Units from a joint air defense system of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will conduct exercises involving live firing drills in August-September 2011, the Russian defense minister said on Wednesday.
Defense ministers from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine met in Crimea to discuss military ties and adopt the agenda of military cooperation for 2011.
Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said after the meeting that the Combat Commonwealth 2011 air defense exercises at the Ashuluk firing range in the Astrakhan Region near the Caspian Sea were top of the agenda for next year.
Conducted annually, such exercises are part of efforts to build a joint air defense shield for the CIS, a loose association of former Soviet republics. An integrated air defense network was set up by 10 CIS-member countries February 10, 1995.
The main purpose of the network is to ensure the protection of the member-countries' airspace, early warning of missile attacks and coordination of joint efforts to neutralize potential air threats.
The CIS network currently comprises seven air defense brigades, 46 units equipped with S-200 and S-300 air defense missile systems, 23 fighter units equipped with MiG-29, MiG-31 and Su-27 aircraft, 22 electronic support units and two detachments of electronic warfare.
YALTA, October 20 (RIA Novosti)
