• Military

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space
• Public Eye

Russian Military Doctrine

Military doctrine in Russia is the official formulation of concepts on the nature of present and future war and the nation's potential role, given existing or anticipated geopolitical conditions. In the late 1980s, the military doctrine of the Soviet Union underwent a dramatic change toward defensive readiness before the dissolution of the union. After inheriting the unfinished transition of that period, Russia struggled to develop a suitable new set of concepts in the 1990s. The first step, the doctrine of 1993, was considered a temporary document leading to a full statement of goals and circumstances to be formulated around 2000.

Military reform in the Russian Federation - the complex of economic, sociopolitical, organizational and technical, strictly military and other measures of military building for restructuring of the military organization of the state - began in the middle of the 1990s. The purpose of this military reform was bringing the military organization of the Russian Federation into the correspondence with the contemporary external and internal conditions and the tasks in providing of defense and national safety with the economical utilization of means being isolated for these needs and resources.

The conversion of the military organization of the Russian Federation were begun at the moment of the formation of contemporary Russian statehood, by the creation of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, by the formation of ministries and departments, which had their troops, military formations and organs, and by the formation of defense industrial and scientific complex.

By the year 2000 the strategy of military reform in the Russian Federation was assigned by a number of the conceptual and program documents, which included: Concept of the national security of the Russian Federation; The military doctrine of the Russian Federation; Basis (concept) of the state policy of the Russian Federation on the military building for the period up to 2005; Concept of the building of the armed forces of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2005; Plan of building and development of the armed forces of the Russian Federation on 2001-2005.

The preparation for decisions of major importance by the military was accomplished by the Security Council of the Russian Federation. Acceptance by the President of the Russian Federation, the supreme commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, of the solution take shape by his edicts and are required for the performance by all state and military organs. The measures of military reform in the Russian Federation were conducted through the matched programs and the plans of building and development of armed forces, other troops, military formations and organs, other components of military organization, affirmed by President of the Russian Federation. The coordination of the development of the long-range plans of building and development of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, other troops, military formations and organs is achieved by General Staff of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, and development and implementation of federal defense programs is accomplished under the management of the government of the Russian Federation.

State Program for 2001-2010

New impulse to the process of military reform was attached by the resolutions, adopted at the sessions of the Security Council of the Russian Federation of 11 August 2000 and on 09 November 2000. These outlined an activity plan on the period up to 2010 for the formation of an improved military organization of the Russian Federation. This program is based on the conclusions from the estimation of contemporary state and forecast of the development of military-political situation.

These resolutions sought practical measures for the solution of the defence problems and guaranteeing of military security, optimum aggregation of tasks and possibilities of their resource guarantee. Within the framework of strategy of the optimization of the military organization of state it was planned to carry out a conversion of all its components.

The resolution of the Security Council RF of 11 August 2000 was said to be taken the basis of the estimation of real situation, analysis of state and prospects of the development of military-political situation, possibilities of state for the military-economic guarantee of armed forces and refinement of their tasks. It accepted a program which foresaw a system integrated measures for the development of the army and navy.

The armed forces were to continue their development as the nucleus of the military organization of state, which integrated its entire troop of components and assigned the general trend of development of all others components of the military organization of state. Their building and development was achieved in accordance with the plan of building and development of armed forces RF during the years 2001 - 2005, affirmed by the President RF, 16 January 2001.

The primary tasks of building and development of armed forces to the intermediate-term prospect were:

• the retention of the minimally sufficient potential of forces and facilities of strategic nuclear deterrence for deterring aggression against the Russian Federation, and the maintenance of the necessary quantitative and qualitative composition of ground-based, sea and aviation component for a nuclear "triad";
• an increase in the potential of groupings of troops (forces) of peacetime in the southwestern and Central-Asian strategic directions for the guarantee, if necessary, the possibility of the decisive application of the Armed Forces for the suppression, the localization and resolution of military conflicts within the shortest periods and with the minimum losses for Russia;
• the optimization of the structure of expenditures for national defense, levelling off of the level of expenditures for the development of troops (armaments and military equipment) with the summary level of expenditures for the content and capital construction.

The plan of building and development of the armed forces of the Russian Federation during the years 2001-2005 was correlated with the state program of armament during the years 2001-2010, which determined the material basis for improving the weapon system of armed forces, other troops, military formations and the organs of the Russian Federation.

The state program of armament during the years 2001-2010 was also the basis of conducting long-term policy in the field of reformation and development of the defense industrial complex of the Russian Federation. It was intended to make it possible to solve number of key problems in the restructuring of defense industrial complex and the creation of reserve for guaranteeing the development of promising models and weapon systems. This was to ensure the growth of the potential of defense industrial complex for the subsequent rearmament to the contemporary models. Questions of military building and development of the military organization of the Russian Federation in the present stage acquired the determining nature for providing of a national national safety.

During November 2000 the Security Council of the Russian Federation corrected the state policy of the Russian Federation in the region of military building and were determined basic trends in development of the military organization of state to the period up to 2010.

The primary tasks were the optimization of structure, a reduction in composition and number of components of the military organization of state on the basis of the balanced package of tasks by armed forces, by other troops, by military formations and by the organs of the Russian Federation in the region of the defense of country and National Security.

The resolution of the Security Council of the Russian Federation outlined the complex of measures for further improvement of the military organization of state for the period up to 2010. Estimation of the volumes of the expenditures of federal budget during the years 2001-2010 according to financing of the power component of the military organization of state was given. Financing the measures, connected with structural reconstruction and reduction in the number of components of military organization, would be achieved by the assignment from the division of the functional classification of the expenditures of federal budget "military reform".

