MOSCOW. Aug 12 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian Air Force planes keep on airlifting hardware and personnel to China for taking part in the bilateral Peace Mission 2005 exercise, Air Force Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Mikhailov told Interfax-Military News Agency.
"Two Il-76 military transport planes arrived at the Liuting airfield 30 kilometers off Qingdao on Friday, delivering four automobiles and 30 servicemen. After the unloading, the planes will return to the Vozdvizhenka airbase in the Maritime territory," Mikhailov said.
He recalled that another seven Il-76 transports landed at the Weifang airfield in Shandong, China, on Wednesday, bringing 160 paratroopers, 10 vehicles and over 150 tonnes of cargo. "These transport planes will remain at the Weifang airfield and will take part in the upcoming maneuvers," he said.
The Russian Air Force group that is currently stationed on the Liuting airfield includes an A-50 early warning aircraft, an Su-24M2 modernized tactical bomber, a Su-27MS fighter, three Il-76 transports with materiel and equipment and an Il-78 tanker plane, Mikhailov noted.
The exercise will involve a total of more than 20 Russian planes, including two Tu-95MS strategic rocket carriers and four Tu-22M3 long-range bombers, he concluded.
The active phase of the first ever Russian-Chinese military exercise will be held in China from August 18 to 25. The exercise will involve up to 10,000 servicemen of the two countries' air forces, navies and land forces, including 2,000 Russian servicemen. The active phase of the war games will take place in China's Shandong peninsula and in the adjacent naval zone in the Yellow Sea.