Russian tankers and Orlan-10 UAV conduct exercise in Tajikistan

Russia’s 201st military base tankers have participated in a one-day training exercise in partnership with the crews of Orlan-10 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).

The exercise allowed them to practice destroying a mock enemy. It was conducted at the Lyaur training ground in the mountains of Tajikistan.

During the drill, crews of the UAVs performed an aerial reconnaissance of the area.

The UAVs discovered masked targets and communicated the information to the command post.

Following this, the Russian T-72 tank crews begin the attack on the enemy objects.

Located at a distance of 500m to 2,000m, the enemy objects were destroyed by the tankers using 125mm guns.

It also saw the employment of flank shooting, gun firing and machine gun at emerging and moving targets.

Using small arms and AGS-17 grenade launchers, the enemy forces were destroyed by motorised rifle units attached to the tankers.

All the while, UAV specialists helped the tank gunners by transmitting the targets’ coordinates.

Russian land and airforces combined their capabilities to destroy the enemy manpower.

The exercise involved about 500 military personnel and more than 80 pieces of military equipment.

Stationed in Tajikistan, the 201st military base is Russia’s largest military facility outside its borders and is located in two cities of Dushanbe and Bokhtar.

In October 2012, an agreement was reached to allow the base to remain stationed in Tajikistan until 2042.