Russian Flamethrower Troops to Join 2017 Int'l Army Games for First Time

ROSTOV-ON-DON (Sputnik) — Russian flamethrower troops will for the first time take part in this year's International Army Games (IAG), Russia's Southern Military District (SMD) told Sputnik on Monday.

"The boot camps for nuclear, biological and chemical defense troops aim to… conduct the qualifying stage of the 'Secure Environment' [NBC Reconnaissance troops] and the 'White Sun' [flamethrower troops] contests. The 'White Sun' contest will for the first time take place as part of the IAG," the SMD press service said.

This summer's boot camps will be held in the southern Volgograd Region, in North Ossetia and in Crimea. With a total of over 1,800 troops taking part and making use of some 400 military equipment unites, those taking part will train using various infantry rocket flamethrower types alongside RHM-6 NBC reconnaissance vehicles, ARS-14KM decontamination and degassing stations and TDA-3 smoke vehicles, according to SMD.

The IAG-2017 competitions are planned to be held after that in August. Last year's event, hosted by Russia and Kazakhstan, featured competitions in 23 disciplines and teams from 19 countries. A number of countries have expressed interest in joining the games this year with several new disciplines expected to be introduced.