The military conflict with Georgia in 2008, in which the Russian Armed Forces were involved on the side of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, showed the need for urgent reforms in the Russian army.
Despite the fact that, according to the conclusion of the Russian side, Georgia was pacified thanks to a skillful and effective strike by Russian troops, the military confrontation revealed shortcomings not only in the level of technical equipment of the Russian army, but also in the ability and ability to control combat units.
Of course, this local war, in which the Russian army took part, was of great interest to foreign experts and analysts.
In the reviews published abroad, it was noted that the Russian military contingent lacks the necessary radar equipment, which allows detecting a target at distant approaches, and reconnaissance means such as, for example, unmanned aerial vehicles. The use of obsolete equipment or difficult-to-reconfigure complexes did not allow the Russian military technical services to timely open the Georgian air defense system. This led to the unjustified loss of seven of the newest aircraft of the Russian Air Force.
And although the Russian army possessed effective means of destruction, such as Iskander missile systems, cruise missiles and corrected aerial bombs, the lack of operational information for timely management decisions did not allow taking full advantage of these types of weapons.
The unstable operation of the communication systems used to transmit information and orders from the command also affected the decrease in the effectiveness of military operations. The possibility of operational interaction and coordination between various branches of the armed forces was almost completely absent, which did not allow the creation of a united group of forces, and this is an important condition for obtaining maximum efficiency in the conduct of hostilities in modern conditions.
A very serious mistake was made - the combat operation was planned and carried out on the basis of the outdated tactics of conducting large-scale hostilities. This outdated plan called for the creation of a large concentration of troops on a small sector of the front. Then, how long ago, in other armies of the world, the concept of using high-precision weapons was adopted, which is able to provide the necessary firepower without a large accumulation of forces of military formations. This approach has advantages over the old practice of fighting because with well-organized enemy reconnaissance, concentrated forces can easily be destroyed by the enemy's high-precision weapons.
The use of outdated tactics of warfare by the Russian contingent in countering Georgian aggression is associated with mistakes in the development of new stages in the development of military art, which began in the 90s in the Russian army. When Russian military specialists developed new strategies and tactics for military operations, the parameters and capabilities of the new weapons that were put into operation by the Russian troops were not taken into account.
Soviet military science made a huge breakthrough in the 1970s, developing a methodology for using automated control systems combined with communications and intelligence resources. The developer of this approach to the organization of combat command and control of troops was Marshal N. V. Ogarkov. This automated command and control system makes it possible to reduce the time spent on the combat cycle: from receiving intelligence, considering the situation, making a decision, to conducting a combat operation. Reducing the decision-making time and communicating orders to the executors significantly increases the intensity of offensive and defensive actions. The use of the proposed method allows us to almost instantly preempt the enemy's actions, leaving the initiative in the implementation of a combat operation for himself, and also improves the coordination of actions between subunits. The idea of Marshal N. V. Ogarkova was actually embodied in the automated control system "Maneuver", which the Americans were able to study in sufficient detail and use in their own developments only after the unification of Germany.
The paradox is that the ideas of Marshal N. V. Ogarkov in the West are considered revolutionary, capable of radically changing the laws of modern war, and in our country they are known only to a narrow circle of military specialists.
Marshal of the Soviet Union Nikolai Ogarkov 17 (30).10.1917–23.01.1994
To assess the contribution of Nikolai Vasilyevich to military science, we will give an example. The British first used the tank they invented in combat during the First World War. But the greatest effect from the use of tanks was obtained during the Nazi invasion of the USSR. The Germans, using the mobility and firepower of tanks, used them not to destroy the enemy's combat force in offensive operations, but for deep raids behind enemy lines in order to encircle and destroy the enemy. Conclusion: the main thing is not to have the latest weapons, but to use them most effectively.
The Soviet military creatively adopted the experience of the German tank breakthroughs of World War II, supplementing it with the creation of an infantry fighting vehicle, which, in turn, led to the formation of motorized rifle units.
Having received an unsuccessful result of a military operation by large army formations in Vietnam, the Americans created special forces that effectively fought the semi-guerrilla Vietnamese army. These units began to operate irregularly, using operational intelligence and the latest weapons. The American armed forces, using their combat experience, having analyzed the results of World War II and the Vietnam War, adjusted the military tactics of conducting a military campaign, developed measures to strengthen the logistics of the army and approaches to the formation of military units:
- the use of the local population to create punitive detachments;
- creation of new types of conventional weapons;
- to use the latest scientific developments for the production of weapons;
- to accelerate the development and implementation of technical solutions that increase the mobility and firepower of combat units;
- to change the structure of military specialties by increasing the number of electronics specialists, operators of complex military equipment, highly professional technical specialists;
- to improve the training programs for military specialists, especially the command echelon;
- go to the recruitment of a professional contract army;
- to create conditions under which military service was attractive and prestigious for young, competent and trained personnel.
During the Cold War, the USSR produced such missiles like sausages. But Marshal Ogarkov believed that the stake should be placed on high-precision non-nuclear weapons and state-of-the-art combat control systems. (Photo: Dorofey HETMANENKO
However, as practice has shown, the complication of military equipment has its limits: both technical and human. And now on the agenda is the solution to the problem not of increasing the characteristics of combat systems and weapons, but training in its effective use. The improvement of martial art should follow the path of the ability to use weapons in a timely manner, the use of its accuracy and range, the ability to obtain information about the enemy and use this for the operational control of combat units.
Solving the problem of effective command and control of troops, the Americans in the 70s created a concept, the basis of which is the organization of the fastest exchange of information between various units. The Soviet developers of the command and control system also did not stand aside from the development of methods of command and control, having included not only communication facilities in the system, but also integrated into it the ability to obtain intelligence and automate most of the functional and operational areas of command and control.
The Americans were not for long in the role of catch-up on the development of the idea of managing the army. Using the latest research in the field of information technology and high-precision weapons, they have achieved a high level of combat readiness: the time for making managerial decisions and bringing them to combat units has been reduced.
But in Russia, the much-needed reform, initiated by Marshal Ogarkov, was curtailed. This was done for the following reasons:
- it was required to retrain the senior command personnel to be able to master not only modern technology, but also to learn new methods, tactics and strategies for conducting combat operations in significantly changed conditions;
- it was necessary to make changes to the organizational structure of the combat arms;
- to change the principles of manning the army: highly professional specialists of the advanced branches of technology, capable of managing complex weapons, should come to the army under contract;
- an increase in the share of "technologically advanced" units in all branches of the armed forces was required.
It should be noted that the curtailment of the reform program for the Russian armed forces was associated not only with the opposition of the opponents of this transformation, but also with the economic and political situation in the country.
Our military-defense complex was capable of creating the latest types of weapons, but there was completely no possibility of providing them with information.
Many military specialists of the Russian army make one of the main emphasis on the fact that the reduction of the army will lead to the impossibility of performing combat missions in military conditions. But the majority of the armies of the world, having reduced their numerical strength and switched to the use of new types of combat assets, not only did not lose their combat capability, but also increased it.
The reform of the Russian Armed Forces has already led to a numerical reduction in the composition of military units. We can only hope that the further implementation of the reform and the decisions made by the Russian government on financing the military-industrial complex will help the Russian army maintain its combat capability at a level that is not inferior to the leading armies of the world.
