Russian Military Almanac by Tamar A
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Russian Military Almanac By Tamar A. Mehuron, Associate Editor, with Harriet Fast Scott, William F. Scott, and David Markov Organization of the RussianHE Russian military’s most recent year Putin also Armedretained control over the power cut theForces number of Russia’s nuclear warheads had three highlights: Consolidation ministries (which have their own troops) and to 1,500 and transfer the savings to strengthen of military and political power in the the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice. its conventional forces. Furthermore, as the hands of the newly elected Rus- The Security Council approved a new land-based nuclear arsenal shrinks in the next sian President, Vladimir V. Putin, military doctrine in April 2000. It provided five years, the separate status of the Strategic renewed fighting in the breakaway province for the use of nuclear weapons not only in Rocket Forces will also be re-evaluated. The of Chechnya, and the loss of the submarine response to a nuclear attack but also in the decision follows a public dispute between Min- TKursk and her crew. case of a large-scale conventional weapons ister of Defense Marshal Igor D. Sergeyev and Russian authorities blamed Chechens for attack against Russia or its allies. The doctrine Kvashnin concerning the future composition the September 1999 explosions in Moscow also highlighted terrorism within Russia as a and size of the Russian armed forces. To gain apartment buildings and in other cities. Putin, military threat. more funding and support for the conventional then Prime Minister, strongly supported a Armed forces under the Ministry of Defense forces, Kvashnin, a tank officer, argued for a military response to these “acts of terror- consisted of four military services: Strategic sharp cut in the number of land-based ICBMs ism.” After President Boris Yeltsin resigned Rocket Forces, Air Forces, Navy, and Ground and the merger of the separate elite Strategic Dec. 31, 1999, Putin, a former KGB officer Forces. In 1999, their authorized personnel Rocket Forces into the Air Forces. By contrast, and former Director of the Federal Security strength totaled 1.2 million, although the actual Sergeyev, former Strategic Rocket Forces head, Service (FSB), the domestic successor to figure was 1.01 million. advocated a separate strategic deterrence force the KGB, became acting President. He was Russia’s previous war with Chechnya had composed of all nuclear forces. subsequently elected President March 26, ended in 1996. In the aftermath of September’s But the decision to reform the military 2000. explosions in Moscow, Russia’s armed forces was quickly overshadowed by the sinking of In May 2000 Putin created seven federal moved on Chechnya in October. The General the Kursk, Russia’s newest and most modern districts to consolidate his political power. Staff for the first time exercised operational attack submarine, on Aug. 12 in the Barents These districts correspond closely to the control in actual combat conditions in Chechnya Sea. The nuclear-powered submarine, built seven military districts. He appointed seven over all Russian forces involved: troops of the in 1994, had been participating in exercises Presidential Representatives (five of whom Ministry of Defense, Internal Troops, Border when it suffered apparent explosions and sank, were retired general officers) for the federal Guards, and other power ministries. In May and its 118 crew members perished. Rescue districts. These actions provided Putin with 2000, the First Deputy Chief of the General efforts by Russians, Norwegians, and British centralized top–down control throughout the Staff, Gen. Valeriy Manilov, stated that there were hampered by severe weather and the 89 regions making up the Russian Federation. were 80,000 Russian army troops and police 60-degree tilt of the submarine on the seabed. Putin also designated the federal district officers in Chechnya with “a maximum of 3,000” The tragedy highlighted the deterioration of representatives as new members of the separatist rebels facing them. In June the Rus- Russia’s military forces. Security Council, a body he chaired. Over- sian military leadership announced that, for all Strategic Rocket Forces (RVSN). A second all direction of Russia’s military forces was practical purposes, the war was over. regiment of the new SS-27 Topol-M missile provided by the Security Council. The “per- Less than a week after these assurances, system was placed on alert duty. The Com- manent members” of the Security Council, Chechen forces killed more than 100 Russian mander, Gen. of the Army Vladimir N. Yakovlev, in addition to the President, were the Prime soldiers. The conflict continued. asserted that the new missile can be equipped