Posted on 12/21/2022 1:21:27 PM PST by Cathi
Defense minister announces major expansion of Russian army
Sergey Shoigu says the nation’s military should amount to 1.5 million servicemen
Defense minister announces major expansion of Russian army
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has announced the need to make a number of structural changes to the country’s armed forces in light of NATO’s attempts to bolster its presence on Russia’s border and expand its membership to Finland and Sweden.
During a Russian Defense Ministry meeting on Wednesday, Shoigu proposed a number of measures to strengthen the security of the Russian Federation, including creating a special grouping of troops on the country’s northwestern border and expanding Russia’s armed forces to amount to 1.5 million servicemen in total, with some 695,000 of them being contract soldiers.
Shoigu’s comments come as Helsinki and Stockholm have submitted bids to join NATO, citing a perceived threat from Russia in light of its ongoing military operation in Ukraine. Their accession to the US-led bloc is currently stalled by Türkiye and Hungary, but all other members have already welcomed their membership.
The minister also offered to “gradually” change the minimum draft age in Russia from 18 to 21 and raise the maximum age to 30, while also offering all draftees the opportunity to sign a contract with the army from the first day of service.
Shoigu went on to suggest creating a number of new military groupings, including five new artillery divisions, eight bomber aviation regiments, and one fighter regiment, as well as six army aviation brigades.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who also attended the meeting, approved the proposals for improving the country’s armed forces and instructed Shoigu to report back once these measures are deliberated with the ministerial board. Putin promised to address these proposals in detail later.
During his address to senior defense officials, Putin also emphasized the need to continue to modernize Russia’s nuclear arsenal, describing it as the key to guaranteeing the country’s sovereignty.
Medvedev delivers ‘personal message’ from Putin to Xi The top officials met on Wednesday to discuss ties between their two ruling parties, which they lead
Dmitry Medvedev, the former president of Russia and current deputy chair of the Security Council, met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday during a visit to Beijing.
Medvedev’s office said that during his meeting with Xi he delivered a personal message from Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Russian media. Xinhua said it contained friendly greetings and best wishes to Xi, who asked his guest to convey his response in kind to the Russian leader.
In a brief statement about the nature of the meeting, Medvedev said he and his Chinese host discussed intra-party cooperation, among other things. Xi was re-elected as secretary general of the Communist Party of China in October. Medvedev leads the ruling United Russia party.
The two officials also discussed bilateral relations between China and Russia as well as international affairs, including the crisis in Ukraine, Medvedev added. He called the talk “very useful.”
China's president hailed contacts between the two parties as a unique platform for building political trust between the nations, according to a statement carried by Xinhua.
Speaking about the situation in Ukraine, Xi reiterated China’s call for restraint by all parties and urged them to find a peaceful resolution. He expressed hope that the conflict could be ended through political means.
According to Xinhua, Medvedev said that events remained complicated but that Moscow was willing to resolve them through peace talks.
“Shoigu has announced the need to make a number of structural changes to the country’s armed forces in light of NATO’s attempts to bolster its presence on Russia’s border and expand its membership to Finland and Sweden.”
Apparently Shoigu forgot that it collapsed the entire country the last time they tried to compete with NATO militarily.
Prewar, the army’s headcount target was 850K. In August, that goal went to 1.15m. The December 22/January 23 target would appear to be 1.5m.
- Formation of two new-old districts - Moscow and Leningrad.
- Formation of an army corps in Karelia.
- Formation of two motorized rifle divisions in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions.
- Two new airborne assault divisions in the VDV.
- Seven motorized rifle and tank brigades stationed in the districts, as well as in the Northern Fleet, will be reorganized into divisions.
- Marine brigades will also become divisions.
- The reform will also affect the VKS (Aerospace forces). Eight bomber and one fighter regiments will be formed.
- Deployment of six brigades of army aviation.
- Eight artillery divisions and brigades, including large-capacity ones.
- Gradual change in the age of conscription from 18 years to 21 years, as well as the age limit of 30 instead of 27 years.
- Increase in the number of armed Forces to 1.5 million people, including 670 thousand contractors.
- Each tank army should contain a mixed air division (Army Aviation?) and an Air-Def brigade.
