Active phase of bilateral army exercise launched in Belarus

Belarus' Armed Forces have begun a bilateral comprehensive exercise, the Belarusian Defense Ministry told BelTA.

According to Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, First Deputy Defense Minister of Belarus Viktor Gulevich, the exercise is a logical conclusion of the training of operational and tactical command and control bodies. The active phase of the exercise will last from 22 September through 26 September.

The system for managing army units and weapon systems will be improved during the exercise. The troops will act in a complicated dynamic environment. Training areas and locations in three oblasts will be used. Participants of the exercise will have to make unconventional decisions in order to defeat the simulated enemy and will have to maneuver their forces and assets, command points in a fluid environment, the officer noted.

Close attention will also be paid to reducing the cycle of managerial decisions in the course of destroying detected facilities. Apart from that, Belarus' operational territory will be used in the course of the exercise for the sake of defending the state.

“The active phase began with a signal at 9:00 on 22 September and will end on 26 September. After that the troops will carry out the final stage: return to their permanent stations,” Viktor Gulevich said.

The officer stressed that the exercise represents no threat to neighboring countries. “We practice defending our state and improve the level of training of our troops. The number of participants of the exercise will not exceed the levels specified by the 2011 Vienna Document [on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures],” Viktor Gulevich concluded.