The specialist heavy lift and outsize air cargo market has been given a major capacity boost courtesy of all people – the Russian military! According to reports, the 224th Air Detachment of Military Transport Aviation detachment of the Russian Airforce has begun operating two Antonov 124 freighters on a commercial charter basis. At first we thought this would probably be met with laughter by the other An-124 operators like Volga-Dnepr, Polet and Maximus, but then we got to thinking that actually this erstwhile fighting force, turned commercial cargo carrier might be on to something. Just think about it, if you need cargo capacity into Afganistan – no problem, these Russian pilots know that country like the back of their hands. And how about cargo to Angola, or Cuba, or maybe Georgia!? And aside from that, no worries about security, you’ve got the full force of the Russian military behind you, including heavy duty ground handling!