For a long time, Russia has been modernizing its armed forces, which leads to certain consequences. The results of current programs naturally arouse interest among foreign experts, which leads to the emergence of new studies, reports, etc. Another report on the current state and prospects of the Russian army was recently published by the American research organization RAND Corporation.
The report, dedicated to the armed forces of our country, was named "The Russian Way of Warfare" - "The Russian way of war." The 15-page document was prepared by RAND analysts Scott Boston and Dara Massicot. As the title indicates, the main task of the report was to identify the main trends and identify the main provisions of the Russian defense strategy. The authors reviewed information from a number of Russian and foreign official sources and mass media, after which they made certain conclusions.
Annotation for The Russian Way of Warfare recalls that in the recent past, Russia has undertaken major reform of its armed forces, which has led to an increase in their capabilities in several key areas. As a result of the reform, the army has become better, which made it a reliable instrument in the hands of the authorities, suitable for defending national interests. Russian strategists, worried about the capabilities of a developed potential adversary, fear full-scale hostilities. In this regard, they are strengthening certain parts of their defenses, and also focusing efforts on maintaining influence in the near abroad.
As the authors of the RAND Corporation write, recent Russian operations have demonstrated several basic approaches to solving combat missions. The Russian army is distinguished by a high degree of coordination of all types of troops, and also uses deception and the simultaneous work of different units. All this allows you to reduce your own vulnerability and solve your problems as quickly as possible.
American experts believe that Russia's tactics are to achieve and maintain superiority over the enemy. For this, all available reconnaissance means, various means of destruction, as well as speed, surprise and interaction of troops are used. All this allows the army to meet the enemy fully armed and immediately crush him.
Studying the Russian "way of war", foreign analysts have compiled a list of the main provisions of the strategy and tactics of Russia, which determine all of its actions in certain situations. A similar list with the title "Ten Key Characteristics of Russian Warfare" includes the following theses.
1. The Russian Armed Forces are being built with the aim of protecting its territory, critical facilities and settlements. To solve such problems, a complex multi-layer integrated air defense system is being created, including a limited number of strong points. With the help of such means of defense, the Russian army can gain time for the correct reaction to a possible attack.
2. Defending its lands, Russia intends to avoid a full-scale confrontation with an adversary with a similar or slightly lower military potential. To reduce the negative consequences of such a conflict, it is proposed to use protective and strike systems with a large radius of action. When operating on their own borders, such weapons provide an additional advantage.
3. Taking into account certain weaknesses when faced with equal or less powerful rivals, Russia will try to use a strategy of indirect actions and look for asymmetric ways of influencing the situation, which will make it possible to correct the undesirable imbalance. By using measures aimed at controlling the development of events and the escalation of the conflict, the Russian side may try to end hostilities.
4. The best means of controlling the situation and "insurance" for Russia are arsenals of strategic and tactical nuclear weapons. Russia can threaten to use such weapons. It is also possible to use it in response to a conventional attack that undermines the country's sovereignty or threatens the nuclear deterrence of a potential adversary.
5. Several Soviet and Russian operations were carried out using the Coup de main tactics - a sudden, powerful and swift strike in a decisive direction. Such a strategy made it possible to obtain the desired result in the shortest possible time. RAND Corporation experts believe that in the future, Russian military leaders will continue to use such tactics, especially in pre-planned operations.
6. Recent reforms have led to a certain reorganization of the ground forces of the Russian armed forces. The total number of subunits and formations has decreased, while the share of permanent readiness units has noticeably increased. Such formations, having received an order, can begin combat work in the shortest possible time, which will be a good answer to any crisis situation.
7. In the context of potential conflicts, the Russian armed forces can use both traditional and new approaches. In particular, special units, various armed formations and sympathetic civilians will play a significant role in hostilities. Such structures can conduct reconnaissance and target designation, increasing the situational awareness of troops, or actively participate in battles.
8. At the tactical and operational levels, Russia can focus on hitting specific targets. In this case, the priority targets of strikes should be objects of the enemy's communications and command and control system. To solve such combat missions, conventional ammunition, electronic and cyber systems, as well as direct actions of military units can be used.
9. The Russian Armed Forces have a limited number of high-precision weapons with a long range. These strike weapons can be used against targets of the operational or strategic level at a great depth of enemy defense. First of all, the targets for high-precision long-range missiles will be stationary objects with predetermined coordinates.
