Mongolian army values Russian weapons
The only real guarantor of Mongolia's independence is Russia. This, however, does not mean that they need us more than we need them.
In the early 1990s (under Foreign Minister Kozyrev), Moscow tried to mirror its foreign policy in relation to the Soviet one, swapping places of allies and opponents. However, by the mid-90s, illusions about the West began to fade, after which Russia began to at least partially restore old ties. This possibility remained because they were strong enough: a significant part of the ruling elite of friendly countries studied in the USSR and knew Russian, there was close economic and, no less important, military cooperation. The Allied armies were built on Soviet models, equipped with our weapons, it was extremely difficult and expensive for them to switch to the Western system and equipment, even if they had the desire and opportunity.
East and South Asia has traditionally been the second most important area of domestic foreign policy after Europe (although the Middle East has gradually begun to push it to third place since the 1960s). Our most important allies in this region have traditionally been Mongolia, Vietnam, India and the DPRK. Readers are familiar with the extremely specific situation on the Korean Peninsula and the role of Russia in this conflict ("Democratic Pyongyang versus totalitarian Seoul"). Let's talk about our oldest ally in Asia.
Made out of chaos
Mongolia in its current form gained independence solely thanks to Russia. More precisely, it separated from China in 1911, taking advantage of the chaos of the Xinhai Revolution. But she managed to maintain independence only thanks to support - first Russian, and then Soviet. It was the USSR, which achieved official recognition of Mongolia from Beijing. The PRC's attitude to this fact is now traditional for the country: it recognizes previously concluded agreements until it becomes possible to break them. All Chinese historical publications say that Mongolia gained independence illegally, and the USSR "knocked out" the recognition of this country, taking advantage of China's weakness. This is the official uncontested position, which means that as soon as Beijing has a chance, Mongolia will immediately say goodbye to independence. With a huge territory (about 1.56 million square kilometers, 18th place in the world) with a very small population (just over 3 million people, 138th place), this country is deprived of the opportunity to defend itself from Chinese aggression. It is only prevented by Russia by the very fact of its existence.
In the post-Soviet period, Mongolia, which also abandoned socialism and switched to a democratic form of government and a market economy, actively developed relations with the West, and most of its Armed Forces went through various UN peacekeeping operations, where Mongolian soldiers and officers proved themselves quite well. Nevertheless, this does not provide them with the opportunity to resist the PLA (whose number in peacetime is slightly less than the entire population of Mongolia), and the West in fact cannot be the guarantor of the country's independence. First, for purely geographical reasons: it is landlocked and borders only with Russia and China. Accordingly, for foreign troops to find themselves on the territory of Mongolia, at least the consent of Russia is needed. Despite the holes in our air defense system in the Far East, even the Americans will not dare to fly through our airspace "by default". Second, and more importantly, the United States, not to mention Europe and Japan, will under no circumstances get into a war with China to save Mongolia.
This realization seems to have emerged in Ulaanbaatar in recent years. And then Moscow finally remembered the existence of a country where until recently the entire population knew Russian. And I decided to give it some attention, including in the military sphere, and at least slightly update the hopelessly outdated equipment.
In the arsenal - spare parts
The ground forces of Mongolia include the 016th motorized rifle brigade, the 017th construction regiment, the 150th peacekeeping battalion (another 330th battalion will be formed), the 084th special forces battalion. There are also up to six part-time regiments of reduced readiness.
The tank fleet includes 200-250 T-54, 170-250 T-55, up to 100 T-62, 58 T-72A. In service with 120 BRDM-2, from 310 to 400 BMP-1, 20 BTR-80, 50 BTR-70, 50 BTR-60, up to 200 BTR-40, up to 50 BTR-152. Artillery includes up to 600 towed guns (up to 20 A-19, 50 D-30, 100 M-30, 50 M-46, 25 D-1), at least 140 mortars, up to 130 MLRS BM-21. Anti-tank weapons: 200 D-44, 250 D-48, 25 BS-3, 24 MT-12.
Almost all the equipment of the ground forces is extremely outdated, a significant part of it is not capable of combat, therefore, the figures quoted are largely arbitrary. Some exceptions are T-72 tanks, as well as BTR-70 and BTR-80, delivered in recent years from the RF Armed Forces.
The Mongolian Air Force currently does not have any combat or auxiliary aircraft in its composition. Previously in service with 12 MiG-21PFM and 2 MiG-21UM were transferred to storage and, apparently, will be sold abroad for spare parts. Accordingly, the entire striking power of the Mongolian Air Force is up to 11 Mi-24 combat helicopters. In addition, there are transport: up to 8 Mi-8, 2 Mi-17. The An-24 and An-26 aircraft were transferred to the civil aviation.
Ground-based air defense includes two divisions of S-75 air defense systems and C-125M air defense systems, 250 Strela-2 MANPADS, 75 ZU-23 and S-60 anti-aircraft guns each.
It is quite significant that, despite participating in the Afghan and Iraqi campaigns, Mongolia acquired only a certain amount of equipment and equipment from the American. The weapons of the Mongols are still 100 percent Russian. And conditionally new equipment has been acquired recently from us. Since 2008, the annual Selenga joint military exercises have resumed, which are taking place alternately in Mongolia and in its ethnically related Buryatia, and their scale is growing.
Territory of love
Mongolia, huge in territory, occupies an important strategic position between Russia and China. In case of war, the side that controls Mongolia will win. That is why the relationship with her is critical for both. Mongolia's preservation of neutrality "between two fires" seems completely unrealistic.
In general, we must clearly understand that there are two countries that Russia is obliged to protect from China as well as itself - Kazakhstan and Mongolia. Having handed them over, we receive a geopolitical mat from Beijing, our position in this case becomes hopeless, the territory to the east of the Urals is automatically lost. It is not obvious that the Kremlin understands this fact, although in recent years some signs of realism towards China have begun to appear. So far, alas, too weak.
