DUSHANBE. April 16 (Interfax-AVN) - In the course of a company tactical drill of the Russian military base 201 stationed in Tajikistan, artillery men together with a drone company are exercising methods of interaction in striking an imaginary enemy, official spokesman for the Central Military District Col. Yaroslav Roshchupkin told Interfax on Wednesday.
"A fleet of Granat, Leyer and Zastava drones guarantees the discovery of military hardware and fortifications of an imaginary enemy and reports their positioning data to the command post of an artillery battalion which destroys targets simulating military vehicles and fire units of the imaginary enemy with concentrated fire of 122-mm Gvozdika self-propelled guns," Roshchupkin said.
At the end of last February the military base in Tajikistan adopted Zastava, Granat and Leyer drones designed for reconnaissance and the identification of sources of radio waves. New models delivered in the framework of the state defense contract are meant to support troop movements and the more effective application of artillery.
"The drones fly at altitudes of 100-150 meters in the airspace of the Layur firing range," the spokesman said.
The drill is meant to exercise combat action to block and eliminate enemies in mountain areas. It is conducted at firing ranges of all three garrisons of the base located hear Dushanbe, Kulyab and Kurgan-Tyube.
The drill involves some 300 servicemen and about 50 units of equipment.
The military base 201 is Russia's largest ground military facility abroad. It has personnel of about 6,000 servicemen. Under an agreement signed in October 2012 the base will remain in Tajikistan at least until 2042.