CSTO's first-ever Air Bridge-2018 drills kick off in RussiaOctober 1, 2018 - 17:00 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The Collective Security Organization’s first-ever joint air exercise Vozdushny Most-2018 (Air Bridge-2018) has begun in Yekaterinburg and will run through October 14, with the CSTO member-states - Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan - taking part, TASS reports. "We are holding the Air Bridge-2018 exercise for the first time. The CSTO member states’ transport planes will airlift large mobile contingents. A total of 3,500 troops and 620 pieces of military equipment will be transported," the Central Military District’s commander, Lieutenant-General Alexander Lapin, said at the opening ceremony. A unified system of control to command CSTO air force and air defense groups had been created with reliance on integrated and combined automated control systems, such as Polyana-D4M1 and Bastion. At the joint command center in Yekaterinburg the CSTO air forces’ representatives will practice joint operations to control the air traffic of CSTO member-states, airlift troop contingents and materiel to the sites of combat training missions in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Russia. As the Central Military District’s press-service said, the command center will have a staff of 140. "I would like to point out that this exercise is being held within the framework of another one, Boyevoye Bratstvo-2018 (Combat Brotherhood-2018), underway in the Central Asian Region. Before, such exercises never involved the air component. This time transport planes will be used - Ilyushin-76, C-295 and Antonov-26," the deputy chief of the CSTO unified command, Lieutenant-General Nurlan Ormanbetov, said on Monday. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Pashinyan: Azerbaijan’s proximity shouldn’t worry border residents At the same time, he said that he “does not guarantee [the security of villagers] one hundred percent”. Up to 1% cashback when shopping on Wildberries with IDBank cards IDBank is launching an exclusive campaign on Wildberries for online shopping enthusiasts. Pasadena to host Armenian Genocide commemoration event The Pasadena Armenian Coalition will host its community-wide Armenian Genocide Commemorative Event. Armenia: Opposition activist transferred to Investigative Committee Activist Samvel Vardanyan has been accused of insulting the lawmaker Hakob Aslanyan from the ruling Civil Contract party. |