The Russian Military: Declining or Better?

[AdamG]

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.

[AdamG]

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/russ...ank-in-arctic/

[AdamG]

Meet the Russian Hank Scorpio.

Moderator adds: the main thread for this is:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ime-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

[AdamG]

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/...iet-era-armour

[AdamG]

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/wire...ducer-59716336

[AdamG]

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-u...-idUSKCN1QE1DM

Map https://ei.marketwatch.com/Multimedi...5-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/ru...tes-2019-02-25

[davidbfpo]

Or lessons learnt from Syria and available - presumably at a price - from Russia. Here is one passage:

After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, much was made about the Kremlin’s use of hybrid warfare to destabilize and conquer. But in the years since, Moscow has taken gray-zone tools and created something completely different: a type of security force for hire by dictators looking to secure their rule.

Link:https://www.defenseone.com/technolog...ref=d-topstory