ArmInfo.In Armenia, at the Alagyaz firing range within the framework of the international tactical exercise "Interaction-2017", the CSTO CRRF forces "destroyed" a group of illegal armed formations (IAF).
According to the plan of the exercise, a 1,500-strong group of illegal armed formations was stopped at the border of one of the CSTO states by the Collective Rapid Reaction Force (CRRF) and units of the Russian military base of the Southern Military District stationed in Armenia.
The battalion tactical group of the Russian military base, assault and army aviation of the Air Force of Armenia, fighters of the Russian air base, as well as special forces of the states participating in joint maneuvers from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan were involved in blocking and destroying conditional illegal armed formations.
The head of the joint exercise, the commander of the troops of the Southern Military District, Colonel- General Alexander Dvornikov noted that measures are continuing in the framework of the exercise of the CSTO CRRF "Combat Brotherhood-2017". "Here, today in Armenia in the mountainous conditions one of the stages "Interaction -2017" passed and the name speaks for itself. We had a planning stage in the previous two days, the tasks of the CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Force were identified and assigned, and today we started practical actions. At the Alagyaz firing range, you saw close and coordinated actions of collective forces that carried out actions to protect the sovereignty of one of the CSTO member states, the struggle took place in mountainous conditions. Elements of interaction between troops were worked out," said Dvornikov.
According to the plan of the exercises, the decision of the commander of the military base was first struck on the conventional enemy, found at a distance of 30 km, fighter MiG-29. At the same time, the special forces of the Coalition, abandoned in the border zone, destroyed the column of military equipment IAF. The howitzer-self-propelled artillery batteries and the rocket artillery of the reconnaissance and fire contours of the tactical groups of the Russian military base, destroying mortar and anti-tank squad of illegal formations, inflicted fire damage to the conventional enemy. The correction of the shooting was provided by data obtained in real time from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Placing a smokescreen with mortar shells carried out the masking of the maneuvering of artillery batteries after each strike against the targets of the conventional enemy.
The actions of the ambushes of the battalion tactical group stopped the advance of columns of lightly armored vehicles of illegal armed formations. The assault aviation of the Air Force of the Republic of Armenia carried out the destruction of the IAF equipment, having completed the task by the link of the Su- 25 armored subsonic aircraft in the reconnaissance shock contour of the joint tactical group.
Further offensive of motorized rifle and tank units provided the fire support from the air with mixed links of helicopters of the army aviation of the Air Force of Armenia and the Russian military base. In addition, during the tactical exercise carried out tasks to combat the low-flying objectives of the air defense unit, as well as the drones of the conventional enemy were disrupted by means of electronic warfare. The large- scale combat operation of the special forces of the CSTO CRRF was completed. After landing from Mi-8 helicopters in an assault method, the forces of the Coalition destroyed the sabotage reconnaissance group of the conventional enemy.
In the drawing of tactical episodes at the Alagyaz firing range, more than 1 thousand servicemen were involved, about 250 units of military and special equipment, 15 aircraft, including fighter aircraft, ground attack aircraft, transport and combat helicopters and strike helicopters, unmanned aircraft.
The joint exercise "Interaction-2017" is conducted within the framework of the unified design of the operational-strategic exercise "Combat Brotherhood-2017" of the Collective Rapid Reaction Force (CRRF) of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). During the practical action at the Alagyaz range, the units of the armed forces of the four states will fulfill three tactical tasks.