BISHKEK. March 13 (Interfax-AVN) - A delegation of the Russian Air Force command is visiting Bishkek to address the future deployment of a Russian airbase at the Kant airfield.
The airbase will be a component of the Collective Rapid Deployment Force under the CIS Collective Security Treaty, said Misir Ashirkulov, the secretary of the Kyrgyz Security Council.
"The aviation component within the Collective Rapid Deployment Force will play an important role in security in Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia as a whole," he told Interfax on Thursday.
"Unfortunately, our republic does not have warplanes like the SU-25 Frogfoot and SU-27 Flanker jets. The republic's defense ministry has only MIG-21 Fishbed fighters, which take off from the Kant airfield and reach south Kyrgyzstan with a minimum fuel reserve," Ashirkulov said.
"An MIG can fight for no more than three minutes in case of a threat to the country's southern boundaries. SU-25 fighters are efficient warplanes, capable of fighting rebels in the mountains," he explained. "Besides, international terrorists will think twice before invading Kyrgyzstan and the region once they find out about the deployment of the aviation unit."