Only the Russian Armed Forces are capable of air-dropping their combat hardware from aircraft, Russia’s Airborne Force Commander Colonel-General Andrei Serdyukov told TASS on Monday.

"All Airborne Force units of the armies of all major foreign military powers parachute only personnel and cargoes while military hardware is delivered by the landing rather than by the parachuting method. We, however, can air-drop whole airborne battalions and even airborne regiments and also combat hardware. These capabilities will increase further with the development of military transport aviation," the commander said on the eve of 87 years since Russia’s Airborne Force was established.

No other country in the world can feature such capabilities today, the commander said.

"Foreign armies have no parachuting means, which we have, and their hardware is not suitable for air-dropping. They have not dealt with this issue," the commander said.

The Russian Airborne Force will get a new Bakhcha-UPDS multi-cupola parachute system in 2018. The parachute system will make it possible to air-drop BMD-4M airborne infantry fighting vehicles with seven-member crews from military transport planes, the commander said.

The new parachute system will primarily start arriving for parachute infantry units and high-alert formations, he added.

"This year, the state trials of the Bakhcha-UPDS new parachute system designed to air-drop BMD-4M vehicles and other hardware from military transport planes are coming to a close. These trials are proceeding successfully. We are planning to finish this work by the end of the year and somewhere at the beginning of next year this system will become operational and will be primarily arriving in a planned manner for our parachute infantry units and high-alert units," the commander said.

"The BMD-4M is made precisely in its air-droppable version with the accommodation of personnel inside it and in this vehicle we can parachute seven people," the commander said.

For this purpose, the required equipment has been installed inside the BMD-4M and special seats for personnel have been installed, he said.

"Immediately after landing, this fighting vehicle with paratroopers inside can accomplish assigned missions, including combat and special assignments. Its ability to quickly leave the parachuting area after landing considerably increases its survivability," the Airborne Force commander said.

The BMD-4M is equipped with the automated fire control system and a new navigation system. Its advanced electronic equipment facilitates the crew’s aiming while moving at high speeds across rough terrain.