The Russian Military: Declining or Better? [Archive]

Jedburgh

05-13-2006, 03:27 AM

11 Jan 06 Wall Street Journal (http://www.un.int/russia/other/060111aen.pdf), Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov:

...We have seen a steady trend pointing at a broader scope of use of military force recently, not least because more challenges to national security have emerged. Chief among them is interference in Russia's internal affairs by foreign states -- either directly or through structures that they support -- and the attempts of some countries, coalitions and extremist terrorist organizations to develop or gain access to weapons of mass destruction. We must also be prepared for the possibility of a violent assault on the constitutional order of some post-Soviet states and the border instability that might ensue from that. Arms and drugs trafficking and other kinds of cross-border criminal activity must be closely watched...

...The Military Development Plan for 2006-2010 is being devised right now, but the top priorities are already clear.

- The first is to maintain and develop a strategic deterrent capability minimally sufficient for guaranteed repulsion of contemporary and future military threats. At the end of last year, we deployed another strategic missile regiment armed with silo-based Topol-M (SS-27) systems; more road mobile Topol-Ms (SSX-27), currently unmatched by world rivals, this year; and the Project 955 Borei Yury Dolgoruky strategic nuclear-powered submarine armed with the Bulava-30 (SS-NX-30) sea-launched ballistic missiles within several years. And this is just the top of the list. Needless to say, these are not aimed at any particular target. We have always honored our commitments and will do so in the future, including those made in line with treaties and agreements made with the U.S. on reductions and limitations of strategic offensive weapons, which stipulate a reduction of our nuclear capability to 1,700-2,200 warheads. At the same time, Russia does not intend to give up its nuclear capability as it is still a key deterrent and a crucial instrument in protecting our national interests and achieving certain political objectives.

- The second priority is the development of conventional forces -- high-alert units in the army, air force, navy and airborne force, manned only by professional soldiers, that will form the backbone of deployable task forces. These are being upgraded with airlift capabilities. All this explains the need for rearmament, new military acquisitions, support for R&D projects, and the optimization of the national defense industry to find a balance between a commitment to arm the Russian military and an opportunity to export arms to countries not subject to U.N. sanctions.

- The third priority is the development of combat training. In the Russian armed forces, the number and level of large-scale exercises has grown to more than 50 this year. The most significant were tactical and theater-level exercises in the Russian Far East, Central Asia, China and India that enabled our military to network with foreign counterparts in simulating counterterrorist and other peacetime operations. We will continue to hold joint exercises with countries interested in global stability, including partners from the Atlantic Alliance, the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. We are also ready to run peacekeeping operations mandated by the UN or CIS...

Jedburgh

05-18-2007, 01:09 PM

CSRC, 17 May 07: Military Service in Russia: No New Model Army (http://www.defac.ac.uk/colleges/csrc/document-listings/russian/07%2818%29KG2.pdf)

Key Points

* Pay and conditions for Russian servicemen, especially those on contract service, have seen substantial recent improvements.

* Continuing high-profile reporting of rights abuses and violence masks initiatives taken to improve rights and welfare.

* The move to one-year conscript service will disrupt the system of dedovshchina; but it is unlikely to uproot this kind of bullying altogether as it is not a purely military phenomenon in Russia.

* The Russian Armed Forces are not adapting fast enough to the challenges of recruiting professional servicemen.

Stan

05-21-2007, 06:30 AM

Russia's military may be in decline, but Putin's youth guard (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18753946/site/newsweek/page/2/) are being financed and trained.

With parliamentary and presidential elections coming up, Nashi and its sibling movements have an obvious target—anyone who presumes to challenge Putin and his ruling clique for power. Who might they be? Nashi recently issued a leaflet identifying them. This "Gallery of Traitors," appearing in print and online, featured twisted portraits of such opposition leaders as former prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov and radical writer Eduard Limonov. They were declared enemies of the people, scheming to subvert their nation and turn it over to foreign spies and conspirators. Among them, too, are exiled Yeltsin-era oligarch Boris Berezovsky and Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former billionaire brought down after he began funding opposition to Putin in 2004.

Last month Nashi staged its boldest and most organized mass rally yet. Some 15,000 volunteers donned red jackets, with putin's communicators emblazoned on the back, and spread out across Moscow distributing brochures and 10,000 specially made SIM cards for mobile phones. The cards allowed users to send text messages to the Kremlin—to be answered promptly by Nashi volunteers. Recipients were also instructed to use the cards to report any signs of an incipient Orange revolution. In that event, the cards would instantly relay text-message instructions on what to do and where to rally. "We explained to Muscovites that we should all be prepared for the pro-Western revolution, funded by America," says Nashi activist Tatyana Matiash, 22. "People must know what to do to save their motherland in case their radio and TV stop working."

"Learning a Skill: Participants in Nashi learn how to use weapons, means of chemical protection and take physical exercises at a children’s camp outside Moscow"

120mm

05-21-2007, 02:04 PM

Stan

05-21-2007, 02:30 PM

The attitude that somehow The Soviet Union was a wonderful place, and only CIA-funded and executed betrayal by Gorbachev and Yeltsin was successful in "ending it all" has traction, and is aped by a "lot" of the Russians/Ukrainians that inhabit the various military forums I inhabit.

It's almost comical when combined with the "T-72 was superior to the M-1 Abrams in every way" attitude these revisionists have concocted. However, when used as a basis to seize power on behalf of a leader who looks more and more like Stalin or Hitler every day, it is just downright scary.

Someday I'll tell you the one I heard about Soviet Cars being superior to Japanese/German/American cars, if you are up for a real laugh:rolleyes:

Hi Drew !
I'm ready for the Russian car jokes. Those that we have here are already sufficient for joke material, but the owners get a bit PO'd, so you have to be careful regarding the company you're in when telling these jokes :D

It reminds me of the USAs first Humanitarian Demining visit with Navy and Army EOD techs. They brought in Forrester and Vallon detectors (5 to 17 grand a piece) and demonstrated their use and capabilities. Then out comes this Russian detector that goes silent (if and) when it detects metal. The long handle housed 10 D cell batteries :rolleyes:

After an hour of constant beeping and walking around with 7 or 8 kilos, you not only lost all hope (of finding anything), but you couldn't bear to carry it anymore.

That however is an equipment issue. Russia's financed youth movement demonstrated a real threat when they disabled Estonian government websites, internet and two large banks, all while organizing a looting spree.

Regards, Stan

SoiCowboy

05-21-2007, 06:35 PM

A lot of my thinking on the Russian military comes from 'Chechnya: Tombstone of Russias power' by Anatol Lieven. Beyond its NBC stocks and weapon sales, the Russians aren't exactly a threat to take seriously except by its own population.

goesh

05-23-2007, 04:21 PM

http://www.spetsnaz-gru.com/

I sure would like to learn how to swing an Etool like the Russians do :p

Stan

05-23-2007, 05:53 PM

Hey Goesh !
Save your money ;)
The former so-called specialists here work at night clubs and brothels. They probably would work as security guards, but they have to learn the Estonian language first, and that will cost a tad more than 19.95 :D

http://www.spetsnaz-gru.com/

I sure would like to learn how to swing an Etool like the Russians do :p

slapout9

05-23-2007, 06:12 PM

Shoot we do that in Alabama all the time and it didn't cost $19.95.

Steve Blair

05-23-2007, 06:16 PM

Shoot we do that in Alabama all the time and it didn't cost $19.95.

Depends on how much...uh...liquid refreshment y'all have to buy first...:D

Jedburgh

06-29-2007, 03:40 PM

CSRC, 28 Jun 07: Pay and Allowances in the Russian Armed Forces (http://www.defac.ac.uk/colleges/csrc/document-listings/russian/07%2819%29KG.pdf)

Almost every assessment of the condition of the Russian Armed Forces makes reference, usually unfavourably, to the earnings of Russian servicemen. This issue has become particularly prominent in discussions of failure to recruit and retain contract servicemen in 2005-2007, where salaries are presumed to play a key role.

Unfortunately the vast majority of references to military wages are excessively generalised, and therefore misleading; they do not take account of the complex nature of Russian service pay which means that first, every serviceman takes home far more than the published basic wage figure; and second, servicemen of similar rank doing similar jobs can be earning wildly different amounts. Unlike in the British Armed Forces, where the earnings of a serviceman not in possession of some exotic speciality can often be approximately deduced with reference to his or her rank, in the Russian Armed Forces no such generalisation is possible.

This note therefore leads with a broad summary of the overall structure of Russian servicemen’s pay, which should be sufficient to demonstrate the point above, followed by a more detailed explanation of some of its component elements for readers with a more specific interest. Although illustrative examples are given, this is in no way a comprehensive report on all Russian benefits and entitlements, and its main aim is to warn against issuing, or believing, sweeping generalisations about Russian soldier earnings....

Stan

06-30-2007, 06:45 AM

CSRC, 28 Jun 07: Pay and Allowances in the Russian Armed Forces (http://www.defac.ac.uk/colleges/csrc/document-listings/russian/07%2819%29KG.pdf)

Thanks for the post,Ted. An excellent document with some intriguing pay issues. Specifically, bonuses for EOD and Nuclear related activities.

50% Bonus for Locating and destroying explosive devices
35% Reloading of nuclear reactors
20% Strategic Missile Forces bonus

It will be noted that many of the increments in the table above have direct equivalents in British military practice. But an additional peculiarity is that in addition to the monthly rate of extra pay to a specialist, there are one-off payments for every time he actually uses his special skills.

I'm somewhat caught between should we ever be worried to Holy Sierra :wry:

Dominique R. Poirier

06-30-2007, 08:56 AM

There is a very interesting report written by Stephen J. Blank on that matter. You can find it on SSI at the following link:

http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubID=749

Stan

07-10-2007, 03:07 PM

Kommersant (http://www.kommersant.com/p781326/r_530/Army_Contract_Crimes/), Russia's Daily Online reports "Chief Military Prosecutor Sergey Fridinsky has made it clear that the army has faced serious problems switching to contract soldiers."

Crime in the Russian Army is on decline but the share of crimes committed by contract soldiers is soaring, Russia’s chief military prosecutor told reporters Monday. Now the military will have a good reason to ask for more money when the Defense Ministry is debating a program on the transfer to a contract-based army.

The number of crimes in the army fell 20 percent this year, Chief Military Prosecutor Sergey Fridinsky said. The offences include grave crimes, arms and armaments misappropriation as well as hazing where crime dropped 30 percent. The military prosecutor added that the number of offences among contract soldiers more than doubled in 2006 to 4,000 and doubled further this year.

Prosecutor Fridinsky mentioned poor conditions of life in some divisions and unprincipled commanders who go an extra mile to overfulfill a quota on contract soldiers.

More at the link

sgmgrumpy

07-10-2007, 07:34 PM

Russia gives Gazprom right to form armed units (http://africa.reuters.com/world/news/usnL04113050.html)

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's parliament handed gas giant Gazprom the right to form its own armed units on Wednesday with a law one legislator said opened a "Pandora's box" that could lead to the creation of a private army.

A law backed by 341 lawmakers in the 450-seat State Duma lower house of parliament gave Gazprom, and oil pipeline monopoly Transneft, special exemption from strict limits on private businesses wielding arms.

The two state-controlled companies will for the first time be allowed to employ their own armed operatives instead of contracting an outside security firm. Their armed units will also have access to more weapons and more freedom to use them than private security companies

Granite_State

11-24-2007, 06:11 PM

http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2007/11/re_ivan_embraces_transformatio.asp#more

This squares with what little I know about the Red Army (primarily from Andrew Cockburn's The Threat) but I'd love to hear what more knowledgeable SWJ members (Stan?) think.

Norfolk

11-24-2007, 07:58 PM

Excellent link, Granite State.:) Yes, the Russians are not about low-level leadership, unit cohesion, training, tactics, or anything else along those lines in particular. Never have been, and I doubt ever will be in anything like the foreseeable future.

The Russians are above all about the operational level of war. There are few Armies that have ever matched, let alone surpassed the Russians' record of operational successes. The Russians were the first true masters of the Operational Art as they first developed it between the two World Wars. Even the Germans as a whole never really quite mastered Operational Art (although von Manstein himself was perhaps the ablest practitioner of the Operational Art of WWII).

I very much doubt that any attempt by the Russian Army as a whole to "Transform" along more Western-lines (with vaster greater focus upon the tactical-level) would be likely to succeed. Russian society and culture strongly militate against it.

Stan

11-25-2007, 02:31 PM

Hey Granite State !

http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2007/11/re_ivan_embraces_transformatio.asp#more

This squares with what little I know about the Red Army (primarily from Andrew Cockburn's The Threat) but I'd love to hear what more knowledgeable SWJ members (Stan?) think.

I missed my calling, but was otherwise engaged with 'honey do's' :p

Indeed corrupt and distrust just sort of comes with the territory. Even now, there’s little sign of formal discipline in any training, and no sense of responsibility among the officers and NCOs (more like no-fault insurance). Combine an all-conscript army with barely sub-standard living conditions and low wages; no wonder there’s an overall lack of will or incentive.

As the Estonian soldiers say, distrust is ‘that’ thin line drawn between Russian officers and enlisted…who gets the booty first, wins! The other favorite saying includes “eternally expendable Russian soldier“. Some of the ‘special’ troops are either loaned or assigned to assist and/or manipulate organized crime and sovereign countries. Typically an NCO can achieve our equivalent of E-9 in 5 years. During those arduous years, one has barely commanded a wheeled vehicle, yet alone troops.

IMO, Russia’s current political masters lack both the cultural understanding and political will to seek victory at home or abroad. They are rather content with increasing enemy body counts and civilian casualties (as in Chechnya). If I recall correctly, in early 2005 the Russian Defense Minister declared Russia having it’s first ‘all professional motor company’ (division) stationed in the Chechen Theater.

One would hope there’s more than just one :wry:

There are literally thousands of post-Soviet military here ‘turned entrepreneurs’ with no desire in returning ‘home’.

But for all their faults, they still manage (out of perhaps fear) to go where the Kremlin dictates.

This November article (http://www.kommersant.com/p827649/electioneering_military/) leads me to conclude that even Russia’s Flag Officers need a dictator and not a leader.

Just a smigin from the article, but indeed my favorite :D

Baluevsky was getting a little nervous waiting for the supreme commander. The tasks he had to fulfill were about to be given to him.

Putin did what Baluevsky needed. He set tasks.

The usually tight-lipped Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov read a lengthy report. Rumor has it that Serdyukov is popular in his ministry, and I understood why as I listened to his nicely delivered half-hour report devoted to the new structure of Army financing and the problems of clothing and housing its soldiers and providing them with medical treatment. Only of the main tasks for 2008, he said, is “introducing a new standard of rations. And then every soldier will see the steps forward that have been taken in feeding them.” How could they not like him?

Serdyukov said nothing about military tasks ahead and mentioned only a few exercises as the accomplishments of 2007. In last year's report, defense minister at the time Sergey Ivanov was much more ambitious and spent a large part of his address on the challenges and successes of opposing the United States. Sources tell me that, in the text of his speech, there was written that “at present, the U.S. Army is undertaking a reconfiguration of its forced,” which cannot but cause the Russian military command serious concern. But he did not read that passage.

And finally, the Pres slams one home :D

After the minister had taken his seat and Baluevsky looked as though he would announce a break, the president asked about the construction of the military hospital at Vilyuchinsk. No one was expecting the question.

“The hospital was supposed to be partially operational before your visit in September,” Serdyukov began hesitantly.

“And we didn't go there because what was supposed to be ready wasn't ready!” the president said, stumbling a little over his words. “So why?”

There was complete silence, for lack of volunteers for the suicide mission of answering the question. Officers never take those missions.

“Is our so-called chief doctor here?” the president asked.

It took a long time for Vladimir Shappo, the head of the military medicine division to reach the podium. He explained that “The medical service of the armed forces has made every effort to make the hospital operational.”

“If every effort had been made, Bykov wouldn't have been fired,” Putin replied, referring to the last chief doctor. “Since he was fired, it must not have been every effort. When will it be operational?”

“The hospital is practically ready now and will begin operating on November 30.”

“Why wasn't it done on time?” the president asked implacably. “You're new. Maybe you have a fresh view on things. I just want to know what prevented it from being done on schedule.”

Putin asked another general about the “stinking huts” he was building to house his soldiers and demanded that building standards be raised.

Stan

11-27-2007, 08:15 AM

A True Father to His Troops (http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2007/11/27/008.html), By Alexander Golts, Moscow Times Opinion Columnist

At first glance, it would seem that the Nov. 20 gathering of the military's top brass was filled with positive news only.

Putin emphasized the growing threat that the country is facing: "In violation of previous agreements, military resources of NATO members are being built up next to our borders. Of course, we cannot allow ourselves to remain indifferent to this obvious muscle-flexing."

We can only guess what he meant in referring to NATO's "muscle-flexing" on Russia's borders. Perhaps he meant the four jets that patrol the airspace of the Baltic states?

Moreover, Putin decided to play the role of the caring "father to his troops."

According to script, the image of the caring father of the troops should be combined with a certain sternness that is suitable for the commander in chief. In this capacity, Putin fired the military's chief of construction, blaming him for the fact that officers are still living in "stinking slums."

