yurga training site in Kemerovo region.
The An-124-100 "Ruslan" military transport aircraft is designed to deliver personnel with combat equipment and weapons to remote theaters of war. The aircraft can lift up to 120 tonnes and has a ferry range (with maximum payload) of over 5,000 kilometers.