KHABAROVSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd August, 2018) A Russian An-26 military transport aircraft (NATO reporting name: Curl) on Thursday made its first landing on a motorway in the country's modern history, Aleksei Kuzmenkov, head of the Russian Armed Forces' logistics support unit, said.
The landing of the An-26, as well four Su-25SM attack aircraft (NATO reporting name: Frogfoot), was conducted at the Khabarovsk-Komsomolsk-on-Amur motorway as part of the department's military exercises, being held from August 20 to August 25. Around 36,000 troops and 3,400 units of equipment are involved in the drills.
"The transport aircraft is designed to take care of material and technical issues: supplying ammunition and food, evacuating the wounded. This element, the landing on a motorway, is indeed very difficult, and is something that has not been done in the modern Russian history [until now]. This demonstrates the expertise of the pilots. All the pilots involved in the drills have substantial experience that they gained in military operations in Syria," Kuzmenkov told journalists.
He added that the fourth stage of the military drills had been completed in the Khabarovsk Region.
According to Kuzmenkov, the fifth stage of the drills, set to be held in Russia's Transbaikal Region, will involve aircraft landing on a field aerodrome.
