The U.S.'s annual military exercise in Mongolia, Khaan Quest, is underway, and the organizers have put some photos on flickr. One of the components of the exercise is apparently a "counter IED team post-forensic analysis."
Brig. Gen. John Seward, deputy commanding general, U.S. Army Pacific Command, uses a remote control to set off improvised explosive device as part of a demonstration held at Five Hills training area, Mongolia Aug. 18. The IED, similar to those found in Iraq and Afghanistan, was rigged to an old U.S. Embassy vehicle. The IED was detonated, and followed by a counter IED team post-forensic analysis. This was the first time the Counter IED Center of Excellence shared the demonstration with a partner nation.
A U.S. Embassy car, rigged with an improvised explosive device, explodes as part of a demonstration held at Five Hills training area, Mongolia Aug. 18.
President Elbegdorj and President Medvedev at Darkhan-2
Russia and Mongolia will be holding another round of "anti-terror" drills in Siberia in September, RIA Novosti reports:
The drills, called Darkhan-3, will involve some 1,000 servicemen and 300 items of hardware. They will be held in three stages.
"Joint use of Russian and Mongolian troops to counter international terrorism threats will be practiced during the exercises," the press service said.
But if previous Darkhan exercises are anything to go by, they may be less than what they appear. From last year's version:
The military exercise, Darkhan-2, is also less significant than it might otherwise seem. Much of it is based on repairing Mongolian equipment. Although the two countries billed it as a "peacekeeping exercise," similar to another just concluded by the U.S. Marines and Mongolia, that only means that the units whose equipment is being repaired are peacekeeping units, said Jargalsaihan Mendee, another analyst and a former Mongolian defense attaché in Washington. About 90 percent of the equipment of the Mongolian armed forces is of Soviet origin, and the spare parts are available only in Russia, said Mendee.
