America satisfied with Russian rescuers and pins its hopes on them

The crew of a F-15E US aircraft executing their task in the framework of the anti-terrorist operation in the north of Afghanistan had to eject onto Tajik territory. The pilots were rescued by Russian rescuers, who reached the spot of the Americans’ landing six hours earlier than the US rescue party.

Joint Russian-American training was carried out today in Tajikistan, on the military training ground of 201st division of Russian Armed Forces. According to the scenario, the crew of the shot-down US plane had to eject from their cockpit over Tajikistan. According to Sergei Prusov, an official from the Russian Defence Ministry’s search and rescue office, quoted by RIA ‘Novosty’, the training demonstrated the Russian search and rescue service’s high level and its readiness to execute such tasks. Eighty minutes were spent on the whole operation – from the moment of the switching on of the radio beacon to the embarkation of the crew’s members onto a rescue helicopter. During the military operation in Yugoslavia, Americans spent 6 hours for the same operation. US representative major Barnett also noticed the high degree of readiness and professionalism of the Russian rescuers.

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2001/11/27/34277.html