MOSCOW. Aug 30 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia has started airlifting home the personnel and equipment of its Lourdes radar station in Cuba.
"The operation to withdraw the radio-electronic center Lourdes is being carried out in line with a directive by Russian Armed Forces Chief-of-Staff Anatoly Kvashnin. The personnel, equipment and special hardware of the Lourdes center are being transported by military cargo planes of the 61st air force army commanded by Lieutenant General Viktor Denisov," a source in the Russian Defense Ministry told Interfax-Military News Agency on Friday.
The airlift is being carried out by heavy AN-124 Ruslan and IL-76 Candid aircraft, the source said.
A decision to stop using the Lourdes radar station was made by the Russian president in late 2001.
Originally the operation on the withdrawal of the radar station by air was planned for January 15 this year but was later postponed.
The Russian Defense Ministry press service reported that "they have no information when the Lourdes radar station withdrawal from Cuba starts."