Nicholas J. Myers
As the Russians are going home from Zapad-2017 (even as a Russian Spetsnaz regiment begins the next joint exercise in Belarus), we can take a look at some of the interesting trends demonstrated in the exercise. Of considerable interest are the military technologies used.
Russia has spent considerable resources rearming with precision and next-generation weapons, extolling how this high-tech investment bolsters the economy. While many systems have been adopted in the Russian Armed Forces in the past decade, four have acquired something of their own cults of personality in the Russian press: the Iskander surface-to-surface ballistic missile, the Kalibr cruise missile (especially the land-attack variant), the Bal coastal-defense missile, and the S-400 Triumf air-defense system. All of these systems except the Kalibr (which caused its own headlines elsewhere in the world during the exercise) took part in Zapad and can be assessed in a modicum of detail in the open-source world.
The Iskander system was publicly deployed at the Luga poligon, the northernmost of the ranges where Zapad-2017 took place, and conveniently nearby the peacetime location of the Iskander brigade of Leningrad Oblast near St. Petersburg. On September 16, the last day of the first defensive phase of the exercise, an Iskander formation deployed to a designated areas and electronically targeted important force positions of the enemy and test-fired at least one missile. These simulated deep strikes against the enemy were also undertaken by Tu-22M3 bombers starting the previous day in the exercise. The Iskanders were also joined by some of the last Tochka-U missiles in service with the Russian military. There are at most two Tochka units left in the Russian military and Russia intends to replace all Tochka formations by 2020. The Belarusians also deployed their Tochkas in the exercise on September 16, highlighting their joint training with a radiation, chemical and biological protection unit to provide smoke cover for the missiles as they prepared their calculations to target enemies.
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/s-400-new-cruise-missiles-more-how-russias-military-back-big-22520
