The Show Must Go On

Palak Gupta

After a series of virtual defence trade shows, which have been held ever since the world went into a lockdown following the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia is all set to host its first physical defence show The sixth edition of International Military-Technical Forum Army 2020 will be held from August 23-29 in the Moscow region. For the first time, the show will last seven days instead of the usual six.

French President Emmanuel Macron at EURONAVAL 2018 in Paris-le Bourget

The highlights of the event will be a thematic exhibition ‘Victory’, special exposition ‘Innovations Day’ and the country’s aviation cluster. In addition to this, there will be a show of UAVs at Ashuluk training ground.

Two key programmes of the Russian ministry of defence (MoD), Forum ‘Army-2020’ and International Army Games—which is the main distinguishing feature this year—will be held simultaneously.

Russia is also gearing up for ‘intensive demonstration, congress and cultural programmes’. In addition, several conferences, round table discussions and briefings will be held at the Patriot Convention and Exhibition Centre. There will be live videoconferencing facility.

The event will also see the first demonstration of the floating version of the latest Russian armoured vehicle ‘Strela’. The modification will be included in the family of light vehicles and will be used in various units of the armed forces.

Among the various topics of discussions, prominent will be ones on improvement of information support of air and ballistic missile defence; the development in the domain of scientific research and prospects of the development of the Russian Navy’s Marine Corps until 2030. Representatives of the main command of the navy, military command and control bodies, research organisations of the Russian ministry of defence, as well as industrial enterprises will most likely take part in the event which will be hosted by Military Educational and Scientific Centre of Admiral Kuznetsov Naval Academy.

Another important topic of discussion will be the state of troop deployment. The participants will determine the main directions of the activities of military command and control bodies, research organisations of the Russian defence ministry and industrial enterprises in this area.

Ruling out the impact of coronavirus pandemic on the activities of the Russian Armed Forces, Russian defence minister General Sergei Shoigu said that the Caucasus 2020 strategic exercises, the Army 2020 forum and the International Army Games will not be cancelled.

The Caucasus 2020 strategic exercises will take place in September. More than 4,800 drills of various scope and 9,000 plus practical combat training exercises are scheduled to take place. Troops from 17 countries will take part in the Caucasus 2020 strategic command and staff drills, Russian news agency TASS quoted Russia’s Southern Military District as saying. “Strict compliance with training plans helps to maintain the high level of troops’ combat capability, ensure natio