Putin also staged a public dressing-down of a senior general over this same housing issue, despite the fact that the general was responsible for health care in the military and had no connection whatsoever with housing.

This is one example of how the commander in chief is increasingly alienated from the real state of affairs in the military.

As we can see, there is nothing heroic here. Serdyukov is trying to put the army in at least some kind of order and to improve the way the armed forces are managed.

...Putin doesn't need the armed forces for the purposes of defending the country. He needs the military for public relations and propaganda purposes.

Stan

01-17-2008, 08:27 AM

By Alexander Golts, Moscow Times (http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2008/01/15/006.html) Commentary

Jan. 1 was supposed to have been a defining moment for the armed forces. By this date, a federal program to switch a portion of the conscripted armed forces to professional contract duty was supposed to have been completed. The plan, which was initiated in 2003, emerged as a compromise between the Kremlin and the military's top brass.

If what the military officials claim is true about the success of the new professional units, it might be possible to congratulate the armed forces on even the most modest steps taken toward building a new and improved army.

Initial plans called for 144,000 sergeants and soldiers to switch to contract duty. Now the top brass are reporting only 100,000 soldiers on contract duty. At the same time, Colonel General Vasily Smirnov has said 20 percent of all sergeant and soldier positions needed for the new professional units remain "vacant."

The larger problem, however, is not so much the inadequate number of professional contract soldiers, but the terribly low quality of their services. ...Colonel General Alexei Maslov, commander of the Ground Forces, acknowledged: "In some aspects, they are no better prepared than corresponding units of conscripts."

...many servicemen were forced into signing contracts through the use of deceit, fraud, psychological pressure and physical violence.

In private conversations, high-ranking military officials admit that during the past year they have managed to recruit only enough new soldiers to replace those who have deserted.

More at the link

William F. Owen

01-17-2008, 11:58 AM

The Russians are above all about the operational level of war. There are few Armies that have ever matched, let alone surpassed the Russians' record of operational successes. The Russians were the first true masters of the Operational Art as they first developed it between the two World Wars. Even the Germans as a whole never really quite mastered Operational Art (although von Manstein himself was perhaps the ablest practitioner of the Operational Art of WWII).

...and they lost vast numbers of men doing it. The Russians may understand the Operational level, but they can only apply it at great cost. - millions of lives to defeat the Nazis.

Unless they have numbers the Russians are, like the Chinese, and North Koreans, mostly sub-capable. Numbers is the only think on their side.

"Talks Star Wars, Act Cave man"

Rank amateur

01-17-2008, 02:36 PM

Numbers is the only think on their side.

And nuclear weapons.

Norfolk

01-17-2008, 03:59 PM

...and they lost vast numbers of men doing it. The Russians may understand the Operational level, but they can only apply it at great cost. - millions of lives to defeat the Nazis.

Unless they have numbers the Russians are, like the Chinese, and North Koreans, mostly sub-capable. Numbers is the only think on their side.

"Talks Star Wars, Act Cave man"

Too true Wilf, and your ending quote pretty much sums up the essence of Russian Military Theory and Practice.

Ken White

01-17-2008, 04:19 PM

And nuclear weapons.

They just make a bigger bang, no more. Yes, there is radiation -- but there is also high cholestrerol; everybody's gonna die from something... ;)

kaur

01-18-2008, 08:01 AM

With its conventional forces Russia will be able to keep and increase its capability to
operate on parts of the Eurasian land mass. It will thus develop a considerable regional
power projection capability.

http://www.foi.se/upload/rapporter/foi-russian-military-capability.pdf

Jedburgh

01-18-2008, 12:06 PM

Eurasia Daily Monitor, 17 Jan 08: Moscow Resumes May Parades to Demonstrate Military Strength (http://www.jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2372724)

Full-scale, Soviet-style military parades – with displays of tanks and other military hardware – will return to Red Square beginning May 9. The decision to resume this public display of military might was reportedly taken at a January 12 meeting of top Russian military leaders. The new Topol-M (SS-27) (http://www.missilethreat.com/missilesoftheworld/id.145/missile_detail.asp) mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles will also roll past the reviewing stands near the Kremlin wall. The parade is timed to celebrate VE-Day, the end of the European portion of World War II.

The planned high-profile parade will apparently coincide with the inauguration of the next Russian president, presumably Dmitry Medvedev (http://www.russiaprofile.org/resources/whoiswho/alphabet/m/medvedev.wbp), whom Vladimir Putin has designated as his successor. Medvedev’s election on March 2 is a near certainty, since elections are a mere formality in the framework of Russia's imitation democracy, and the new president must be inaugurated during the first half of May. A public display of Russian armor and nuclear might is clearly a grand way to welcome Medvedev and to commend Putin, who has agreed to serve alongside Medvedev as prime minister. Its easy to imagine them both – Putin and Medvedev – standing side-by-side atop the reviewing stand in front of Vladimir Lenin's tomb, as the tanks and ICBMs roll by and jet fighters scream overhead – symbolizing the restoration of mighty Russia.....

kaur

01-22-2008, 11:50 AM

Putin had become convinced during the Second Chechen War that an army based on mass conscription was completely ineffective for the defense of the country. “To effectively respond to terrorists we would need to assemble a force of at least 65,000 men. But of all the military land forces, only 55,000 were in battle-ready condition,” recalled Putin, referring to the level of federal forces in 2006. “The Army has 1.4 million personnel, but none of them can fight. So they sent unseasoned kids into battle.”

It would appear that the number of military service members in contract units hovers somewhere around 50,000.

http://russophobe.blogspot.com/2008/01/another-original-lr-translation-golts.html

kaur

01-31-2008, 07:17 AM

Russia's Security Policy Grows "Muscular": Should the West Be Worried?

http://www.upi-fiia.fi/eng/events/events_2008/russias_security_and_defence_policies/#

kaur

02-25-2008, 11:47 AM

Resurgent Russia? A Still-Faltering Military

Still, despite the recent infusions of resources, Russia’s army remains a pale shadow of its former self. If it is, indeed, on the road to recovery, it has a very long way to go considering its present condition, confusion about its future direction, and the enormous advances the U.S. armed forces have made since the Cold War.

http://www.hoover.org/publications/policyreview/14830596.html

Jedburgh

06-07-2008, 03:27 AM

Russia Profile, 5 Jun 08: Hunting Conscripts (http://www.russiaprofile.org/page.php?pageid=Politics&articleid=a1212670888)

Russia’s Ministry of Defense (http://www.mil.ru/eng/) is desperately searching for new conscripts, as the Russian army faces difficulty in drafting enough soldiers for the next year. The problem is that beginning in 2009, a sharp decrease in the number of eligible conscripts is expected, since exactly 18 years ago, in 1991, Russia experienced a sharp birthrate decline. In Russia, young men can be drafted into the army starting at the age of 18.

This decline was connected to the economic difficulties caused by price liberalization, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and other forms of turmoil that Russia underwent during that epoch. Starting in 2000, the economic and demographic trends improved, but the military commissariats all over Russia presently face problems, since the army currently needs young and preferably educated people now, and not in 18 years. The army’s problems are aggravated by the recent cut in the term of military service, which reduced the time of obligatory service from two years to one.

Thus the military seems to have opted for a radical solution - to grab high school graduates immediately following their graduation in late May, before they manage to enter universities in June and July. According to Russia’s law “On Military Duties and Service,” students cannot be drafted into the army.....

MikeF

09-20-2009, 09:04 PM

Russia's new president, Dmitry Medvedev, is making the rounds to explain Russia's role and expectations in the 21st century. Appearing today on Fareed Zakaria's 360 (http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/fareed.zakaria.gps/), he spoke in depth on democracy, capitalism, Israel, Iran, and Afghanistan.

In his words...

Go Russia! (http://eng.kremlin.ru/speeches/2009/09/10/1534_type104017_221527.shtml)

Achieving leadership by relying on oil and gas markets is impossible. We must understand and appreciate the complexity of our problems. We must frankly discuss them in order to act. In the end, commodity exchanges must not determine Russia’s fate; our own ideas about ourselves, our history and future must do so. Our intellect, honest self-assessment, strength, dignity and enterprise must be the decisive factors.

My starting point while setting out five priorities for technological development, offering specific measures for the modernisation of the political system, as well as measures to strengthen the judiciary and fight corruption, is my views on Russia’s future. And for the sake of our future it is necessary to liberate our country from persistent social ills that inhibit its creative energy and restrict our common progress. These ills include:

1. Centuries of economic backwardness and the habit of relying on the export of raw materials, actually exchanging them for finished products. Peter the Great, the last tsars and the Bolsheviks all created – and not unsuccessfully -- elements of an innovative system. But the price of their successes was too high. As a rule, it was done by making extreme efforts, by using all the levers of a totalitarian state machine.

2. Centuries of corruption have debilitated Russia from time immemorial. Until today this corrosion has been due to the excessive government presence in many significant aspects of economic and other social activities. But it is not limited to governmental excess -- business is also not without fault. Many entrepreneurs are not worried about finding talented inventors, introducing unique technologies, creating and marketing new products, but rather with bribing officials for the sake of ‘controlling the flows’ of property redistribution.

3. Paternalistic attitudes are widespread in our society, such as the conviction that all problems should be resolved by the government. Or by someone else, but never by the person who is actually there. The desire to make a career from scratch, to achieve personal success step by step is not one of our national habits. This is reflected in a lack of initiative, lack of new ideas, outstanding unresolved issues, the poor quality of public debate, including criticism. Public acceptance and support is usually expressed in silence. Objections are very often emotional, scathing, but superficial and irresponsible. Well, this is not the first century that Russia has had to confront these phenomena.

People tell us that we cannot completely cure chronic social diseases. Those traditions are steadfast, and history tends to repeat itself. But at one point serfdom and rampant illiteracy seemed insurmountable. However, we overcame them all the same.

Of course traditions have a considerable influence. But they nevertheless fit in with each new era and undergo changes. Some simply disappear, and not all of them are useful. For me, only unquestionable values which must be preserved may be regarded as traditions. They include interethnic and interfaith peace, military valour, faithfulness to one’s duty, hospitality and the kindness inherent in our people. Bribery, theft, intellectual and spiritual laziness, and drunkenness, on the other hand, are vices that offend our traditions. We should get rid of them by using the strongest terms.

Of course today’s Russia will not repeat its past. Our time is truly new. And not just because it is moving forward, as time does, but also because it opens up before our country and each one of us tremendous opportunities. Opportunities of which there was no trace twenty, thirty, or much less a hundred or three hundred years ago.

The impressive legacy of the two greatest modernisations in our country’s history – that of Peter the Great (imperial) and the Soviet one -- unleashed ruin, humiliation and resulted in the deaths of millions of our countrymen. It is not for us to judge our predecessors. But we must recognize that the preservation of human life was not, euphemistically speaking, a government priority in those years. Unfortunately, this is a fact. Today is the first time in our history that we have a chance to prove to ourselves and the world that Russia can develop in a democratic way. That a transition to the next, higher stage of civilization is possible. And this will be accomplished through non-violent methods. Not by coercion, but by persuasion. Not through suppression, but rather the development of the creative potential of every individual. Not through intimidation, but through interest. Not through confrontation, but by harmonising the interests of the individual, society and government.

We really live in a unique time. We have a chance to build a new, free, prosperous and strong Russia. As President I am obliged to do everything in my power to make sure that we fully take advantage of this opportunity.

v/r

Mike

davidbfpo

09-20-2009, 10:03 PM

What does the Prime Minister, Mr Putin, say?

That is the key question as most reports I've seen and bothered to read on Russia think that Mr Putin wants to be president again.

davidbfpo

MikeF

09-21-2009, 12:55 PM

What does the Prime Minister, Mr Putin, say?

That is the key question as most reports I've seen and bothered to read on Russia think that Mr Putin wants to be president again.

davidbfpo

Very true. I'm sure many will be pessimistic by the President's remarks. We'll have to wait and see.

v/r

Mike

carl

09-22-2009, 04:56 AM

Well he says the right things. But I wonder if he actually means it, seeing as how he is an integral part of a government that does a pretty good mafia imitation. Nothing will matter anyway unless they can defuse their demographic time bomb.

kaur

09-23-2009, 05:33 AM

Behind the golden doors.

Mr Medvedev’s article evoked memories of Mikhail Gorbachev’s perestroika speeches in the 1980s; he said this week that what went wrong with Mr Gorbachev was that he began but failed to complete his reforms. Mr Medvedev, however, has not ever started. But cynics also saw an echo of Mr Putin’s first state-of-the-nation address as president in July 2000. Mr Putin talked then of a shrinking population, a backward economy and the importance of freedom of speech and human rights.

So it is not surprising that many Russians were unimpressed. As one website visitor commented: “Mr President, your mostly correct words have nothing in common with what is happening in the country of which you are the leader. I don’t believe you. Do something first, something that would illustrate your readiness to modernise the country and move it forward. Fire the government or let Khodorkovsky out. At least do something!”

The problem, argues Nikolai Petrov of the Carnegie Moscow Centre, is that the economy cannot become dynamic and progressive if the political system is not fair and free. But Mr Medvedev’s liberalism is virtual not real. In 18 months of his presidency, the Russian media has not become any freer. Political opponents have not gained access to television. The number of murders and attacks on human-rights activists has gone up. And the trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once one of the country’s wealthiest oligarchs, has turned into a showpiece of political repression.

As Mr Medvedev’s letter to Mr Yushchenko shows, he fits in with the Kremlin’s policy of confrontation and the search for enemies, particularly at times of crisis. The tension at the top of the government does not seem to make Russia any friendlier towards the West. Although his article said that Russian foreign policy should be defined by the goal of modernisation, Mr Medvedev shook hands with Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez on an arms deal (see article). “We will supply Venezuela with the types of arms it asks for, acting in compliance with our international obligations. We will certainly deliver tanks too, why not? We have good tanks.”

On September 14th, at a conference on global security in Yaroslavl, Mr Medvedev again lambasted America for causing the global crisis. He also called for a new European security architecture that would give Russia greater influence, particularly in the former Soviet space.

http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14460297

The Vladimir and Dmirty show.

TO SEE Russia’s two leaders in quick succession is instructive. The more so if the issue is which should run for president in 2012, when Dmitry Medvedev’s current term expires. Vladimir Putin, tanned and muscular, positively twinkled as he told the Valdai club of foreign academics and commentators over lunch on September 11th that “we will reach an agreement. We understand each other. We are people of one blood, with the same political views…We will look at economic and political factors, and at the position of the United Russia party, which I head, and then decide.”

http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14460354

MikeF

09-23-2009, 05:39 AM

Tom put it best:

Vision v/s rhetoric...

That will be the challenge of the next generation. Facta non Verba- putting actions/deeds with words...

It will be interesting.

v/r

Mike

Fuchs

06-26-2010, 08:05 PM

http://russiamil.wordpress.com/2010/05/27/another-round-of-reorganization/

(...)
The goal of all these transformations is to reduce the number of layers of command from sixteen to three, hopefully thereby increasing the speed and accuracy of military decision-making. The idea is that with this new simplified command system and improvements in communication equipment, “the chief of the general staff will be able to call any company or platoon commander” and vice-versa. (...)

Ouch. 16 to 3 is incredible (and I doubt that it's accurate), but a direct comm link from Moscow to a platoon at the Chinese border isn't exactly an improvement in my opinion.

bourbon

06-27-2010, 06:06 PM

Russian Military Reform Goal #37: No more beating young conscripts to death and then selling their organs on the Chinese Black Market

Is the Russian Army Bullying Its Soldiers to Death? (http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1998445,00.html), by Carl Schreck. Time Magazine, June 21, 2010

Russians have become so familiar with stories of military suicides that Suslov's death might have warranted little more than a brief mention in the press had it not been for the disturbing video posted on YouTube on June 2 showing his body in an open casket. In the video, Suslov's shirt is opened to reveal a line of enormous stitches running from his neck to his abdomen, evoking images of the leather laces on an antique basketball. His mother hovers over his body while the mother of a solider who allegedly committed suicide in 2003 gives a harrowing narration of the apparent injuries to Suslov's body. The woman, Alma Bukharbayeva, claims her son Marat was murdered during his mandatory service in Bikin and that his organs were removed and sold on the black market in China. The crude stitches and various bruises and abrasions on Suslov's body, she alleges in the video, indicate his organs may also have been removed to be sold for transplant surgeries.

SWJ Blog

06-22-2012, 07:30 PM

This Week at War: A Leaner, Cleaner Russian Army (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/this-week-at-war-a-leaner-cleaner-russian-army)

Entry Excerpt:

--------
Read the full post (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/this-week-at-war-a-leaner-cleaner-russian-army) and make any comments at the SWJ Blog (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog).
This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.

Ray

08-07-2012, 05:50 AM

Russia to revive army bases in three oceans

The Russian government intends to restore the military-technical support of their ships at the former military base in Cam Ranh (Vietnam), Lourdes (Cuba) and the Seychelles. So far, this is not about plans for a military presence, but rather the restoration of the crew resources. However, a solid contractual basis should be developed for these plans.

