"Improving combat coordination": how the exercises of the Russian army in 2021 were carried out

In the past year, the Russian army has conducted a number of large-scale training and maneuvers.

As the head of the military department Sergei Shoigu said at a recent expanded meeting of the collegium of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the main event was the joint Russian-Belarusian strategic exercise (SSU) "West-2021".

“It has demonstrated the ability of the created rank-and-file groups to effectively carry out tasks to ensure regional security.

About 200 thousand servicemen were involved in it, including 2 thousand from the CSTO, SCO and other countries, ”Shoigu said.

Exercises "West-2021" were held from 10 to 16 September at the training grounds of the Union State.

In training, as Shoigu emphasized, for the first time, "serial shock robotic systems were used on a large scale in battle formations."

The debutants of the maneuvers were UAVs "Walker", "Swallow", ground-based autonomous combat vehicles "Uran-9", "Nerekhta", "Platform-M".

During the exercise, Russian and Belarusian units worked out methods to contain the advancing enemy forces and defeat the enemy in the course of a counterattack.

All possible risks were included in the script and the legend of the maneuvers.

The main stage of the SSU "West-2021" took place at the Mulino training ground in the Nizhny Novgorod region.

Robotic systems were used to support the advancement deep into the enemy's defenses.

For example, the autonomous vehicle "Platform-M" helped motorized riflemen and paratroopers of the RF Armed Forces to strike at the enemy, conduct reconnaissance and make passes through minefields.

Speaking at an expanded meeting of the collegium of the Ministry of Defense, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that the results of the joint strategic exercise convincingly showed a further increase in the level of combat training in the Russian army.

In a commentary on RT, military expert Alexei Leonkov noted that at all training sessions, the level of combat coordination of units is first checked.

According to him, the Zapad-2021 exercises demonstrated that everything is in order with this component in the Russian troops.

• Robotic complex "Uran-9" and BMP B-19 in the exercise "West-2021"

• © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

The analyst called the use of modern automated control systems, which significantly reduced the decision-making cycle in the theater of operations (theater of operations) and improved the interaction of army groups, as a key guarantee of success.

“In the course of these maneuvers, about 200 thousand servicemen, a large number of equipment and weapons were simultaneously involved in 14 training grounds.

All troops performed tasks within the framework of a single plan.

Everything was controlled by the National Center for Defense Management of the Russian Federation.

It was an incredible, one might say, unprecedented scale, ”Leonkov stressed.

"Positive effect"

In a conversation with RT, the head of the Bureau of Political-Military Analysis, Alexander Mikhailov, said that in 2021, almost all major events of the Russian army were of great geopolitical significance, especially given the provocative policies of Ukraine and Western states.

According to the expert, it was the large-scale interspecific exercise of the units of the Southern Military District (YuVO) and the Airborne Forces in the spring of this year that made it possible to reduce the intensity of tension near the Russian borders.

We will remind that during it a large number of troops and equipment were transferred to the Crimea.

According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, in the second half of April, more than 10 thousand servicemen, 1.2 thousand units of weapons and military equipment were concentrated on the peninsula as part of the active phase of the exercises, of which more than 40 ships and boats, 20 support vessels, up to 200 flying devices.

An important role in the defeat of the conditional enemy was assigned to the "blue berets".

Under the cover of ships, aviation and air defense systems, 2 thousand paratroopers parachuted into the Opuk training ground, where (according to legend) they destroyed the advanced command post of the enemy's united army corps, prevented the approach of enemy reserves and ensured the safe arrival of the marines on the coast.

“Any military activity of our country in the western direction will certainly cause a wave of irritation in Ukraine and NATO.

However, in the end it is converted into a positive effect for Russia and international security, since for a while our ill-wishers come to their senses, "Mikhailov said.

The expert is sure that the coordinated actions of the Southern Military District and the landing of 2 thousand paratroopers in Crimea had a sobering effect this spring on Kiev, NATO countries and "their Washington curators."

• Servicemen of the Russian army in the exercise

• © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

In turn, Alexei Leonkov drew attention to the fact that in terms of international security, the exercises of the units of the CSTO member countries were also of great importance in 2021.

