At the end of July 2011, the largest NATO military exercise of the year, Amber Hope 2011, with the participation of 2.2 thousand servicemen from 9 countries, finished. The exercise was held simultaneously in the Lithuanian firing ground in Pabrade and in its territorial waters.

In total, units from 7 NATO member states took part in the maneuvers - Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, USA, Estonia, as well as NATO partners - Georgia and Finland. Representatives of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Ukraine attended the event as observers.

The exercise scenario, in accordance with the Partnership for Peace program, included training the conduct of joint crisis management operations.

This "partnership" is remarkable just for its scale. Rasa Jukneviciene, Lithuania’s Minister of National Defense noted that since 1995 when these maneuvers were held for the first time, "the level and the numerical strength of the Amber Hope has increased significantly", which indicates the importance of the exercise both for Lithuania, and for the Alliance.

Recently, NATO has intensified its activities in military training. This is demonstrated by the fact that the Alliance has expanded the scope of military exercises. Thus, Lithuania and Kirghizia took part for the first time in the Steppe Eagle-2011 military exercise, which started on August 8 this year at the Iliskiy training center, Almaty region, Kazakhstan.

Note that the list of participants of NATO peacekeeping exercise with Kazakhstan has expanded for first time since 2003. In addition to Lithuania and Kirghizia, peacekeeping units of Kazakhstan and the U.S. Army, the UK and Tajikistan were involved in the maneuvers. The total number of troops involved is about 1,500. Borders of the military maneuvers also have been expanded. The training centers Bereg and Shoshkala were also involved besides the Iliskiy one, as well as the Novo-Iliskiy airfield.

The Steppe Eagle-2011 aims to train coordinated action, combat and operational compatibility in peacekeeping operations. The maneuvers are expected to last for about three weeks.

Military-political leadership of Russia has not passed over the scale of military tactical cooperation of the Alliance with the countries participating in NATO military exercise.

As early as April 2011, Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation announced intention to hold this September a joint Russian-Belarusian military exercise "Union Shield 2011".

Anatoly Serdyukov said then that maneuvers will involve about 12,000 troops, more than 50 aircrafts and helicopters, up to 200 combat vehicles. Military exercise will reportedly be conducted simultaneously at two Russian training grounds - the Gorokhovetsky general training ground in Nizhny Novgorod region and the Ashuluk air force training center in Astrakhan region. The purpose for the exercise will be training the cooperation and control system.

But then it was not only about holding joint military maneuvers, but also about strengthening military cooperation between the allies in general. One of the main subjects of talks was strengthening the supply of S-300 anti aircraft missile systems to Belarus.

"In 2011 we finished the first stage of overhaul and update of Belarusian S-300 anti-missile systems. We came to an agreement on accelerating efforts for future deliveries of S-300 anti-missile systems to Belarus," said Russia’s Defense Minister.

According to Anatoly Serdyukov, the north-west air line is a zone of responsibility of a single regional Russian-Belarusian air defense system, which is currently being strengthened.

Note that the meeting was also attended by Ukrainian Defence Minister Michael Yezhel, who after meeting with his colleagues announced his country’s intention to join the "Shield".

"We will examine the exercise plan in detail and will take part in it without fail. I’ve come to Minsk to discuss with my colleagues the military cooperation between our countries. We are also very interested in reforming the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus. We should take all the best the Union State of Russia and Belarus has, to add to our armoury and implement it at home," said the Minister of Defence of Ukraine.

In addition to joint maneuvers at Ashuluk, Russia together with its Allies has planned a series of military exercises in 2011-2012, in which the coalition troops will operate. Thus, for example, in September 2011 the Center-2011 exercise will be conducted. The first stage of these manoeuvres will be held at the Russian training grounds - Chebarkul, Totskoye, Ashuluk and Kapustin Yar, and the second one in Tajikistan and Kazakhstan at the Sary-Shagan training ground. In addition, in 2012 in Kazakhstan it is planned to conduct peacekeeping forces exercise for the first time in CSTO history.