RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTER TO OBSERVE CIS AIR DEFENCE EXERCISES

Interfax-AVN military news agency website, Moscow
29 Aug 05

Moscow, 29 August: Russian Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov left for
Astrakhan by air today to observe the active stage of the Combat
Commonwealth-2005, the coalition exercises of the CIS Unified Air
Defence System.

Approximately 2,000 servicemen, more than 40 aircraft and also the
S-300, S-125 and S-75 anti-aircraft missile complexes and systems are
taking part in the exercises, being held at the Ashuluk test range,
Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force Army Gen Vladimir Mikhaylov
has told Interfax-AVN news agency.

“Questions of interaction between anti-aircraft missile troops and
radio-technical troops and also aviation will be practised in the
course of the exercises,” Mikhaylov said.

Anti-aircraft complexes will carry out live firing during the
exercises, he said. “Frontal aviation will carry out ground-attack
bombing raids against the notional enemy’s ground troops, whilst
the fighter aviation will destroy cruise missiles in mid-air,” the
commander-in-chief said.

“Subunits of the air forces and air defence forces from Armenia,
Belarus, Russia and Tajikistan will be active at the Ashuluk test
range today and tomorrow, because other CIS countries have already
gone through exercises before, in July and at the start of August,”
the general said.

Mikhaylov, who is in charge of the exercises, noted that heads of
defence ministries of CIS member countries and heads of a number of
defence enterprises had been invited to the exercises.