Russia approached France with a proposal regarding using French base in Djibouti for deploying two Russian Il-38 antisubmarine aircraft. It was declared by the Russian Minister of Defense, Anatoly Serdukov, in Paris, RBC reports.
He noted that this move will increase the air grouping deployed there to 5 aircraft. The vehicles are among other things used for anti-piracy operations in the region.
A. Serdukov noted that Russia is interested in further military-technical cooperation with France in different areas, including “future soldier”, materiel support and personnel training.
Il-38 is a maritime aircraft derived from Il-18. It is used for reconnaissance and antisubmarine defense.
According to the report of International Maritime Bureau (IMB, division of International Chamber of Commerce), 70 assaults of Somali pirates have taken place during 9 months of 2012. Different sources believe that the total disbenefit of world economy caused by the assaults of pirates varies from $7 to $12 billion per year.
The forces of UN and EU have been deployed in the Gulf of Aden in 2008. The ships of NATO have been there since 2002 and later the forces of Russia, China, India and other countries have joined them.











