Trends in Russia's Armed Forces: An Overview of Budgets and Capabilities
Abstract
This report assesses how Russian military forces are postured and are likely to operate based on open-source reporting about their organization, modernization plans, force structure, and readiness. It discusses the goals and effects of Russian military reform efforts, including initiatives that span all of the Russian armed forces' services and independent branches. The report touches on most of Russia's armed forces' major capabilities, by service or domain, but it is not comprehensive. It concludes with a look at how those capabilities are being integrated in practice. Russian military capabilities are considered in light of more than a decade of effort by Russia's leadership to devote increased resources and political will to reform Russia's armed forces into a more responsive and effective tool to pursue Russia's interests and defend Russia's territory. The study team found that although Russian projections of its future capabilities are often optimistic, since 2008 the Russian military has become much more capable in general, not only of defending Russian territory but also of launching invasions against its neighbors, Georgia and Ukraine. Improvements have been a result of substantial increases in expenditures on military programs and forces, as well as a focus on readiness, organization, fielding modernized weapons, and updating tactics and doctrine.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2019
- Accession Number
- AD1088623
Entities
People
- Brian Nichiporuk
- Keith Crane
- Olga Oliker