Airborne Troops Commander Colonel General Vladimir Shamanov said that in accordance with the concept of development of Airborne Forces, approved by the Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, another separate Air Assault Brigade, which is located in Voronezh will be formed in 2016″.
“The team will be formed in Voronezh before the end of 2016. The relevant decision is taken by the Ministry of Defence”, said the commander.
“This devision is numbered 345 in honor of the legendary 345- Bagram parachute regiment”, said Shamanov, as quoted by ITAR -TASS.
Like other units of our troops , without taking into account the 31th Brigade of Ulyanovsk , 80% of 345 Air Assault Brigade will be staffed by contract soldiers and 20% ( support units ) – by conscripts”, he informed . It is early to speak on brigade staff: it is still specified by us and the General Staff, but even judging only by the name of the unit, we can say that in addition to other combat units it will include at least two assault combat battalions”.
The Airborne Forces Commander added that the reassignment of three separate assault brigades of the Army will happen in the near future.
Three air assault brigades of the Army will be reassigned to our troops and will be included in their effective combat strength in the near future , this matter is agreed upon at all levels, the necessary documents are prepared , we are now waiting for the decree of the President of the Russian Federation”, said the Commander .
“It’s about teams , stationed in Ussuriysk , Ulan -Ude (Eastern Military District) and Kamyshin (Southern Military District) “, said Shaman.
He explained the feasibility of these arrangements by the need to “keep under a single management all airborne and air assault units which as a mobile reserve of the High Command and the basis of rapid reaction forces would operate under a single operational plan in the interests of the national defense”.
“Naturally, with the transferring of these three teams from the Army we will solve all the problems of their training, recruitment, all-out support and tactical employment according to our plans”, added the Commander.
In June Shamanov told that the combat power of the Navy will be increased due to the formation of air assault and airborne regiments, new units will be formed until 2020.
On May, 30 Shamanov spoke on “Prospects of the Navy” at the board meeting of the Defense Ministry. After that, he told reporters that the Navy command considers it necessary to have units of the army aviation , unmanned aerial vehicles and aircraft An-2 in the units of “winged infantry”.
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