NEW AIRBORNE COMBAT VEHICLE DEPLOYED SUCCESSFULLY FROM AIRCRAFT
RIA Novosti
ZHITOVO (Ryazan region), March 24 (RIA Novosti) - On Thursday, the 106th Airborne Division, Russian Airborne Troops, successfully deployed the 12-parachute Sprut, a new Russian-designed airborne combat vehicle, from an aircraft in a command post exercise, First Deputy Russian Defense Minister Colonel General Alexander Belousov told RIA Novosti.
The general said it was a unique operation because the Sprut, a vehicle armed with a 125-mm tank gun, weighs 18 to 20 tons.
"This is the heaviest vehicle we have dropped so far," he said.
According to Belousov, a preliminary decision to include the combat vehicle in the Russian inventory had been taken previously, but the Sprut's future will be decided by the ongoing exercise.
"Let's call it a flight test for the Sprut. If everything is all right, the vehicle will be commissioned for use," he said.
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