Russian Deep Operations: A Contemporary Application
Abstract
In 2008 and 2014, the United States (US) was surprised with Russian territorial annexations in Georgia and Ukraine respectively. More surprising than the landgrabs, the execution of the operational maneuver reflected unique circumstances in the environment exploiting a deep penetration through the means of Russian diasporas while remaining rooted in the classics of Soviet Deep Operations doctrine. Today, Russia is postured to surprise the US again in its own back yard with another deep penetration through different means. In 2017, Russia opened its first counterdrugs training center outside of its borders in Nicaragua. In a seeming contradiction, the principal drug threat that drove the creation of the Russian Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) did not emanate from Nicaragua or even the Western Hemisphere but from Afghanistan and Central Asia. Russia has no fixed counterdrugs training capabilities in either location. Further, the counterdrugs training center opened despite the dissolution of the FSKN one year earlier. Perhaps most revealing to the true nature of the facility, Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov personally arrived in Nicaragua to announce support for antidrug activities prior to its opening. The personal visit was deemed "an honor far outside the norm" for a nation of Nicaragua's military and political status. While US strategic talking points generally default to a hand wave Cold War narrative of extending malign influence into the Western Hemisphere, "near abroad" tit-for-tat policies, or espionage they do little to bring any degree of specificity to the latent or real threat inherent to the unique Russian activity through the lens of Russian doctrine. Short of accepting Russian intentions as sincere, a greater understanding of the origins of the Soviet military operational art of Deep Operations and application of Reflexive Control may help to prudently prepare for surprise.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 20, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1107496
Entities
People
- Paul Morris
Organizations
- Air War College