The Kremlin wants to tackle long-festering problems, and painful reform can’t be avoided much longer. ’s Military Retrenchment

AP photo/Murad Sezer

Agent of change. Russian President launched the cut-and- reshape campaign to revitalize Russia’s forces. In this June photo, the By Stewart M. Powell Kremlin leader reviews Russian peacekeeping troops at Pristina airport in Kosovo.

USSIA’S military, tapped by the scope and magnitude of which of valuable equipment for sale to President Vladimir Putin for can be glimpsed in a random sam- criminal gangs. a thorough revitalization, is pling of problems: Now, the Kremlin, for the first under pressure to clean up Fighter pilots get 14 hours of time since collapse of the Soviet R its own act. flying time per year. Union a decade ago, seems serious Even staunch advocates of in- Murder claims 500 troops per about tackling problems besetting creased support for Russia’s soldiers, year—18 times the number in US the force. Fueled by humiliating set- sailors, and airmen are turning their armed forces. backs in Chechnya and the disas- guns on the waste and mismanage- Ground station fires knock out trous loss last summer of the subma- ment that have weakened the force ground military communications rine Kursk with all hands, Putin’s in recent years. They say that spend- systems and communications with planned revitalization aims to in- ing more on the military as presently satellites. crease the resources and prestige of constituted will only feed its pen- Commanders sometimes seize the armed forces. chant for squandering resources on a electricity plants to prevent loss of Experts say that Putin’s support, gargantuan scale. power to ICBM bases. however, will not be sufficient by Few have any doubts that Russia’s Thieves in the navy—including itself to bring about a military re- armed forces were in a deep crisis, officers—are stripping submarines vival. simply does not have

AIR FORCE Magazine / August 2001 71 enough money to rebuild the force in have already been cut from Cold large as the force that existed at the its traditional form. Eliminating War levels. Their end strength in the end of the Cold War. wasteful practices and structures is 1990s shrank from about four mil- Hardest hit in the Putin plan will the key, they say, and painful reform lion to 1.2 million. (However, some be the regular army, currently at is inevitable. 1.5 million of the troops that were 348,000, which would have to ab- As experts see it, the best outcome eliminated came from rear support sorb cuts of about 180,000 troops. for Russia would be the emergence and strategic forces—not from the- Still, the other services are not of a smaller, more modern fighting ater units.) Even so, analysts are vir- immune. Russia’s 185,000-strong air force shaped to deal with border in- tually unanimous in the view that force would drop by another 40,000 cursions and internal disruptions. Russia no longer has a need for a service members and the 172,000- The president himself vows to end million-man force. man navy would lose 50,000 sailors. the practice of devoting “colossal They note the size of today’s Rus- Russia’s reform-minded politicians resources” to lumbering forces which sian military approximates that of and military commanders are hoping “wasted” precious sustenance on US forces, which have global re- that the personnel reductions will free “peripheral issues.” sponsibilities and conduct operations enough funding to bring about a sub- Putin has warned, “The structure at far higher intensity. stantial boost in spending on fuel, of the armed forces must precisely For a poor country like Russia, spares, maintenance, and training. correspond to the threats Russia faces keeping such a large force has obvi- There are dangers, however. By now and will face in the future. To ous drawbacks in terms of quality. any standard, the cut is a large one, maintain such a cumbersome and at Alexei Arbatov, deputy chairman of and it has been opposed by more tra- times ineffective military organiza- the Duma’s defense committee, has ditional elements in the armed forces. tion is extravagant. In our situation noted that the US per-troop expendi- Mindful of the risks of a political it’s simply impermissible.” ture exceeds that of the Russian mili- backlash, Putin describes his force- Putin repeated his insistence on tary by a factor of 45. The implica- cut crusade as a “measured, calm, reforms in remarks to graduates of tion is that Russia can have quantity and smooth” effort to “optimize the Russia’s military academies in late or quality, but not both. country’s military machine” with “no June, declaring: “We are paying spe- Russia “is unable to fully finance massive, wholesale reductions.” cial attention to military construc- the armed forces,” says Gen. Vladi- Defense Minister tion and military reform. The unique slav Putilin, deputy chief of the Rus- adds: “National security is not a geopolitical location of Russia, its sian armed forces’ general staff and sphere where revolutions are admis- vast territory and long borders present head of the general staff directorate sible.” great demands before defenders of for organization and mobilization. the homeland.” “The reduction of armed forces per- Increasing Professionalism sonnel is inevitable.” Equally important is the goal of Attacking the Bloat In a search for more balance in forces reining in the military’s harsh and The most intense reform pressure and budget, Putin last September or- sometimes murderous ways and in- focuses on cutting Russia’s bloated dered a three-year reduction to slice creasing the professionalism of the and expensive force structure. another 350,000 service personnel from force. It is true that Russian forces, in- the rolls, leaving only 850,000 in 2003. Putin reportedly captured 90 per- cluding paramilitary rear services, That force will be only 21 percent as cent of all military votes, at least partly because of his pledge to cur- tail the hated draft long used to fill the ranks of the . Many Russian analysts maintain that reform efforts will produce only cos- metic improvements unless it some- how brings an end to conscription and ushers in a volunteer force. Reality is extraordinarily bleak for Russia’s hand-me-down armed forces and has been for years. Putin, elected in 2000, has declared his dedication to ending the neglect that has brought missed paydays, food shortages, bru- tal hazing of conscripts, and corrupt moonlighting by underpaid and un- disciplined troops. The poor quality of basic provi- sions and equipment only adds to miseries of the Russian fighting man. Combat equipment is shoddy. In Blackjacked. The TU-160 Blackjack bomber was a symbol of Soviet might, Chechnya, Russian troops would but the Kremlin’s military machine broke apart. Here, a Tu-160 (claimed by rather risk injury or death than put Ukraine after the Soviet collapse) is cut up as part of arms reduction efforts. on outmoded protective gear. They

