YEKATERINBURG, September 27. /TASS/. Crews of modernized Mi-8 helicopters of a helicopter squadron of the Army of the Air Force and Air Defense of the Central Military District, stationed in Kazakhstan, launched unguided missiles during tactical flight exercises which ended on Monday at the Edelweiss aviation range in the Issyk-Kul region (Kyrgyzstan), the regional press service said.

"In the course of three-day drills, the crews practiced training flights in mountainous and high-altitude areas. In the final phase of the exercise, they conducted combat use of 80-mm air-to-surface missiles at targets simulating a lightly armored convoy of equipment and mobile command posts of a conventional enemy. The pilots performed more than 20 sorties and launched about 50 unguided missiles," the report says.

Over 50 flight and engineering personnel and two Mi-8MTV5 helicopters were involved in the drills. Earlier, helicopter crews arrived at Russia’s Kant integrated airbase from the Priozersk airfield in Kazakhstan.

The joint Russian military base in Kant is an aviation base of the Collective Rapid Reaction Forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and participates in ensuring the security of the airspace. The base is armed with Su-25 attack aircraft and Mi-8 helicopters.