Slovak Shield 2019: This year’s largest military exercise of Slovak Armed Forces gets underway at Lešť

Service members will test their capabilities and readiness to perform missions on Ex Slovak Shield 2019, which is the largest military exercise of the Slovak Armed Forces and at the same time the largest international exercise this year, at the Training Centre Lešť and on Nitra Garrison’s training ground at Kolíňanský vrch starting from today. The training audience numbers nearly 1,500 SVK Armed Forces personnel. Support exercises such as Air Shield 2019 and Clear Sign 2019 are being held concurrently.

Defence Minister Peter Gajdoš said: “Ex Slovak Shield 2019 is the most significant national exercise of our armed forces with international participation during which our service members and their colleagues from the V4 countries, Portugal and the USA will test their readiness in challenging conditions.” The Minister added that almost 2,500 soldiers are taking part in Ex Slovak Shield 2019 and related exercises.

Ex Slovak Shield 2019 is divided into a Command Post Exercise (CPX), where the command and control (C2) system of a mechanised brigade in planning and conducting operations will be tested, and a battalion-level tactical exercise with live firing, which is aimed towards defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Slovak Republic.

Ex Slovak Shield 2019 runs until 12 November 2019.