The joint strategic exercise Zapad-2017, which took place in mid-September, made a lot of noise and attracted the attention of many countries. A few weeks before the start of this event, the foreign press began to talk about the risks associated with it, and also did not fail to recall the "Russian aggression". However, not all foreign publications succumbed to panic. Less frightening for the reader was also published materials on the weapons and military equipment of the participants in the exercises.
On September 29, The National Interest published a Buzz article by military analyst Nicholas J. Myers entitled "S-400, New Cruise Missiles and More: How Russia's Military Is Back in a Big Way." and not only: how the Russian army returns to the long way”). The topic of this publication is the latest Russian developments in the field of weapons and equipment used in recent joint exercises. According to the author, a thorough study of the current situation can reveal plans for the development of the Russian army over the next few years.
N. Myers begins his article with an interesting proposal. While the Russian military are returning from the Zapad-2017 exercises to their bases (and special forces are preparing for new maneuvers at Belarusian training grounds), the author suggests considering the curious features of the past events. He believes that the military technologies used by Russia are of great interest.
In the recent past and now, Russia has spent significant funds on the creation and purchase of high-precision weapons and next-generation systems, while at the same time talking about the positive impact of such acquisitions on the economy. Over the past ten years, many new models have entered service, but only around four systems have a kind of "personality cult" emerged in the Russian press. This honor was given to the Iskander tactical missile system, the Kalibr cruise missile, the Bal coastal defense complex and the S-400 anti-aircraft system.
All these complexes, with the exception of the Kalibr missiles, were actively used during the recent Russian-Belarusian exercises. The published information on the course of the exercises and the features of the use of certain systems allows us to draw certain conclusions. N. Myers notes that the new cruise missiles were not used during the Zapad-2017 maneuvers, but they did not remain idle. It was during the period of joint exercises that Caliber carried out another strike on terrorist targets in Syria.
During the recent exercises, Iskander OTRK were deployed at the Luga artillery range (Leningrad region) - the northernmost site used during the maneuvers. At the same time, the calculations of the complexes did not have to move a considerable distance from their base. On September 19, on the last day of the defensive phase of the exercise, the Iskander subunit arrived at the assigned positions, prepared and performed at least one missile launch. The day before, Tu-22M3 bombers had joined in striking the enemy in this direction. The grouping of ground missile systems was reinforced with Tochka-U systems.
The author recalls that by now the number of active Tochka-U OTRK has noticeably decreased: in the Russian army there are only two units with such equipment. By the end of the decade, they are supposed to be transferred to the new technology of the Iskander family. On September 16, the Belarusian side also deployed its operational-tactical complexes. In this case, the crews of "Tochki-U" had to interact with the troops of radiation, chemical and biological protection, and then strike at a simulated enemy.
In recent years, positions of the Bal coastal defense complexes have appeared near Russian naval bases. At the end of last year, such systems began serving as part of the coastal forces of the Baltic Fleet, and it would be surprising if they were not involved in the Russian-Belarusian exercises. On September 19, coastal missile systems were ordered to move to their firing positions and soon destroyed the mock enemy. The author notes that the practice firing of the Ball complex attracted the attention of the Russian and foreign press, while the launch of an anti-ship missile by the Soobrazitelny corvette, carried out on the same day, almost went unnoticed.
Together with other air defense systems, the S-400 anti-aircraft missile system went to the Zapad-2017 exercise sites. At the same time, however, the most interesting news related to this air defense system arrived shortly before the start of the exercise. So, on September 12, Turkey officially announced the signing of an agreement for the supply of S-400 systems, which puts an end to the negotiation process, which lasted several months.
In response to the existing suspicions and assumptions, the Russian media hastened to report that the sale of domestic complexes to the NATO country will not lead to the loss of critical technologies. In general, according to the author of The National Interest, the results of the practical use of the S-400 air defense system in the Zapad-2017 exercises are in the shadow of news about the Russian-Turkish contract and are overshadowed by the consequences of such a deal.
