Between 21-26 September the KAVKAZ-2020 Strategic Exercise took place in the Southern Military District of Russia. The Russian Minister of Defence, Sergey Shoigu, talked about the results of the exercise at the National Centre for State Defence Control of the Russian Federation.
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"As soon as possible, the Ministry of Defence created an effective system to counter the pandemic. The measures taken made it possible to avoid mass infection of military personnel and to carry out the planned activities of combat training, including preparations for Kavkaz-2020 strategic exercise. As a result, we did not allow a reduction in the combat capabilities of the Armed Forces," the Defence Minister said.
One of the most significant results of the exercise were working out new ways of all-arms actions of troops in the complicated situation of the modern armed conflict, use of high-precision weapons, intelligence and electronic warfare systems, automation of command and control processes, as well as the integration of intelligence and information control systems.
"New reconnaissance-strike and reconnaissance-fire complexes, automated control systems have shown high efficiency," said the Russian Ministry of Defence.
Furthermore, the exercise gave the opportunity to experiment with the formation and order of combat use of a new type of formations in the mobile echelon. It also helped significantly increase dynamics and pressure of destroying the enemy during joint actions of a separate airborne assault brigade and an army aviation brigade.
Crews of the long-range anti-aircraft missile systems S-300V4, S-400 "Triumph" and anti-aircraft missile systems "Buk-M3" hit the latest high-speed air targets that mimic tactical missiles and enemy aircraft during the exercise.
"For the first time, the airborne troops dropped 10 combat vehicles from military transport aircraft at once, prepared for landing by regular crews," added the Ministry of Defence.
The latest TOS-2 heavy flamethrower system was used for the first time during Kavkaz-2020 strategic exercise.
"The Defence Minister recalled that in total, almost 79.5 thousand servicemen of various types and branches of the Armed Forces participated in the maneuvers "Kavkaz-2020". Up to 280 tanks, 450 infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, 200 artillery systems and multiple launch rocket systems were involved," came in the Ministry's release.
"At the same time, I emphasise that all the requirements of the Vienna document of 2011 regarding the number of military personnel and military equipment of the Land Forces, Navy and Air Forces formations were met during the exercises conducted under a single command," the head of the military department added. "This was confirmed by inspection teams from Germany and Denmark, as well as joint missions from Germany, Romania and France, which worked under the Open Skies Treaty during the active phase of the exercise."
The scope of the exercise, according to Sergei Shoigu, was more than 1,000 square kilometers. Practical actions of the troops were practiced at six combined-arms and two aviation ranges, as well as in the waters of the Black and Caspian seas.
The total number of foreign participants was 858. Five States sent observers. These are Azerbaijan, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Iran.A coalition group of troops was created, which included formations of the Russian Armed Forces and military formations from Armenia, Belarus, China, Myanmar and Pakistan. Russian and Iranian warships operated in the Caspian sea.
"Demonstrating maximum openness, we proactively brought information about the exercise to all OSCE participating states and NATO headquarters," the Defence Minister said." military attaches of foreign states accredited in Moscow were informed in advance of the goals and objectives of the exercise, the areas where it was held, as well as the forces and means involved."
"Summing up, I note that the training was held at a high professional level. I want to thank the personnel for their initiative and diligence, their ability to make non — standard decisions in a complex and dynamically changing environment, " said General of the Army Sergei Shoigu. "Despite some quarantine measures, the Armed Forces have demonstrated increased combat capabilities to neutralize threats to the military security of the Russian Federation."
The created coalition group has shown excellent results in performing tasks to resolve armed conflicts related to countering terrorism, the Russian Defence Minister concluded.
