MOSCOW, August 21. /TASS/. The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will conduct drills that will take into account the combat experience of Russian troops in the special military operation in Ukraine and focus on using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Chief of the CSTO Joint Staff Colonel General Andrey Serdyukov said on Thursday.

This year, the post-Soviet security bloc considers the issues of practicing command and control and interoperability of the CSTO Collective Forces as a priority task, the general said.

"For these purposes, before the start of joint drills, Joint Staff officers are set to hold instructor and methodological classes with officers undergoing training on the procedure of organizing command and control and interoperability of command centers of the Collective Forces’ groupings, taking into account the experience of the Russian Armed Forces gained in the special military operation. In this process, special attention will be paid to employing unmanned aircraft systems that have today become some of the most effective warfare means, and also the specifics of creating a system of countering enemy UAVs," he stressed.

The UAV capacities to accomplish various objectives, such as conducting reconnaissance, engaging targets and delivering supplies have substantially boosted capabilities on the battlefield, Serdyukov said.

"For the purpose of ensuring common approaches towards organizing and conducting electronic warfare, the groups of forces will test during an exercise with the Collective Rapid Reaction Forces the recommendations developed by the Joint Staff together with the defense ministries for electronic warfare by the groups of forces," he said.