MOSCOW, February 22. /TASS/. New special-purpose parachute systems with oxygen equipment have been developed for Russia’s Airborne Force for high-altitude jumps, Airborne Force Commander Andrei Serdyukov said in an interview with the Defense Ministry’s daily Krasnaya Zvezda published on Friday.
"As part of the experimental design work that has been carried out, new special-purpose ‘wing-type’ parachutes with oxygen gear have been developed for landing from high altitudes," the general said.
Since 2018, Russia has also been developing a parachute system to land soldiers with their organic arms and ammunition. Work is also underway to upgrade the D-10 parachute system and a reserve parachute for landing servicemen clad in the Ratnik combat outfit, the general said.
"These parachute systems will feature new technical solutions, such as the fabric with the zero air permeability, the positive buoyancy of cargo containers, etc.," the general explained.
In addition, work is underway to develop a standardized multi-purpose platform for the Airborne Force to land hardware and cargoes weighing more than 15 tonnes, he said.
"Considering that the Airborne Force is being supplied with new military hardware based on Kamaz vehicles, a standardized multi-purpose parachute platform is being developed to land hardware and cargoes with a flight weight of more than 15 tonnes with the help of parachutes," the commander said.
Already in 2019, the Airborne Force will start getting the Bakhcha-U-PDS parachute system designed to land modern combat hardware, such as BMD-4M airborne assault vehicles and BTR-MDM armored personnel carriers with the crews inside them, the general said.