This year, the main military events took place in Central Asia against the backdrop of the hasty withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and the return to power of the Taliban *.

One of the events called "Rubezh-2021" took place in the first half of September.

The exercise took place in Kyrgyzstan at the high-mountainous Edelweiss training ground with the participation of the troops of the Collective Rapid Deployment Forces of the Central Asian region (CRDF CAR).

150 pieces of equipment were involved in the maneuvers: helicopters, aircraft, tanks, armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, armored vehicles "Tiger", flamethrower systems, artillery howitzers D-30, multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) BM-21 "Grad".

The exercises were aimed at repelling attacks by illegal armed groups (IAFs) on the territory of a CSTO member country.

During the training, the transfer of troops, the formation of headquarters and command posts, resources for logistics and technical support were worked out.

In October, for the first time on the territory of Tajikistan, the exercises of the CSTO troops "Echelon-2021" were held.

These maneuvers were of an anti-terrorist nature and were aimed at solving the problems of material and technical support (MTO).

The bulk of the Russian contingent was made up of servicemen from the 201st military base stationed in Dushanbe and Bokhtar.

On November 8-12, an exercise of the CSTO Collective Peacekeeping Forces "Indestructible Brotherhood - 2021" was held, but the tasks were worked out not in Central Asia, but at the training ground of the Kazan Higher Tank Command School.

A little later, the "Cobalt-2021" maneuvers were held in Tajikistan, in which special forces of the Collective Rapid Reaction Force (CRRF) of the CSTO were involved.

• Servicemen of the RF Armed Forces at an international exercise

• © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

In December, Valery Semerikov, Deputy Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, said that the exercises in Tajikistan had helped to normalize the situation on the border with Afghanistan.

Leonkov believes that intensive military measures "on the southern flanks of the CSTO" largely neutralized the negative effect of the hasty withdrawal of US troops and the change of power in Afghanistan.

“With the collapse of the previous regime in Kabul, the terrorist threat has grown even more.

Of course, even now this problem has not disappeared, but the military activity of the CSTO forces had a revitalizing military-political influence on the situation in the region.

In addition, the exercises contributed to an increase in combat coordination between the participants and the expansion of military-technical cooperation, "Leonkov explained.

"At a different level"

The Ministry of Defense considers the operational exercise of the Pacific Fleet (Pacific Fleet) forces in the far sea zone to be a significant event in the field of combat training of the Russian Armed Forces in the outgoing year.

“For the first time in modern history, an operational exercise was conducted with a grouping of forces of the Pacific Fleet in the far sea zone.

In the course of it, the forces of the fleet carried out a covert deployment in a remote region of the Pacific Ocean, ”Shoigu said at an expanded meeting of the collegium of the military department.

This exercise took place in June.

In the course of it, the Pacific Fleet's naval tactical groups made a transition of about 4 thousand km from their basing points.

In the Pacific Ocean, they worked out the tasks of finding and tracking submarines and surface groupings of the imaginary enemy.

Also, in cooperation with naval aviation, the Pacific Fleet ships inflicted simulated attacks with cruise missiles at critical military infrastructure facilities of the alleged enemy.

As previously reported in the press service of the Eastern Military District, up to 20 ships, submarines and support vessels and 20 aircraft were involved in the maneuvers, including Tu-142M3 and Il-38 anti-submarine aircraft, MiG-31BM high-altitude interceptor fighters, Ka -27.

According to Alexander Mikhailov, every year the Russian army is increasing the number of units involved in major exercises.

Along with this, the geography of the maneuvers is expanding and the number of foreign participants is growing.

The expert also drew attention to the increased popularity of the International Army Games in 2021.

“In my opinion, the most important points this year in terms of combat training were two.

The first is the use of the latest types of weapons at training ranges.

This was done thanks to the implementation of the state defense order and despite the ongoing pandemic.

The second is the holding of the Army Games and 45 international exercises at various levels, "Mikhailov summed up.

* The organization is under UN sanctions for terrorist activities.