The intentions were announced on July 27 by the Russian Navy Commander Vice Admiral Viktor Chirkov. "At the international level, the creation of logistics points in Cuba, the Seychelles and Vietnam is being worked out,"
http://english.pravda.ru/russia/politics/01-08-2012/121804-russia_army_base-0/

A rather intriguing report from the Pravda.

Anyone has an idea what's up?

There is a mention of an OAK missile being deployed in Cuba.

Any idea what it is?

Entropy

08-07-2012, 01:22 PM

The Russians have discussed these "bases" before. This is really about rights to harbor, resupply and provide crew rest for Russian ships and so the Russians aren't really opening military "bases." This will allow Russian ships to deploy for longer periods and operate farther from their home ports.

As far as the missile goes, I have no idea. My Russian is very rusty, but the translation seems correct based on the Russian version of the article (http://www.pravda.ru/world/30-07-2012/1123320-military_base-0/).

The newest Russian nuclear ballistic missile system is the Topol which means "Poplar" in Russian. Maybe Pravda got their trees mixed up. But even that doesn't make any sense - the Topol is an ICBM so there's no point in putting them in Cuba. And then there are the massive geopolitical ramifications of such a deployment.

No one else seems to have reported this missile deployment either. So, all in all, I think it's very likely that this is another case of Pravda not living up to its name....

Bob's World

08-07-2012, 04:38 PM

We need to grow used to the idea that in a more balanced world there will be many nations working to secure the interests they see as vital to them.

Some will invite many larger nations to trade with them and to provide some aspect of their mutual security. For example, I can see where Vietnam would see nothing incongruous about having ships from US, Russian, Chinese and Indian navies all in port in Cam Ranh at the same time. Best to keep ones options open.

Some will go out into the world and ensure they have access to resources, markets and reliable nodes to sustain their security forces. A US sharing the benefits of a global market should recognize the benfits of sharing security duties for the access to those markets as well.

The US will remain the biggest dog in the pack for years to come, but our days of playing the lone wolf (or leader of a pack of lesser dogs subservient to our will and interests as we define them) are about over.

carl

08-07-2012, 06:33 PM

What Russian professes they want to do and what they can do are two different things. They don't have much and unless they fix their demographic problem and become something other than a mafia state, they will have less in the future.

slapout9

08-07-2012, 06:52 PM

Until Directed Energy Weapons become truly viable it is all about guided missiles. And regardless of what the long term outlook for Russia is, Putin will be a formidable adversary in the coming years for America. The more we push for a so called Missile Defense for Europe the more you will see a Russian Missile push back. Naval ports and Missiles....that is something that Russia has a long history with and they are good at it.

carl

08-07-2012, 07:55 PM

Slap:

I am beginning to see your point about missiles.

Speaking of directed energy weapons, Information Dissemination recently had this about USN lasers.

http://www.informationdissemination.net/2012/08/time-to-talk-lasers.html

The Russians seem to do missiles well but when talking about sea fighting that often means ships or planes, if only to carry the missiles to within launch range and to target them. In the Russians case they don't have much in the way of ships and planes. And since sea fighting is most often conducted by navies, and the Russian Navy has about the worst history of accomplishment of any navy I can think of, I can't see what Russia can do coming anywhere close to what they say.

davidbfpo

08-07-2012, 08:44 PM

A quick search on Google found numerous reports of the USA having a facility for drones in the Seychelles, plus China wanting to have access for its navy. Not to overlook the close relationship India has with the Seychelles.

IIRC the USA has a possibly commercially run military satellite station there too.

So a Russian base or access to facilities will fit in very nicely.

AdamG

08-15-2012, 02:22 PM

A Russian nuclear-powered attack submarine armed with long-range cruise missiles operated undetected in the Gulf of Mexico for several weeks and its travel in strategic U.S. waters was only confirmed after it left the region, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

It is only the second time since 2009 that a Russian attack submarine has patrolled so close to U.S. shores.

http://freebeacon.com/silent-running/

davidbfpo

08-15-2012, 02:45 PM

Even if Bill Gertz is the author of the cited article (having left The Washington Times), the language is colourful, almost as if the Akula was at Kings Bay, not in the Gulf of Mexico:
The latest submarine incursion in the Gulf...

Plus a lot of jigsaw pieces all being added together - to support more defence spending. Such as the P-8, which has struggled to be sold:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_P-8_Poseidon

Elsewhere on SWC and an ocean away in the South China Sea freedom of navigation for all is cited as under threat by China. The Russian Akula was just doing that, exercising in international waters; something of course the USN SSK never do of course.

Then Gertz adds:
A second, alarming air incursion took place July 4 on the West Coast when a Bear H strategic bomber flew into U.S. airspace near California and was met by U.S. interceptor jets.

Similar flights by Bear bombers have been reported in the UK, but when examined closely the 'airspace' was not territorial airspace, but the UK air defence and civil aviation area - a very different legal concept, which has no standing in international law.

Given Gertz's record for obtaining help from within officialdom, one can happily speculate whose best interests are served by this unconfirmed report.

AdamG

08-15-2012, 04:01 PM

Given Gertz's record for obtaining help from within officialdom, one can happily speculate whose best interests are served by this unconfirmed report.

Yeah, and?

Gertz paints a pretty plain picture.

The submarine patrol also exposed what U.S. officials said were deficiencies in U.S. anti-submarine warfare capabilities—forces that are facing cuts under the Obama administration’s plan to reduce defense spending by $487 billion over the next 10 years.

Perhaps Gertz is stumping for the ASW funding proponents, but it's not mutually exclusive to point out 1) that the Russians are getting back into the habit of flexing their muscles, and 2) a Russian sub sat on our doorstep twiddling it's thumbs for a month while 3) the USN leadership is engaged in sexual pattycakes and generally poor seamanship.

Fuchs

08-15-2012, 04:30 PM

deficiencies in U.S. anti-submarine warfare capabilities

Ooooold story (http://www.network54.com/Forum/135069/thread/1089498118/1094314078/Is+The+US+Navy+Overrated-).

Stories about ASW deficiencies are available in abundance and it affects all classic forces.

Aerial ASW is a near-impotent museum piece from WW2 that does no more than to force the hostile subs to be cautious.

Classic surface ASW with passive sonar (towed or hull mounted doesn't matter) are in peril against old SSNs and at the same time totally useless targets in face of a modern hostile SSK.

Surface ASW is potent with low frequency active sonars, but the emitters should be detached from major surface units if not even dispersed. Survival of surface units still depends on being silent, that is "slow" unless they sail; cavitation begins with the relatively small surface ship screws already at speeds well below what classic tea clippers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_clipper#Tea_clipper) were able to achieve.
Most if not all "modern"(-time) navies insist on the classic impressive warship basis instead of accepting the need for many small units. It's a bit reminiscent of 10+ battleship WW2 navies being forced to build 500+ sub hunters during wartime.

SSNs are fine at defeating obsolete loud other SSNs, but fail regularly even at the detection of modern hostile SSKs.

Modern SSKs are less prone to be found by other modern SSKs, but this works both ways. They're also often too slow to intercept a 15 kts cruising convoy and certainly too slow to escort it.

carl

08-15-2012, 07:07 PM

The Akula is a very good sub which we already knew but this further confirms that.

If we didn't know the boat sailed from Russia, crossed the Atlantic and cruised around the Caribbean for a month, how did we know that it left and how did we know it was there for a month?

Fuchs

08-15-2012, 07:14 PM

Afaik some other source suggested that the Russians were on sightseeing tour, taking enough periscope photos as souvenirs.

Periscope shot souvenirs (http://tinyurl.com/ckuo8zp) are apparently popular among sub drivers.

carl

08-15-2012, 08:19 PM

I have another question for people who know about these things. Does this mean SOSUS isn't very useful anymore?

slapout9

08-16-2012, 05:37 AM

I have another question for people who know about these things. Does this mean SOSUS isn't very useful anymore?

Col. MacGregor (the Army Colonel Tank Commander:eek:) has been hired by the US Navy to basically re-do the whole underwater detection sensor network. So I think SOSUS is going to get a big upgrade so UUAV (Underwater Unmanned Attack Vehicles) can be used.

I had an article I had saved about a Soviet Missile launching sub crusing the Gulf Of Mexico undetected:eek:I was going to post but I am not sure what I did with it but it is out there in cyber-space somewhere.

Don't never trust them Ruskies!

AdamG

10-05-2013, 03:55 AM

One of the distinguishing characteristics of Vladimir Putin’s presidency has been his commitment to revitalizing Russia’s military. Putin, who has noted that Russia’s perceived weakness makes it vulnerable to external pressure and internal disruption, is pushing for increased funding to transform the Russian armed forces from the debilitated remnants inherited from the old Soviet superpower military machine into a smaller, but more modern, mobile, technologically advanced and capable twenty-first century force.

http://www.mynews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2013/10/3/_vulgar_dancing_in_f.html

carl

10-05-2013, 05:18 AM

What Putin wants may not be what Putin gets. In order to get where he says they want to go they would have to, a. overcome a demographic problem of historic magnitude, b. transform the gov into something other than a kleptocracy, c. develop an economy that can do something other than mine and sell the product and d. actually exert full control over their nation, right now they don't dare draft men from Chechnya.

None of this is to say they can't make trouble over the years. And none of it is to say we should ignore them, but Putin's dream of returning to the days of the Russian colossus will remain a dream unless things at home get fixed. My opinion anyway.

AdamG

12-11-2013, 09:22 PM

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in response to a conventional strike and sees them as a "great equalizer" reducing the likelihood of aggression, a senior Russian official said Wednesday.

While Russia amended its military doctrine years ago to allow for the possibility of using nuclear weapons first in retaliation to a non-nuclear attack, the statement by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin reflected Moscow's concern about prospective U.S. conventional weapons.

Weapons that have been developed in the United States under the so-called "prompt global strike" program would be capable of striking targets anywhere in the world in as little as an hour with deadly precision. Russia, which has lagged far behind in developing such weapons, has described them as destabilizing.
http://news.yahoo.com/russia-may-answer-conventional-attack-nukes-155829813.html

MOSCOW, December 10 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s military will have 500,000 soldiers serving on professional contracts within a decade, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday.

Half of the armed forces will be made up of professional service personnel by 2022 under plans to shift away from conscripts and more than double the number of contract soldiers from the present 220,000.
http://en.ria.ru/military_news/20131210/185434281.html

kaur

01-18-2014, 09:05 PM

Swedish FOI publication "Russian Military Capability in a Ten-Year Perspective - 2013"

http://foi.se/ReportFiles/foir_3734.pdf

AdamG

01-20-2014, 05:08 PM

Fresher related thread.
http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?t=8464

Moderator adds: Thanks for identification of the other thread, it has now been merged into this one (ends).

AdamG

04-18-2014, 09:10 PM

We really need a Cold War Redux thread.

In a patriotic fervour, Russians are asking President Vladimir Putin to bring back the US state of Alaska, sold off to the United States in Tsarist times. Putin's answer? It's too cold.

During Putin's annual marathon phone-in session Thursday, when Russians pose questions to the Russian leader, a pensioner asked him to possibly follow the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine with the taking of Alaska.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/140417/ex-russian-alaska-too-cold-annex-putin-jokes

AdamG

04-21-2014, 02:03 PM

Japan's defence minister said Sunday there have been an "abnormal" number of flights by Russian military aircraft close to Japanese islands in recent days.

The country's air defence force scrambled fighter jets for seven days in a row through Saturday after spotting Russian military planes flying along the Japanese archipelago, according to the defence ministry.

On Friday six Russian TU-95 bombers were seen flying two by two, with one pair moving around the Okinawan islands and then going north along Japan's Pacific coast.

The two other pairs flew over the Sea of Japan (East Sea). None of the flights intruded into Japanese airspace.
http://www.afp.com/en/node/2306271

davidbfpo

04-24-2014, 02:16 PM

Missed by many I suspect, so hat tip to Australia's Lowy Institute e-briefing:
The failure two weeks ago of GLONASS was frankly an unprecedented total disruption (http://gpsworld.com/glonass-gone-then-back/) of a fully operational satellite constellation. At just past midnight Russian time (GMT + 4) on 2 April, every GLONASS space vehicle began broadcasting corrupt data. This rendered the system completely unusable to all receivers worldwide, and the system remained that way for about eleven hours.

The slim technical details:http://gpsworld.com/glonass-gone-then-back/

The US report and wondering about reliance on non-Russian GPS:http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/defense-industrialist/it-s-time-for-a-backup-to-gps

Which has an interesting Crimea-related passage:
It should be no surprise that those unbadged Russian troops swarming into Crimea last month brought with them (http://instagram.com/p/la_AUKIOK7/) trucks with very recognizable GPS jammers. The new R-330 Zhitel (http://www.armyrecognition.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8619) system appears to have enough power to jam even military-grade receivers over a wide area, and a dispersed deployment of them could overwhelm even the most sophisticated electronically-steered antennas.

I note this failure was on the 2nd April 2014, after April Fool's Day.

carl

04-28-2014, 01:27 AM

The one article doubts the system was hacked. Right, like you said, the day after April Fools.

But as far as our reliance GPS goes I asked a battle captain once what the drill would be if GPS went down. He got a thoughtful look on his face and said more or less, he had no idea at all.

Stan

04-28-2014, 04:40 PM

Imagine yourself in Zaire with a cell phone that worked in only three major cities (if you called (pardon the pun) ahead to get a connection), and you had a compass and map from the 1960s.

Half of the high end Garmins with purportedly unlimited free updates can't get you around this tiny little country.

We've lost our very basic military training where the drill sergeant snapped the eraser off the pencil, gave it back and told you, "you were not yet trained to use that end of the pencil" :D

Carl,
Back to VFR :cool:

TheCurmudgeon

04-28-2014, 05:24 PM

Stan, the problem would not be land navigation. It would be GPS guided "smart" munitions or drones that rely on GPS for course corrections for weather conditions.

Stan

04-28-2014, 05:34 PM

Stan, the problem would not be land navigation. It would be GPS guided "smart" munitions or drones that rely on GPS for course corrections for weather conditions.

Jeez, Stan... That begs the question

We are guiding our million dollar sierra with Russian satellites :o

Hence the term "Smart" as in street wise from DC or Intelligent from God knows where ?

We still have SR teams that lase the targets behind enemy lines for far less cash !

EDIT:

If I look back on the blunders of Russian smart bombs in Georgia with most of the ordnance landing miles from what we concluded were their intended targets, I would have to conclude that a Russian satellite blackout might be a good thing.

My point however is the same. I can still call in Artillery using a map, can still call in my location using a map, and, the map batteries never die when I need them the most. Worst case scenario, I need to sharpen a pencil.

carl

04-28-2014, 07:08 PM

I don't know if there would be panic in the ground guy community if the GPS went down and stayed down. I suspect there would be.

I know there would be panic on the aviation side

Fuchs

04-28-2014, 07:36 PM

Half of the high end Garmins with purportedly unlimited free updates can't get you around this tiny little country.

We've lost our very basic military training where the drill sergeant snapped the eraser off the pencil, gave it back and told you, "you were not yet trained to use that end of the pencil" :D

U.S. Army land navigation skills with compass and map were already a running gag in (parts of) the Luftwaffe (!!!) back in the 90's.

It's one of those skills which make it really easy to embarrass people in general.

(Disclaimer: I'm fine with maps, yet horrible without.)

Stan

04-28-2014, 08:52 PM

Fuchs,
Good point :D

However, when put to the test in the middle of the Sub-Sahara with only lunch and a cold beer in the back of the truck, you better get it right !

We did, and several times over.

It was in fact 1994 and both of us are still alive.

Land navigation skills are not for the common soldier and few pass a 16 mile road march at White Sands.

But then, few from the Luftwaffe make it past the first day at Bragg, nor do most other soldiers, regardless of nationality.

Pilots are not land navigators, unless following rivers and mountains qualify as navigating :D

U.S. Army land navigation skills with compass and map were already a running gag in (parts of) the Luftwaffe (!!!) back in the 90's.

It's one of those skills which make it really easy to embarrass people in general.

(Disclaimer: I'm fine with maps, yet horrible without.)

JMA

04-28-2014, 09:12 PM

It was in fact 1994 and both of us are still alive.

That time and place was a great incentive not to get lost... a scenario which can't be emulated during training (obviously). ;)

Stan

04-28-2014, 09:21 PM

That time and place was a great incentive not to get lost... a scenario which can't be emulated during training (obviously). ;)

Mark,
Exactly !

I wonder, just how many herein know what a "click" really means :D

Then, there are expressions related to thickness, something about pubic hair, which, we will not get into herein :)

davidbfpo

05-19-2014, 04:09 PM

A short review on WoTR of the recent excursions by Russia's "little green men". It starts with:
With the rapid operation that resulted in the annexation of Crimea earlier this year, the Russian military returned to the collective consciousness of the American public. Many commentators were impressed with the “little green men’s” (http://warontherocks.com/2014/04/warchives-implausible-deniability/) professional demeanor and shiny new equipment. In some cases, this impression was undeservedly expanded (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/03/world/europe/crimea-offers-showcase-for-russias-rebooted-military.html) to apply to the rest of the Russian military (http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Columnist/2014/Mar-20/250750-crimea-has-revealed-an-improved-russian-military.ashx#axzz31u2SPiMm). In this context, it is important to discuss what the Crimean operation does and does not tell us about the capabilities of the Russian military.

