MOSCOW. Jan 15 (Interfax) - Russia's Aerospace Forces have used six Antonov An-124 Ruslan heavy military transport aircraft during an exercise in redeploying troops and military hardware, the Russian Defense Ministry told journalists on Friday.
"Six An-124 Ruslan military transport planes took off simultaneously for practice flights. The purpose of the flights is to raise the young crews' skills in simultaneously redeploying armed personnel and military hardware over long distances," the ministry said.
The aircraft flew "in challenging weather conditions in the form of precipitation, low clouds and strong gusts of wind," it said. The exercise was supervised from midair (aboard an Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft) by the commander of the Aerospace Force's Military Transport Aviation, Lieut. Gen. Vladimir Benediktov, the ministry said.
The exercise held in the Bryansk region involved pilots from the Seshchinsky and Tverskoi air force regiments. The six aircraft flew at an altitude of over 4,000 meters at 500 kilometers per hour, and the total length of the route exceeded 600 kilometers.
The An-124-100 Ruslan aircraft can carry over 120 tonnes of cargo over a distance of more than 7,000 kilometers. The aircraft can take on board up to eight automobile armored vehicles or up to 500 personnel simultaneously.