Officers from the RF and Belarus learn ins and outs of hybrid war

Exercises are held in St. Petersburg. The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation shared the information, Interfax says.

Commanders and chiefs of the WMD learn the features of subordinate troops and forces management when a "hybrid" and "network-centric" war, during operative and mobilization meeting of managing staff of the Western military district (WMD), which began yesterday in St. Petersburg.

For the first time officers of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus are involved in the operative and mobilization meeting of managing staff of the WMD. Generals and officers of the Union State will share their experiences and participate in seminars and round tables on the topic of the meeting", the press service's statement of the WMD says.

It is noted that the commanders of the WMD units, staff officers of Military District under the supervision of teaching personnel of the Military Academy of the General Staff, "will listen to a course on troops and forces management when in the global information and communication field".

Over 130 generals, admirals and officers participate in the meeting, the Staff of the WMD informs.

Here they believe that a network-centric war is a "military doctrine (or the concept of warfare), first practiced by the Ministry of Defense of the United States". "Network-centric warfare is focused on force multiplication in modern wars and armed conflicts through achieving information and communication supremacy, integration of combatants into a single network", the statement said.

Whereas, the staff of the WMD believe that a hybrid war is "a military strategy, combining conventional, low-level conventional and cyber wars". "Information and psychological actions, and cyber attacks, aimed both at the structural and technical components of the state and its citizens, are the main forms of waging a hybrid war. In recent years, network-centric and hybrid war components have been actively used by belligerent parties during wars and conflicts in Iraq, Libya and Syria", the statement said.