New Russian Plane Will Be Able to Deploy Army Globally in 7 Hours by 2024

A fleet of 80 such aircraft will be built by 2024 and will be capable of transferring 400 Armata heavy missile tanks or 900 light armored vehicles to the American continent or Australia in 7-8 hours.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia plans to build a fleet of supersonic military transport aircraft with an unprecedented payload of 220 tons capable of deploying a full-fledged armored army to anywhere in the world in seven hours, Expert Online reported Thursday.

A fleet of 80 such aircraft, dubbed PAK TA, will be built by 2024 and will be capable of transferring 400 Armata heavy missile tanks or 900 light armored vehicles with ammunition to the American continent or Australia in 7-8 hours, according to the media outlet, which cited a military source who attended a closed meeting of the Military-Industrial Commission in Moscow.

"For your understanding, one flight of the [PAK TA aircraft] fleet will be enough to deploy, say, to Cuba an operational and tactical army unit comparable to the total amount of US and NATO forces in Iraq," Expert Online quoted the source as saying.

One PAK TA aircraft can transport five heavy missile tanks, anti-aircraft missile complexes, multiple launch missile systems, and anti-tank missile fighting vehicles, without refueling a distance of 4,350 miles, the source elaborated.

Expert Online added that the ambitious PAK TA project will include a family of medium to super-heavy aircraft.

The heaviest of the aircraft will significantly exceed the carrying threshold of the existing Antonov An-124 Ruslan, an aircraft with up to 165 tons payload.