Exercise Zapad-99

Exercise Zapad-99 (West-99) was a large scale military exercise; it was carried out in June 1999 and its results forced Russia to adapt a new defense concept (Russia's National Security Concept, 2000). The exercise showed that conventional Russian armed forces could not repel a NATO offensive, this in turn increased the tolerance for use of tactical nuclear weapons.

Apart from nuclear controversy exercise Zapad-99 also sparked international tensions when US fighters intercepted Russian bombers allegedly in violation of Icelandic and Norwegian airspace.

Further reading: (Kipp, 2001)

Zapad-09

Mordovia, a Zubr-class hovercraft, deploying marines during Zapad-09

Zapad-09 took place in September 2009. It involved a simulated nuclear attack against Poland and the suppression of an uprising by a Polish minority in Belarus, along with other operations.

External links

• Russia's National Security Concept, 2000
• Kipp, Russia's Nonstrategic Nuclear Weapons, 2001