The first clear lesson from the Crimean operation is that the Russian military understands how to carry out operations with a minimal use of force. This observation may initially seem banal or trivial, but we should keep in mind how Russian troops acted in previous operations in Chechnya (http://fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/documents/secchech/secchech.htm) and even to some extent in Georgia (http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/PUB1069.pdf). Subtlety was not a strong suit in these operations, nor did it seem to be particularly encouraged by the political leadership

Link:http://warontherocks.com/2014/05/crimea-taught-us-a-lesson-but-not-about-how-the-russian-military-fights/

novelist

07-28-2014, 09:39 AM

I think you have to look at the former Red Army in the context of its organization prior to 1989. A Motor Rifle Regiment carried 5 battalions: There were two BTR equipped light motor rifle battalions, a BMP equipped heavy motor rifle battalion, a T-54/55 equipped tank battalion, and a Sp. 122mm howitzer battalion. In all, the regiment carried 27 companies/batteries, 70% of which were fire capable. The Motor Rifle Division carried 5 regiments: two light motor rifle regiments, (assault forces) a heavy motor rifle regiment, (exploitation force), a T-62/64 equipped tank regiment, (exploitation force) and an Sp. 152mm howitzer regiment. The division carried 58 battalions to include a T-72 equipped independent tank battalion. The motor rifle battalion of the exploitation forces carried a Battalion HQ, three motor rifle squads for HQ security, three (3) motor rifle companies, an 82mm mortar battery, and a technical services company comprised of a repair platoon, a medical platoon, a transportation platoon, and a communications platoon. The assault force had the immediate task of breaching the enemy line. The battalion making the most progress received regimental arty support. A battalion not making good progress was left to its own devices. NCO' s were not allowed to carry maps, and could not call for arty or air support. If the platoon leader was killed in action, the senior NCO could not take command of the platoon. Having said all of this, I think you have to look at the current organizational structure of a motor rifle regiment and its current doctrinal TTP. You'd also have to look at leadership and whether or not platoon leaders, company commanders, etc. are now permitted to exercise initiative. This seems the only logical way to determine whether or not the Russian army of today is Declining or Better. The Russian army now has about 90 active divisions.

novelist

07-28-2014, 09:43 AM

Mark,
Exactly !

I wonder, just how many herein know what a "click" really means :D

Then, there are expressions related to thickness, something about pubic hair, which, we will not get into herein :)

If I'm not mistaken, a "click" is a kilometer.

AmericanPride

07-30-2014, 06:55 PM

I'll make the argument that the question is not relevant insofar that Russia's military capabilities should properly be measured in comparison with other states rather than itself at two different periods of time. Military capabilities should also be analyzed within the context of the political outcomes pursued by war.

Here are some statistics:

o Since 1991, Russia has participated in ten (10) conflicts. Of these, seven (70%) ended in favorable conditions for Russia. Only one (10%) ended in defeat (First Chechen War). This compares with the 71.43% favorable rate of the U.S. in the same time period.

o Of the ten conflicts, half (50%) were external conflicts, and four (80%) of these ended on favorable terms, with one (20%) ending in a armistice (civil war in Tajikistan)

o In quantitatively measuring manpower, defense budget, power projection, and nuclear capabilities, Russia ranks #2 (18.25%) after the U.S. (30.34%).

o Russia ranks #1 (as of 2013) in the following quantitative factors of military capability: nuclear weapons and strategic bombers.

o It ranks #2 or #3 in the following: nuclear submarines (#2), strategic airlift (#2), amphibious landing ships (#3), and budget (#3).

The other factor to consider is the rate of growth in military capabilities - is it increasing or decreasing relative to U.S. or other major state capabilities? One of the major triggers of World War I was German intelligence assessments that despite the significant disparity between German and Russian military capabilities, Russian capabilities were increasing significantly faster than German capabilities. This created political pressure to attack Russia, or to at least treat it with hostility (and thereby increase insecurity in the international system). This is something that should also be considered in the modern context when assessing Russia's emergence from the shadow of the USSR and what it means for the U.S and international security.

davidbfpo

04-20-2015, 07:28 PM

A short review article on Defence in Depth (Kings War Studies) that examines the Russian threat, which ends with:
So, it is not all gloom and doom. Yes, Moscow is rattling sabres, but not as many as it might.
Link:http://defenceindepth.co/2015/04/20/the-russians-are-coming-well-not-just-yet/

OUTLAW 09

05-15-2015, 04:45 PM

More Jane's information on the new Russian MBT.

Jane's @IHS4DefRiskSec in-deth look at Russia's new fighting machines http://www.janes.com/article/51469/russia-s-armour-revolution … http://www.janes.com/images/assets/469/51469/p1633366.jpg …

Bill Moore

07-12-2015, 09:08 PM

http://theweek.com/articles/565028/russian-air-force-falling-sky

The Russian Air Force is falling out of the Sky

Now, after months of aggressive flying, Russia's overworked air force is falling out of the sky. On July 5, a Su-24M tactical bomber crashed during takeoff at Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East. The plane banked sharply after takeoff and hit the ground. Both pilots were killed.

Several other examples provided, so it does seem that history at least rhymes even if it doesn't repeat itself.

OUTLAW 09

07-13-2015, 06:15 PM

Russia Lost 5 Aircraft Last Month, Linked to Too Many Exercises and Lack of Qualified Pilots http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/natosource/russia-lost-5-aircraft-last-month-linked-to-too-many-exercises-and-lack-of-qualified-pilots … pic.twitter.com/diBtD0kbp1

Russia has grounded 3 fleet of aircraft due to crashes; Su-24, Mig-29, & Tu-95. http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/natosource/russia-lost-5-aircraft-last-month-linked-to-too-many-exercises-and-lack-of-qualified-pilots … pic.twitter.com/ESd3euow1D

Russian source close to MoD: "There are less pilots [in Russia] than there are aircraft" http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/natosource/russia-lost-5-aircraft-last-month-linked-to-too-many-exercises-and-lack-of-qualified-pilots … pic.twitter.com/zMxAtRXFqf

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinio...rm/525556.html
War in Ukraine Ruined Russian Military Reform

OUTLAW 09

07-14-2015, 10:36 AM

OUTLAW 09

07-14-2015, 10:36 AM

http://www.ndc.nato.int/news/current_news.php?icode=830
NOTE: there is a .pdf tied to this link

Friday 10 July 2015

Research Paper 117:

"Russia's 2014 Military Doctrine and beyond: threat perceptions, capabilities and ambitions", by Polina Sinovets and Bettina Renz.

In this latest paper by the NATO Defense College, two experts on Russia deconstruct Russia’s December 2014 military doctrine and ask a key question: To what extent does this new doctrine add anything substantially new to the understanding of contemporary Russian politics? Although on the surface the 2014 doctrine does not differ significantly from its previous versions, the devil is in the details—and the details in this case are not very reassuring. The main theme of the doctrine is rivalry with the West, which Moscow politely calls “equitable cooperation” whilst avoiding the word “partnership.”
The doctrine was written to influence two audiences: internal and external.

The 2014 doctrine, in comparison to its predecessor, stands out for emphasizing domestic threats to national security. Such threats include destabilisation of the political situation, including terrorist activities as well as outside political influence on Russia’s population.

For foreign audiences the message also appears to be quite clear. Changes made since the 2010 version explain Russia’s vital concerns vis-a-vis its neighbourhood, which are discussed under both headings of military dangers and military threats. The implication of the latter is to show potential adversaries, including NATO, that intervention in Russia’s neighbourhood could, in certain circumstances, be interpreted by Russia as a casus belli. Overall, the 2014 doctrine gives an impression of deja-vu, and harks back to the great power doctrines of the past. In the manner of the Monroe doctrine, it sends Western powers the message that Russia’s neighbourhood should be regarded as its sphere of influence, which Moscow is ready to defend, if necessary by all means. The implicit concern in the doctrine over the threat to Kremlin-friendly regimes in neighbouring states is like a modern version of the Brezhnev doctrine, where direct military intervention is camouflaged by hybrid war-type activity.

The successful use of hybrid tactics in Crimea and to an extent in eastern Ukraine has been the Kremlin’s most successful military endeavour in the past two decades for those states that Russia considers to be a part of its sphere of vital interests, this is a major concern, especially since those outside of the NATO alliance do not have the capacity to stand up against such approaches alone. Improving conventional capabilities and strong nuclear posture will only exacerbate such fears, as they deter any powerful actor or nation from interfering in conflicts in Russia’s neighbourhood.

OUTLAW 09

07-15-2015, 02:57 PM

So are the Russians going to blame the Ukrainians for "dirty aircraft fuel"????

http://tass.ru/en/russia/808849

Official says fuel likely reason for Russian strategic bomber's crash

Russia
July 15, 16:39

Russian Vice-Premier Dmitry Rogozin
"Engines never fail on their own, especially all at once," the vice-premier told journalists

NOVO-OGARYOVO, July 15 /TASS/. Engine failure could not have been the main cause behind the Tupolev Tu-95MS plane crash. Fuel is likely to be the main problem, Russian Vice-Premier Dmitry Rogozin said on Wednesday.

"Engines never fail on their own, especially all at once," the vice-premier told journalists. He did not rule out that low-quality fuel could have caused the Russian Air Force plane to crash.

The aircraft crashed in the Khabarovsk Territory in the Russian Far East during a training flight on Tuesday morning.

The flight was performed without an ammunition allowance. The plane crashed in a deserted area and there is no destruction on the ground.

Russia’s Defense Ministry suspended the flights of Tupolev Tu-95MS (NATO reporting name: Bear) strategic bombers.

The Defense Ministry’s press office said that a technical failure is the likely cause for the crash. A source told TASS that the strategic bomber crashed due to failure of all of its four engines

OUTLAW 09

07-15-2015, 09:24 PM

OUTLAW 09

07-17-2015, 02:45 PM

Two engines failure on the Russia MOD's cargo aircraft forced emergency landing. No casualties this time.

https://twitter.com/FastSlon/status/622039994077741057 …

OUTLAW 09

07-31-2015, 07:36 PM

Tymchuk: Russia is deploying more & more artillery, sending in more soldiers (non-Slavs), & intensifying the shelling of Ukrainian positions

Read an advance report on fire support trends in the Russo-Ukraine conflict today. The trends are disturbing.

UAS surveillance plus Russian thermobaric artillery rounds means that light infantry forces are either dug in or well done.

Russians also use DPICM plus those thermobaric rounds. We'll soon have neither.

In a combined DPICM/thermobaric fire mission from Russian MLRS lasting 3 minutes, two Ukrainian mechanized battalions were wiped out.

Artillery is causing 85% (!) of casualties on both sides.

you can cross Eastern Ukraine jumping through thermobaric ordnance and don't touch the ground

This conflict is putting tactical development into hyperdrive. Increasing use of combined arms companies. US way behind.

combined arms as a core competency has been neglected in defense focus for nearly 20 years

Russia mastered loop from UAS to IDF. We haven't.

C-RAM and C-UAS as much needed as longer range/superior performance artillery capabilities

Russian losses of UAVs are staggering even for a "limited" conflict, if Ukrainians got better C-UAS systems that'll help a lot

Russia is spreading artillery in battery size down to maneuver battalion level. Army concentrating it at division level. (DIVARTY)

Smaller loop between maneuver and fires = faster, more responsive integration, which is vital.

OUTLAW 09

08-01-2015, 03:35 PM

While this was an interesting theoretical discussion--facts on the ground in Russia occupied eastern Ukraine has fully supported this discussion as the Russian ground forces have completed just this "theoretical" reorganization and have moved into formal attacks positions all along the eastern front lines.

Good info to match with intercepted comms. before certain attacks

Pickar, C.K. (1991) Tactical Deep Battle: The Missing Link http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc...f&AD=ADA258092 …

Just had a very interesting discussion on topic: Is Russia reviving the Soviet "Deep Battle" concept?

Military experts tend to poopoo the idea of Russian "Deep Battle", but facts on the ground indicate the concept is being revived.

It appears that the Russian military (Ground, Airborne and Air Forces) are developing a modern "lite" version of "Tactical Deep Battle"

Deep Battle" was Soviet/Warsaw Pact era methodology: mechanised assault by combined arms armies. See Pickar 1991 http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=get...fier=ADA258092 …

Deep Battle has both defensive and offensive phases ...

Offensive phases: assault (breach front line/penetration of rear), deep operation (advance/envelopment of rear), consolidation/pursuit.

Deep Battle relies on mechanised/motorised infantry, tanks, (self-propelled) artillery, AT/AA cover, assault aviation and deep logistics.

Russian forces currently building motor rifle (mechanised infantry), tank, deep air assault and assault engineer capacity in east of Ukraine

Rapid reorganisation (by Southern Military Dist) of Russian (hybrid DPR/LPR) motor rifle and tank units "lodgement" in eastern Ukraine...Recent reorganisation and deployments of Russian 1st Tank Div and 20th Combined Arms Army in Western Military District together with......support the notion that the Russian military is preparing a "lite" Tactical Deep Battle operation in (eastern/southern) Ukraine

OUTLAW 09

08-01-2015, 09:03 PM

OUTLAW 09

08-02-2015, 10:10 AM

OUTLAW 09

08-02-2015, 10:50 AM

Tenth air crash in less than two months---no/little maintenance, bad fuel, worn out air frames, bad pilots---

FIRST PHOTO: Mi 28N helicopter crashes at airshow in Russia http://on.rt.com/6o99 pic.twitter.com/67hrZDDxez

One of the pilots of the fallen Mi-28N "Night hunter" ejected http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/2-august-one-of-the-pilots-of-the-fallen-mi28n-night-hunter …

Mi-28N military helicopter crashed during a "Aviamix" http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/2-august-mi28n-military-helicopter-crashed-during-a-aviamix … pic.twitter.com/jIkoavRaCN

And second pilot is dead http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/2-august-one-of-the-pilots-of-the-fallen-mi28n-night-hunter … pic.twitter.com/mgG0gUi3If

Right before Mi-28H went down in Ryazan,Russian Air Force Maj-Gen made statement that air show goal was to show RUS air power & reliability

Russia's latest military helicopter Mi-28H crashed at air show http://top.rbc.ru/society/02/08/2015/55bde4589a79474598721195 … pic.twitter.com/RPXET4u6S2

Mi-28N crash at Russia Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xuUqHTD2dA …

The helicopter belonged to the "Berkuty" ('Golden Eagles') flight display team.

OUTLAW 09

08-02-2015, 11:08 AM

So much for the Russian blue water naval dream----cannot even make it out of the Baltic---

LVA Armed Forces on 2 AUG in LVA EEZ 5nm from terit. waters spotted RU Navy's tug Viktor Konieckiy towing minelayer Aleksandr Obuhnov.

OUTLAW 09

08-02-2015, 12:38 PM

Right before Mi-28H went down in Ryazan,Russian Air Force Maj-Gen made statement that air show goal was to show RUS air power & reliability

Russia's latest military helicopter Mi-28H crashed at air show http://top.rbc.ru/society/02/08/2015/55bde4589a79474598721195 … pic.twitter.com/RPXET4u6S2

Mi-28N crash at Russia Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xuUqHTD2dA …

The helicopter belonged to the "Berkuty" ('Golden Eagles') flight display team.

All Mi-28s have been grounded.

OUTLAW 09

08-02-2015, 04:50 PM

All Mi-28s have been grounded.

Pilot who survived the Mi-28N crash has said the chopper gave an alarm about a failure in the hydraulic system. http://www.rg.ru/2015/08/02/vertolet-site.html#superheader …

OUTLAW 09

08-05-2015, 10:47 AM

Russian Drones in Service of Donetsk Militants:

https://en.informnapalm.org/russian-...tsk-militants/ … pic.twitter.com/vn4xm8AfgU

kaur

10-27-2015, 05:53 PM

Living conditions seem to get better. Anticorruption fund claims they have found Shoigu's house. Previously they have found Peskov's, Jakunin's etc houses. Shoigu's house is registered to his wives sister's name, is located in noble Moscow suburb and costs 18 000 000, not RUR-s, but USD-s.

http://alburov.ru/2015/10/shoygy/

Shoigu is from buddhist region Tuva and architecture of the roof of his house reminds homeregion.

http://www.tuva.asia/uploads/posts/2011-01/1296253271_25-v-ivolginskom-dacane.jpg

kaur

11-11-2015, 10:27 AM

Russian officials have cleared Shoigu real estate track from register. No more problems.

http://alburov.ru/2015/11/spasti-shoigu/

AmericanPride

11-26-2015, 04:55 PM

Azor

11-27-2015, 09:29 AM

Russia's direct intervention in Syria represents the first conflict since the end of the Cold War that Russia deployed its armed forces outside of the former Soviet Union and Communist Bloc. I think there's little risk that this will turn out to be a repeat of 1904/1905 for Russia.

Notwithstanding continued technical problems (growing pains so to speak), this is an indication of an increasingly assertive and capable Russia; inspired by its own growing confidence but also by the opportunity presented by American retreat. The Russians have to this point been fairly conservative in military campaigns by embarking on limited objectives. Let's see if this continues to hold true as temptations increase.

