About 12,000 servicemen to take part in CSTO Combat Brotherhood 2017 drills
MOSCOW. Sept 26 (Interfax) - About 12,000 servicemen will participate in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Combat Brotherhood 2017 drills on October 3-20, Chief of the CSTO Joint Staff Col. Gen. Anatoly Sidorov said.
"Overall, in joint actions of operational and combat training, which I was talking about, [...] about 12,000 personnel, about 1,500 units of weaponry, military and special hardware and about 90 aircraft will take part," Sidorov said at a press conference in Moscow on Tuesday.
Maneuvers "fully comply with international norms and are not directed against other countries," the chief of staff said.
It was earlier reported that the Combat Brotherhood 2017 operational strategic drills will be held in three CSTO countries in October and will combine several different exercises.
"It is Search 2017 drills of reconnaissance units of the CSTO countries' armed forces, Interaction 2017 of CSTO Collective Rapid Response Forces and Unbreakable Brotherhood 2017 of CSTO Peacekeeping Forces. They will be held in Russia, Armenia and Kazakhstan on October 3-20, 2017," the Organization's secretariat said earlier.
"For the first time, all maneuvers will be held as part of a common scenario of the Combat Brotherhood 2017 operational and strategic drills," it said.
At the drills "it is planned to practice organization and conduct of reconnaissance, carrying out of a joint operation to localize an armed conflict in the Caucasus collective security region, and preparations and carrying out of a CSTO Collective Peacekeeping Forces peacekeeping operation."
Drills are scheduled and are held as part of joint actions of operational and combat training of the CSTO collective security system bodies of command and forces and means for 2017, the press release said.
The CSTO comprises Armenia, Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.