From 22 to 26 April, this year, the CSTO Secretariat is holding an annual training meeting for representatives of ministries and departments of the Collective Security Treaty Organization member states without military status.
The meeting was held in the city of Moscow under the chairmanship of Viktor Zinoviev, Secretary of the CSTO Interstate Commission on Military-Economic Cooperation (ICMEC, Commission).
February 6, 2019, a briefing was held by Anatoly Sidorov, Chief of the Joint Staff of the CSTO: "Results of the joint training of the governing bodies and forces of the CSTO collective security system for 2018 and tasks for 2019"
22.01.2019
On February 6, 2019, at 11:00, the International Press Center of the Russia-Today MIA (Presidential Hall) held a briefing by Colonel-General Anatoly Sidorov, Chief of the Joint Headquarters of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, with video connection of sites in Astana, Bishkek, Yerevan, Minsk.
The briefing discussed the military-political situation in the CSTO's area of responsibility (in the East European, Caucasus and Central Asian regions), the results of the joint training of the CSTO Collective Forces and the main tasks for 2019, including the features of joint activities of operational and combat training in 2019 and operational-strategic exercises "Combat Brotherhood - 2019".
The chief of the CSTO Joint Staff said that in order to ensure the readiness of the collective security system’s forces to ensure guaranteed protection, prevent aggression or threaten aggression against the Organization’s member states, a complex of measures is being conducted on an ongoing basis, one of which is joint operational and combat training.
In 2018, we continued the practice of holding joint training events against a single background of a conventional military-political and strategic environment. All joint exercises were held as part of the operational-strategic exercise “Combat Brotherhood”, during which questions were developed to improve decision-making mechanisms for the use of forces and means of the CSTO collective security system and the organization of command and control (collective forces) formations of forces and means of the collective security system in the preparation and conduct of joint operations, "said Anatoly Sidorov.
According to him, the main objectives of the joint exercises were:
- improvement of the forms of application of the CSTO Troops (Collective Forces) and methods for accomplishing tasks for the purpose of the formations included in their composition;
- the coordination of command and control bodies in planning the use and management of troops, and the military contingents of the CSTO member states in charge of joint special, military and peacekeeping operations;
- conducting research on the most pressing issues of development, preparation and use of forces and means of the collective security system.
In order to practice training questions, a conditional situation was created, based on the deterrence and resolution of an armed conflict on the territory of one of the CSTO member states and the conduct of a peacekeeping operation on the territory of a non-member state of the United Nations Security Council resolution.
To conduct joint exercises, nine training grounds were used in the territories of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and the Russian Federation.
More than 10 thousand people, more than 1500 units of armaments and military equipment, including more than 90 units of aircraft, were attracted to the joint operational-strategic doctrine “Combat Brotherhood-2018”.
Within the framework of the joint exercise, research was organized by representatives of the basic research organizations of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, military educational institutions of the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as representatives of the defense departments of the Republic of Armenia and the Kyrgyz Republic, the results of which we will certainly take into account when conducting joint activities this year.
All events were held at a high level, which was repeatedly noted by observers at all stages of the exercise, including from the United Nations, from the Armed Forces of the Republic of Serbia, the regional Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the Russian Federation, Belarus and Moldova, etc.
The joint operational-strategic doctrine “Combat Brotherhood-2018” was organized and conducted in three stages, which allowed us to work out the whole complex of measures for prevention (deterrence), resolution of the armed conflict and post-conflict resolution in a logical sequence.
In the course of the strategic command-staff training, one of the options for action by the CSTO Crisis Response Center in the event of a crisis situation in the Central Asian region of collective security, which arose as a result of actions by international terrorist organizations, was considered. At the same time, considerable work was done on analyzing the current situation, carrying out operational calculations, developing a package of documents necessary for a decision to be made by the Organization’s Collective Security Council.
At the second stage, the tasks of applying the CSTO Troops (Collective Forces) to resolve the armed conflict were worked out.
At the beginning of October 2018, special tactical exercises with "Poisk-2018" reconnaissance forces and equipment were organized and conducted at the test sites of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
From October 1 to October 14, "The Air Bridge-2018" command and staff exercise was held for the first time on the territory of the Russian Federation.
Special attention was paid to the formation of the Collective Air Force Command, the organization of its work on the transfer of military contingents of the Collective Operational Response Forces of the CSTO to the areas of use.
In mid-October, command-staff exercises, named "Interaction 2018", with the CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Forces were held at the Edelweiss training ground of the Kyrgyz Republic.
During the practical actions stage, the units carried out combat training tasks for blocking and destroying illegal armed formations, worked out the issues of the integrated fire engagement of a conditional enemy throughout the depth of his combat formations, the use of tactical airborne assault forces, and the conduct of raid and reconnaissance and combat operations. A number of combat training tasks were carried out based on the experience gained in the Syrian Arab Republic.
At the third stage, questions of the use of the CSTO Collective Peacekeeping Forces under the mandate of the UN Security Council in a non-CSTO state were worked out. In late October, a joint exercise with the CSTO “Indestructible Brotherhood-2018” peacekeeping forces was held at the Sverdlovsk Training Center.
In the course of the joint operational-strategic exercise "Combat Brotherhood - 2018", the member states of the CSTO once again demonstrated their readiness to fulfill allied obligations in the format of the Organization.
At the same time, we believe that these exercises have become a deterrent and an adequate response to the demonstration of military force to international terrorist organizations near the borders of the CSTO member states.
"It can be argued that the goals that we set for ourselves in 2018 in the area of training the Organization’s Forces (Collective Forces) to fulfill the missions for the intended purpose have been achieved," the head of the CSTO Joint Staff summed up.
In 2019, we will continue the practice of conducting joint training activities against a single background of a conditional military-political and strategic situation within the framework of the joint operational-strategic exercise "Combat Brotherhood-2019". In the course of the exercise, the whole complex of measures to prevent (deter), resolve the military conflict and restore peace will be worked out in a logical sequence. Joint exercises are planned to be held on the territory of the Republic of Belarus, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tajikistan.
This year, for educational purposes, it is planned to build the Organization’s work with the introduction of crisis response mechanisms simultaneously in the East European and Central Asian collective security regions and to work out questions in real time using the available technical means.
This year, in combat training, the main focus will be on further elaboration of the formation of battalion tactical groups as part of the CSTO troops (collective forces) as the main tactical unit in armed conflicts and peacekeeping operations. At the same time, the preparation of tactical-level control bodies should be carried out with the expectation of their ability to control not only subordinates, but also attached and supporting forces and means.
The organization of command and control of the CSTO Forces (Collective Forces) will be improved in accordance with the decisions of the CSTO Collective Security Council.
This year, for the first time, a special exercise “Echelon-2019” is planned to be held with the forces and means of material and technical support of the CSTO member states, which implies the creation within the framework of the exercise of a joint management body and subdivisions, which in practice will work out transportation planning technical equipment for the operation of the collective rapid reaction forces in the East European collective security region.
It is also planned this year to test a new system of organizing joint training, which consists in systematizing the issues of planning, preparing joint exercises and training sessions in the Organization format.
It should be noted that at present the draft Decision on approving the Regulations on the preparation and conduct of joint exercises in the CSTO format, which in turn will allow us to better prepare and conduct our joint activities within the Organization, is submitted to the bodies of the Organization for consideration.