10. In operations “on the ground,” Russian tactics will envisage the widespread use of massive artillery and missile strikes from closed positions against remote targets. The effectiveness of such strikes will grow due to the availability of mobile self-propelled artillery and missile systems that can fire both from closed positions and direct fire.
Having described 10 key features of the Russian armed forces in their current state, the authors of the report, S. Boston and D. Massikot, proceeded to a detailed disclosure of the listed topics. The next few sections of the document are devoted precisely to the analysis of the main theses on the example of specific situations, as well as in the context of real actions and their consequences. Analysts at RAND Corporation reviewed the formation process of the so-called. a new look, which started several years ago, and also made certain conclusions about the current state of affairs and the results of reforms.
It should be noted that such analytics is based on well-known facts that have been repeatedly announced in the recent past and at the present time. As a consequence, The Russian Way of Warfare simply lists recent news and information available, accompanied by assessments in the spirit of current American views. At the same time, American specialists admit that as a result of the reforms, the Russian army has noticeably increased its potential and is capable of conducting hostilities in various regions with tangible results.
Much more interesting is the section of the report "Tactics: Hit Hard, Move Fast", in which the authors attempted to compare the structures and tactics of the armed forces of the Russian Federation and the United States. It turned out that the two countries use different approaches to the formation and combat use of army formations, and the characteristic features of the Russian army give it certain advantages.
The Russian army, while retaining the potential for war with a well-armed and well-trained enemy, has learned how to properly deal with illegal armed formations. At the same time, the main capabilities were retained to support troops from the air, electronic warfare, etc. The US Army, in turn, has been optimized to meet the challenges of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. In such a situation, Russia will seek to disrupt the correct operation of a potential adversary, using strike or radio-electronic means, as well as cyber systems. In addition, air defense, as well as missile and artillery forces will be of great importance.
The RAND Corporation report provides a diagram (Figure 1) showing Russian air defense and ground attack systems. The integrated air defense system drastically reduces the potential of enemy strike aircraft, allowing missilemen and artillerymen not to be afraid of an attack and more effectively fire at enemy troops. This interaction provides the Russian army with obvious advantages.
One of the characteristic features of the Russian ground forces, the authors of the report call a large number of artillery and missile systems capable of firing beyond the line of sight. For example, a typical American ground mechanized brigade has only one artillery battalion. In the motorized rifle or tank forces of Russia, the share of artillery in the brigade is noticeably greater. For three motorized rifle and one tank battalion in the brigade, there may be two subunits with self-propelled artillery, one with multiple launch rocket systems, etc.
The following diagram, given in the report, shows the ratio of the strike capabilities of artillery units from the US and Russian brigades. Russian troops have a larger number of both separate systems and subunits, which gives obvious advantages in the force of strikes and the depth of destruction. By correctly using various additional factors, such as the location of the theater of operations, etc., Russia can receive other advantages as well.
Although the main results of the analysis of the current situation were included in the section "10 key features" posted at the beginning of the report, the authors nevertheless added a full-fledged conclusion section to it. Brief results of the research were presented in a section with the obvious title "Conclusions".
Summing up the results of their research, the authors from the RAND Corporation remind that the modern Russian army "grew" out of the armed forces of the Soviet Union. Despite this origin and a certain dependence on its predecessor, the armed forces have changed significantly over the past time. All these changes, as noted, reflect the realities of the current situation and the challenges facing the Russian leadership.
At present, Russia does not have human resources comparable to the capabilities of a potential adversary, and also cannot fully reduce the lag in speed, range and power of modern high-precision strike systems. In the modern period, the Russian command had to face a specific situation in which the traditional advantages of the army ceased to be such or lost part of their potential. Solving the tasks of the defense of their country, the Russian leadership has taken certain measures and is building a renewed armed force with the required potential.
The Russian armed forces bear little resemblance to the Soviet army, differing from it in smaller size, strength, or depth of ideological training. However, they have already shown the growing potential in different areas, based on traditional advantages of one kind or another. All this makes it possible to more effectively solve emerging tasks at the tactical and operational levels.
The reform of the Russian armed forces has been going on for several years and has led to the desired results for a long time. The structure of various branches of the armed forces and branches of the armed forces is being finalized, as well as the purchase of new types of weapons and equipment. All such measures led to a noticeable increase in the potential of the army and an increase in the country's defense capability. The results of the adoption of special measures naturally attract the attention of foreign experts and lead to the appearance of new interesting reports. So, a few days ago, the organization RAND Corporation presented its views on the observed events.
The full text of the report of the RAND Corporation "The Russian Way of Warfare":
