distances and low-pressure tires allowing operations from small or poorly prepared airstrips. While they lack the speed and range of strategic airlifters (which are typically jet-powered), these capabilities are invaluable within war zones. Larger helicopters such as the CH-47 Chinook and Mil Mi-26 can also be used to airlift men and equipment. Helicopters have the advantage that they do not require a landing strip and that equipment can often be suspended below the aircraft allowing it to be delivered without landing but are fuel inefficient and thus typically have limited range. Hybrid aircraft such as the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey also exist which attempt to combine VTOL flight with greater range and speed. Tactical airlift aircraft are designed to be maneuverable, allowing the low-altitude flight to avoid detection by radar and for the airdropping of supplies. Most are fitted with defensive aids systems to protect them from attack by surface-to-air missiles. The earliest Soviet tactical airlift occurred in 1929, in which forty men of the Red Army were airlifted to the town of Garm, Tajikistan (then the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic) to repel an attacking force of Basmachi rebels under Fuzail Maksum. Examples of late current large tactical airlifters include: Antonov An-12 Antonov An-72 Antonov An-70 Antonov An-178 EADS CASA CN-235 EADS CASA C-295 C-27 Spartan C-130J Super Hercules Transall C-160 Kawasaki C-2 Shaanxi Y-8 Shaanxi Y-9 Embraer KC-390 Airlifter comparison Recent platforms See also Airbridge Airdrop Air cargo Berlin airlift Loss of Strength Gradient, a military concept Operation Nickel Grass, to Israel, 1973 Power projection Sealift Hub-spoke distribution References and notes External links Military transport Articles containing video clips