Translated material
On washed up ice
In Siberia, the Russian army will test a new command and control system for the first time
Today, at the Yurginsky training ground in the Kemerovo region (Siberian Military District), a research tactical exercise (ITU) began with a separate motorized rifle brigade of the 41st combined arms army. The exercise, which will last until March 23, is led by the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, Army General Vladimir Boldyrev. In fact, this is the first large-scale exercise as part of the transition of the armed forces “to a new look” with the transfer of troops to a three-echelon command and control system (military district - army - brigade).In total, about 5 thousand military personnel and more than 1 thousand units of various equipment take part in this large-scale action, of which about 400 units are armored vehicles, as well as attack, fighter and reconnaissance aircraft, combat and transport-combat helicopters.
For research purposes, the enemy's defense area is as close as possible to the real one. For this purpose, the engineering troops carried out work on fortification equipment for the defensive positions of the mock enemy. More than 70 trenches for tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, about 100 different fortifications of various types were equipped: command and observation posts, dugouts, shelters, shelters for ammunition, ceiling gaps and others. Trenches and communication passages with a length of more than 5 km were dug in the frozen ground. Participants in the maneuvers will have to “take” this fortified area.
For the first time, outdated and subject to disposal armored vehicles are used to simulate a mock enemy. In the created battalion defense area of the mock enemy, more than 200 units of such decommissioned weapons and military equipment were buried and hidden. Three-dimensional targets (models) are also used in training.
The ITU scenario is as follows: units of a separate motorized rifle brigade, having transferred from peacetime to wartime, march from their permanent deployment point, and in the area of the exercise they begin to fortify their positions. The research focus of the exercise is that during the maneuvers, as the military themselves say, “temporary indicators for the transfer of a motorized rifle brigade from peacetime to wartime in a new organizational and staffing structure, the ability to load and lift material resources during a march to the designated area will be determined.” "
At one stage of the exercise, tactical airborne units will cross a water barrier - the Tom River, about 400 m wide. The crossing will be organized in three ways: along an ice crossing using wooden platforms for wheeled vehicles; using a platoon ferry in a lane made in the ice to transport tanks and infantry fighting vehicles; along an ice crossing with additional ice washing for lightly armored vehicles. During the crossing, camouflage means will be used to ensure the hidden movement of troops and false crossings will be created. The Engineering Troops have already worked on equipping crossings in places where military equipment is transferred across the water barrier.
All standards, taking into account the results of the conflict in South Ossetia, are worked out in conditions as close as possible to combat conditions. One of the main training goals of the exercise is to test the ability of the brigade command in the new organizational structure of the army to manage units and subunits during the preparation and conduct of combined arms combat. During the ITU, the moral and combat qualities of personnel, physical endurance, and skills in organizing life activities in field conditions will be assessed.
A group of officers from the main command of the ground forces arrived in the training area. They will monitor the progress of the ITU.