This year, a joint military exercise for units of the Collective Rapid Reaction Force (CRRF) of the Central Asian region of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), dubbed Rubezh-2022, will be conducted in Tajikistan.
Military contingents and operational groups and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan will participate in this war game that will focus on the preparation and conduct of hostilities to destroy illegal armed groups that invade CSTO member nation's territory.
The exercises mainly aim to improve the practical skills of officials of the command and control bodies of the troops and increase the coherence of the units in implementing tasks during a joint operation.
The CSTO Collective Forces of Rapid Deployment of the Central Asian region are designed to carry out tasks to ensure the military security of the CSTO member states, including repelling external military aggression and conducting joint counterterrorist operations.
According to the CSTO press service, the decision on conducting the Rubezh-2022 military exercise in Tajikistan was made at the first staff talks on the preparation of joint exercises in 2022 that were held at the CSTO Joint Headquarters on April 26-28.
Collective Rapid Reaction Force (CRRF) is a joint combined arms task force comprising independent military units from the Collective Security Treaty Organization member nations. CRRF was created in 2009 with the general purpose to counter a limited military aggression against CSTO member states, to fight against terrorism and drug trafficking.
The agreement on the creation of the Collective Rapid Reaction Force was signed by the presidents of all CSTO member nations except Belarus during a summit in Moscow on February 4, 2009. Belarus joined the agreement on October 20, same year.
The first joint exercises of CRRF were held in October 2009 at Matybulak firing range in Kazakhstan near the border with China.
According to Russian media, CRRF currently comprises following units: Russia — 98th Guards Airborne Division (Ivanovo) and 31st Guards Air Assault Brigade (Ulyanovsk); Kazakhstan — 37th Separate Air Assault Brigade (Taldykorgan) and Special Operations Battalion of the National Guard of Kazakhstan (Almaty); Belarus — 103rd Guards Airborne Division (Vitebsk); Armenia – 12th Peacekeeping Brigade (Yerevan); Kyrgyzstan — infantry battalion; and Tajikistan — infantry battalion under Tajik Mobile Forces.
The first joint exercises of CRRF were held in October 2009 at Matybulak firing range in Kazakhstan near the border with China.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization groups Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.