The American author recalled another recent event that took place at an even greater distance from the Belarusian landfills. In parallel with the Zapad-2017 exercises, Russian Project 636.3 Varshavyanka submarines - Veliky Novgorod and Kolpino - launched Kalibr missiles. The target of this missile strike was terrorist targets near the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor. This was the second September attack with the Caliber. Also, similar weapons were used on September 5 and 22 to solve similar problems.
The use of cruise missiles in Syria attracted the attention of the press and the public around the world, but the real innovations were shown precisely during the joint Russian-Belarusian exercises. The Russian military demonstrated and used in practice new improved electronic reconnaissance means, including those built on the basis of unmanned aerial vehicles. Also, a large role in the Zapad-2017 exercise was played by navigation aids using GLONASS satellites.
As N. Myers writes, repeating the tactics used in the Donbas, Russian troops used drones to conduct reconnaissance and issue target designation to multiple launch rocket systems. In addition, this technique was used to coordinate the actions of troops. UAVs have become a critical component of a system designed to protect the Kaliningrad region from an attack by a simulated enemy. In addition, unmanned aerial vehicles were used in the course of checking the skills of calculations of the military air defense. Small-sized drones were used as targets.
The author recalls that all the main trends associated with the use of unmanned aircraft were observed not only during the Zapad-2017 exercises. Similar approaches are used by the Russian army in other maneuvers. All this clearly demonstrates the centralized approach to the collection and use of information about the current hostilities.
Another important feature of the recent exercises was the active use of the Strelets intelligence, command and communications complex (KRUS). This complex has already been adopted for service and is being implemented everywhere. The Strelets system allows subunits as a whole and individual soldiers to navigate using signals from GLONASS satellites and provides some other capabilities. In recent exercises, KRUS "Strelets" was primarily used to ensure the encirclement of the enemy and exit to his rear. Thus, the Russian army is mastering "space" technologies, and also clearly demonstrates their full potential in the context of operational use.
The strategic joint exercise Zapad-2017, which ended a few weeks ago, was intended to practice independent and joint actions of troops. The General Staff intended to show exactly how it is going to respond to certain threats and scenarios. New developments, technologies and equipment samples shown during the exercise should influence the drawing up of future plans. N. Myers believes that they will influence further planning over the next few years.
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The Russian-Belarusian exercises Zapad-2017 took place only a few weeks ago, and therefore, perhaps, one need not recall how foreign officials and the media reacted to them. Long before the start of the maneuvers, far from friendly statements and statements began to appear, the authors of which accused Russia of the most malicious intentions. It has been argued that Moscow intends to rattle and intimidate Europe and train a future attack on its western neighbors. And from the most zealous orators it was possible to learn that during the maneuvers - under the cover of them - Russia and Belarus will arrange a real attack on several neighboring states. After the start of the joint strategic exercise, the intensity of such "revelations" intensified.
Against the backdrop of numerous intimidating publications and statements, Nicholas J. Myers' article "S-400, New Cruise Missiles and More: How Russia's Military Is Back in a Big Way" looks like just a model of analytics. Trying not to resort to current military-political clichés, the American author examined the use of the latest Russian weapons and equipment during the exercises, as well as outside of them.
The review article highlighted the use of tactical missile systems, anti-aircraft missile systems, cruise missiles, UAVs and numerous modern electronic equipment. At the same time, staying within the framework of the exercise period, the author touched upon the issues of the combat use of "Caliber" and military-technical cooperation of the countries.
The article ends with obvious, but fair conclusions: joint Russian-Belarusian exercises were necessary to test and develop the latest ideas in the field of tactics, as well as to "test" existing weapons systems, equipment, special equipment, etc. The results of the exercises related to this area will be taken into account in future planning. The results of the implementation of such plans, apparently, will again interest foreign authors and will become the topic of regular publications in The National Interest.