The Russian intervention is so limited and so poolry executed that I'm not sure it can be taken too seriously.

Despite some partial attempts at modernizing and professionalizing the Russian Armed Forces, Putin is forced to resort to stunts in order to convince the world that Russia still is a great power conventionally.

Remember that Iran is what keeps Assad in power, and so the Syrian Civil War is not Putin's to lose.

Technically, they've done little other than enrage Sunni Syrians by dropping mostly dumb bombs in built-up areas.

In the Ukraine, they went to war with an army that could only mobilize less than 10,000 soldiers at the outset, and which lacked equipment, training, logistics, arms and ammunition, etc.

Georgia was a walk-through only because the Georgians lost their nerve and quite frankly weren't ready.

Russia has improved since Chechnya, but it's a very low bar...

kaur

12-17-2015, 02:10 PM

CIA predicted 1983 this. The whole document is good reading concerning present day situation.

http://www.foia.cia.gov/sites/default/files/document_conversions/17/19831230.pdf

Azor

01-25-2016, 09:11 AM

According to the folks over at StrategyPage, Russia can only count on some 100K soldiers among its regular army (contract volunteers) and various military and internal troops' spetsnaz units.

This would mean that in any purely conventional scenario, the US could deploy more effective ground forces on an expeditionary basis against the Russians than the latter could deploy on a defensive basis.

Basically, without nuclear weapons, Russia could not halt a determined peer adversary such as NATO or China. Thoughts?

davidbfpo

01-27-2016, 03:38 PM

From the UK Staff College staff's blog:http://defenceindepth.co/2016/01/27/in-with-the-old-russias-new-national-security-strategy/

The summary:
On December 31st 2015, while most of the world was focused on plans to welcome in the new year, Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled an updated National Security Strategy (NSS). While it builds on some long-running themes in Russia’s foreign and security policy, it also makes it clear that Moscow has a clear understanding of the broad security challenges facing the country, from its low economic competitiveness to corruption, poor healthcare, interethnic tensions and extremism.

kaur

03-10-2016, 11:45 AM

Estonian intelligence service published their first public report. Russian military part seems to be interesting.

http://www.teabeamet.ee/pdf/2016-en.pdf

SWJ Blog

08-08-2016, 08:41 PM

Assessing Russian Hybrid Warfare: A Successful Tool for Limited War (http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/assessing-russian-hybrid-warfare-a-successful-tool-for-limited-war)

Entry Excerpt:

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Read the full post (http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/assessing-russian-hybrid-warfare-a-successful-tool-for-limited-war) and make any comments at the SWJ Blog (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog).
This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.

OUTLAW 09

08-28-2016, 12:26 PM

Moderator's Note

The next three posts have been copied here from the Syria tread, as they fit here too.

The author, not Outlaw09, states 'My comments are in green.' Clearly they are not, which rather hinders what Gerasimov wrote and the author. I recommend readers follow the link. Hence the removal of a lengthy quote (Ends).

http://blog.berzins.eu/gerasimov-syria/

AdamG

10-06-2016, 02:09 PM

Treat as "Dubious" (https://youtu.be/AVf7m_YZ2zY)

The Russian government has launched a nationwide civil defence training exercise to ensure the country is properly prepared in#the event of#a nuclear, chemical and biological attack from the West.
Amid growing#international tensions, particulary over Russia's conduct in Syria, the#Defence Ministry-run Zvezda TV network#announced last week:#"Schizophrenics from America are sharpening nuclear weapons for Moscow."#
Lasting three days, the exercise bing run by the Ministry for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters (EMERCOM) will involve 200,000 emergency personnel and the co-operation of 40 million civilians
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-nuclear-weapon-training-attack-radiation-moscow-vladimir-putin-a7345461.html

SWJ Blog

10-26-2016, 08:54 PM

Bespredel and the Conduct of Russian “Hybrid Operations” (http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/bespredel-and-the-conduct-of-russian-%E2%80%9Chybrid-operations%E2%80%9D)

Entry Excerpt:

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Read the full post (http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/bespredel-and-the-conduct-of-russian-%E2%80%9Chybrid-operations%E2%80%9D) and make any comments at the SWJ Blog (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog).
This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.

mirhond

11-03-2016, 01:13 PM

The Russian government has launched a nationwide civil defence training exercise

The problem is - not me, not anyone whom I know never participated or even heard about this "nationvide civil defence training".
I live in Moscow, I'am a part of acrive workforce, but somehow I missed entire thing - no billboards, no announces, no media coverage - probably it was all top secret, but I give 90% apriori probability it happened only on paper.

Condor

11-05-2016, 02:29 AM

The problem is - not me, not anyone whom I know never participated or even heard about this "nationvide civil defence training".
I live in Moscow, I'am a part of acrive workforce, but somehow I missed entire thing - no billboards, no announces, no media coverage - probably it was all top secret, but I give 90% apriori probability it happened only on paper.

I can attest to this. I have a Russian friend who lives in Siberia and I asked her if this was true. She told me no and even spent some time going through Russian media and couldn't find anything. Unless she's lying to me, which I doubt.

davidbfpo

11-22-2016, 08:51 PM

A short article from the Jamestown Foundation refers to technical issues with aircraft, a ship (no guesses which one) and tanks:https://jamestown.org/program/russias-military-paper-tiger/

This caught my attention on manpower:
By October 1, the numbers of kontraktniki, warrant officers and sergeants accounted for 85.3 percent of the set targets, which are scheduled to rise to 100 percent in 2018. This means that, by 2018, the Armed Forces will have 220,000 officers, 50,000 warrant officers, 425,000 kontraktniki and “around 300,000 conscripts.”

I know the Russians have relied more on officers than NCOs, but this seems rather lop-sided. Are the contractors not allowed to hold officer or NCO rank?
This means that, by 2018, the Armed Forces will have 220,000 officers, 50,000 warrant officers, 425,000 kontraktniki and “around 300,000 conscripts.” - See more at: https://jamestown.org/program/russias-military-paper-tiger/#sthash.Nmc9i4v3.dpuf

OUTLAW 09

11-25-2016, 08:13 AM

Russia reactivate 3000+ stored T-80 tanks from "Cold War". They get new armor & Diesel engines for "special climatic conditions".

Based on OSCE treaties..most of the T72s and half of the T80s were to be destroyed as part of a Europe/Russia wide armored vehicle disarmament....

BUT Russia kept sidestepping this destruction requirement by first claiming the two Chechen wars and then just ignoring OSCE demands...

Azor

12-02-2016, 09:05 PM

Publication: Jamestown Foundation - Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 183
By: Roger McDermott

The reputation of Russia’s Armed Forces was boosted by its involvement in Ukraine and its out-of-area intervention in Syria, on the back of the publicity generated by ongoing long-term military modernization (see EDM, November 8). Overlapping the presidential election in the United States, Russia’s high-profile additional naval deployment to the Mediterranean Sea, spearheaded by its only but aging aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, promised to further strengthen options to support the Damascus regime using high-precision strikes and more air sorties against Aleppo (TASS, November 12).

The impression of Russia’s military as high-tech-centric was furthered by recent reports of the introduction of a new military internet to permit classified and secure transmissions in peacetime and during combat operations (Izvestia, October 19, November 10; Voyenno Promyshlennyy Kuryer, November 7). However, embarrassing technical glitches with modern military assets and the defense ministry’s hesitancy over procuring the latest tank design appear to signal enduring difficulties in the effort to transform the Armed Forces. President Vladimir Putin used a defense industry visit to Yaroslavl to confirm widely anticipated reductions in defense budget spending over the next three years while, at the same time, maintaining commitment to fostering a high-tech military.

According to Putin, this thrifty strategy will enable the state to focus on introducing into the military components such as “informatization,” “intelligence” in its broadest sense (human and technical), communication systems, as well as high-precision and high-tech weaponry. However, in the context of declining defense spending or optimizing existing plans, it is less likely the military will soon see the introduction of advanced systems such as the S-500 air defense system, or large numbers of the widely discussed Armata T-14 tank (Kommersant, November 14). According to the Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, by the end of 2018, the total number of contract servicemen (kontraktniki) will reach the desired 425,000. By October 1, the numbers of kontraktniki, warrant officers and sergeants accounted for 85.3 percent of the set targets, which are scheduled to rise to 100 percent in 2018. This means that, by 2018, the Armed Forces will have 220,000 officers, 50,000 warrant officers, 425,000 kontraktniki and “around 300,000 conscripts.”

These targets appear within reach, even bearing in mind that those figures were set before the collapse in the global oil market. Therefore, Shoigu is also setting a high priority on changes to defense laws designed to strengthen territorial defense. These changes envisage placing responsibility for mobilization on local governors and subordinating all security agencies and personnel to each military district (MD) and joint strategic command (Obedinonnye Strategicheskoe Komandovanie—OSK) in wartime. Previously it was thought that the MD would switch to an OSK in wartime, but Shoigu stated that both will function simultaneously (Novosti VPK, November 11). If, however, the drive to adopt high-tech systems and markedly increase contract personnel numbers is working well, it is rather odd to find the defense ministry subscribing to a “mobilization” insurance policy—especially considering the unlikely scenarios in which Russia’s hypothetical adversaries would simply sit and wait for such mobilization to occur.

In this rapidly modernizing military, with its highly ambitious plans and targets, it is worth recalling that the advanced Armata T-14 tank has still not entered the Ground Forces despite its appearance on Red Square the past two years, during the annual Victory Day Parade. Russian plans include procuring 2,200 T-14s. But in the current economic climate, with military belt tightening being inevitable, it is difficult to foresee when this platform might be purchased in significant numbers. Indeed, the defense ministry has recently opted to reboot the old T-80, in what seems to be a cost-cutting exercise. The updated T-80BV will use less kerosene and feature increased accuracy in target acquisition. These older platforms are reportedly in plentiful supply, with up to 3,000 in military warehouses, making the cost-effective option of modernizing them alluring for the defense ministry. Moreover, with its updated characteristics, including better fuel economy, the T-80BV may compete with the T-90. Even so, these are still Soviet-designed tanks, and their prioritization, if it comes at the expense of the more costly Russian-designed modern T-14, suggests continued reliance on tried-and-tested systems (Izvestia, November 14).

Following the arrival of the Admiral Kuznetsov to the Eastern Mediterranean, a routine test flight by a small number of fighter jets resulted in a navy MiG-29 ditching into sea a few kilometers from the aircraft carrier. On November 14, the Russian defense ministry confirmed that a routine training flight involving three MiG-29s had resulted in the loss of one with the pilot safely ejecting. The cause of the accident was described as due to a “technical fault.” The loss of the fighter jet suggests that all is not well in the Russian military aviation industry or its capacity to successfully produce advanced air assets. The MiG-29s in question were the latest generation MiG-29Ks and MiG-29KUBs.

The training flights in question were conducted by two of each of these types, with the consequent loss of one MiG-29K (Life.ru, November 14). The fourth-generation MiG-29K fighter—as well as its training variant, the MiG-29KUB—is also being exported to India. In 2004, India signed a $730 million deal with Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG (formerly Mikoyan) to purchase 16 carrier-based fighters (12 MiG-29Ks and 4 MiG-29KUBs), which were delivered in 2011. In 2010, India signed another contract for $1.2 billion to deliver 29 MiG-29Ks by the end of 2016. In August 2016, India’s Air Force reported experiencing numerous problems with the MiG-29K, including its electronic control system, complaining that the platform is “riddled with problems.” Likely, the Russian defense ministry sent a small number of these to the Syrian theater for further testing and pilot training. The Russian defense industry has responded to the complaints from India by criticizing their specialists in handling repair and maintenance (Life.ru, November 14).

In June 2011, a test flight of the MiG-29KUB in Astrakhan region resulted in a crash, killing both its crew members. The cause of the sudden catastrophe was again said to be “equipment failure,” most likely to do with the mechanism used in the folding of its wings. Then, on December 4, 2014, another MiG-29KUB crashed during a training flight, with both pilots ejecting and hospitalized in serious condition. Again, the cause of the accident was given as equipment failure (TASS, RBK, November 14). Russia’s continued reliance on upgrading older existing platforms may yield cost-cutting benefits. But this, combined with manpower and training issues, offers a less rose-tinted insight into the current condition of Russia’s Armed Forces.

See more at: https://jamestown.org/program/russias-military-paper-tiger/

SWJ Blog

12-09-2016, 10:21 PM

Russian Military Draws Lessons From Ukraine and Syria Ops (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/russian-military-draws-lessons-from-ukraine-and-syria-ops)

Entry Excerpt:

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Read the full post (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/russian-military-draws-lessons-from-ukraine-and-syria-ops) and make any comments at the SWJ Blog (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog).
This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.

SWJ Blog

12-16-2016, 02:20 PM

Russian Special Forces Seen as Key to Aleppo Victory (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/russian-special-forces-seen-as-key-to-aleppo-victory)

Entry Excerpt:

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OUTLAW 09

12-28-2016, 11:22 AM

Producer of #Russia|n new generation main battle tank T-14 Armata, Uralvagonzavod, went bankrupt.
https://twitter.com/DurdomOnline/status/814058152173993985#

OUTLAW 09

12-28-2016, 03:31 PM

More troubles in Russian Mordor with armament upgrade, production of new capable military armour.
https://twitter.com/HarriLuuppala/status/814119100939206656#

OUTLAW 09

12-28-2016, 05:17 PM

More troubles in Russian Mordor with armament upgrade, production of new capable military armour.
https://twitter.com/HarriLuuppala/status/814119100939206656#

On Dec 26 2016 #Putin signed decree of transferring 100% assets of Uralvagonzavod to Gov.Corp Rostech. T-14 Aramat.

davidbfpo

01-31-2017, 10:09 PM

Gained via another think tank and I recognized the name of a known SME:
In this interview Dr Galeotti discusses the history and evolution of Spetsnaz and their current use under Vladimir Putin
Link:http://remotecontrolproject.org/mark-galeotti/

OUTLAW 09

02-07-2017, 04:24 PM

https://informnapalm.org/en/russia-paving-way-admitting-polite-military-invasion-ukraine/

Is Russia paving the way for admitting its “polite” military invasion of Ukraine?

Baltic Defence @Baltic_Defence
#Putin May Exploit Disarray in Washington to Launch Attack on #Belarus, Minsk Experts Say
http://www.interpretermag.com/february-6-2017/#16075#

Snap drills or show of power?
Belarus calling out reserve forces on massive scale.
http://belsat.eu/en/news/snap-drills-or-show-of-power-belarus-calling-out-reserve-forces-on-massive-scale/#

OUTLAW 09

02-07-2017, 05:41 PM

Russia MoD tv: S400 fired during combat readiness tests in Kaliningrad, just 80 miles from Poland.

OUTLAW 09

02-07-2017, 05:46 PM

You must register to get this article...but well worth reading.....

Russia's Art of War
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russian-federation/2017-02-07/russias-art-war?cid=soc-tw-rdr#

OUTLAW 09

02-07-2017, 05:47 PM

You must register to get this article...but well worth reading.....

Russia's Art of War
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/artic...id=soc-tw-rdr#

OUTLAW 09

02-07-2017, 06:09 PM

Norwegian military intelligence warns of increased threats from Russia
http://dlvr.it/NJmgfr

Azor

02-07-2017, 06:38 PM

Will Belarus Be Putin’s Next Victim?
Another Kremlin-driven crisis may be coming to Eastern Europe

http://observer.com/2017/02/belarus-national-security-nato-vladimir-putin/

I'm not sure what Schindler is adding here that Beckhusen didn't two days earlier...

As for the scenario of Polish interference in Belarus, there isn't any evidence that this scenario is being taken seriously by the administration. As you have yourself complained, the NSC is comprised of hundreds of people and no doubt confusion is reigning more than it did during Obama's tenure, when Rice and Rhodes held sway.

Having said that, Poland does watch Minsk quite closely and uses its proximity to Belarus and the presence of ethnic Poles there to gather intelligence on its neighbor. Both Minsk and Moscow have taken a dim view of Polish espionage and subversion (pro-democracy activism) in Belarus, but I have no doubt that Minsk now sees Poland as an interlocutor.

If the NSC were looking to learn more about developments inside Belarus that only HUMINT could provide, it would turn to Warsaw. It is quite possible that Polish contacts in Belarus and Russia's propaganda about a Polish invasion of Belarus have become confused.

Schindler is criticizing an administration that has not found its bearings yet, and yet it has incredibly capable people as Secretaries of State and Defense (albeit Carter is my favorite since Cheney). As with most people upset at Trump's election victory, Schindler seems to conflate what Obama did do (not much) with what Hillary might have done (stronger support for Ukraine). Just because John "Bloviator" Kerry and Samantha Power aren't around to lecture Russia in the media and at the UN, doesn't mean that Trump is less interested in the fate of Ukraine or Belarus than Obama was.

If Trump is as isolationist and as pro-Russian as the Neo-Conservatives and Liberal Interventionists claim, then why would Lukashenko throw down the gauntlet now? You would think that Lukashenko would have forced the issue when Obama was in power and when he was more likely to receive assistance, no?

