New Russian military equipment used during ‘Kavkaz 2020' exercise

The Russian military put new equipment through its paces during the ‘Kavkaz (Caucasus) 2020’ international exercise held in the Southern Military District on 21–26 September, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) reported in a series of press releases published during the event.

The VDV operated Mi-8 utility helicopters to carry D-30 122 mm towed howitzers during ‘Kavkaz 2020’. (Russian MoD)

Russian Airborne Troops (VDV) airdropped a company with BMD-4M airborne infantry fighting vehicles on 25 September. “The crews of the vehicles prepared the platforms for an airdrop for the first time and followed them,” the MoD said later the same day. The BMD-4Ms were airdropped using Bakhcha-U parachute systems. Some 900 paratroopers and 118 weapon systems were involved in the airdrop. During the exercise the VDV also operated Mi-24 gunships to transport assault teams and Mi-8 utility helicopters to carry D-30 122 mm towed howitzers.

Other new Russian military systems were also used during the exercise, including BMPT fire support vehicles, Buk-M3 surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems, TOS-2 Tosochka multiple rocket launchers (MRLs) with more powerful TBS-M3 thermobaric rockets, upgraded Su-25SM3 close air support aircraft, Uran-6 mine-clearing unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), and a new BMP-3-based mine-clearing platform with a hybrid engine. Tornado-G 122 mm MRLs fired an unspecified new rocket with a warhead that detaches in-flight and descends by parachute. A Uran-14 firefighting UGV performed armour recovery operations.

Swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) comprising Forpost, Eleron-3, and Orlan-10 systems conducted battlefield reconnaissance. Bal and Bastion mobile coastal defence missile systems struck simulated sea targets.

Troops also formed multilayered counter-UAV defences to protect field command posts during the exercise. “[The system integrated] Pantsir-S1 and Igla air-defence weapons and the Zhitel [Dweller] and Krasukha-S4 electronic warfare systems,” the Russian MoD said in a 22 September press release.