Joint exercise KUCHYŇA THUNDER 2015 (21 May) Upon arrival of the U.S. Air Force’s 354th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron by A-10C Thunderbolt jet aircraft touching down at Sliač AFB, a joint training exercise involving the SVK and U.S. Armed Forces got underway on 18 May. Representing the SVK Air Force at the training exercise were the members and combat equipment in service with the Sliač Combined Wing; the Command, Control and Surveillance Brigade Zvolen; and the Air Defence Missile Brigade Nitra. The 5th Special Forces Regiment from Žilina participated in the exercise as well. The training objectives for the exercising troops included honing their skills in the field of air traffic control, air defence systems, handling communications with incoming aircraft, provision of logistic support to aircraft, in-flight refuelling, air raid and combat, and provision of air support to Land Forces in an international environment. ● Slovakia and Italy are seeking to bolster their defence industry cooperation. This initiative was agreed by Miloš Koterec and Senator Nicola Latorre, the State Secretary of the SVK MOD and a Member of the Italian Senate Defence Committee, respectively, at a meeting on 20 May. Among others, the State Secretary and the Italian Senator discussed the current security developments in Europe, addressing especially the Ukraine situation and the migrants issue. Whether these obstacles may be successfully cleared represents a major challenge to the whole of Europe.
EVA showcased for the first time (19 May) At IDET 2015, the International Exhibition of Defence and Security Technologies 2015 held in Brno, the Czech Republic, SVK Minister of Defence Martin Glváč unveiled the EVA light self-propelled howitzer. The latest product of the Slovak defence industry was manufactured by KONŠTRUKTA – Defence, Ltd., one of the companies of the DMD GROUP headquartered in Dubnica nad Váhom. The EVA light self-propelled howitzer is an artillery mobile platform with a fully automatic loading system capable of providing effective fire support to Land Forces. The EVA howitzer features a long range accuracy, effective fire and high mobility. “Finally, after a long time, this marks a step towards the recovery of our defence industry. I wish to extend my thanks to the DMD GROUP for constructing this vehicle in just nine months. I hope that it will, after passing military tests, be successfully incorporated into the armaments inventory of the SVK Armed Forces. The Army of the Czech Republic, too, is likely to show interest in this type of a vehicle, and we are taking maximum efforts for it to break new ground on international markets. Indeed, this is the result of Czech-Slovak co-operation, one that integrates a Czech-made truck chassis and a Slovak-made superstructure,” said the minister. Visitors to the SVK MOD exhibition area were given the opportunity to view, among other exhibits, the ZUZANA 2 selfpropelled gun howitzer, military gear designed for international crisis management operations, the IVECO vehicle with a mounted mechanical turret, as well as the DELOSYS Artillery System Command Post Vehicle. As part of their dynamic demonstrations, the SVK Armed Forces displayed a light multi-purpose vehicle with a mounted mechanical turret, and a decontamination vehicle. IDET Brno alternates with IDEB, the International Defence Exhibition in Bratislava, every second year.
Museum to open at Slavín
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(21 May) On 18 May, SVK Minister of Defence Martin Glváč and the mayor of Bratislava Ivo Nesrovnal were united in agreement over the need for Bratislava and the Slavín Memorial to house a WWII museum. They discussed the intent to build a new museum within the hitherto unused premises of the Slavín Memorial, administered by the Municipal Authority of Bratislava. Minister Glváč and the city mayor agreed to set up teams of specialists. “The specialists will prepare all the construction, technical and economic documentation. We are ready to contribute both financially and in the form of exhibits. I think the museum will increase the public’s interest in the memorial,” said the SVK Minister of Defence. “We are able to provide the museum with photos and texts, arranging them around the main theme,” added Col Miloslav Čaplovič, Director of the Institute of Military History. On 21 May, the first meeting of the working group tasked with building the museum took place inside the Slavín Memorial’s underground premises. Besides representatives from the SVK MOD, the Institute of Military History and the Municipal Authority of Bratislava, the meeting was attended by officials from the Regional Office for Preservation of Monuments in Bratislava and the Bratislava City Museum. The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, 3 June.
● The SVK Armed Forces Personnel Office, located in Liptovský Mikuláš, announced two MOD-wide photographic competitions, Photo Attack and Gallery MIL 2015, for SVK Armed Forces servicemen and women, MOD employees and their next-of-kin. The focus of the Photo Attack competition is on military equipment, whereas competitors are invited to contribute to the Gallery MIL 2015 competition with their works under the Painting and Sculpture category, the Utility Arts category and the Children’s Competitors category. The deadline for submitting contributions is 13 October. The final results will be announced on 12 November. Application forms for the competition are to be found at http://www.mil.sk/53202/?pg=1.
Ministers on changes
(18 May) Preparations of the June EU summit on defence and security was the core issue addressed by defence ministers meeting in Brussels. Top on the agenda of the joint meeting of foreign affairs and defence ministers were the foreign policy and security issues deemed most crucial to the EU’s future direction. Also in attendance at the meeting was the NATO Secretary General, Mr. J. Stoltenberg. The SVK MOD delegation was led by M. Koterec, the State Secretary of the SVK MOD, while the the SVK Foreign and EU Affairs Ministry delegation was headed by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister M. Lajčák. On this occasion, M. Koterec met also with his counterparts from the Netherlands and Malta in order to assess the first half-year of preparations for the countries’ joint chairmanship of the EU Council between January 2016 and June 2017.
