War Game HEGEMON Vs. Zapad (West) 2017
War Game HEGEMON Vs. Zapad (West) 2017
Recently, many people connect the developing Wargaming Studies and Simulation Programmes to the actions of the Russian Federation. The primary reason for that is of course that NATO openly perceives Russia as its hypothetic opponent, whereas the roots of such perceptions are coming from both, the Soviet Union times and the present-century-occupation of Crimea.
The reestablishment of the 1st Guards Tank Army of the Russian Armed Forces. Military analysts and some other experts, in particular, from the Potomac Foundation, see a far-reaching strategic intent in such actions and, respectively, are very much concerned about the security of the NATO Alliance and Poland as one of its front states. Let us remind, that in the times of the Cold War the 1st Guards Tank Army was settled in the East of Germany as a part of Group of Soviet Forces and served as the hard-hitting spearhead of Warsaw Pact drive into Western Europe. At present, the army is settled close to Belarus and potentially could be called into action in case of a conflict in the Baltics. This army has 3 Divisions and 3 Brigades. As for the weapon, it accounts for about 700 tanks, 500 artillery systems and a lot of rocket launchers, as well as 1 300 armored vehicles.
What further exacerbates the situation is the upcoming Russia’s organized Zapad (West) 2017 exercise, that will take place in Western District of Russia and in Belarus from September 14th to 20th, 2017. Russia ordered more than 4000 railway wagons to transport heavy equipment to Belarus (at Zapad 2013, only 200 wagons were used), and, as states Dr. Karber, “this would be the highest concentration of offensive equipment in Eastern Europe since the end of the Cold War”. Regarding Belarus, the country is now found to be a major contributor to regional and generally European security and stability by containing aggressive strategy of Russia.
Nevertheless, according to the statements of a numerous Russian newspapers and Russian Deputy Defense Minister Lieutenant-General Alexander Fomin on his own, Zapad (West) 2017 is only defensive in nature, where the conditional enemy is in no way connected with a specific region. He adds that Zapad (West) 2017 is only provoked by “the situation related to the strengthening of NATO’s activity near the borders of the Union State will be taken into account.” Furthermore, Moscow has repeatedly questioned the logic behind the Wargaming simulations, saying that Russia does not have any reasons and intentions to invade members of the Alliance and start the World War III. Numerous of Russian military experts also have urged Western officials to not create pseudo-analyses about potential Russian attack on NATO and Europe.
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