Russia May Deploy Reconnaissance Planes in Djibouti

Russia has asked France to allow the deployment of two Ilyushin Il-38 naval reconnaissance planes at a French base in Djibouti to facilitate its anti-piracy missions in the Gulf of Aden, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said on Wednesday.

“We have asked France to host two reconnaissance planes at its air base in Djibouti in addition to three French planes deployed there,” Serdyukov said after a meeting of the Russian-French Security Cooperation Council in Paris.

The Il-38 May is a Soviet-era maritime patrol aircraft still in service with the Russian Navy.

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