CSTO military drills concluded in Chebarkul

On the last day of the large-scale Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) military exercises at the Chebarkul firing range near Chelyabinsk, 400 paratroopers and nine BMD airborne combat vehicles were dropped from airplanes.

The military vehicles and personnel of the CSTO were parachuted from 12 Ilyushin Il-76 airplanes. The crews and paratroopers had only 45 minutes to accomplish their objectives.

Every participant in the military exercises acted according to a highly detailed plan. It took a paratroop unit and a combat vehicle less than 20 seconds to be dropped from an airplane. Photo: Paratroopers of the 37th Detached Kazakh Air Assault Brigade heading for the rendezvous point after landing during the final stage of the international military exercises, Interaction 2010, of the CSTO held at the Chebarkul firing range.

The paratroopers engaged the red team immediately after landing. According to the plan, the paratroopers were supposed to cut off the red team’s retreat routes. Photo: Russian paratroopers at the rendezvous point after landing during the final stage of the international military exercises, Interaction 2010, of the CSTO held at the Chebarkul firing range.

The crews of the BMD vehicles had a more difficult objective. They had to locate their airborne vehicles after landing, prepare them for action and head for the red team. Photo: Crew of a BMD airborne combat vehicle dropped from an airplane.

“After landing the parachuted units had 40 minutes to prepare for action. In fact, the units left the rendezvous point 20-25 minutes after landing,” said Major General Alexander Lentsov, deputy commander of the Russian Airborne Force and supervisor of the Interaction 2010 exercises. Photo: A Russian paratrooper at the rendezvous point after landing.

The Interaction 2010 military exercises were held from October 25 to 28, 2010. Photo: A column of BMD airborne combat vehicles.

This is the first time these games have been held in Russia. The large-scale military exercises featured almost 1,700 soldiers and 270 military vehicles. Photo: A BMD airborne combat vehicle.

Besides the Russian and Kazakh troops, the military exercises included Armenian, Kyrgyz and Tajik forces. Belarus, as was initially agreed, was represented by a group of senior officers from the armed forces’ General Staff. Photo: Kazakh paratroopers.

The military exercises focused on containing an armed conflict in the collective security region. Photo: A BMD airborne combat vehicle.