You may want to consider that the foreign policy platform upon which Obama was elected called for the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq, an end to major ground combat operations, an end to foreign interventions, reductions in defense spending, less security engagement overseas and the de-prioritization of foreign policy in favor of the domestic economy. Obama has attempted to stay within that mandate, Libya notwithstanding, and has been subjected to anti-war criticism from both the Democrats and Republicans. Had Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz been elected, Congress and Americans would have seized on any increase in defense spending or military activity overseas. Yet Trump's election has erased the memory of the Iraq War and caused a surge in the willingness of Americans to confront Russian aggression and support NATO. Interesting times to be sure. Perhaps Lukashenko believes that his position is stronger now than during the past 8 years?

Below are Belorussian AFVs using newspaper as camouflage. Lukashenko has every reason to be worried.

https://icdn.lenta.ru/images/2017/02/06/17/20170206174513096/pic_8ca87dc391818ea8345e5037c0ce9f91.jpg

Azor

02-07-2017, 07:02 PM

Russia MoD tv: S400 fired during combat readiness tests in Kaliningrad, just 80 miles from Poland.

Kaliningrad borders Poland.

There are heavy US ground forces in Estonia and Poland, both of which border Russia.

In addition, rumor has it that Alaska is creeping east, hoping to seal off Bering. :D

davidbfpo

02-07-2017, 08:54 PM

I am trying to keep the Ukraine at War thread focused on events within the war, with some other factors. So I have just moved six posts on Russian military activity and the speculation on the future of Belarus to here.:wry:

Azor

02-09-2017, 12:42 AM

Gerasimov Revamps Russian Military Hard Power, Based on Syria Lessons
Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 14
By: Roger McDermott

https://jamestown.org/program/gerasimov-revamps-russian-military-hard-power-based-syria-lessons/

While the reputation and prestige of Russia’s Armed Forces was damaged abroad by its involvement in Ukraine, the intervention in Syria has been reaping dividends both at home and abroad. The General Staff attaches greater importance to learning lessons based on the Syria conflict than its performance in Donbas (eastern Ukraine). Recent statements by the top brass as well as the promotion of the Russian commander of operations in Syria point to the overall utility of this conflict in Russia’s force development. It is less clear as to what the lessons are for Moscow and how these may be applied to Russian military strategy in the future (Krasnaya Zvezda, February 5).

From the outset of Russia’s first foreign military intervention beyond the former Soviet Union since Afghanistan (1979–1989), the country’s media has transitioned from speculation concerning the risks of conflict escalation and possible embroilment on the ground to a recognition that the Kremlin’s relatively low-key intervention has avoided such traps (Ekspert, RIA Novosti, accessed, February 7). Moscow has used force at a minimal level to influence the politics of the conflict much more than the war. Across the Russian media there is widespread praise for the role of the country’s Armed Forces since the intervention began in the fall of 2015, but little attention to anything that went wrong (RIA Novosti, accessed, February 7).

Judging by such news coverage, the Russian campaign in Syria is well used to praise, implying the General Staff is left only with the challenge of incorporating some of this into future military planning while excluding a lessons-learned approach. The ongoing nature of the operation renders a full assessment premature at best. Nonetheless, it certainly is difficult to ascertain what may have gone wrong and how the General Staff could remedy such issues. According to the chief of the General Staff, Army-General Valery Gerasimov, the Syria conflict is simply way beyond Russia’s experience of conflict in terms of magnitude and importance. As such, Gerasimov suggests that the officer promotion policy should now prioritize officers with combat experience from operations in Syria (Krasnaya Zvezda, February 5).

Gerasimov based this on the assertion that real officers are “born in combat,” rather than trained and educated, which he sees as a path to produce only competent administrators. He also assesses the experience in Syria as “priceless” for the Russian military. Gerasimov notes the high priority during the campaign for the Aerospace Forces (Vozdushno Kosmicheskikh Sil—VKS), but also states that other branches and arms of service gained invaluable experience. Gerasimov notes, “We need real military leaders in every sphere of the armed struggle.” This also, therefore, relates to ground forces commanders as well as the VKS and other services operating in Syria, including the special forces. The purpose is to foster initiative among strong-minded and energetic commanders who will be better equipped to secure future objectives in conflict. It seems this experience was narrower and less useful in Donbas, at least in Gerasimov’s estimation (Gazeta.ru, February 4). Gerasimov also highly esteems the role of Russian military advisors working closely with the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), though sometimes compelled to step into combat roles due to the degradation of the SAA. Underscoring these views, in September 2016, the commander of the Russian operation in Syria, Colonel-General Aleksandr Dvornikov, was appointed to command the Southern Military District (Izvestia, September 20, 2016; see EDM, July 26, 2016).

An analysis of the Russian military’s performance in Syria, published last year by the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, Siriyskiy Rubezh, outlined among a number of themes the operational achievements of the campaign to the summer of 2016. The same book, however, also stresses the highly impressive logistical achievement by Russian combat-service support in moving supplies across great distances through air and sea lines of supply. Its summary of the operational success in Syria suggests it should be seen as an unprecedented performance by the VKS: as of July 2016, the VKS had sustained only one operational loss, the Su-24M shot down by the Turkish Air Force. And among three helicopter losses, only one resulted from combat. The campaign in Syria offered the VKS an opportunity to test new systems and tactics. Moreover, the air campaign had interdicted rebel and terrorist supply lines, inflicted high levels of damage on enemy forces, and arguably prevented the downfall of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. It also promotes the idea that since the VKS gained significantly more operational experience in Syria compared to air operations in the August 2008 Russia-Georgia War, the Syrian experience will be used exponentially in the development of the Russian Armed Forces. The work reflects the sine quo non of Russia’s role in the conflict as affording a testing ground for the Russian military, but offers no clear insight as to the purpose or unifying trends of what the testing was about.

Of course, such assessments risk ignoring the simple fact that the operation and, indeed, the civil war in Syria is not yet over. Much remains at stake in deciding the conflict, handling the ensuing peace, and trying to cobble together a working arrangement between the interested parties. Some Russian Middle East specialists see parallels with Moscow’s experience of the Civil War in Tajikistan in the 1990s, with the need to pacify or stem a flow of militants toward Russia’s borders followed by declining interest in the years afterward. How the Russian military handles the remainder of its conflict involvement may prove just as important as how it entered in the first place and conducted its various divergent missions (Voyenno Promyshlennyy Kuryer, January 31, 2017; Utro.ru, December 21, 2016).

Syria is now being put forward as the cornerstone for future Russian officer promotion, presumably to capture some of these lessons and instil higher standards in a new generation of officers. The defense ministry boasts that 95 percent of all officer posts are now filled as well as commanding more attention to incoming officers on the part of their superiors (Krasnaya Zvezda, February 5).

Although Gerasimov confirmed the importance of the Syria campaign for Russia’s military development as an experience above recent conflicts, he also had something unusual to say: Returning to his theme expressed in 2013 considering the ratio between soft and hard power in modern warfare as “4:1,” Gerasimov recently told the General Staff Academy that hard power is no less valuable (Krasnaya Zvezda, February 5). Perhaps this is the fundamental lesson for the top brass.

davidbfpo

02-17-2017, 10:09 AM

An interesting commentary by a UK defence academic, Dr. Rod Thornton an ex-soldier and IIRC has been teaching in Kurdistan of late - so able to watch events locally.

He poses two questions, actually at the end:
why would the Russian military need to consider the conventional use of force? What utility does it have?He opens with:
Russian military thinking seems to have reached the point now where the idea of using force intentionally in conflicts with peer-state adversaries has been almost completely ruled out. This seems a radical move. But there has been a clear recognition within this military that better strategic outcomes for Russia will result from the use of non-violent ‘asymmetric warfare’ activities rather than those which will or can involve the use of force – such as conventional war or hybrid warfare.Link:https://defenceindepth.co/2017/02/17/the-russian-militarys-view-on-the-utility-of-force-the-adoption-of-a-strategy-of-non-violent-asymmetric-warfare/

OUTLAW 09

02-25-2017, 07:26 PM

Russian non linear warfare hard at work......

Russian private mercenaries for hybrid warfare
https://informnapalm.org/en/russian-private-military-companies-as-licensed-tool-of-terror/#
…

Russian 'private military companies' are a “tool for the implementation of national interests without the direct participation of the state“ :D
Translation: Putin's special ops forces not connected to the Russian state/FSB/GRU. Except for the law permitting their existence.

OUTLAW 09

02-26-2017, 11:18 AM

Check this out and note the number of car accidents

OUTLAW 09

03-02-2017, 07:02 PM

NATO officials concerned about degree of closure & final range at which #Russia's aircraft approached NATO planes
http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/natosource/russia-buzzed-nato-aircraft-four-times-in-a-single-day#

NATO had 3 encounters with #Russia's Su-24 attack aircraft & 4th was with Ilyushin Il-38 maritime patrol aircraft

OUTLAW 09

03-12-2017, 12:46 PM

RIA claims that Iodine-131 leak came from Ukraine by fake-quoting The Barents Observer.

Rostec CEO says KRET working on a counter-drone system which fries their onboard electronics.
http://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/4087648#

CEO of Rostech: Rus (@KRETRussia ) has EW sys/s to burn up "Perdix" UAV electronics. UAV becomes "useless piece of iron".

OUTLAW 09

03-12-2017, 03:33 PM

Russian UAV «Orlan» used for artillery recognisance during recent exercise near Saint Petersburg

OUTLAW 09

03-12-2017, 03:38 PM

Russian UAV operators during recent exercise near Saint Petersburg

OUTLAW 09

03-13-2017, 06:59 PM

Russia: Almost 6,000 troops have been alerted in military units in the Southern Military District in a sudden combat readiness check.

OUTLAW 09

03-14-2017, 09:37 AM

Actually an important article as it goes back to what the west would watch for in the Soviet exercises in the 80s.....

WELL worth reading thoroughly in light of previous Russian snap exercises that exercised Russian attacks on Poland..Sweden and Estonia...

REMEMBER Russia has never registered any of their snap exercises in advance with OSCE requirements nor allowed western observers as required and as NATO allows....

Rekindled Train Wagon Debate Calls Into Question Planned Size for ‘Zapad 2017’ Exercise #Russia
https://jamestown.org/program/rekindled-train-wagon-debate-calls-question-planned-size-zapad-2017-exercise/#

OUTLAW 09

03-14-2017, 09:40 AM

Another threat from Russia, via MoD/Armed Forces TV: "Europe is afraid of Russian submarines in Gibraltar"
https://twitter.com/zvezdanews/status/841577111978672129#

OUTLAW 09

03-14-2017, 10:11 AM

Again NATO SIGINT on the move.....

UK RC135W ZZ664 ASCT7145 heading east over the North Sea...

AND at almost the same time.....

Latitude 67N SIGINT‏#@Sigint67n 2h
2 hours ago
RuAF VHF traffic in the Gulf of Finland consistent with tactical aircraft - Ladoga started?

OUTLAW 09

03-15-2017, 02:29 PM

New @amsecproject tracker of #Russia's Military Incidents. By @vasquezja1
http://www.americansecurityproject.org/asp-releases-new-russian-military-incident-tracker/#

OUTLAW 09

03-15-2017, 04:41 PM

Russian Pantsir-S1 combined short-medium range SAM and AA artillery weapon system exercises in Kaliningrad region
http://tvzvezda.ru/news/forces/content/201703151856-5q93.htm#

davidbfpo

03-15-2017, 04:53 PM

I am trying to keep the Ukraine at War thread focused on events within the war, with some other factors. So I have just moved seven posts on Russian military activity to here.

OUTLAW 09

03-15-2017, 06:04 PM

TASS‏
Verified account
#
@tassagency_en
#UN says nearly 10,000 people killed in #Donbass since conflict began

1) Russia reports on a death toll they caused
2) Majority of dead were ethnic Russians
3) Figure excludes approx 6k Russian military deaths

OUTLAW 09

03-15-2017, 06:07 PM

TASS
✔
@tassagency_en
Tank #army in west #Russia receives advanced short-range air defense missile systems
http://tass.com/defense/935742

OUTLAW 09

03-15-2017, 06:42 PM

RUAF Mi-28NM with mast mounted radar @ Moscow Helicopter Factory 14MAR17 (C) kabuki

OUTLAW 09

03-15-2017, 06:49 PM

Russian missile threats to NATO via Baltic

OUTLAW 09

03-17-2017, 08:44 AM

Russia announces deepest defence budget cuts since 1990s http://www.janes.com/article/68766/russia-announces-deepest-defence-budget-cuts-since-1990s#

OUTLAW 09

03-18-2017, 10:09 AM

New Gerasimov article on nature of warfare
https://russiamil.wordpress.com/2017/03/17/new-gerasimov-article-on-nature-of-warfare/#
… via @russmil

Russian Military Reform
Tracking developments in the Russian military

March 17, 2017 by Dmitry Gorenburg

New Gerasimov article on nature of#warfare

Valery Gerasimov, the Chief of the Russian General Staff, has published a new article on the nature of modern warfare. Given how much attention has been paid to his 2013 article on this topic, it seems worthwhile to quickly review what’s changed in the last four years.
The most important observation, though, is how much hasn’t changed. Gerasimov still focuses on the American origin of hybrid warfare, both attributing the origin of the term to American theoretical writings and discussing its implementation in the Middle East, and particularly in Syria.
Gerasimov’s discussion of the origins of the conflict in Syria is worth citing at length. He notes that in the first stage, internal Syrian tensions were transformed into armed actions by the opposition. The opposition was supported by foreign trainers and an active information war from abroad. Subsequently, terrorist groups supplied and organized from abroad then entered the conflict against Syrian government forces. The conclusion that Gerasimov draws is that hybrid warfare is actively practiced by the United States and other NATO members, in large part because this type of action does not fall under the definition of aggression.
Nevertheless, Gerasimov isn’t eager to assume that the hybrid warfare concept is here to stay or to introduce it into official Russian discourse. Instead he focuses (as in the 2013 article) on the continuing erasure of the boundary between conditions of war and peace. He highlights that it is more and more common for a country’s sovereignty and national security to be threatened in peacetime. The spectrum of reasons for use of military force is continually expanding, with force being more often used to secure a state’s economic interests or to enforce democratic values in another country.
Much of this is a repeat of the 2013 argument, with the focus on Western states using a wide spectrum of measures (political, economic, diplomatic, informational) combined with the “protest potential of the population,” to ensure that their interests are observed. Cyber warfare is added to this list, with an example of cyber attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure.
What seems interesting to me is the second half of the article, where Gerasimov discusses how Russia is responding to this heightened risk of “new generation” warfare. Here, Gerasimov drops all the discussion of hybrid and information warfare. Instead, his focus is very much old school: a discussion of strategic deterrence with nuclear weapons and long range aviation. To this is added the development of long range cruise missiles and other precision-guided munitions, next generation fighter aircraft, modern ships, etc. There is also a discussion of advances in automation and electronic warfare. In other words, Russia is preparing to respond to this threat environment by strengthening its conventional and nuclear military capability. There is virtually no discussion of Russian efforts to engage in information warfare or hybrid warfare of any kind. “Little green men” play no role in this vision of Russian military power. Instead, we are given to understand that Russia will respond to any aggression with overwhelming force.

OUTLAW 09

03-18-2017, 10:23 AM

Some light humor.....

Ex chief of Russia space program found dead in detention cell with two knife wounds in heart, severed throat, police say it MIGHT be murder

He had been arrested for major corruption and failed rocket starts...

OUTLAW 09

03-18-2017, 06:50 PM

Mark Galeotti @MarkGaleotti
Mike Kofman goes beyond my quick 1st take
https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2017/03/17/the -reports-of-the-death-of-the-russian-defence-budget-have-been-greatly-exaggerated/

to demolish myth of #Russia's 25% defence cut:https://russianmilitaryanalysis.wordpress.com/2017/03/17/the-russian-defense-budget-and-you/

OUTLAW 09

03-20-2017, 09:03 AM

Russia's ambassador to NATO warns that alliance's activities in east Europe will lead to "spiral of confrontation."
https://ria.ru/defense_safety/20170320/1490370951.html#

OUTLAW 09

03-20-2017, 09:18 AM

MORE US recce operations over Germany and Baltic maybe due to the vast ongoing NATO exercises and the Russian ongoing snap exercises in response to them....AS well as increased Russian troop units along Ukrainian border...

Combat Sent heading over France @ 33,000ft
USAF #RC135U 64-14847 COBRA55

Leaving the Baltics, heading west. RTB RAF Mildenhall...
USAF #RC135W 62-4138 FOWL27

Today sudden Russian MoD announcement of the following.......

Kaliningrad and Baltic Fleet anti air surprise snap exercise...actually a pre combat snap exercise...exercising actual air attacks....

OUTLAW 09

03-20-2017, 11:24 AM

Russian forces in Crimea practice putting down "illegal armed formations," i.e. "little green men."
http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=2867973

Seem to be practicing against "themselves"....

What started as an airborne troop snap exercise seems to be growing in size.....

We've seen hints from sources that Russian 'snap' exercise in/near #Crimea will grow from 12k to 120k troops + civilians (like Kavkaz 2016)

IF this is in fact correct THEN it should have been registered with OSCE and foreign observers invited to watch...which was not done....and will not be done...

