The Russian Military: Declining or Better?

[MikeF]

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

[AdamG]

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-ans...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