History
As the Soviet Union officially dissolved on December 31, 1991, the Soviet military was left in limbo. For the next year and a half various attempts to keep its unity and transform it into the military of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) failed. Over time, the units stationed in Ukraine and some other newly independent republics swore loyalty to their new national governments, while a series of treaties between the newly independent states divided up the military's assets.
Apart from assuming control of the bulk of the former Soviet Internal Troops and KGB Border Troops, seemingly the only independent defence move the new Russian leadership made before March 1992 was to announce the creation of a 'National Guard', which was eventually superseded by the takeover of the bulk of the former Soviet central defence apparatus. On 7 May 1992, Yeltsin appointed himself as the new Russian Minister of Defence, marking a crucial step in the creation of the new Armed Forces. By December 1993 CIS military structures had become CIS military cooperation structures with all real influence lost.
In the next few years, Russian forces withdrew from central and eastern Europe, as well as from some newly independent post-Soviet republics. While in most places the withdrawal took place without any problems, the Russian Armed Forces remained in some disputed areas such as the Sevastopol Naval Base in the Crimea as well as in Abkhazia and Transnistria. The Armed Forces have several bases in foreign countries, especially on territory of the former Soviet Republics.
A new military doctrine, promulgated in November 1993, implicitly acknowledged the contraction of the old Soviet military into a regional military power without global ambitions. In keeping with its emphasis on the threat of regional conflicts, the doctrine called for a Russian military that is smaller, lighter, and more mobile, with a higher degree of professionalism and with greater rapid deployment capability. Such change proved extremely difficult to achieve. Under Defence Minister Pavel Grachev, little military reform took place, though there was a plan to create more deployable Mobile Forces. Later Defence Minister Rodionov had good qualifications but did not manage to institute lasting change. Only under Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev did a certain amount of limited reform begin, though attention was focused upon the Strategic Rocket Forces. Significant reforms were announced in late 2008 under Defence Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov, and major structural reorganisation began in 2009.
Key elements of the reforms announced in October 2008 include reducing the armed forces to a strength of one million by 2012 (planned end-date was 2016 ); reducing the number of officers; centralising officer training from 65 military schools into 10 'systemic' military training centres; reducing the size of the central command; introducing more civilian logistics and auxiliary staff; elimination of cadre-strength formations; reorganising the reserves; reorganising the army into a brigade system; and reorganising air forces into an air base system instead of regiments. On 17 October 2012 the head of the State Duma’s Defense Committee told RIA Novosti that Russia plans to boost annual defense spending by 59 percent to almost 3 trillion rubles ($97 billion) in 2015 up from $61 billion in 2012. “Targeted national defense spending as a percentage of GDP will amount to 3.2 percent in 2013, 3.4 percent in 2014 and 3.7 percent in 2015,” Defense Committee chairman Vladimir Komoedov is quoted as saying in the committee’s conclusion on the draft budget for 2013-2015.
The number of military units is to be reduced in accordance with the table:
| Arms and branches | 2008 | 2012 | Reduction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ground Forces | 1,890 | 172 | -90 % |
| Air Force | 340 | 180 | -48 % |
| Navy | 240 | 123 | -49 % |
| Strategic Rocket Forces | 12 | 8 | -33 % |
| Space Forces | 7 | 6 | -15 % |
| Airborne Troops | 6 | 5 | -17 % |
An essential part of the military reform is its down-sizing. By the beginning of the reform, there were about 1,200,000 active personnel in the Russian army. Largely, the reductions falls within the officers. Personnel are to be reduced according to the table:
| Category of military men | September 1, 2008 | December 1, 2009 | Planned for 2012 | Reduction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General/Admiral | 1,107 | 780 | 877 | −20.8 % |
| Colonel/Captain 1st Rank | 25,665 | 9,114 | −64.5 % | |
| Lieutenant Colonel/Captain 2nd Rank | 19,300 | 7,500 | −61 % | |
| Major/Captain 3rd Rank | 99,550 | 25,000 | −75 % | |
| Captain/Captain Lieutenant | 90,000 | 40,000 | −56 % | |
| First Lieutenant/Senior Lieutenant | 30,000 | 35,000 | +17 % | |
| Lieutenant/Lieutenant | 20,000 | 26,000 | +30 % | |
| Officers in total | 365,000 | 220,000 | −40 % | |
| Praporshchik/Warrant Officer | 90,000 | 0 | 0 | −100 % |
| Warrant officer | 50,000 | 0 | 0 | −100 % |
The total number of the officer corps scheduled to reduce from 335 thousand to 150 thousand, but in early February 2011 Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov announced the decision to increase officers by 70 000 - to 220 thousand to counteract this.
Read more about this topic: Armed Forces Of The Russian Federation
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