THIS might in fact explain the extensive US/UK recce flights being currently heavily conducted over Germany and the Baltic....

This is the airborne troop exercise that triggered this snap exercise....

RIA: In Crimea, started the paratroopers exercises involving the Black Sea Fleet and videoconferencing
http://ria.ru/defense_safety/20170320/1490370965.html#

OUTLAW 09

03-20-2017, 11:29 AM

What started as an airborne troop snap exercise seems to be growing in size.....

We've seen hints from sources that Russian 'snap' exercise in/near #Crimea will grow from 12k to 120k troops + civilians (like Kavkaz 2016)

IF this is in fact correct THEN it should have been registered with OSCE and foreign observers invited to watch...which was not done....and will not be done...

THIS might in fact explain the extensive US/UK recce flights being currently heavily conducted over Germany and the Baltic....

This is the airborne troop exercise that triggered this snap exercise....

RIA: In Crimea, started the paratroopers exercises involving the Black Sea Fleet and videoconferencing
http://ria.ru/defense_safety/20170320/1490370965.html#

Former NATO SACEUR @PMBreedlove warned of danger: Russian 'snap' exercise turning into full-scale military operation

RUSSIA: Unprecedentedly large drills of Airborne/Aerospace Forces & Black Sea Fleet begin in Crimea - @tassagency_en
http://tass.com/defense/936406

OUTLAW 09

03-20-2017, 12:33 PM

Former NATO SACEUR @PMBreedlove warned of danger: Russian 'snap' exercise turning into full-scale military operation

RUSSIA: Unprecedentedly large drills of Airborne/Aerospace Forces & Black Sea Fleet begin in Crimea - @tassagency_en
http://tass.com/defense/936406

Lukashenko ups the Russia trolling to dangerous levels by suggesting NATO be allowed to observe Russian and Belarusian training exercises

NOTE
Airborne troops + large landing ship drills tomorrow

2S4 Tulips and 2S7 Pions exercising hitting hardened enemy underground fortifications.
Now where'd you find such static positions?

OUTLAW 09

03-20-2017, 12:39 PM

We're 'expecting' a massive Russian snap exercise later this year involving 120-180k between 1st Tank, 20th CAA and 8th CAA east of Ukraine

OUTLAW 09

03-20-2017, 05:27 PM

Russian navy upgrades multi-purpose submarines (Proj. 971 and 949)
https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/security/2017/03/russian-navy-upgrades-multi-purpose-submarines …

OUTLAW 09

03-23-2017, 06:06 AM

OUTLAW 09

03-25-2017, 01:22 PM

Important: RIA Novosti: #Egypt to receive the first batch of Ka-52 attack helicopters in the 2nd half of 2017, Russian Helicopters CEO.

OUTLAW 09

03-25-2017, 06:46 PM

Mark Galeotti @MarkGaleotti
The truth about #Russia's defence budget
A 25% cut? More like 5%. Me, for @ECFRWiderEurope @ecfr
http://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_the_truth_about_russias_defence_budget_ 7255#

OUTLAW 09

03-28-2017, 08:52 AM

Russia builds huge #nuclear missile depot in #Severomorsk >

http://barentsobserver.com/en/security/2013/12/russia-builds-huge-nuclear-missile-depot-severomorsk-13-12#

Murmansk is worlds biggest nuclear weapon area?

OUTLAW 09

03-28-2017, 08:53 AM

Warming up for Zapad 2017: "Kaliningrad: From boomtown to battle-station":

http://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentar..._station_7256#

OUTLAW 09

03-28-2017, 12:14 PM

ZVEZDA: "All-Seeing" A-50U in action for the first time revealed the latest military flying radar
http://tvzvezda.ru/news/forces/content/201703281222-psle.htm#

OUTLAW 09

03-28-2017, 04:15 PM

Planned Russian military exercises near Baltics at same time as Sweden drills sow NATO worries over miscalculations
https://www.wsj.com/articles/planned-russian-exercises-in-september-sow-nato-worries-1490715830#

OUTLAW 09

03-29-2017, 08:10 AM

Russian Ministry of Transport intended to ugrade 8 #Arctic airports, can only afford 2 #Tiksi #Chokurdakh
https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/arctic/2017/03/slow-take-russias-arctic-airports-budget-cuts-put-upgrades-ice#.WNtUFEvuBvk.twitter#

OUTLAW 09

04-01-2017, 08:25 PM

Conscripts will not go to war in Syria. Putin signed a decree on drafting 142,000 people for military service
https://www.pnp.ru/social/2017/03/30/srochniki-v-siriyu-voevat-ne-poedut.html#

davidbfpo

04-14-2017, 12:47 PM

Thanks to a "lurker" and Forum member away from the web for a pointer to this monograph, which is topical: 'Thinking Like a Russian Officer: Factors and Contemporary Thinking on The Nature Of War' by Timothy Thomas, a US Army civilian analyst, an ex-US Army FAO who specialised in Russian/Soviet affairs. It was published in April 2016.
Link:http://fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/documents/Thinking%20Like%20A%20Russian%20Officer_monograph_ Thomas%20(final).pdf

OUTLAW 09

04-18-2017, 06:43 PM

Analysis of leaked images of new #Russia Yasen-M Class cruise missile submarine
http://www.hisutton.com/Pr885_Analysis.html#

17 APR: USAF F-22s scrambled from Elmendorf AFB to intercept 2x RUAF Tu-95 100 miles off the coast of Kodiak Island, Alaska

OUTLAW 09

04-18-2017, 06:44 PM

Russian Military Airfields and Communications Objects Around NATO, Ukrainian and Finnish Borders
http://www.numbers-stations.com/military/russia/russian-military-airfields-and-communications-objects-around-nato-ukrainian-and-finnish-borders/#

via @Spy_Stations

Azor

04-28-2017, 07:42 PM

From The Jamestown Foundation: https://jamestown.org/program/shoigu-promotes-russias-effective-army-plans-2025/

By Roger McDermott:

Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has outlined the country’s military modernization achievements in the context of the ongoing drafting and internal discussion regarding the new State Armaments Program to 2025 (Gosudarstvennaya Programma Vooruzheniya—GPV). Shoigu put forward a vision of greatly enhanced military capabilities, but he has moved beyond simply promising more military hardware and modern systems. Rather, he indicated that, over the next decade, Russia would invest in modernizing and expanding military infrastructure. Despite the country’s economic challenges, it appears that state planning will not downgrade defense spending in favor of other aspects of governmental budgeting. As the drafting of the GPV to 2025 moves into its final stages, following considerable delay, the underlying message is greater emphasis on force multipliers linked to high-technology assets and further expansion of infrastructure (Moskovskiy Komsomolets, April 21).

The GPV to 2025 experienced numerous delays linked to concern over spending levels following the precedent set by the GPV to 2020—which hiked expenditures to 19.3 trillion rubles ($346 billion). The recent suspended animation for the new GPV reflects divisions between the defense and finance ministries (see EDM, September 15, 2016; October 6, 2016), domestic fears that the state cannot afford to continue such investment levels in national defense, as well as a number of related economic and security factors. This general background stems from the downturn in the Russian economy that resulted from declining global oil prices, sanctions imposed on Russia following the annexation of Crimea (with its knock-on impact based on losing access to the Ukrainian defense industry), and the ensuing dispute between the defense and finance ministry. Amidst the GPV drafting process, Russia has been involved in the conflict in Donbas, it deployed forces to the Syrian conflict, and it faces an increasing stand-off with the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This has meant additional recalibration of the requirements for the GPV to 2025; in other words, the delays are about politics more than economics (see EDM, March 14). The lengthy process will, therefore, only see its final resolution in summer of 2017, with governmental approval scheduled in the fall.

The Russian defense minister stands at the forefront of defending the interests of the military against the arguments by officials in the finance ministry. And Shoigu has used multiple platforms to advance the cause of maintaining realistic levels of defense spending to successfully modernize the Armed Forces. One such platform is the regular meetings of the defense ministry’s collegium. Normally, the collegium has been used to update officials as well as representatives of government bodies, the defense industry, and various interested organizations on the progress made in modernizing the military. But on April 21, Shoigu addressed this body with an eye toward longer-term financial issues. Specifically, he spoke about the completion of state tests of the Admiral Gorshkov frigate, the plan for the Northern Fleet to 2020, the development of ground-based space infrastructure for the Armed Forces, the GPV to 2025, and the success of the new Military Police (Mil.ru, April 21).

Shoigu certainly tried to impress his audience with a number of apposite military statistics to support the theme that the modernization remains highly relevant for Russia: these ranged from numbers of newly formed units to reporting on advances in contract personnel levels. According to Shoigu, earlier this month, the 14th Army Corps was created. The number of contract personnel serving in the Navy reached “95 percent,” with the Ground Forces boosted by 100 percent contract manning of all battalion tactical groups. He also mentioned the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov and its use in combat operations in Syria. Shoigu noted the first combat use of Russian cruise missiles and said the Navy will be further strengthened by introducing greater numbers of these precision-strike systems. Turning to the GPV to 2025, Shoigu admitted likely budgetary constraints compelling “capital construction,” but he declared that spending will continue to introduce new weaponry and equipment and develop military infrastructure. This effort will involve strengthening the nuclear triad, building more infrastructure, and laying 24,000 kilometers of fiber-optic communication lines. Regarding the latter, he confirmed that the future Russian Army will depend on more high-technology assets and approaches to modern warfare (Mil.ru, April 21).

These themes and their fiscal aspects were explored during an extensive interview by Deputy Defense Minister Tatyana Shevtsova in Voyenno Promyshlennyy Kuryer. “Sequestration” and “budgetary constraints” were much in evidence, but Shevtsova delivered a reassuring message based upon improved planning and greater efficiency in defense planning. In discussing defense sequestration, Shevtsova highlighted the important role played by forming the budget to fulfil the development plans for the Armed Forces, enhancing financial efficiency to implement the “effective army program,” and monitoring the use of the funds to carry out the state defense order. However, the use of monitoring mechanisms and a range of measures to improve the efficiency of fiscal planning and implementation seem to offset any negative impact of small levels of sequestration (Voyenno Promyshlennyy Kuryer, April 19).

Such efficiency themes in Shevtsova’s interview are consistent with many of Shoigu’s public statements, lending credibility to the idea that future defense spending will support ongoing transformation toward a more high-tech force capability. Indeed, given Russia’s positive assessment of its use of cruise missile systems in Syria, the defense ministry has swung behind investing in large numbers of precision-strike systems in the future. Moreover, it has raised the prospect that this will also reduce reliance upon Russia’s nuclear deterrence (Voyenno Promyshlennyy Kuryer, April 19).

Shoigu’s comments also suggest more airfields will be built to support long-range aviation. Naval infrastructure will be similarly boosted. And the Russian military will build greater numbers of precision-strike systems for air and coastal defense as well as to provide more effective offensive capabilities. No outward evidence exists that belt tightening will mitigate Russia’s existing aspirations to build a formidable military capability to meet modern challenges (Lenta.ru, TASS, April 21).

Something quite significant has changed in Russian defense planning and in smoothing out the financial planning features of the state arms procurement agenda; it stems from correcting the historical defense planning deficiency rooted in the absence of military statistics. The defense ministry is in the early stages of correcting this weakness, allowing much greater confidence in planning cycles, spending efficiencies, and monitoring progress in implementing modernization programs. Moscow is becoming smarter in prudent defense spending and planning, with implications for a move away from the former Soviet legacy force and toward a credible and usable force in the future.

OUTLAW 09

05-01-2017, 07:14 AM

Putin's ambitions in the high North—How selfies exposed #Russia's Artic bases. Latest by @Benimmo & @MaksCzuperski:
https://medium.com/dfrlab/selfies-expose-russias-arctic-bases-b43792bfd256?source=linkShare-105bc7078bae-1493192868#

Ah...that Russian Opsec will get them every time.... it seems they have never learned anything from eastern Ukraine and Syria....

OUTLAW 09

05-19-2017, 02:20 PM

Azor

05-19-2017, 06:03 PM

TASS: Military and industry discussed the creation of missiles of increased range of "Iskander-M"
http://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/4266086#

Russians are talking about direct and open INF treaty violation here.

On the contrary, the Iskander-M's range can be improved while adhering to the INF Treaty. The discussion also revolved around non-range qualitative improvements.

OUTLAW 09

05-19-2017, 06:17 PM

On the contrary, the Iskander-M's range can be improved while adhering to the INF Treaty. The discussion also revolved around non-range qualitative improvements.

Depends on exactly what improvements are made to the engine and fuel....one has to wait for the test firings...the question is the last time for another cruise missile test firing the US did not catch the actual firing ....and had to wait until they could clearly get an actual measurement.....which took time

Azor

05-19-2017, 06:29 PM

Depends on exactly what improvements are made to the engine and fuel....

If it "depends" then why make the leap?

OUTLAW 09

05-20-2017, 07:37 AM

If it "depends" then why make the leap?

Here is why you never get anything...in the world of cyber security that I work in...the internet is driven by IEEE engineering standards and protocols the language of how things talk to and act with each other....

BUT never think engineering laws applies to everything....when one runs into a major hack and or virus and or a misbehaving internet or network...and a ton of Cisco CCIE's stand around discussing and or whiteboarding the problems...in the end ...mantra "it depends" comes up...meaning depending on what variable you set determines the outcome...you in fact might be seeing.

The military uses the terms "2nd, 3rd or 4th order of effects after a COA has been decided on"....

You can pick which mantra fits your needs...

Azor

06-15-2017, 09:11 PM

From the Jamestown Foundation: https://jamestown.org/program/moscows-pursuit-military-strategic-parity-nato/
Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 79
By: Roger McDermott

Selected Excerpts:

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu promises the arrival of the PAK FA (T-50) fifth-generation fighter jet in 2019 and the new S-500 surface-to-air missile system the following year. Shoigu believes such procurements will help to protect Russia against modern means of aerospace attack. While, Colonel (retired) Viktor Baranets argues that such developments, coupled with other trends in Russia’s military modernization, will offer the country a level of “strategic parity” with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)....

However, such perspectives seem rooted in optimistic defense ministry information campaigns, which explicitly promote an image of a resurgent military well on its way to meeting modern challenges—including any possible threat posed by the United States or NATO. The generally positive publicity for Russian manufactured arms and equipment is certainly doing no harm to arms exports...

...there are persistent and deeper issues at play within the domestic defense industry that no amount of information spin can conceal.

...low level of state investment in research and development (R&D)

Delays to procuring new systems frequently center on the inherent failure to coordinate between the various interested parties, including the defense companies and arms or branches of service that those new assets are earmarked for.

If expensive items, such as the PAK FA or the S-500, are procured in meaningful numbers, properly integrating these systems will require great coordination and effort. At the same time, lingering doubts apparently exist concerning new technologies linked to main battle tanks, with the defense ministry planning to procure modernized older tanks rather than rely exclusively on the new T-14 Armata...

But to extrapolate from this that Russian forces have already reached some level of conventional parity with NATO—or even that they might sometime in the near future—stretches the spin too far.

Azor

06-21-2017, 04:53 PM

From the Jamestown Foundation: https://jamestown.org/program/russias-military-precision-strike-capability-prioritizes-iskander-m/

Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 82
By: Roger McDermott
June 20, 2017 09:39 PM Age: 14 hours

Introduction:

As Russia’s Armed Forces await the details and specific implications of the new State Armaments Program to 2025 (Gosudarstvennaya Programma Vooruzheniya—GPV), there is widespread expectation that the military will receive more high-precision strike systems to complement its efforts to develop greater operational capabilities (Utro.ru, June 15; see EDM, June 14). Among these, the Iskander-M road-mobile theater ballistic missile system raises serious concerns for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), not least due to its deployment in Kaliningrad and the fact that it is capable of carrying either a conventional or a nuclear warhead. Presently, the Russian defense ministry intends to build enough additional Iskander-Ms to entirely replace the older Tochka-U system by 2020. However, given the further expansion of the Missile Troops (see below), it is likely that more systems will enter service beyond 2020 (RIA Novosti, June 9).

Highlights:

Officially there are 10 Missile and Artillery Troop Brigades (RV&A), with another being formed: 4 in the Western MD, 1 in the Southern MD, 2 in the Central MD and 3 in the MEastern MD
The RV&A commander notes that there is a trend toward improving Russia’s precision-strike capabilities and that the Iskander-M is a crucial part of this strategy
By 2020, all 10 RV&A brigades should be equipped with the Iskander-M, fully replacing the old Tochka-U
Iskander-Ms were recently deployed to Tajikistan, and although they may feature in Zapad 2017, Moscow is not planning to sell any to Belarus

flagg

06-22-2017, 09:22 AM

On the contrary, the Iskander-M's range can be improved while adhering to the INF Treaty. The discussion also revolved around non-range qualitative improvements.

Those missiles have certainly caused considerable havoc in Yemen for Saudi/UAE forces, somewhere around 500 fatalities based on reports, including some ugly hits of CPs/HQs.

The Russians have developed a lot of formidable weapon system designs on paper that don't make the necessary leap to positive feedback from end users.

But they certainly seem to have done a solid job with that SS-21 Iskander.

