The first of the six chartered Russian transport planes carrying equipment and weapons for Ground Self-Defense Force troops deployed to Iraq arrived Thursday in Kuwait.
The five other Antonov planes will arrive at Abdullah Al-Mubarak Air Base through Friday.
The equipment the planes are carrying include antitank weapons, armored vehicles and materials needed to set up a GSDF camp outside the southern Iraq city of Samawah.
The weapons and equipment are to be used by the first group of the GSDF's main contingent, which is now in Kuwait and preparing to drive to Samawah to join an advance team already there.
The 90-member GSDF group arrived in Kuwait on a government jet Wednesday and checked in at Camp Virginia, a U.S. Army base in western Kuwait, located about 45 km northwest of the air base.
Members of the group will bring the equipment to the U.S. base and inspect it before traveling overland to Samawah, according to the officials.
The group may drive the vehicles in a convoy from the base to Samawah on Saturday.
It will join the advance team of about 30 members in the city to work on setting up the camp and facilities to prepare for the rest of the core GSDF unit, expected to be deployed later this month and in March.
