DUSHANBE, May 25, 2015, Asia-Plus – Russian military subunits have practiced using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in mountain terrain of Tajikistan.
Press center of the Russian Central Military District reports that servicemen of the Russian military base deployed in Tajikistan tested UAVs “Granat” and “Zastava” in the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) on May 21.
For this, they reportedly completed a more than 300-kilomter forced march from Qurghon Teppa, the capital of Khatlon province to the Darvoz district in Gorno Badakhshan, where they launched the UAVs from the launch pad at the height of 3,500 meters above sea level.
The servicemen used the unmanned aerial vehicles to rehearse coordination and interaction with subunits of the Ministry of Defense of Tajikistan in missions to block and annihilate illegal armed formations and comb areas, which difficult of access, as well as to test operation of unmanned aerial vehicles under conditions of high temperatures and discharged air, the Russian Central Military District press center said.
We will recall that a joint military exercise with a final phase featuring live-fire mission was conducted for units of the Tajik national army and the 201st Russian military base in Gorno Badakhshan recently.
More than 500 servicemen and about 100 units of military hardware were reportedly involved in the exercise. Helicopters Mi-8s and Mi-24s of Russian Air Force provided air reconnaissance and support.
The Russian military base deployed in Tajikistan is Russia”s largest non-naval military facility outside the country. It was officially opened in Tajikistan in 2004 under a previous agreement, which was signed in 1993, and hosts Russia’s largest military contingent deployed abroad.
A total of some 7,000 Russian troops are stationed at three military facilities collectively known as the 201st military base – in Dushanbe, Qurghon Teppa, some 100 kilometers from Dushanbe, and Kulob, about 200 kilometers southwest of Dushanbe.
