Twenty air defense units in CIS states put on high alert for Combat Commonwealth-2015 drills - Russian Defense Ministry
MOSCOW. Aug 18 (Interfax-AVN) - The first phase of the CIS Combat Commonwealth-2015 joint air defense exercises began on Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry has reported.
"At the start of the drills, units and divisions of the air defense and missile defense troops of the Aerospace Forces stationed in the Moscow region were put on high alert. The exercises will consist of three phases and will continue until September 11," the Russian ministry's press service said in a report seen by Interfax-AVN on Tuesday.
The first stage of the drills included measures to put the forces participating in the Combat Commonwealth-2015 maneuvers on high alert at their permanent bases.
"In this context, some 20 military units of the Armed Forces of the states taking part in the CIS Joint Air Defense System were put on high alert," the ministry said.
In total, the exercises will involve more than 1,000 servicemen and over 200 units of the Aerospace Force's military and special-purpose hardware, including S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile systems, S-300 Favorit air defense missile systems, MiG-29, Sukhoi Su-24, Su-34, Su-27, Su-30, Su-25, MiG-31 and Tupolev Tu-22 airplanes, and Mil Mi-8AMTSh helicopters.
Apart from the Russian units, air defense force servicemen from another five CIS member countries - Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia - will take part in the drills.
"The other participants in the CIS Joint Air Defense System will participate in the exercises as observers," the ministry said.
The first phase of the drills will be wrapped up by redeploying personnel and military hardware of the countries involved in the maneuvers to the Ashuluk training range in Russia's southern Astrakhan region, which will host the active phase of the exercises.
The personnel and the hardware will reach the Ashuluk range using a combined method: by rail and by air.
