Russia developing aircraft fleet that will deploy army, tanks anywhere on earth 'within hours'

In the future, a fleet of heavy transport aircraft, developed by Russia, will move a strategic unit of 400 Armata tanks, with ammunition, to anywhere in the world at hypersonic speed, enabling Moscow to launch a global military response within hours.

According to a new design specification from the Military-Industrial Commission in Moscow, the aircraft, dubbed PAK TA, will fly at a speed of up to 2,000 km/h and carry impressively high payload of up to 200 tons. It will also have a range of at least 7,000 kilometers, rt.com reported.

One of the main functions of the heavy transport aircraft would be to transport Armata heavy missile tanks and other military hardware on the same platform, such as enhanced self-propelled artillery weapons systems, anti-aircraft missile complexes, tactical missile carriers, multiple launch missile systems, and anti-tank missile fighting vehicles.

The PAK TA freighters will be multilevel and have automated cargo loading, with the ability to airdrop hardware and personnel on any terrain, the report said.

A fleet of several dozen PAK TA aircrafts will be able to lift 400 Armata heavy tanks, or 900 light armored vehicles, such as Sprut-SD airborne amphibious self-propelled tank destroyers.

A source who attended the closed meeting of the Military-Industrial Commission said that this was the first time that an operational capability is being designed to airlift a full-fledged army to any desired place on the planet. He added that this meant that a task force of the size of the former NATO and the U.S. troops in Iraq could be delivered to any continent in a matter of hours.

The program aims to develop 80 new cargo aircraft by 2024.