Russia’s defence ministry to set up new air assault group in Siberia

Russia’s Defense Ministry has started forming a new large air group, which will be based in East Siberia, Eastern Military District spokesman Alexander Gordeyev said on Tuesday.

The air assault regiment will be based at the aerodrome Step in the Trans-Baikal Territory, the spokesman said.

The air regiment with its Sukhoi Su-25 (NATO reporting name: Frogfoot) attack aircraft will fly from the Step airfield near Chita whose modernization will take no more than a year, the spokesman said, adding the aerodrome would be a unique logistics center.

"Currently work is under way to form the engineering and technical and maintenance personnel and requests have been filed for the necessary amount of armaments and combat hardware and material supplies," the colonel said.

Engineering and technical units and the air regiment’s flight control service are expected to be established by the end of this year, he added.

After the completion of necessary works, the Step aerodrome will have no analogs in East Siberia and the Russian Far East by its capabilities, the spokesman said.

Apart from the possibility to receive aircraft of all types, from helicopters to heavy military transport planes, the aerodrome will feature developed infrastructure with unique logistics possibilities," the spokesman said.