Everything that has been announced as a whole looks like a large-scale reform of the Armed Forces following the results of 10 months of the SMO in Ukraine. Well, the main question is how, and how qualitatively it will be implemented in practice.
@milinfolive
Ukraine ping
Cathi:[- Formation of two new-old districts - Moscow and Leningrad.
- Formation of an army corps in Karelia.
- Formation of two motorized rifle divisions in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions.
- Two new airborne assault divisions in the VDV.
- Seven motorized rifle and tank brigades stationed in the districts, as well as in the Northern Fleet, will be reorganized into divisions.
- Marine brigades will also become divisions.
- The reform will also affect the VKS (Aerospace forces). Eight bomber and one fighter regiments will be formed.
- Deployment of six brigades of army aviation.
- Eight artillery divisions and brigades, including large-capacity ones.
- Gradual change in the age of conscription from 18 years to 21 years, as well as the age limit of 30 instead of 27 years.
- Increase in the number of armed Forces to 1.5 million people, including 670 thousand contractors.
- Each tank army should contain a mixed air division (Army Aviation?) and an Air-Def brigade.
Everything that has been announced as a whole looks like a large-scale reform of the Armed Forces following the results of 10 months of the SMO in Ukraine. Well, the main question is how, and how qualitatively it will be implemented in practice.
@milinfolive]
During WWII, the US spent 40% of its economy on the military (vs today’s ~4%). Rationing was one of the ways it managed to harness big chunks of the economy to the war effort. If we start hearing of rationing in Russia, that’s when we’ll know Putin is serious about winning.
https://www.usgovernmentspending.com/defense_spending_history
Kamil Galeev has repeatedly suggested that Russia is Latin America with nukes. I think that’s stretching it. Russia is the #5 steel producer in the world. If you can make steel, you can make machinery. And Russia already has plants for making tanks, artillery and shells, blueprints for all of the above, and an entire world from which to recruit skilled talent at whatever price it needs to, so as to plug gaps in the Russian skills base. It won’t be cheap, but $200K apiece in death benefits for Russian casualties is no bargain, either.
Have you forgot that it isn't 1980 anymore?
Cardboard Prop Solders...
If you can make steel, you can make machinery. And Russia already has plants for making tanks,
—
If Russia could churn out more tanks, other than the occasional T-90M, it would be fielding T-14s which it is not.
Plus, Russia has sent a good portion of its manufacturing workforce to the meat grinder and they won’t be returning to the workforce ... ever.
“Have you forgot that it isn’t 1980 anymore?”
No, actually I haven’t. Russia’s in an even worse position now to compete military with NATO than it was in 1980.
Fair enough. How many times have you 'warned' that Russia is poised to take over Europe then the rest of the world if we don't stop them in Ukraine? I don't recall if you've said that but it has been stated repeatedly.
“How many times have you ‘warned’ that Russia is poised to take over Europe then the rest of the world if we don’t stop them in Ukraine?”
I’ve never said that.
[If Russia could churn out more tanks, other than the occasional T-90M, it would be fielding T-14s which it is not.
Plus, Russia has sent a good portion of its manufacturing workforce to the meat grinder and they won’t be returning to the workforce ... ever.]
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/russian-tank-parade_n_7235228
It might be a prototype more than a production tank. I’m not sure they need anything fancy, just armored vehicles to provide direct fire support for the infantry, and howitzers so the Ukrainians have to keep their heads down. The massed howitzers work - they just need to get back to their prior rate of fire. If the West provides more than a trickle of equipment, that could change, and Putin would need more than just tanks and artillery.
The T-14 is totally dependent on Western parts and chips. So they are unlikely to ever show up - not to mention they are very expensive to produce.
To get their artillery fire rate back up, the Russians are now using North Korean shells. A very very long supply line.
As for their 152mm and 122mm artillery, many of them have become unusable - as the barrels have worn out, and replacements do not seem to be in the offing.
Worse, the Russians are reduced to using tank fire in place of artillery, and the intense use of these guns has worn the rifling off - rendering them ineffective against other tanks.
BAE has reopened the production line for M777s ... so more should be coming at some point.
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