Russia to stage large war game in Far East

In June a large war game of the Russian army is due in the Far East, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told journalists on Tuesday.

"The active phase with lifting permanent-readiness units to the Far East will be held on June 21 through 25. A permanent-readiness regiment, airborne and marine units totaling about 800 men, will be airlifted," the defense minister said.

To Sergei Ivanov, one of the goals of the armed forces is professionalism, mobility and the capacity for operative troop movements from one region to another.

Even world-scale troops transportation is now topical, he specified.

"It cannot be done without the use of units of military transport aviation. The simultaneous use of over 50 planes will be required for the exercise," he said.

Long-haul civilian planes will also be involved, the Russian defense minister said. "We'll simultaneously see how military and non-military pilots and air traffic controllers do teamwork on land. I'm sure our exercise will not disrupt work of civil aviation," Sergei Ivanov said.

In the end of June, west-east air corridors will be very packed, noted the minister. "We've never held such an exercise since the Soviet times," Sergei Ivanov said.