Western Russia, Belarus must ensure continuous operational command and control - Russian military chief
MOSCOW. Oct 21 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian-Belarusian joint military exercise, called the Union Shield-2015, has exposed the need for closer cooperation in escalation planning, countering hostile actions and fighting practice, Russia's Western Military District Commander Col. Gen. Anatoly Sidorov told a joint collegium of Russian and Belarusian senior defense officials on Wednesday.
"Subsequently, continuous and operational command and control will require a permanent channel of exchange in electronic correspondence between the General Staff of the Belarusian Armed Forces and the staff of the Western Military District," Sidorov said.
One of the features of the Union Shield-2015 exercise was the re-subordination of one state's armed forces and control over them in the joint execution of training combat missions.
"The analysis of the staffs' performance during the exercise proved the need for the regional group of Belarusian and Russian troops to join the group of troops on the Western strategic track," Sidorov said.
"For their part, units and formations of the Western Operational Command of the Republic of Belarus and the Western Military District practiced forms and methods of warfare, to which less attention had been paid at previous joint drills," the Russian military commander said.