MOSCOW. Sept 25 (Interfax) - The tank battalion of the Pskov division of the Russian Airborne Troops has held an exercise involving live fire drills, the Russian Defense Ministry's information department said.
"The tank unit of the Pskov air assault division of the Airborne Troops made a many-kilometer march to the Strugi Krasnyye range for live-fire tests involving T-72B3 tanks as part of the test exercise," the department said in a statement.
The tanks fired at targets simulating tanks and other fire weapons of the imaginary enemy, it said. "The exercise involves more than 100 servicemen and more than 30 units of equipment," the statement said.
In April, the Russian Defense Ministry officially confirmed that two divisions and one brigade of the Airborne Troops would be reinforced with tanks battalions. The Pskov and Novgorod air assault divisions and the Kamyshin air assault brigade will receive battalions equipped with T-72B3 tanks.
Previously, the Russian Airborne Troops had no tanks. Only the Ground Forces and the fleets' coastal forces operated them.
It was reported last November that the Russian Airborne Troops would be reinforced with army aviation and air and missile defense units.