DUSHANBE, September 17, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- The combat crew of the air-defense and missile system (ADMS) Pechora-2M of Tajikistan’s Air Defense Force is participating in the final third stage of the CIS military exercises, dubbed Combat Commonwealth-2009, which was launched at the Ashuluk training ground in Russia’s Astrakhan region today, according to the Ministry of Defense (MoD).

The source at a MoD said that the annual training aimed at improving combat cohesion of the CIS air defense forces was attended by senior representatives from the CIS council of defense ministers.

The purpose of the exercises, involving air defense sub-units from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan, is to rehearse coordination and interaction in joint antiterrorist missions, the source said.

We will recall that Tajikistan’s Air-Defense Force acquired ADMS Pechora-2M in December 2008.  The system was delivered from the Russian Federation in the frames of military-technical cooperation between the two countries.  Pechora - 2М air defense system provides struggle against all aerodynamic means of attack, successfully copes with detection of low-flying and small size targets.