Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
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The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (Russian: Вооружённые Си́лы Росси́йской Федера́ции) is the military power of Russia, established in 1992 upon the break-up of the Soviet Union. The Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces is the President of the Russian Federation (currently Vladimir Putin), and the Ministry of Defense serves as administrative body of the military.
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Organization
Image:Mo-rf-1-.gif The Russian military is divided into the following branches: Ground Forces, Navy, and Air Force. There are also three independent troops (actually Corps): Strategic Missile Troops, Military Space Troops, Airborne Troops. The Anti-air Defense Troops are subordinated to the Air Force.
The Ground Forces are divided into six military districts: Moscow, Leningrad, North Caucasian, Privolzhsk-Ural, Siberian and Far Eastern.
The Navy consists of four fleets:
- Baltic Fleet (based at Baltiysk in the enclave of Kaliningrad - formerly Königsberg).
- Pacific Fleet (based at Vladivostok).
- Northern Fleet (based at Murmansk).
- Black Sea Fleet (based at Sevastopol, now part of Ukraine. In 2005, the Ukrainian government confirmed that Russia's lease on the Sevastopol base will be honored at least until 2017.)
Since the Soviet time, the General Staff was acting as the main commanding and supervising body of the military forces, but curently its role is being reduced to a Ministry's department of strategic planning and the Minister is gaining executive authority over the troops. The other departments include Main personnel directorate and Auxillary troops, Railroad troops and Construction troops.
Resources
| Armed Forces of the Russian Federation | |
|---|---|
| Military manpower | |
| Military age | 18 years of age |
| Availability | males age 18-49: 35,247,049 (2005 est.) |
| Fit for military service | males age 18-49: 21,049,651 (2005 est.) |
| Reaching military age annually | 1.500,000 (2005 est.) |
| Active troops | 1.286,069 (Ranked 4th) |
| Military expenditures | |
| Dollar figure | $65.2 Billion USD (2003 figure) $70 Billion USD (2005 est.) |
| Percent of GDP | 2.75 (2000 est.) |
The available manpower for the various branches of the Armed Forces was estimated at 36 million in 2003. According to Russian reports, in FY 2002, there was about a 40% increase in arms procurement spending. However, even this increase is not enough to make up for the budget shortfalls of the previous decade. Russia's struggling arms producers will, therefore, intensify their efforts to seek sales to foreign governments.
As of 2005, some 330,000 young men are brought into the army via conscription in two call-ups each year. Conscripts are supposed to serve for two years (but only 9% do, according to the Defense Ministry), though this commitment is set to be reduced to one year in 2008. Russian officials say that in that year they plan to achieve a 70% volunteer force by that year.
Women also serve in the Russian military, though in far lesser numbers than men. As of 2005, there were approximately 90,000 women serving in the various branches. Women usually serve in support roles, most commonly in the fields of nursing, communications, and engineering.
The ranks of the Russian military are also open to non-Russian citizens of the Commonwealth of Independent States, of which Russia is the largest member. Non-Russians enlisting from these states cannot serve in elite or secret units but are in many cases entitled to Russian citizenship after their term of service.
About 70% of the former Soviet Union's defense industries are located in the Russian Federation. A large number of state-owned defense enterprises are on the brink of collapse as a result of cuts in weapons orders and insufficient funding to shift to production of civilian goods, while at the same time trying to meet payrolls. Many defense firms have been privatized; some have developed significant partnerships with United States firms.
Nuclear weapons
More realistically, the Russian military doctrine, then and now, has called for the reliance on the country's strategic nuclear forces as the primary deterrent against attack by a major power (such as NATO forces or the People's Republic of China). In keeping with this dictum, the country's nuclear forces have received adequate financing throughout the lean 1990s while the rest of the military was cash-starved and decayed. The military division in charge of the nuclear weapons is the Strategic Rocket Forces. The number of intercontinental ballistic missiles and warheads on active duty has declined over the years, in part in keeping with arms limitation agreements with the USA and in part due to insufficient spending on maintenance. Still, Russia maintains the second largest nuclear arsenal in the world (the USA has the largest. See List of countries with nuclear weapons). The ICBMs it has on duty would be more than sufficient to wreak global havoc, hence serving as a very credible deterrent. See also: Russia and weapons of mass destruction
Interestingly, because of the American awareness of the danger of Russian nuclear technology falling into the hands of terrorists or rogue officers who might want to use it to threaten or attack the West, The Pentagon has actually provided considerable financial assistance to the Russian nuclear forces over the years. This money went in part to finance decommissioning of warheads under bilateral agreements, but also to improve security and personnel training in Russian nuclear facilities. This may be one of the big reasons why no terrorist nuclear incidents have so far occurred in the world despite existence of many terrorist organizations and rogue states' intelligence services who would have been interested in acquiring nuclear technology from Russia.
