Participants of the International Army Games 2015 will take aim at more than twenty aircraft and the live cruise missiles of mock aggressors at the Masters of Air Defense Battle-2015 contest on August 8-12.
Over a hundred troops from the
six countries taking part in this year’s Army Games will compete
at the Masters of Air Defense battle contest, which will be held
in Russia’s Krasnodar region on a firing range near the town
of Yeysk.
Squads from Russia, China, Pakistan, Venezuela,
Belarus and Egypt will take part in the competition. All the teams,
except the Chinese, will use Russian military equipment. The participants
from China will deploy pieces of hardware produced in their
homeland.
Every participating team will need to destroy two
guided missiles using portable GPHR SAM weapons. Each of those targeted
missiles is expected to be launched with an interval
of approximately 6-7 seconds. The goal of every squad will be
to detect the presence of a missile and eliminate it in less than 15
seconds. Guided missiles will be fired from a Strela 10 Russian
air-defense missile system to simulate an enemy attack on the
competing troops.
Moreover, troops will have to demonstrate their
cross-country driving skills. Squads will ride 14.5 km (9 miles)
in armored personnel carriers along routes crafted
with artificial barriers.
As reported, more than 50 pieces of military
equipment are expected to be used during the contest. The Russian
commander of the air-defense team, Lieutenant General Alexander Leonov,
said that none of Russia's cutting-edge military ammunition will be deployed.
“Our squad won’t put the most cutting-edge military
technology into service at the contest. Instead, we will use
larger-scale weapons, which are used on regular basis by the Russian
Army; machines, which were tested in different conditions and are familiar
to every troop. Neither the Verba, a man-portable SAM weapon nor the
BTR-82 armored personnel carrier will be at the competition. There, we
would rather deploy standard pieces like the man-portable Igla SAM weapon
and the BTR-80 armored personnel carrier,” Leonov was quoted by Ria
Novosti as telling Echo of Moscow.
The lieutenant general said that the event will be
broadcasted on national TV along with other International Army Games
2015 contests. He also added that seating will be provided at the firing
range for over 1,000 viewers.
Representatives from Iran, Vietnam, Myanmar and Turkmenistan will attend the event as observers, Leonov said. He expressed hope that next year these countries will participate in the contest and the International Army Games in general.
The International Army Games is a series
of contests, conducted by the Russian Defense Ministry, which are set
to be held in ten locations in Russia from August 1
through August 15. More than 2,000 troops from 17 countries are
taking part in the games.
Source: Sputnik News 02-08-2015
Source: Sputnik News 02-08-2015