Minister, Secretary of the Security Council, The Chechnya conflict exacerbated the poor “with a powerful set of means to breach anti- Director of the Federal Security Service, and condition of Russia’s armed forces. Students missile defense.” Weapons and supporting Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense. at several military institutes graduated early equipment deteriorated throughout the Stra- Other members included the Directors of due to a shortage of young officers. Moderniza- tegic Rocket Forces. More than 70 percent of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Federal tion of military weapons and other equipment its missiles require extensive work to extend Border Guard Service, and Ministers of slowed, except for prototypes. Forty percent their operational life, as do the majority of fixed Internal Affairs and Emergency Situations. of the men discharged from the armed forces command-and-control facilities and 60 to 70 The Chief of the General Staff (Gen. of the had no pension security. Military housing percent of battle management assets. Army Anatoliy V. Kvashnin) was, for the first remained critical. Air Forces (VVS). The 37th Air Army gained time, made a member of the Security Council. In August, the Security Council decided to one Tu-160 bomber and three Tu-95Ms in 1999 72 AIR FORCE Magazine / October 2000 US Secretary of Defense William S. Co- hen (left) is greeted by Russian Federa- tion Minister of Defense Marshal Igor D. Sergeyev on arrival at the Ministry of Defense building in Moscow in June. The visit was part of Cohen’s week-long Ward R.D. DoD photo by trip to meet European government and defense leaders. from Ukraine. In early 2000, Ukraine returned an additional seven Tu-160s to Russia. One additional new Tu-160 is being completed at the Kazan plant. Russia modified its Kh-55 nuclear armed cruise missile, now designated Kh-55SM, to carry non-nuclear war heads. The Kh-55SM missiles can be launched by either the Tu-160 or Tu-95. Fighter aircraft develop- ments included the first test flights of Sukhoi’s Berkut S-37, with its swept-forward wings, and the MiG prototype Project 1-44. The average annual flying time was 10 to 16 hours for fighter pilots, 18 to 24 hours for pilots in ground-attack aircraft, 12 to 26 hours Russian and US Grades for bomber pilots, 20 hours for long-range aircraft pilots, and 44 to 60 hours for military transport pilots. Exceptions to this were the Naval grades in italics bomber, ground-attack, and reconnaissance Russia US Minister of Defense Sergeyev currently pilots flying missions in Chechnya. holds the rank of Marshal of Russian Five Stars Navy (VMF). Repairs on the missile cruiser Federation. Four Marshals of Soviet Slava, which began in 1990, were completed in Marshal of ...................... General of the Army Union are alive today: S.L. Sokolov, November 1999. It was re-designated the guard Russian General of the Air Force V.G. Kulikov, V.I. Petrov, and D.T. Yazov. missile cruiser Moscow. The first in a series of Federation Fleet Admiral All four are officially listed as advisors nuclear surface ships, the heavy guided missile Four Stars to the Russian Federation Ministry of cruiser Admiral Ushakov is undergoing repairs. General of the Army ..................General (USA) Defense. The Yuriy Dolgorukiy ballistic missile subma- General of the Army ............... General (USAF) rine, under construction at the Severodvinsk Admiral of the Fleet ................... Admiral (USN) yard, is 47 percent completed. It is the first of the Borey (Arctic wind)–class fleet. Three Stars Ground Forces (SV). The Chechnya war General Colonel .................Lieutenant General exposed weaknesses in Russia’s ground forces. Admiral .........................................Vice Admiral Conscripts were poorly trained; contract troops Two Stars were little better. Equipment generally was in General Lieutenant .................... Major General poor condition, and most was obsolete by NATO Vice Admiral ............ Rear Admiral (Upper Half) standards. Chechen fighters, with manpower odds of 10-to-1 against them, and lacking artil- One Star lery, air support, or tanks, remained in the field. General Major ...................... Brigadier General Russian helicopter gunships flew approxi- Rear Admiral ........... Rear Admiral (Lower Half) mately 40,000 missions, striking Chechen O-6 forces, providing air cover for ground troops Colonel .................................................Colonel and transporting personnel and supplies. Five Captain (1st Class) .............................. Captain military transport helicopters were equipped with Global Positioning System satellite navi- O-5 gation, which significantly improved their ef- Lieutenant Colonel ............. Lieutenant Colonel fectiveness, especially during night operations.