And I would guess there could be potential to develop flight profiles that could make interception a real challenge(at drastically reduced range I assume).

It seems like we are finally living the 1950's sci-fi future of rockets fighting rockets.

Azor

06-22-2017, 04:04 PM

Those missiles have certainly caused considerable havoc in Yemen for Saudi/UAE forces, somewhere around 500 fatalities based on reports, including some ugly hits of CPs/HQs.

The Russians have developed a lot of formidable weapon system designs on paper that don't make the necessary leap to positive feedback from end users.

But they certainly seem to have done a solid job with that SS-21 Iskander.

And I would guess there could be potential to develop flight profiles that could make interception a real challenge(at drastically reduced range I assume).

It seems like we are finally living the 1950's sci-fi future of rockets fighting rockets.

Flagg,

The ballistic missiles used in Yemen are at best Tochkas, and older export variants at that.

See here from Tom Cooper at War is Boring:

http://warisboring.com/how-did-the-houthis-manage-to-lob-a-ballistic-missile-at-mecca/

https://medium.com/war-is-boring/much-of-what-you-think-you-know-about-the-yemen-war-is-wrong-fe178ffbc973

OUTLAW 09

06-23-2017, 08:21 AM

Report: Russia may have accidentally revealed new military satellites
http://www.defensenews.com/articles/report-russia-may-have-accidentally-revealed-new-military-satellites#

davidbfpo

08-05-2017, 09:03 PM

Reported by an independent Norwegian newspaper, The Barents Observer, a new official Russian policy document and their title is:
What Russia’s new Navy Strategy says about the Arctic (sub-title) There are new dangers and threats arising, the security document warns.It starts with:
The policy document, which was signed by President Putin on 20th July, includes high ambitions for the country’s naval forces. «The Russian Federation will not allow significant superiority of other countries’ navies over its fleet and will be committed to strengthen its position as the second most combat capable in the world», the strategy reads.Link:https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/security/2017/08/what-russias-new-navy-strategy-says-about-arctic#.

The policy document is on a Kremlin website.

Azor

08-06-2017, 04:18 AM

From War Is Boring: http://warisboring.com/a-grim-future-for-russias-nuclear-submarine-fleet/

Introduction:

In March 2017, Russia’s new Yasen-class nuclear attack submarine Kazan launched at the northern port city of Severodvinsk. Perhaps the quietest Russian submarine ever, the event was further evidence the Kremlin can still build capable and lethal subs capable of a variety of missions, including cruise-missile attack.

But it won’t be enough. The Russian navy — already badly depleted since the collapse of the Soviet Union — can’t quickly replace most of its existing nuclear submarine fleet, which is approaching the end of its collective lifespan. The outcome will likely mean a shrinking of the Russian nuclear submarine force in the years ahead.

davidbfpo

08-07-2017, 07:19 PM

Ambition meets shipyards, a commentary that ends with:
Long story short, Russia’s navy is in bad shape, and Russia is in no shape to rebuild it. In the foreseeable future, Russia should commit to naval projects that it absolutely requires, and that it does well. This mostly means a nuclear submarine flotilla capable of posing a deterrent threat, and a small surface fleet tasked with managing routine maritime maintenance operations. Anything more is probably too much of a reach.
Link:http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/why-russias-once-superpower-navy-big-trouble-21796?

Azor

08-08-2017, 03:30 PM

Ambition meets shipyards, a commentary that ends with:
Link:http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/why-russias-once-superpower-navy-big-trouble-21796?

Of course, David, that is why they continue to build nuclear-powered icebreakers, as these are the largest "capital ships" they are capable of. Yet that has spurred the U.S. Coast Guard to want its own icebreakers - with non-genderized washrooms :p

davidbfpo

08-31-2017, 01:18 PM

Thanks to a "lurker" for the pointer to this recent article in Military Review, The Evolving Nature of Russia‘s Way of War by Lt. Col. Thomas (which I have not read).

This article discusses the three Russian military articles about which most Western military analysts specializing in Russia have focused their attention over the past four years. Unlike other analyses of those articles, this one offers a different perspective in that it compares them side by side, examining the text of the original versions and not merely the press reports about them.

(Later) All three articles focus on developing trends in warfare, the changing character of conflict, and the need for new forms and methods of fighting. Owing to the prominence of the authors, they may be taken as representative of prevailing Russian military thought at the highest levels. Link:http://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/English-Edition-Archives/July-August-2017/Thomas-Russias-Way-of-War/

AdamG

12-20-2017, 01:29 PM

In other words; Russians being Russians, shivering journalists wet their panties, film at 11.

RUSSIA has practised a full-scale mock invasion of the West that includes capturing Baltic states, bombing Germany and invading neutral countries, it has been revealed.
The terrifying war drills were carried out in September and featured troops, artillery, tanks, missile attacks and naval and air force raids.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5177666/russia-military-drills-invasion-europe-vladimir-putin/

CrowBat

02-19-2018, 10:21 PM

The author - Michael Kofman - has published in WoTR, in February 2017 a highly interesting 'dissection' of the Russian military strategy in Ukraine and Syria (https://warontherocks.com/2017/02/a-comparative-guide-to-russias-use-of-force-measure-twice-invade-once/) .

To make things even more interesting, that one is strikingly similar to conclusions from discussions on the Russian strategy and tactics in Syria we've had on the ACIG.info forum back in late 2015 (requires registration to read): VKS (Russian Air Force) - Doctrine and Tactics (http://www.acig.info/forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=7448).

AdamG

02-24-2018, 08:07 AM

Check out
Syria War: Who are Russia's Shadowy Wagner Mercenaries?
http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?t=26631

AdamG

03-01-2018, 04:12 PM

Russia's new hypersonic Sarmat ICBM, which is capable of overcoming missile defense systems, has completed tests and is a "breakthrough" for the country's missile program, according to President Vladimir Putin.

The announcement was made during Putin's annual address to Russia's Federal Assembly, and was accompanied by a video showcasing the missile's capabilities. Sarmat is capable of outmanoeuvring modern missile defense systems, he said.

The Sarmat will replace the aging but reliable Soviet-era R-36M2 Voevoda (SS-18 Satan) ICBMs.
Last week, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said that the new missile “can rip [US] air defenses apart," adding that "at the moment [the US defense shield] poses no serious military threat to us, except for provocations."

https://www.rt.com/news/420157-russia-new-hypersonic-icbm/

Russia has developed a new cruise missile that is invincible, according to President Vladimir Putin.
Mr Putin made the revelation as he laid out his key policies for a fourth presidential term, ahead of an election he is expected to win in 17 days' time.
He showcased a range of new weapons, including the cruise missile that could "reach anywhere in the world".
Using video presentations, he said the missile could not be stopped by the US shield in Europe and Asia.
It was "a low-flying, difficult-to-spot cruise missile with a nuclear payload with a practically unlimited range and an unpredictable flight path, which can bypass lines of interception and is invincible in the face of all existing and future systems of both missile defence and air defence".
Another weapon he discussed was a submarine launched, long-range missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43239331

AdamG

03-01-2018, 04:16 PM

This week the Russian Defense Ministry is expected to report finalizing its plan for materiel procurement until 2027, with the nuclear arsenal, precision weapons and Army hardware said to be prioritized.
A decade-long plan for military procurement was supposed to be passed in 2016, but was delayed due to economic uncertainty. According to a source in the presidential administration cited by the Kommersant daily, the government decided not to wait any longer for stabilization that is nowhere to be seen.

The Russian Defense Ministry will get $324 billion for procurement under the program, compared to just $51 billion given to the rest of the Russian law enforcement and intelligence services combined. The spending would be more balanced between arms of the Russian military service compared to 2011-2020 plan, which had prioritized the Navy over the Army.
The report says the Russian military would focus on upgrading the national nuclear arsenal, researching future weapon systems like hypersonic missiles and bringing the Army hardware up to date. The latter will receive new air defense systems and modern armor like T-90 and T-14 main battle tanks or Kurganetsh infantry fighting vehicles. Arctic-compatible equipment will also be high on the shopping list.
The nuclear arsenal will see an upgrade of air-launched cruise missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and ground-launched ICBMs. The Defense Ministry is expected to approve the RS-26 Rubezh ballistic missile and the RS-28 Sarmat hypersonic-tipped missile for active service.
https://www.rt.com/news/413570-russian-military-procurement-details/

AdamG

03-08-2018, 07:27 PM

The military version of Britain’s Boaty McBoatface contest launched by Russia’s Defense Ministry Thursday opens a portal where seemingly anyone with an email address can submit names for three advanced new weapons: an unlimited-range, low-flying, nuclear-powered cruise missile; a long-distance nuclear torpedo-drone; and a high-powered laser gun.

Proposals immediately began pouring in to the Russian defense ministry’s Twitter and Facebook feeds. The Russian embassy in the United States even seemingly invited Americans to participate in what it called Putin’s “name-that-weapon” contest.

One of the first suggestions: “Volodya,” a Russian diminutive of Vladimir. That sycophantic offering came from the head of Russia’s state-controlled RT network, Margarita Simonyan.

One Russian user wrote the long-range nuclear torpedo-drone should be called “The Kraken.”
Another referenced a Soviet pop song to propose the missile should be dubbed “Goodbye America.”
The laser could be called “Cyclops,” or “The Eye,” wrote one user, and the missile should be “The Anglo-Saxons’ Nightmare,” suggested another.

https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/pam848/russia-rolls-out-boaty-mcboatface-style-online-naming-contest-for-new-nuclear-weapons

https://i.imgur.com/RcVhgpP.jpg

Rick

04-03-2018, 01:21 PM

https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/pam848/russia-rolls-out-boaty-mcboatface-style-online-naming-contest-for-new-nuclear-weapons

https://i.imgur.com/RcVhgpP.jpg

Lol this is crazy. While one group of russians create names like "Goodbuy America" for missles, others are looking for the opportunities to leave the country. For example, Germany is super popular for russian investors. They buy a property in Germany, for business and etc. I've found a very interesting article with statistics for 2017 https://tranio.com/articles/german-commercial-real-estate-attracts-affluent-russian-investors_5446/ what do you think about all this, guys?

AdamG

04-05-2018, 01:38 AM

China's military leadership has pledged its support to Russia as tensions between Moscow and the West further deteriorate into diplomatic isolation, economic sanctions and dueling defense drills.

In his first visit to Russia, newly appointed Chinese Defense Minister Wei Feng attended the seventh Moscow International Security Conference accompanied by a delegation of other high-level military officials. Emphasizing that his trip was coordinated directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Wei said that he had two major messages for Russia at a time when both nations were attempting to modernize their armed forces and strengthen their hands in global affairs in spite of U.S. fears.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/china-military-tells-russia-apos-161427016.html

Azor

04-24-2018, 05:47 PM

From The Jamestown Foundation: https://jamestown.org/program/russias-evolving-electronic-warfare-capability-unlocking-asymmetric-potential/

Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 15 Issue: 58
By: Roger McDermott

Since first initiating the reforms of the Russian Armed Forces in the fall of 2008, Moscow has developed a number of complimentary niche capabilities. The unifying themes of these reforms have been asymmetry and the recognition that the means and methods of modern warfare have changed. In large part, this has meant the adoption and integration of command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) in the Armed Forces, itself a reflection of the move away from platform-based operations to operating in a networked-informational environment. One critical component of this shift has been in the level of progress in electronic warfare (Radioelektronnaya borba—EW) (see EDM, March 6). While this might appear abstract, Russian military scientists and top brass treat the task of EW development quite seriously, seeing it holistically as part of a greater effort to counter a high-technology adversary. Recent developments in this important field were addressed in an interview by the chief of the EW Forces, Major General Yury Lastochkin. His comments reinforce his published work and that of other Russian EW specialists, as well as shed fresh light on the potential deterrence value of these combined niche capabilities (Krasnaya Zvezda, April 16)...

davidbfpo

08-20-2018, 08:25 PM

A reflective article on the invasion of Czechoslovakia, which provides some interesting comparisons with the Ukraine more recently:
But looking back at Operation Danube there are some quite striking parallels between the processes that led Brezhnev to approve intervention in August 1968, and more recent acts of Russian policy, not least with reference to Ukraine.
(Ends with) Ultimately, Operation Danube served only to delay by two decades the disintegration of a discredited system that could only govern at the point of a bayonet.
Link:https://defenceindepth.co/2018/08/20/the-end-of-the-prague-spring-fifty-years-on/

AdamG

08-23-2018, 12:59 PM

Shades of the Spanish Civil War, again.

Moscow (AFP) - Russia has sent over 63,000 troops to Syria over the course of its involvement in the conflict, the Russian defence ministry said Wednesday. A total of 63,012 Russian personnel have "received combat experience" in the war-torn country, the ministry said in a video about Russia's campaign to support the Syrian regime dating back to September 2015.

This number includes 25,738 ranking officers and 434 generals as well as 4,349 artillery and rocket specialists, it said. Previously Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in December 2017 that over 48,000 military personnel had taken part in the Syrian campaign.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/russia-says-over-63-000-troops-fought-syria-141424820.html

AdamG

08-23-2018, 01:02 PM

what do you think about all this, guys?

Just saw your question. Globalization and it's associated cross-pollination of populations has turned the planet into a giant Jenga game, which mitigates the risks of all-out conflict but increases the potential of collapse if it does break out (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n29c-q3_8Q).

AdamG

10-01-2018, 10:57 PM

Testing military hardware under adverse climatic conditions prior to induction into service is routine in defense industries and militaries across the globe. The Russian Ground Force are currently operating around 16-20 T-14s prototypes for testing, with final operational evaluation scheduled for 2019.

On August 22, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) signed a contract with Russia’s main tank manufacturer Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) for the production of 132 T-14 Armata MBTs. The Russian Ground Forces are expected to receive a total of 100 T-14 MBTs by 2020.

The first T-14 MBTs will reportedly be deployed with the 1st Guards Tank Regiment of 2nd Guards Tamanskaya Motor Rifle Division, garrisoned in Moscow and part of Russia’s Western Military District.

https://thediplomat.com/2018/09/russia-to-test-t-14-armata-main-battle-tank-in-arctic/

AdamG

11-02-2018, 07:30 PM

Meet the Russian Hank Scorpio.

Moderator adds (http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?27349-Finnish-Federal-Anti-Crime-operations): the main thread for this is:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?27349-Finnish-Federal-Anti-Crime-operations

The island, Sakkiluoto, belongs to Pavel Melnikov, a 54-year-old Russian from St Petersburg, who has dotted the property with security cameras, motion detectors and no-trespassing signs emblazoned with the picture of a fearsome looking guard in a black balaclava.

The island also has nine piers, a helipad, a swimming pool draped in camouflage netting and enough housing – all of it equipped with satellite dishes – to accommodate a small army.

The whole thing is so strange that the raid on 22 September, one of 17 in the same area on the same day, has stirred fevered speculation in Finland that the island’s real owner could be the Russian military.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/finland-russia-military-bases-sakkiluoto-putin-dmitry-medvedev-police-a8612161.html

(https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/finland-russia-military-bases-sakkiluoto-putin-dmitry-medvedev-police-a8612161.html)

AdamG

12-10-2018, 12:57 PM

From Jane's

Samuel Cranny-Evans, Editor, Jane's Armoured Fighting Vehicles provides exclusive analysis of Russia's ambitious modernisation of its armed forces, and NATO's response to re arm and return its attention to the potential for a conventional conflict on a scale thought improbable, since the end of the Cold War.
Video here https://www.janes.com/article/85021/can-russia-defeat-nato-with-soviet-era-armour

AdamG

12-10-2018, 12:58 PM

A Swedish think tank says Russia has emerged as the world's second-largest arms producer after the U.S. Russia surpassed Britain, which had held the spot since 2002 and remains Western Europe's No. 1 arms maker.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/tank-russia-emerges-worlds-arms-producer-59716336

AdamG

02-25-2019, 08:34 PM

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian state television has listed U.S. military facilities that Moscow would target in the event of a nuclear strike, and said that a hypersonic missile Russia is developing would be able to hit them in less than five minutes.
The targets included the Pentagon and the presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland.
The report, unusual even by the sometimes bellicose standards of Russian state TV, was broadcast on Sunday evening, days after President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was militarily ready for a “Cuban Missile”-style crisis if the United States wanted one.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-nuclear-russia/after-putins-warning-russian-tv-lists-nuclear-targets-in-us-idUSKCN1QE1DM

Map https://ei.marketwatch.com/Multimedia/2019/02/25/Photos/NS/MW-HE525_102627_20190225115801_NS.jpg?uuid=82c6f592-391e-11e9-a985-ac162d7bc1f7

As you can see from the map above, Kiselyov pointed to several presidential and military command centers, including the Pentagon, Camp David, Fort Ritchie (a closed training center), McClellan (a closed Air Force base), and Jim Creek (a naval communications base in Washington state)

Kiselyov, who once said Moscow could turn the U.S. into radioactive ash, explained that the “Tsirkon” hypersonic missile that Russia is developing could hit the targets in less than five minutes if launched from submarines.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/russian-state-tv-here-are-the-us-targets-that-putins-hypersonic-nukes-will-be-able-to-reach-in-less-than-5-minutes-2019-02-25