Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
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The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (UTC) (Russian: Transliteration: Vooruzhénniye síly Rossíyskoy Federátsii) is the military 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 Defence serves as the administrative body of the military.
Organization
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, and the Airborne Troops. The Anti-air Defence Troops are subordinated to the Air Force.
The Ground Forces are divided into six military districts: Moscow, St Petersburg, North Caucasian, Privolzhsk-Ural, Siberian and Far Eastern.
The Navy consists of four fleets:
- Baltic Fleet (HQ at Baltiysk in the enclave of Kaliningrad Oblast).
- Pacific Fleet (HQ at Vladivostok).
- Northern Fleet (HQ at Murmansk).
- Black Sea Fleet (HQ at Sevastopol, Ukraine. In 2005, the Ukrainian government confirmed that Russia's lease on the Sevastopol base will be honored at least until 2017.)
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 | females age 18-49: 20,000,000 (2005 est.) |
| Reaching military age annually | .1,500,000 (2005 est.) |
| Active troops | .1,130,000 (Ranked 4th) |
| Military expenditures | |
| Dollar figure |
2006 in terms of $USD $24.6 - "National Defense" $14.3 - Other Military Expenditures $1.4 - Concealed Spending Total: $40.3 Billion [Detailed Source] |
| Percent of GDP | 4.3% (2006) |
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 Defence Ministry), though this commitment is set to be reduced to one year in 2008. Russian officials say that 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 cut in weapon orders and insufficient funding to shift to production of civilian goods, while at the same time trying to meet payrolls. Many defence firms have been privatized; some have developed significant partnerships with firms in other countries.
Nuclear weapons
Russian military doctrine 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, the country's nuclear forces have received adequate funding throughout the lean 1990s while the rest of the military was cash-starved and decaying. Russia currently, with 16,000 warheads possesses the largest stockpile of nuclear warheads. 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, but this is balanced by the deployment of new missiles proof against missile defences. The ICBMs it has available would be more than sufficient to wreak global havoc, thus serving as a credible deterrent. Russia possesses new SS Topol-M missiles that are stated to be able to easily penetrate any missile defence on the planet, including the US National Missile Defense. The missile can change course in both air and space. It is projected to be launched from mobile Topol-M units and submarines [link]. Russian nuclear forces are confident that they can carry out a successful retaliation strike if attacked.
Because of international 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 and other agencies have provided considerable financial assistance to the Russian nuclear forces in recent 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 reasons why no terrorist nuclear incidents have so far occurred in the world despite the existence of many terrorist organizations and rogue states' intelligence services who would have been interested in acquiring nuclear technology from Russia.
See also: Russia and weapons of mass destruction
Current challenges and problems
Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia has 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, 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, not least because - even shorn of worldwide ambitions - the sheer scale of Russia's land borders makes even a defensive military posture an immense undertaking.The challenges of carrying out reforms and modernizing have been magnified by difficult economic conditions in Russia, which have resulted in reduced defence spending. This has led to training cutbacks, wage reductions, and severe shortages of housing for 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".
In 2005 Russia's spendings on new military weapons surpassed overseas sales, which were about US$6.5 billion. Cost of production of comparable weapons in Russia is three to five times less than in the USA.
See also
- Russian military ranks
- Red Army
- Volunteer Army
- Military history of the Soviet Union
- Miss Russian Army
- Dedovshchina
- Conscription in Russia
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
- [Russian Army]
- [Russia's Military home page] Russia's Military home page in Russian
- [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 intelligence reports. (site is down, domain is out of service)
- [kamouflage.net] Camouflage uniforms used by Russian Federation armed forces
- [Lists of Russian Naval Vessels (World Navies Today)]
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