the first appearance of "cargo 200" is unknown, except that it came into use in the mid-1980s during the soviet–afghan war. the main theory of the term's origin is the ministry of defense of the ussr order no. 200, issued during the on october 8, 1984, coincidentally setting the standardized maximum weight for the air transportation of a deceased soldier's body at . the term saw widespread use in the soviet military by the late 1980s, spawning the related code words "cargo 300" for the transportation of wounded personnel, and "cargo 100" for the transportation of munitions.