MOSCOW. Sept 25 (Interfax-AVN) - New troop control technologies are being tested in the Bastion exercises of the Moscow military district. The exercises are part of the Stability 2008 strategic drill, a source at the exercises headquarters told Interfax-AVN.
"We are testing new technologies for the transmission of information to command posts of various levels from various sources, including those based in air and outer space," the source said.
The forces also had an engineering training exercise. "Motorized infantry and armor regiments received a sudden order to march to a designated area, cross a river and attack illegal armed units dug in on the opposite bank," the source said.
The Bastion exercises started on September 22 and will end on September 28. Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov supervises the Stability 2008 exercises, of which the Bastion exercises are a component.
The Bastion exercise is designed to train troops in operations in armed conflict zones, the elimination of illegal armed units, interaction with units of the Emergency Situations Ministry and the Interior Ministry, and the cleanup of aftereffects of man-made emergencies on the territory of the Moscow military district.
Servicemen of the 20th and 22nd armies, representatives of military registration and enlistment offices of the Moscow region, and task forces of collaborating ministries are engaged in the training.
In all, the exercises involve about 8,500 servicemen, their armaments and military hardware.