Russian organized International Army Games 2021 to begin today | Foreign Brief

International Army Games 2021 (ArMI-2021) will kick off today under the organization of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian

Russian troops 968x610 Sergey VenyavskiAFP

International Army Games 2021 (ArMI-2021) will kick off today under the organization of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

The 7th such games in a row, ArMI-2021 will see 277 teams from 42 countries compete to take home medals in 34 military contests—covering nearly every aspect of combat—which will be held over a period of 19 days. In addition to Russia, 11 other nations will host ArMI-2021 events.

These “Combat Olympics” are an important forum for developing combat tactics, sharing skills, and building rapport amongst the participants.

ArMI-2021 will coincide with Russia’s International Military-Technical Forum, Russia’s largest weapons and military technology exhibition. 15 foreign nations are anticipated to participate in the forum. Last year, Belarus, Brazil, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and South Ossetia hosted national exhibition pavilions.

These events roughly sketch out countries allied with Russia or equipped with Russian military hardware. Notably, India is a regular participant in the games and the forum, despite India’s closer alignment with the U.S. led Quad. During the events, expect Russia to promote its Checkmate fifth-gen fighter to India and others, attempting to build international support for the fighter program.

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