Coastal Missile-Artillery Forces (BRAV) - Order of Battle

In May 2017, the head of the Russian military department Sergey Shoigu announced the creation of three army fleets during the reorganization of the coastal forces. In order to increase command and control effectiveness, coastal troops are switching over to the organizational structure of army corps. Three army corps had already been formed: in the Northern, Baltic and Black Sea fleets. On April 1, 2016, the 11th Army Corps was formed as part of the Baltic Fleet in the Kaliningrad Region. On December 1, 2016, the administration of the 22nd Army Corps began to function in Crimea. In April 2017, Shoigu said at a college that the administration of the 14th Army Corps was deployed on the Kola Peninsula.

In the United States, an Army Corps may include two to four or more divisions, and the size of the army corps can reach several tens of thousands of troops. But these Russian Army Corps [armeyskih korpusov] are very different, and are typically a miscellaneou collection of a few battalions or brigades that in the West would be the equivalent of a division.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, as part of the general degradation of the navy, which had lost the necessary funding, a steady process began to reduce the combat power and technical equipment of its coastal troops, suspended in the early 2000s. The urgent measures taken in a timely manner, including the training of military specialists, the involvement of design and engineering personnel and the use of advanced scientific technologies, made it possible not only to preserve, but also significantly strengthen the coastal defense of the country, which has the longest maritime borders in the world.

Since the beginning of the 2000s, small-scale production of 130-mm coastal anti - ship coastal artillery systems "Bereg" , developed back in 1988, began. Since 2008, the Bal Navy’s coastal defense units have been armed with mobile missile systems “Bal” with X-35 high-precision subsonic anti-ship missiles with a range of 130 km (in the upgraded version 260 km), and since 2010 the fleet began to receive even more powerful Bastion missile systems , equipped with Onyx high-precision supersonic anti-ship anti-ship missiles with a flight range of over 300 km, capable of covering the coast for up to 600 km.

Despite putting the latest Ball and Bastion missile systems on alert, some of the Soviet coastal missile systems, especially the Redut missile defense system, which has a long range of destruction, were preserved on the arsenal of the coastal units of the Russian Navy. By 2020 work was underway to modernize the existing ones and develop more advanced promising missile systems. In particular, for 2020, it was planned to re-equip the Utes cliff stationary coastal missile complex in Crimea with new missile systems.

Army Corps - Background

In general, an Army Corps is a permanent or temporary unification in the hands of one chief of a certain number (2-5) of higher combined arms units (divisions) and a number of organizational technical units to carry out operational tasks. For greater operational independence, the body is given a widely developed control apparatus and rear. During the Cold War, the USSR, France, Belgium and Romania had a corps organization in peacetime and wartime; England, Poland and Germany - only in wartime.

In the Imperial Russian Army, the corps consisted of: command, 2-3 infantry divisions, cavalry regiment, howitzer battalion, combat engineer battalion, air squad, artillery, engineering and engineer supply. In the Red Army there was a rifle corps: 3 rifle divisions, an artillery division (regiment), technical troops, the headquarters of the corps, the command of the chief of artillery, part of the military supply, corps engineer, military tribunal, special department.

In France the corps consisted of 2 line (infantry) divisions, heavy artillery regiment (32 guns), cavalry regiment, tank regiment (150 tanks), aircraft squadron, aerostat company, 2 sapper companies, corps headquarters (with the directorates of the chief of artillery, corps engineer, corps doctor, corps commissary), radio squad and telegraph squad.

The Romanian corps consisted of 3 infantry divisions, 2 heavy artillery divisions (24 guns), cavalry brigade, pontoon company, corps headquarters; the latter included floodlight, radiotelegraph, telegraph, howitzer sections, aviation detachment. At the headquarters of the corps: chief of artillery, corps engineer, corps doctor, corps commissary. When the corps - management: commandant, sanitary, commandant, weapons and firepower, military court, special department.

By the eve of the Great Patriotic War, the troops of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army formations and units differed in their composition, weapons, tactical use and operational mission. Rifle formations were rifle divisions and rifle corps. The rifle division was the main combined-arms tactical formation. It consisted of parts of various branches of the armed forces, has a permanent composition and is capable of independently conducting all types of combat.

The main component of the infantry division is the infantry. As a rule, a rifle division is indivisible. However, to carry out certain tactical tasks, temporary units consisting of units and subunits of different branches of the armed forces (advanced units, vanguards, rearguards, etc.) can be allocated from a rifle division.

Several rifle divisions (from 2 to 4) made up the rifle corps. The rifle corps had its own standard means of amplification and is the highest tactical unit capable of acting independently for a long time. Rifle formations, depending on the task, are supported by aviation and reinforced by parts of the Reserve of the High Command - artillery, tank, chemical, engineering and others.

Cavalry formations consist of cavalry divisions and cavalry corps. The cavalry division was the main tactical formation of the cavalry. It consisted of cavalry units and other military branches and has a permanent composition. Several cavalry divisions (2 to 4) made up the cavalry corps. The cavalry corps was the highest unit of the cavalry and can carry out independent operational tasks in cooperation with other branches of the army and in isolation from them. Depending on the task being performed, the cavalry corps can be strengthened by other combat arms, in particular tank formations and aircraft. Cavalry units capable of carrying out quick maneuvers and decisive strikes should be used to carry out active tasks of defeating the enemy.

Tank formations consisted of tank units, motorized artillery, motorized infantry, and other special forces. The main tactical tank formation was the tank brigade. Several tank brigades can form a tank group, which is the highest tank formation.

Tank formations were a powerful maneuvering means for striking. They should be used to decisively defeat the enemy in the main direction and can perform tactical tasks in direct interaction with other branches of the army and independent operational tasks in isolation from them. Tank formations are not adapted to independently maintain the conquered terrain, and therefore, when operating in isolation from other combat arms, they must be supported by motorized infantry or cavalry. The most appropriate use of tank units in conjunction with cavalry, motorized infantry and aviation is ahead of the front (in the absence of contact with the enemy), on the landing flank, in the development of a breakthrough and in pursuit.