Today, 21 September 2013, the bilateral military exercize “Challenge 2013” was officially opened at the Army Training Area Krivolak. The “Challenge 2013” exercise is the sixth in a row of similar exercises where from today and until 27 September members from the Air Defense Battalion, a part of the ARM’s Air Defense Brigade and an Air Defense unit from the Slovenian Armed Forces will conduct the exercise.
The exercise was opened by the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Joint Operations Command of the ARM, Colonel Sreten Dimitrievski, who noted in front of the members of the two armies that “Challenge 2013” represents a worthy experience for the future training of the Air Defense Battalion, and the lessons learned in this exercise will be implemented in the training of the rest of the battalion members in following NATO’S Air Defense procedures and NATO’s Standard Operative Procedures.
Prior to the exercise, a joint training with the members of the two armies was conducted where the theoretical part of the training with the Light Mobile Rocket System “Needle” was executed by instructors from the Air Defense Battalion in the period between 20 and 31 May 2013, while the practical part with training on simulators and training aids was executed in July this year under the guidance of instructors from the Slovenian Armed Forces.
During the exercise, it is planned to have real ammo shooting of targets in the air space by the Light Mobile Rocket System “Needle” as well as numerous training, technical and experimental-school shootings of targets in the air space. it is expected that the exercise will give an appropriate contribution to the training, interoperability and the battle readiness of the Air Defense Battalion.
The execution of the “Challenge 2013” exercise is a continuation of the project for strengthening the battle capacities of the ARM’s Air Defense Battalion and yet another impulse towards strengthening of the bilateral military cooperation of the ARM and the Slovenian Armed Forces.