72 AIR FORCE Magazine / August 2001 and even some newly emergent na- tions in the sophistication of its de- fense systems. The Kremlin says that, by 2015, it should be devoting 50 percent of the Russian national defense budget

Photo by Katsuhiko Tokunaga to research and development and weapon procurement. That would mark a dramatic shift in emphasis. Today, Moscow devotes roughly 70 percent of defense spending to per- sonnel and maintenance. “Our army must be a modern, flex- ible, mobile, combat-capable force,” Putin says. “We cannot simply main- tain the army, refusing to train it in new technologies or to buy modern equipment.” Already, the military is shifting around forces in anticipation of the Great technology, but ... Russia still has some top-of-the-line equipment, payoff of additional budget resources such as the Su-35 fighter, but Russian air force pilots get minimal flying time arising from the shift in investment to develop and maintain their air combat proficiency. decisions. Oksana Antonenko, a re- search fellow with the LondonÐbased enter combat wearing bandannas in- These low-paid, poorly disciplined International Institute for Strategic stead of helmets, not for lack of dis- troops are deployed to operate the Studies, notes that the Russians plan cipline but because out-of-date army submarines, warplanes, and nuclear to create by 2006 a pair of high- flak jackets and helmets impede weapons. readiness joint force groups, one to movement while offering almost no Now, political reformers and many be based in Southwestern Asia and protection. senior Russian military officers them- one in Central Asia. The Russian air force complains it selves back efforts to end conscrip- “These forces will be the first to receives a fifth of the fuel that it tion and shift to an all-volunteer receive new weapons systems,” says needs to sustain proper training. The force. As Putilin puts it, a profes- Antonenko. “Priority in equipment story is much the same elsewhere. sional armed force that is well-paid, modernization will be given to air The navy, for example, has not de- well-fed, and widely respected re- force and missile air defense, com- ployed to train in the Mediterranean mains “the great dream of all ser- munications, and reconnaissance sys- since the winter of 1996Ð97. vicemen.” tems as well as precision weapons.” It appears that only the vestiges of The effort faces two major road- strict SovietÐera control have pre- blocks. The first is cost. Today’s De-Emphasizing Nukes vented a disastrous revolt in the face Russian conscript comes close to Another goal of the overhaul is to of perilous conditions that spawn an being a slave laborer, with a pay- close down or at least greatly reduce estimated 400 to 600 suicides by check of about one dollar per day. the Russian military’s traditional troops each year, about four times Russians are only too aware that the emphasis on nuclear might. the rate in American armed forces. American switch over from a draft Nuclear arms have been the show- It is the draft that lies at the root of army to an all-volunteer force in 1973 case weapons that have afforded im- Russia’s most serious problems. has resulted in vastly increased out- poverished Russia a plausible claim Everyone agrees that the twice-yearly lays for pay, housing, and benefits. to something like superpower sta- roundup is a nightmare to run. It is The second barrier is overtly po- tus. However, these days are end- increasingly unpopular with the Rus- litical—the strong desire on the part ing. sian people. And it leads to demoral- of some military and Kremlin fig- “Everything should be balanced,” ization in the ranks. ures to hold onto the prestige that says Ivanov, the defense minister. The draft law calls on all draft-age comes from having a large standing While are “the men to serve two years in the armed military, even if it is of the paper- nuclear shield of the country” and “a forces. In reality, a majority obtains tiger variety. reliable barrier against aggression exemptions, leaving the armed forces toward Russia,” says Ivanov, “the filled with second-class recruits Redirecting Investment world is changing; we see new threats drawn from barely 12 percent of all In addition to taking on force struc- that were not apparent 10 years ago.” draft-age men between ages of 18 ture and the draft, the reform effort Aging ICBMs are being allowed to and 27. Health problems disqualify seeks to divert defense funds into reach the end of their operational lives 30 percent of the would-be recruits. new areas. without replacement. Production of Violence in the ranks is so com- The goal would be to speed the the SS-27 Topol-M weapon, Russia’s mon that it is considered part of Rus- modernization of what has become a only new-production ICBM, has been sian military tradition. Hazing, beat- badly outmoded Industrial Age force, slowed from 10 to six per year. ings, and worse are commonplace. one that lags well behind the West The strategic rocket forces, once