Current challenges and problems
Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Russians have discussed rebuilding a viable, cohesive fighting force out of the remaining parts of the former Soviet armed forces. A new Russian military doctrine, promulgated in November 1993, implicitly acknowledges the contraction of the old Soviet military into a regional military power without global imperial ambitions. In keeping with its emphasis on the threat of regional conflicts, the doctrine calls for a Russian military that is smaller, lighter, and more mobile, with a higher degree of professionalism and with greater rapid deployment capability. Such a transformation has proven difficult.
The challenges of carrying out reforms and modernizing have been magnified by difficult economic conditions in Russia, which have resulted in reduced defense spending. This has led to training cutbacks, wage reductions, and severe shortages of housing and other social amenities for military personnel, with a consequent lowering of morale, cohesion, and fighting effectiveness.
One of the more unorthodox ways in which the command authorities have sought to compensate for poor conditions and morale is through an annual beauty contest in which female soldiers compete for the title of "Miss Russian Army".
Abuse and defection remain a widespread problem within the military. Under an informal system known as dedovshchina (or "rule of the grandfathers"), officers and enlisted personnel with seniority make heavy demands upon new conscripts, sometimes requiring them to beg or steal to supplement meager pay and rations. Allegations have even been made that soldiers are forced to give blood to raise money. Conscripts who fail to fulfill these hierarchical obligations are often mistreated, and sometimes even tortured and killed. According to the government, there are some 1,000 non-combat deaths each year. Recently, military prosecutors uncovered a spate of 46 deaths in just one week. Additionally, there are concerns over the general poor health of soldiers. In March 2005, General Vasily Smirnov claimed that the quality of recruits was "low", with at least 55% suffering from health problems within their first year. Additionally, some officials have expressed concern about the rising rate of HIV infection among conscripts, though the government usually declines to discuss the matter.
The navy has also experienced difficulties. These include problems with morale and recruiting similar to those found in the army, but also encompass the decline of the physical state of ships and equipment. Older vessels are being phased out and some analysts have concluded that by 2020, Russia will have only fifty active combat vessels. Work on newer vessels (including an aircraft carrier) is scheduled to begin in 2010.
Related articles
- Russian military ranks
- Red Army
- Volunteer Army
- Military history of the Soviet Union
- Miss Russian Army
References
- "How are the mighty fallen." The Economist. July 2nd-8th, 2005. pp. 45-46
- "Russian Military Complains About 'Low Quality' of Recruits as Spring Draft Begins." Associated Press. April 1st, 2005. (Via Levis-Nexis).
- "Azeris attracted to serve in Russian army." BBC Worldwide Monitoring. (Originally in the Azerbaijani paper Echo.) March 14, 2005. (Via Lexis-Nexis, July 27, 2005).
- "Russian Black Sea fleet can stay at Sevastopol: Ukraine minister." Agence France Presse. February 18, 2005. (Via Lexis-Nexis, July 27, 2005).
- "RUSSIA WILL NOT BUILD AIRCRAFT CARRIERS TILL 2010." RIA Novosti. May 16, 2005. (Via Lexis-Nexis, July 27, 2005).
External links
- Russia's Military Analysis A very comprehensive online database of modern Russian arms and military technologies. Website also has discussion forums, videos and more.
- Russia Military Guide Includes satellite photos of bases.
- Russian Military Forum has 1000s of pictures of russian army and military bases and intelegence reports.
- kamouflage.net Camouflage uniforms used by Russian Federation armed forces
- Lists of Russian Naval Vessels (World Navies Today)
