Nearly 1,200 soldiers from 8 countries took part in the “Slovak Shield”, the largest cyclical military exercises in Slovakia. In this year's tenth edition, Poland was represented for the first time by the Braniewa battleships. The core of the Polish component consisted of crews of K2GF tanks, which presently include the brigade of the 16th Mechanized Division.
‘Slovak Shield ‘25’ (Slovak shield) is simply a two-stage command-and-stack and tactical exercise aimed at improving the planning and management of defence operations in the territory of the Slovak Republic. The first phase focused on the protection of state borders and recognition. The second simulated the fight for a safety zone, including military maneuvering and defence against reconnaissance and assault drones.
The tactical phase in which Polish soldiers participated continued from 23 to 26 May. However, the Battleships from Braniewa arrived a week earlier, so they could make contact with the Slovak side, get acquainted with the area, prepare fire stations, dams, etc. “Slovak Shield ‘25” participated in the 1st Tank Battalion 9BKpanc., or 4 K2 Black Panther tanks (12 soldiers) supported by logistics with field and field trucks. Poles during the exercise were subordinate to Slovaks from the 12th Mechanized Battalion. The tasks were besides performed by soldiers from the Czech Republic, Romania, Georgia, Spain, the USA and Hungary.
The site of the tactical operations was a training centre in the town of Le Multinational forces played for 1 goal – the script did not presume action in the Force to Force convention, in which practitioners are divided into rival factions. – The aim of the exercise was to check the battalion's ability to carry out defensive actions in Slovakia. The hosts made a subgame in which they simulated the presence and operation of enemy units," says Captain Norbert Grefling of 9BKpanc., adding that in this aspect, 1 combat infantry car simulated the full mechanized company, and the T-72 tank – an armored company. Blind ammunition was utilized in this episode.
"Slovak Shield ‘25’ for soldiers in the field was so an chance to check and practice tactics. The Braniev battleships were able to test fresh tanks (K2 are in 9BKPanc. since November 2024) under different conditions for themselves. – Slovak field It has quite a few hills. The terrain is mostly woody, with quite a few grass, but besides clay substrate, which at times made it hard to maneuver with tanks. So it was a large test for our crews. Although they did not gotta exploit the full possible of K2GF, the soldiers gained valuable experience and learned how the tank behaves under conditions that are not dealt with in Polish fields, says the officer.
Apart from the Slovak T-72 and Leopard 2A4 tanks, which became enemy forces, the Polish K2 were the only armored units utilized in tactical operations. another soldiers had at their disposal, among others, BMP-2 infantry wagons, VAMTAC armoured wagons, Pandur transporters. The last day was a presentation of training soldiers for VIPs with the participation of president of the Slovak Republic Peter Pellegrini, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of defence Robert Kaliíček, Head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic General Daniel Zmek. At the time, their capabilities were besides shown by the 155mm Zuzana 2, Spike LR2 rocket systems, F-16 fighters, UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters.
– We managed to carry out a joint tactical exercise, which was besides an experiment. For the first time in past we have been able to integrate any elements of the national defence manufacture with products that are in the prototype phase," said Gen. Zmeko, paying attention to the usage of autonomous reflection drones and assault drones controlled by artificial intelligence.
While 4 crews from the 1st Tank Battalion 9BKPanc. took part in abroad exercises, others Soldiers trained at a cross-country camp in Braniewoto take over the functions of K2GF drivers, commanders and gunmen in the close future. The current training includes 42 battleships. The next 2 tours will take place in the second half of the year and will be attended by soldiers from both the 9th Armoured Cavalry Brigade and the 15th Mechanized Brigade from Giżycka.
