MOSCOW, April 18 (RIA Novosti) - A group of former Soviet republics is planning air-defense exercises April 25 as part of an integrated air-defense system, the Russian air force's press service said Tuesday.
The exercises are part of the joint event program of the Integrated Air Defense System of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), approved by the CIS Defense Ministers Council, the press service said.
The exercise will involve up to 70 aircraft and other high-tech equipment.
The CIS Integrated Air Defense System comprises Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine. Georgia recently pulled out of the CIS Defense Ministers Council, but is still formally part of the air-defense system.
The integrated system was set up by 10 CIS states on February 10, 1995.
