MOSCOW, August 01. /ITAR-TASS/. Army aviation will possibly be included in the rapid reaction force that is being created in Russia on the basis of Airborne Troops (VDV), the troops Commander Colonel General Vladimir Shamanov said on Friday.

He added that the decision on the creation in the Russian Air Force of “some 15 or 17 army aviation brigades has been made.”

“However, this does not preclude in the future as the rapid reaction force is formed on the VDV foundation that such structures may have the directly subordinate overall-support combat component, including army aviation,” Shamanov said on the eve of Russian Airborne Troops Day.

He added that paratroopers already now would like to have army aviation structures within Russia’s assault force, “but the state’s current capacity for this is limited.