AIR FORCE Magazine / August 2001 73 the pride of the defense establish- Russian troops have yet to fulfill lars. Russian forces have failed to ment, has lost command of Russia’s Putin’s promise to quell the Chechen eliminate the small- and medium- missile defenses and space-based as- rebellion and preserve Russian ter- size Chechen armed groups and their sets. Putin plans to fold strategic rocket ritorial integrity against terrorist leaders or effectively seal the region forces into the Russian air force—a threats after waging a 20-month cam- against an infusion of military sup- severe bureaucratic blow to this once paign with the loss of an estimated plies and financial resources to sup- mighty bureaucratic organization. 3,100 Russian troops. port guerrilla activities. For now, the strategic rocket Chechen fighters still pester Rus- Putin remains adamant, rejecting forces’ command structure has been sian forces garrisoned in the res- any suggestion of scaling back op- amalgamated with the general staff tive area. The Russians have de- erations. “It would be an unforgiv- chain of command. A 2006 review stroyed the capital of and able mistake to retreat and abandon will map plans for integration into captured most of the territory in a the republic again,” he said. the air force. counter-insurgency operation that Putin is underscoring that he is This issue is politically explosive. turned into a large scale military not afraid to tackle the tough issues Last year, the thenÐDefense Minis- intervention before subsiding into or wade through controversy to ter, Marshal Igor Sergeyev, publicly a garrison-based occupation fea- achieve his goals. He is moving to rebuked Gen. Anatoly Kvashnin, turing checkpoints, bases, and Rus- correct past mistakes, including tak- chief of the general staff, for even sian convoys. ing steps to arm Russian forces with suggesting that the strategic rocket Kvashnin conceded that 200 of better equipment, ranging from night forces be turned over to the air force. Chechnya’s 357 population centers vision equipment and improved ar- He said the scheme was a “psychotic remain so unsettled that Russian tillery to airborne reconnaissance attack” that betrayed “plain mad- troops are needed to keep order. In from aircraft and electronic intelli- ness.” Sergeyev, by the way, is a Chechnya, Russia no longer main- gence. strategic rocket forces veteran. tains a 100,000-man force, but in What does this portend for broad Putin gave encouragement to mili- early May Ivanov canceled plans to military revitalization? tary reformers by the way in which make another major cut, instead re- Putin is politically stronger and he put an end to the dispute. He ducing the remaining 80,000 troops better positioned than anyone else sacked Sergeyev and turned over the by only 5,000. to revamp the military, but even he defense minister post to Ivanov, 48, Chechnya’s Kremlin–backed ci- has said that the changeover could a trusted colleague and former KGB vilian government was forced to re- take a decade or more. Yet to be two-star general. treat from Grozny in early May back seen is whether Putin’s determina- Putin’s challenges are far from to the second largest city of Guder- tion will be enough to bring about over. In fact, many Western analysts mes. And a fierce two-day battle the changes in attitude and organi- express deep skepticism about his claimed the lives of at least 15 Rus- zation that everyone agrees will be prospects for ultimate success. sian soldiers and 28 Chechen irregu- needed. ■ “There has been a remarkable lack of progress in most areas of mili- tary reform and that fact in itself is news,” says Terence Taylor, IISS assistant director. “I suspect the armed forces will be able to get their share of the defense budget, but whether that will enhance the situation is doubtful.” USAF photo by TSgt. Jim Varhegyi Putin’s regime has not yet met its commitments to pay special salaries to former soldiers who rejoined the armed forces as contract soldiers to fight in Chechnya. The re-enlisted troops were promised about $1,000 a month in contrast to the $200 a month paid to midlevel career Rus- sian officers. Other experts say that Putin’s move to end the SergeyevÐKvashnin stand- off masked wider bureaucratic jock- eying over such issues as the role of Draft vs. volunteer force. Reformers and even many military officers are eager to junk the draft and establish a professional force, which one senior coastal vs. internal border defenses officer termed “the great dream of all servicemen.” Such a move faces cost and the importance of strike aviation and political barriers. vs. land forces. Stewart M. Powell, White House correspondent for Hearst Newspapers, has And Then, Chechnya ... covered national and international affairs for 30 years in the United States On top of everything else, there’s and overseas. His most recent article for Air Force Magazine, “Air Force the military millstone in Chechnya. Medics in Peace and War,” appeared in the January 2000 issue.

74 AIR FORCE Magazine / August 2001