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| Colonel General V. Maniloo, first deputy Chief of Staff of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, outlines changes that have taken place recently. |
The summer of 1997 became as significant an event for the
military reformers of the Russian Federation as Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon in 49BC.
On 7 June of that year President Boris Yeltsin confirmed the ideas put to him for the
reform of the armed forces and immediately after the signing he also gave his assent to a
number of decrees that created a legal basis for the reforms. Following closely on these
momentous developments a concept that would help to facilitate the re-building of the
armed forces of the Russian Federation through until the year 2005 was confirmed on 31
July. This concept is being gradually implemented across the whole of the country's land, naval and air forces. All the measures planned in the overall concept are based on the conclusions of a system of analysis, on the forecast of developments of external and internal conditions in the building of a new democratic Russia and thorough operational, strategic, technical and economical calculations. |
 Colonel General V Maniloo |
The main thrust of the first stage of reforms will centre
around the use of internal resources and the possibilities for general improvements within
the armed forces. This will involve tackling the abolition of excessive, parallel
organisations, departments and structures. This will take effect at first in the systems
of control; technical, logistical and other types of support; the training of military
staff; military education and military science. This task will be fulfilled within the
framework of the optimisation of the overall structure and ultimately will impact on
personnel and the permanent strength of the armed forces. Optimisation is the key to reforms. So far as the structure of the armed forces is concerned it will gradually change from five services to four and ultimately to three that will be defined by areas of use and designated accordingly land, air-space and naval forces. |
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Optimisation, quality and overall effectiveness are the essence of Russian military reforms |
So far as armed-forces personnel is
concerned, the number of formations and units will be minimised and staff levels will be
set according to newly specified requirements and fully trained according to detailed
plans and battle readiness procedures. Armaments also will be brought up to full strength. |
 The future looks bright for the Russian defence industry |
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Optimisation, quality and overall
effectiveness are the essence of Russian military reforms and constitute the basic formula
for the fundamental reforms now underway. In accordance with this ideal basic changes that
will affect the Russian armed forces throughout have been and are still being carried out. |
 Russian air power faces a new and promising future |
 Mi-26 heavy lift helicopters provide battlefield mobility for the Russian Army |
| First, and most important, an entirely new form of armed
force was created that was termed the strategic missile forces (SMF). This consolidated
the strength and ability of former strategic missile forces, space missile forces, and the
space missile defence forces. The new system is untainted by the reputation of the
entirely unjustified and expensive, duplicated, superfluous, non -effective structures
that previously were in place. And to date the new force's combat effectiveness has been
shown to be radically improved. Second was the optimisation of the highest echelons of the armed forces control that has now been successfully completed. The functions and the tasks of executive bodies and senior structures have been overhauled, drastically redefined and updated and personnel strength considerably reduced, by as much as 30 per cent in some cases, and the overall work-rate of all chains of command and control has risen and continues to rise steadily. |
 Russia's navy continues to field advanced warships and weapon systems |
 Peace keeping in Bosnia: there will be a reduction in the permanent strength of the Russian armed forces by between one and two million servicemen by January 1999 |
Thirdly, following intensive preparation,
practical measures have been initiated to integrate air and air-defence forces into one
integral service of the new armed forces. |
| Sixth, major changes in terms of preparation and primary organisation are being carried out to optimise technical and logistical support systems and military building complexes. Major landmarks in this area include overall rationalisation, stringent economies, the combining of tasks, ongoing unification, standardisation and the reduction to an absolute mini mum of the range and nonemclature of armaments and material. This work is being closely co-ordinated with the restructuring of the military industrial complex, optimisation of staff, the concentration of means and re sources in the most efficient manner towards strategic developments, and the rational conversion of overall military production. |
 Crowds flock to see the Antonov transport plane at Farnborough |
Proceeding step by step on the road towards creating a new army, the authorities are following the most important priorities that will define the development perspective of Russia's military organisation. The major aims of the redevelopment programme are preservation where possible, providing this meets newly defined criteria, strengthening the structure and formation of the armed forces, highlighting the new social status of officers, and re-inforcing the prestige of military service. The second set of priorities includes the preservation and development of effective deterrents, including those nuclear weapons that fall within internationally agreed treaty limitations and concur with Russia's responsibilities. |
 The new strategic missile force consolidates the former strategic missile force, space missile forces and the space missile defence forces |
The third set of priorities involves forming and improving the potential to repulse threats of a local character and origin. All practical work on reforms is being built on a system of basic principles. These represent inter-connected and supplemented trial periods on which realistic reform measures such as substantiation, provision and publicity can be accurately based. The fulfilment of reform measures does not preclude the progress of other current everyday work with which the army is associated on a daily basis. Together with the re-organisation of operative and combat training, battle readiness and full- alert, many other day-to-day operations are being tackled. |
| The resolution of social problems is thought to be of great significance.
Such problems are difficult and painful to deal with because they are related closely to
the financial and economic crisis currently being experienced by Russia and are directly
connected with peoples' lives. That is why the solution of this type of problem is
regarded as a major priority. Unfortunately almost 90,000 families of commissioned personnel do not have a permanent place to live. By the end of 1997 the Russian Federation was able to provide homes to 10,000 officers who had been retired because of the reforms and 21,000 are expected to be similarly housed in 1998. With the help of the president and the government we shall attempt to find funds for these purposes within the scheduled financing of payments and privileges as defined by the current legislation. Developments involving military and technical co-operation and contacts with colleagues from other countries' armed forces occupies an important place within a wide spectrum of everyday tasks. Priority in such co-operation is given first to the countries who are members of CIS. The legal basis of such co-operation is being formed at present and a unified system of air defence also is being created. The programme of military co-operation by member countries of CIS up until the year 2001 and the concept of a programme of military/ technical co-operation has been fully worked out. joint manoeuvres in central Asia and the Ukraine have taken place during which a number of vital issues were solved. |
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Co-operation with the United States and with leading states in Europe and Asia in the military field is dynamic and successful. A new phase of co-operation between Russia and NATO was inaugurated by the Founding Act that was signed in Paris during 1997. We still maintain that the expansion of NATO as a military organisation contradicts objectively the development of world history in a post confrontational epoch of partnership. Nevertheless we believe that the signing of the Founding Act is a positive way of minimising any negative consequences of the block expansion of NATO. |
| It is natural to hope that modern geo-strategic realities will transform NATO from being a military/political organisation into a political/military organisation capable of becoming one of the major components of an overall European security system. There is an obvious direct link with the constructive changes in the international military/political situation and the process of establishing equal, mutually beneficial, friendly partnerships with those countries that share the fundamental parameters of the armed forces of the Russian Federation. Russian military reforms are strategically orientated towards the epoch of partnership, the core of which is being laid down today by mutual efforts of all the countries in the world. The final result of the present tremendous re-organisation within the Russian Federation will be the Russian army of the 21st century - compact, mobile, combat-ready, with highly trained and motivated personnel, a firm structure and great internal strength and organisation. This new model army will guarantee the security and protection of Russian national interests and meet the fundamental criteria and requirements of overall security and peace |
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