The resources freed as a result of a reduction in the number of components of the military organization were directed to the solution of social problems, the improvement of the combat and special training of troops, military formations and organs, creation and purchase of the promising models of armament, military and special equipment.

Military Doctrine - 2003

In early October 2003 the military top brass, President Vladimir Putin, administration officials, ministers, security chiefs, Duma deputies and journalists gathered in the Defense Ministry to hear Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov present a document that was presented to the press as "The Public Part of the Military Doctrine." Ivanov's 45-minute presentation was accompanied by graphs, maps and keynote phrases appearing on big color screens -- not a typical Soviet-style doklad; in fact, it was more like a Western CEO addressing investors. A colorful brochure with the text of the doctrine (printed Western-style on glossy paper) was handed out, complete with maps and graphs.

Changing through the past few years the situation in the world has set new chellenges before the national security and brand new missions for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. These missions can be divided into four general categories:

1. Encountering threats to the security or interests of the Russian Federation.

2. National economy and policy interests.

3. Peacetime military operations.

4. Military force employment.

Priority of missions is normally formulated in keeping with the current situation and should provide for an adequate response of the Armed Forces to threats the most dangeruos of which have a complicated nature.

Containment of threats is meant to be ensured when:

• A menacing evolution of international relations or an armed invasion into the territory of the Russian Federation and (or) its allies are timely identified;
• Strategic nuclear force, assets and management are well-equipped, mobilized, maintained and kept ready to impair the enemy as necessary under any circumstances;
• Forces and branches manpower is well-trained, equipped and ready for either mobilization or reaction at peacetime to be able respond to enemy's local attack;
• The national mobilization readiness is provided at high level to enable the economy to shift to wartime plans on short notice;
• Local defence is properly organized.

Economy and policy interests of the Russian Federation include:

• Safety of Russian citizens living or visiting the zones of armed conflicts or those of political or other instability;
• Security of business of organizations incorporated under the law of the Russian Federation or representative bodies thereof;
• National interests in inner waters, continental shelf, exclusive economic zones of the Russian Federation and World Ocean;
• The Armed Forces multiscale operability in the areas of the Russian Federation's vital interests determined by the President;
• Information attack countermeasures.

Peacetime military operations include:

• Operations held jointly with allied powers as envisaged by international treaties or other interstate agreements with the Russian Federation acting as a party thereto;
• Combatting international terrorism, political extremism or separatism, preventing and fighting subversive destruction and terrorist attacks;
• Partial or full strategic deployment, the nuclear deterrence force maintenance and employment;
• The UN or the CIS-approved peacekeeping or peace re-enforcement operations within coalitions under the auspices of international organisations with Russia as a member thereto or on a temporary basis;
• Operations ensuring martial law or state of emergency to one or several constituent entities of the Russian Federation following decisions by the top state authorities;
• The Russian Federation state frontier air and underwater protection;
• Operations ensuring sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council;
• Natural calamity prevention and disaster response.

The military force shall be used to defend the safety of the Russian Federation. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are maintained to fight the enemy in case of armed confrontations which can be classified into four types.

ARMED CONFLICT is a type of political, ethnic, religious, territorial and other dispute resolution. It is a kind of an armed confrontation when neither of sides launches war activities while both sides normally seek their internal goals. An armed conflict may follow escalation of an armed incident, a border conflict, war actions or other local armed confrontation where armed military personnel takes part. An armed conflict may be of an international (two or more states involved) or an internal (interstate confrontation) nature.

LOCAL WAR is a war of limited political goals between two or more states. The warfare is normally conducted within the borders of opposing sides. The sides are primarily focused on their internal goals (territory, economy, politics or others). A local war is normally waged by task forces deployed in the zone of confrontation with possible increment through force projection, re-direction and partial strategic deployment.

REGIONAL WAR is a war of two or more states (group of states) all located within a region when national armed forces or coalitions are employed. The warfare, thereat, is confined by one region, adjacent waters and airspace. All sides seek vital military and political goals. A regional war requires full deployment of armed forces and economy trasformation, strengthning potentials of all sides. In cases when sides of confrontation (or their allies) possess nuclear weapons the regional war can potentially evolve into a nuclear warfare.

LARGE-SCALE WAR is awar of coalitions or the most powerful nations of the world. It may be started as a result of a smaller scale war escalation when more nations from different parts of the world join the confrontation. In a large-scale war the opposing sides seek uncompromising military and political goals. It requires the full mobilization of war reserves and high morale of troops. The Russian Defence is planned with due regard to available reserves and capabilities of the national Armed Forces. To that end, the Armed Forces are required to be interoperable with other troops, must be able to counter a threat and defeat the enemy, be capable and active at both defence and offence under any circumstances of warfare or weapons used, including modern and future weapons and weapons of mass destruction.

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation must also be capable to:

• In peacetime and emergency: maintain strategic deterrence potential and keep the hiqh level of combat readiness, employ the constant readiness forces to perform two combat missions of any scale simultaneously, bring about on its own or participate international peacekeeping operations;
• Facing a warfare threat: ensure strategic deployment, empede escalation using strategic deterrence forces and constant readiness forces.
• Waging a war: counter enemy's airspace attack using forces available, provide the full-scale strategic deployment, defend the nation against two local enemies simultaneously.