"Performed by all units": how the Russian army is improving the fight against saboteurs

Units of the combined arms army conducted in the Amur region a training session on countering sabotage and reconnaissance groups (DRG) of a simulated enemy using UAVs and electronic warfare (EW).

This was reported by the press service of the Eastern Military District (VVO).

“According to the concept of the exercise, several“ enemy ”DRGs have the task of disabling the communications center.

To search for saboteurs to help the scouts and security units, unmanned aerial vehicles "Tachyon" were used, which conducted reconnaissance using optical and thermal imaging cameras, "the website of the Russian Ministry of Defense says.

Also, to detect the saboteurs, the Borisoglebsk-2 electronic warfare systems were used, which made it possible to continuously monitor the activity of the enemy's communications equipment at the required distance.

“The set of measures taken made it possible to quickly detect sabotage groups and neutralize them.

The new way of an integrated approach to protection against saboteurs helped to reduce the search time and significantly increased the security of command posts and other critical facilities, "the military notes.

"Tachyon" is a small unmanned aerial vehicle for aerial photographic reconnaissance of enemy targets, target designation, relaying radio signals.

The maximum range of the drone is 40 km.

The complex can perform tasks at any time of the day with wind gusts up to 15 m / s.

The maximum flight altitude of the Tachyon is 4,000 meters.

Borisoglebsk-2 is one of the most modern Russian electronic warfare systems.

The vehicle is capable of suppressing UAV control channels, satellite communication channels, as well as affecting sources of radio-electronic radiation in all frequency ranges, thereby completely disrupting the command and control system of a potential enemy.

In an interview with RT, a retired colonel, military expert Mikhail Khodarenok called the combination of UAVs and electronic warfare equipment effective for detecting sabotage squads.

“The use of drones makes it possible to detect saboteurs, determine their coordinates, and send special forces groups to them.

In turn, the electronic warfare deprives them of the opportunity to exchange data, that is, information about the nature of the activities of our troops will not be transmitted, even if the DRG managed to find out something, ”Khodarenok explained.

"Discovered and neutralized"

According to the Ministry of Defense, various anti-sabotage measures are regularly carried out in the Russian army.

So, this year, the largest maneuvers, which, among other things, worked out methods of combating DRGs, was the Kavkaz-2020 strategic command and staff exercise, which took place from September 21 to 25.

It involved about 80 thousand people.

At the Prudboy training ground in the Volgograd region, the tactics of raiding actions to search for and destroy conditional sabotage groups of illegal armed formations were worked out by motorized riflemen and military personnel of the Airborne Forces.

• Russian army servicemen in training

• © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

DRGs were detected by unmanned aerial vehicles and other modern reconnaissance means.

For the pursuit, encirclement and destruction of the conditional enemy, the SKSHU participants used BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles, T-90A tanks and small arms.

Methods for eliminating saboteurs within the framework of the Caucasus-2020 exercise were also worked out at the Alagyaz training ground (Armenia).

Armenian formations and military police of the Southern Military District were involved in this event.

Russian servicemen carried out a covert approach to the captured buildings, blocked them and destroyed conditional DRGs.

Also, according to the plan of the command and control squadron at the Dzartsemi training ground (South Ossetia), UAVs, an SBR-3 short-range reconnaissance station, the Strelets reconnaissance, control and communications complex, which provides data processing for the subsequent use of weapons, were used to detect enemy sabotage groups.

Three company tactical groups of the Russian army and the troops of South Ossetia took part in the destruction of enemy formations.

The first two units blocked the enemy's area, and the third struck at the DRG positions.

In addition to the means of ground reconnaissance and destruction, at the Kavkaz-2020 command and control squadron, tactical aircraft Su-34, Su-24, Su-30SM and MiG-29SMT, attack helicopters Mi-28N 4th were involved in the fight against conventional saboteurs Army Air Force and Air Defense of the Southern Military District.

In the Russian fleet, much attention is paid to preparing the fight against submarine saboteurs.

In mid-October, a detachment of warships and support vessels of the Caspian Flotilla (CFL) conducted an anti-submarine sabotage defense exercise.

The combat swimmers of the conditional enemy were detected with the help of onboard sonar weapons in the area of ​​the anchorage of ships in an unprotected roadstead.

To eliminate them, grenades were used.

After the destruction of the saboteurs, the KFL diving groups examined the hulls of the ships for the detection of explosive devices and possible damage.

However, in the Russian fleet, the physical destruction of enemy combat swimmers is not always practiced.

For example, in the spring, a detachment of anti-sabotage forces and means (PDSS) of the Novorossiysk naval base detained underwater saboteurs, whose role was played by divers of the emergency rescue unit of the Black Sea Fleet.

• Servicemen of the RF Armed Forces during exercises

• © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

Much attention in the Russian army is paid to the protection of carriers of nuclear weapons from DRGs.

According to the legend, the exercises held in October in the 54th Guards Missile Division of the Strategic Missile Forces (Teykovo), the enemy mined the combat patrol routes of the Yars mobile complexes and the special equipment accompanying him.

“DRGs were detected at the distant approaches to field positions and were promptly neutralized.

The saboteurs, who outnumber the security and defense units, failed to disrupt the preparation of the crews for the combat training mission, ”says the description of the exercise legend on the Defense Ministry website.

According to the ministry, at present, a unique "Foliage" vehicle can be used to demining areas of combat patrolling of mobile complexes of the Strategic Missile Forces, and an anti-sabotage armored personnel carrier "Typhoon-M", designed on the basis of the BTR-82, for reconnaissance and destruction of DRGs.

"The fight comes to the fore"

According to experts, under the DRG, the Russian military most often means illegal armed groups, special forces of NATO member countries and other geopolitical opponents of Moscow.

So, at the beginning of August 2016, several groups of Ukrainian servicemen tried to break through to the territory of Crimea with the aim of organizing terrorist attacks.

The Russian security officials managed to stop the planned crimes and neutralize the violators.

However, in clashes with the DRG, an FSB officer and a serviceman were killed.

In a commentary on RT, the editor-in-chief of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine, Viktor Murakhovsky, said that in the modern theater of military operations (TMD), even a small sabotage and reconnaissance group, if not detected and blocked in a timely manner, is capable of causing large-scale material damage and disrupting the deployment of troops in the event aggression.

“The special operations forces of developed countries are equipped with modern means of communication, fire destruction, reconnaissance and surveillance, including small-sized UAVs.

In fact, even one small DRG can disrupt the fulfillment of a combat mission of a very large military formation, for example, by destroying a command post or a communications center or making it difficult to deploy strike weapons at firing positions or positional areas, ”Murakhovsky stated.

According to him, the development of methods for combating DRGs is one of the key tasks of the RF Armed Forces.

Therefore, the search and destruction of saboteurs are being practiced, including by units located outside the border strip.

“I would like to emphasize that there is no need to develop a narrowly targeted weapons system or create special units to counter the DRG.

The fight against saboteurs is being practiced by all divisions, by all headquarters with the use of existing weapons, ”says Murakhovsky.

Mikhail Khodarenok also believes that a well-prepared DRG poses a serious threat to the theater of operations.

The expert noted that modern wars are waged without clearly defined front lines and the location of battle formations.

In such conditions, the use of sabotage groups "can give significant results."

“DRGs can do a lot of harm, so the fight against them comes to the fore, although it cannot be said that countering saboteurs is a new task.

Today, in this field, the Russian army has all the necessary means and has significant experience, which, among other things, was gained during the armed conflict in Syria, ”Khodarenok concluded.