TSAMTO, August 30th. On Thursday, August 29, a briefing was held by the Chief of the CSTO Joint Staff, Colonel General Andrei Serdyukov, on the readiness of the management bodies and formations of the forces and means of the collective CSTO system to conduct joint exercises.
Representatives of the press services of the defense departments and the media of the CSTO member states took part in the event via videoconference.
Below are the main theses of A.Serdyukov's speech as presented by the Department of Information and Mass Communications of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
"We have reached the final stage of the preparation of the management bodies and formations of the forces and means of the CSTO collective security system – the holding of a set of joint exercises to be held in September-October this year.
When planning joint events, we took into account the experience of modern armed conflicts, in particular, the special military operation, the war in Syria and the Arab-Israeli confrontation. The constantly changing forms and methods of warfare require their in-depth analysis, study and development during operational and combat training.
For the most effective conduct of exercises and further development of Troops (Collective Forces) We have planned a study of current issues:
- organization of air defense cover for military contingents at the stage of their regrouping and during operational deployment;
- interaction of the commands with the forces and means of air defense of the armed forces of the Member States of the Organization in the preparation and conduct of hostilities.
We plan to consider these issues with the involvement of specialized specialists from the basic educational, methodological and research organizations of the CSTO, as well as other military educational institutions and research institutions of the Organization's member states.
Joint training activities in 2024 were planned and are being carried out in accordance with the plan approved by the Council of Defense Ministers and the Committee of Secretaries of the CSTO Security Councils, in order to ensure the readiness of government bodies, as well as formations of forces and means of the collective security system to carry out tasks for their intended purpose.
The main tasks of joint training of management bodies and formations of forces and means are defined:
- improving the mechanisms for making and implementing decisions on the use of forces and means;
- improving coherence and interoperability in the actions of management bodies and formations in the preparation and conduct of joint operations;
- development and testing of new options for creating a command and control system (Collective forces).
It is also important to note that one of the priorities identified by Kazakhstan, which chairs the Organization in 2024, is to improve the issues of ensuring the rapid deployment of Troops (Collective Forces), including the unhindered transit of contingents.
Every year, joint training becomes more intense. During our events, we pay special attention to the use of unmanned aircraft and countering it, as well as to the development of electronic warfare and fire damage, which is currently the most relevant on the battlefield.
This year, within the framework of military-technical cooperation, agreements were reached on demonstrating in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan the capabilities of modern weapons and military-technical equipment developed by Russian enterprises of the military-industrial complex. Also, during each of our events, demonstrations of new weapons and military equipment of the Organization's member States will be organized.
In the interests of high-quality training of the exercises, the Joint Staff, together with the CSTO Secretariat and the defense departments of the Organization's member states, conducted a set of events, including consultations, separate and joint staff training, strategic command and staff training, staff negotiations, working meetings on the development and coordination of the plans of the exercises, reconnaissance of the areas of the exercises.
The main event of operational and combat training of Troops (Collective Forces) The command and staff exercise with the Collective Rapid Reaction Forces (CSR) of the CSTO "Interaction-2024" is being held in the Kyrgyz Republic in the first half of September. In the interests of the CSR, special exercises will be conducted with the forces and means of intelligence "Search-2024" and logistics "Echelon-2024".
The exercises are aimed at working out the issues of the use of forces and means in order to resolve the crisis situation.
It is worth emphasizing that the Collective Rapid Reaction Forces are a universal tool of the collective security system, which makes it possible to adequately respond to all existing challenges and threats.
During the exercises, the following tasks will be practically completed: bringing the contingents of the Collective Forces to the highest degrees of combat readiness, creating a grouping, preparing and conducting a joint operation to resolve the armed conflict.
The forces and means of air defense of the Armed Forces of the Kyrgyz Republic and the dedicated personnel of the Joint Air Defense System of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will also be involved in combat training tasks.
In early October, we will hold a command and staff exercise with the CSTO Peacekeeping forces "Indestructible Brotherhood-2024" on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
During the exercise, it is planned to work out the issues of regrouping national contingents, forming Collective Peacekeeping Forces (CMS) in the designated area, planning and conducting a peacekeeping operation.
At the same time, the work of the CMC command will be based on decisions developed during the strategic command and staff training, which was discussed above. Given the importance of the electronic warfare system, issues of joint use of electronic warfare forces and means of the Organization's Member States will also be worked out.
It should be noted that in Kazakhstan in January 2022, for the first time, the Collective Forces of the CSTO were actually involved to normalize the situation in connection with the emergence of a threat to the security, stability and sovereignty of the country, caused, among other things, by external interference. The Heads of State highly appreciated this peacekeeping operation.
At the final stage, in mid-October, a joint exercise "Rubezh-2024" will be held with units of the Collective Rapid Deployment Forces of the Central Asian Region (CSIS CAR) on the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan, which are designed to participate in repelling external military aggression, in joint combined arms, counter-terrorism and special operations.
In the conditions of a mountainous desert area, tasks have been planned, including the training of management bodies, the regrouping of military contingents, planning and conducting combat operations to eliminate illegal armed formations.
On the eve of the exercise, a conference on the development, training and use of forces and means of the collective security system will be held, and in order to organize the interaction of military authorities during the planning of the operation, an operational meeting will be held with the command of the Central Asian CSIS.
Emphasizing the importance of these events, the personal participation of CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov is planned at the final stages of the exercises.
The results of the joint exercises will be summarized, studied in detail, and their results will be put into practice in the future.
I want to emphasize that planned events with Troops (Collective Forces) The CSTO aims to collectively protect the independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Organization's member states, fully comply with international standards and are not directed against other countries.
Representatives of non-CSTO member states have been invited as observers to the exercises held in the Kyrgyz Republic: The People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Republic of India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the People's Republic of China, Mongolia, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Republic of Uzbekistan, the UN Secretariat, the SCO Secretariat, the Executive Committee and the CIS Anti-Terrorism Center.
In addition, parliamentarians participating in the meeting of the Coordinating Meeting of the Chairmen of the Committees (commissions) on Defense and Security of the parliaments of the Organization's member states under the Council of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly will be present at the final stage on September 11.
Currently, work is underway to coordinate the invitation of observers to the Rubezh-2024 exercise on the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan.
In total, during the joint, command-staff and special exercises, more than 5,000 personnel and over 900 units of weapons, military and special equipment will be involved.
Practical measures for the deployment of Troops (Collective Forces) to the areas of the exercises will begin on September 4. Contingents and equipment are delivered to the landfills by aviation, rail and road transport.
At this stage, on the basis of the CSTO Crisis Response Center, it is planned to organize the work of an enhanced duty shift to control the regrouping and deployment of military contingents in designated areas.
To date, extensive preparatory work has been done. Given the volume of completed tasks and activities, I am sure that we will conduct joint exercises in an organized and high-quality manner, and educational and research goals will be achieved. The collective forces will show high field training and coordination of actions."
