A tactical exercise engaging paraborne and artillery regiments of the 98th Guards Airborne Division has got under way in the territories of the Ivanovo, Kostroma, Yaroslavl and Nizhny Novgorod regions under the supervision of the formation’s commander Guards Colonel Nikolai Choban, the informational support group of the Russian Airborne Troops said.

More than 2,500 paratroopers, over 3,000 units of military hardware and 20 military transport, assault and army aviation aircraft and helicopters are engaged in the drills (Picture source: Ministry of Defence of The Russian Federation)

"The fact that this exercise is taking place in various parts of the country on terrains, which are unknown to the regiment’s troops, makes this drill different from other exercises," it said.

During the drill the paratroopers will be transported to large distances by a combined method in limited deadlines and airdropped from military transport aircraft at several landing areas with an aim to seize and destroy the command posts of the conditional adversary and terrorist training camps. The troopers will have to march to new areas, seize and hold advantageous positions and ensure an active and intensive offensive of the formation’s main forces with support from artillery, frontline and army aviation, drones, the attached tank units and a missile battery.

In the first phase of the exercise, the regiment was put on high alert. Its personnel was relocated by using a combined method to an area of the forthcoming exercise. Later, the paratroopers prepared themselves and their hardware for an airborne operation; resolved the problems of command and interaction during the landing operation and the forthcoming fight.

More than 1,000 servicemen and 12 units of hardware with the crews will be airdropped during the second phase. Twenty military transport aircraft and helicopters will ensure the landing operation. After landing and destroying the conditional adversary the paratroopers will meet in an assembly place to be transported to a range in the Nizhny Novgorod region where they are going to drill tactical defensive and offensive tasks in daytime and at night with support from aviation, artillery and tank units.

More than 2,500 paratroopers, over 3,000 units of military hardware and 20 military transport, assault and army aviation aircraft and helicopters are engaged in the drills.

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