● Representing 17 countries, the defence attachés accredited to Slovakia paid a visit to the Mechanized Battalion in Nitra on 20 May. Within the visit, Lt Col Štefan Acsai, Mechanized Battalion Commander, briefed the visitors on the battalion’s history and tasks. Later at Topoľčany-based 1st Mechanized Brigade, Col Zoltán Iboš, Deputy Brigade Commander, acquainted the audience with the brigade’s historic milestones, HQ organizational structure, key operational assignments, and updated them on the brigade’s training programme to meet the requirements of the SVK Armed Forces. ● During his working trip to the United States of America between 13 – 18 May, CSM Vladimír Beluš, Chief NCO of the SVK Armed Forces, paid an initial call on Maj Gen Umbarger, Adjutant General of the Indiana National Guard, before touring the National Guard’s training facility in Indiana and training centre at Fort Benning in Georgia. As part of the visit to the US, the SVK Chief NCO was also received by Brig Gen Carr, who will soon assume the post of Adjutant General of the Indiana National Guard upon retirement of Maj Gen Umbarger as from 1 June. ● One of the most important training missions conducted by the Sliač Combined Wing this year was the live-fire exercise at Poland’s Ustka Training Range. The exercise unfolded over the Baltic Sea, with aircraft taking off from Malbork Air Force Base. The training audience was drawn from the SVK Air Force HQ staff, members of the Sliač Combined Wing (including combat pilots, technicians, air traffic controllers), as well as forward air controllers (FACs) from Zvolen-based Command, Control and Surveillance Brigade and members of the Transport Wing Malacky. The training got underway on 9 May, with the live-fire exercise scheduled for 12 and 13 May, involving MiG-29 AS and MiG-29 UBS fighter aircraft in firing the R-73E air-to-air missiles at the CP-100M-IR bomb targets as the training objective. 5 pilots of the Air Combat Squadron were given the opportunity to fire the R-73E air-to-air missiles for the first time in their active service. The exercise was hugely successful and the overall performance of the participating personnel was rated as “EXCELLENT”. ● Training Centre Lešť hosted the 3rd Rock Climbing Competition at the Bralce Training Rocks on 20 - 21 May. The competition saw representatives from the Military Police, SVK military components, SVK Interior Ministry Firefighters and Rescue Corps, Mountain Rescue Service, and Czech Firefighters and Rescue Corps as first-time comer descending on to the training area. Anton Suchý and Ján Korenko (High Tatra Mountain Rescue Service) won the first place, 1st Lt Zuzana Vivodíková (Training Centre Lešť) and Lt Martin Kamas (Firefighters Rescue Corps Training Centre Lešť) took the second place, while Tomáš Saifrt and Libor Bohdanecký, both from the Czech Republic, placed third.
EUMC at CHOD level
(19 May) Lt Gen Milan Maxim, Chief of the SVK Armed Forces General Staff, led the SVK delegation to the European Union Military Committee meeting in session in Brussels. Bringing together Chiefs of Defence of the national armed forces participating in EU operations and missions, including those from Monte Negro, Georgia, Canada, Moldova, Serbia and Switzerland, the deliberations focused on defence and enabled an exchange of experience and expertise from military deployments in crisis regions. Also in attendance among the high profile participants were Hervé Ladsous, UnderSecretary-General for UN Peacekeeping Operations, and Lt Gen Viktor Muzenko, Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff. The next meeting of the EU Military Committee at Chief of Defence level is scheduled for 28 and 29 October in Brussels.
Gathering of intelligence officers
(18 May) Slovakia hosted a gathering of the intelligence community to discuss the current situational developments and the elimination of possible risks emanating from them, attended by members of the V4 Military Intelligence Services and their partners from Latvia and Romania at what was Eastern Europe’s most high-profile gathering of the military intelligence community from NATO countries. The chiefs of the Intelligence Services were unanimous in expressing the need to maintain their partnership above and beyond the standard scope of international cooperation. This brings clear advantages in terms of bringing specific, highly specialized and hence demanding assignments to a successful end.
Common Direction 2015 units; the Commanding Staff of the 2nd Mechanized Brigade HQ and the SVK Land Forces HQ; joined by another six observers from the Army of the Czech Republic. On 18 – 22 May, the exercise took place at the Sučany garrison training area and in the villages of Krpeľany and Podhradie, bringing together nearly 100 professional soldiers. The exercise’s commanding staff operated from the area of permanent deployment in Martin. The intense training of military units, which had been taking place during the past few days, culminated in verifying the coordination of teams. It was aimed at testing the level of readiness by CIMIC and PSYOPS tactical teams in coordinating their specialized missions as part of Training Phase Section (Team); physical endurance and psychological resistance levels of troops, CIMIC and PSYOPS activities in favour (18 May) The start of a complex joint exercise, dubbed COMMON of the Mechanized Battalion during stabilization missions, as well as at DIRECTION 2015, was marked with a joint formation ceremony, with checking communications and the processing of operational docuthe training audience drawn from Martin-based CIMIC and PYOPS mentation in English.
eBULLETIN MoD SR
May 18 - 24, 2015