Special units of Russian Airborne Troops will perform parachute operation in Arctic in March or April. Among other tasks, paratroopers will practice landing on drifting ice floe, said General Major Vladimir Kochetkov, deputy commander of Airborne Troops.

Russian airborne troopers in Arctic Cont

"According to the training plan, airborne troops will be applied in Arctic. There they will carry out landing under severe climatic conditions on a confined area, for example, on a drifting ice floe. The exercise is scheduled in March or April", reportsciting Kochetkov.According to him, paratroopers use a new modernized controlled parachute system named Arbalet-2 designed for reconnaissance units and airborne troops. Tests of this system with oxygen equipment are at the closing stage at the moment; such system would allow dropping paratroopers from the altitude up to 8,000 meters, said the general.The Arbalet-2 system is designed for safe parachuting of a person having mission weight up to 150 kg from an aircraft flying at a speed up to 350 kph. It can be used at temperatures from - 35°C to + 35°C.Earlier on, Russian Defense Ministry reported about plans to perform a massive parachute operation near the North Pole in the first half of 2016. The Russias first-ever Arctic landing operation took place in the spring of 2014; a battalion of the 98th Airborne division (350 men) landed on the Kotelny Island (New Siberian Islands).