"Russia likely to give up strategic military air transport"

General says Russia likely to give up strategic military air transport

Excerpt from report in English by Russian news agency Interfax- AVN web site

The Russian government has decided to scrap strategic military air transport.

“At the present time there are four types of military transport aircraft: An-24 Coke and An-26 Curl light air transports, An-12 Cub medium air transport, Il-76MD Candid heavy military transport and An- 22 C0ck and An-124 Condor strategic military air transports.”

“I think that later on only three types will be left. The transformation is already under way. No strategic military air transport will be left,” Lt-Gen Viktor Denisov, commander of the 61st Air Army of the supreme command (military transport aviation), said in an interview published in the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper today.

Denisov said that the military transport aviation command was not going to give up operating the An-22 aircraft (Russian designation Antei) fielded with the air force in the late 1960s. According to Denisov, the Antei will remain in service for years to come.

“This aircraft is unique and features unrivalled capabilities. The An-22’s cargo hold is big enough to airlift Su-27 Flanker aircraft and helicopters. The Il-76 is still incapable of fulfilling this task,” the general said.

[Passage omitted on technical control systems. Please note fuller version of this interview expected to be available from Krasnaya Zvezda in due course]

Source: BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union (8th October, 2003)
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Steve ~ Touchdown-News