Nonetheless, this suggests that Russia is prepared for conflict. Further military activities in the Arctic have included extensive investments into missile defense systems.
The Russian military is developing its air defense shield and building military infrastructure across island bases in the Russian Arctic. The Ministry of Defense has announced that they aim to put more than military facilities into operation in Since , Russia has constructed six new bases that have included new airfields, ports and army bases.
These actions show that Russian security policy in the Arctic is more than simply upgrading existing military infrastructure. In addition, traditional armed forces are becoming involved in the Arctic to learn military tactics for Arctic warfare. Such modernization programs and the expansion of military infrastructure have potential offensive capabilities.
Military drills and the build-up of military facilities do not imply that Russia is preparing for war with the other Arctic states. It shows the large amount of infrastructure Russia has erected for defense, but it puts military airfields and the more numerous search and rescue SAR stations into the same category.
As the Arctic becomes more suitable for economic development, Russia is improving its radar surveillance and communication over the Arctic. SAR operations have also been an important part of circumpolar cooperation. The Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum for the discussion and resolution of Arctic issues, has been an important institution for Arctic peace and cooperation, including on SAR. Two legally binding agreements negotiated under the auspices of the Council have mandated international cooperation on SAR operations and oil pollution preparedness and response.
The agreement on SAR operations commits all parties to respond to signals of distress within their respective areas. Each nation is responsible for their territory in the Arctic. Russia has also carried out many joint military exercises with NATO member states. For example, Russia and Norway have conducted many naval drills in the Barents Sea. Between and , they carried out the annual joint naval exercise Pomor.
The Cold War-era version of the S had a range of kilometers 93 miles , and could hit targets at altitudes above 27 kilometers, with the more modern Antey system reportedly expanding the range to kilometers.
India and China are seeking to buy the even-more-advanced S missiles. The Dragunov sniper rifle was first introduced to the Soviet army in and has since found its way to war theaters across the world.
It was reportedly used against US soldiers in Vietnam. The Red Army owes much of its victory over Germany to the iconic T, which first appeared on the battlefield in The battle-tested T eventually became the most widely produced tank of the war and influenced armored vehicles for decades.
The Russian military still honors it by having it lead the Victory Day parade. Visit the new DW website Take a look at the beta version of dw. Go to the new dw. More info OK. Wrong language? Change it here DW. COM has chosen English as your language setting. COM in 30 languages.
Deutsche Welle. Audiotrainer Deutschtrainer Die Bienenretter. So long as the West believes Russia could surge into Ukraine, escalate in Syria, or even roll into the Baltic states, it inevitably feels a greater pressure to make concessions and invite Vladimir Putin to the table.
Ever since he first strode into the Kremlin, at the end of , Vladimir Putin has been pouring money into his military. But he was trying to modernize a military that was in a truly catastrophic state after not just years but decades of underfunding and neglect. It had performed abysmally in the first Chechen War. Draft dodging, embezzlement, and corruption were rife. In order to send naval squadrons flying the flag across the globe, Moscow has to accompany them with tugs for when they break down.
Today, Russian military might as we know it is halfway between a fact and a psychological warfare operation. Russian special forces seized Crimea in February with respectable precision and discipline, and looked the part of cutting-edge soldiers. But they were among the very best Moscow can muster, and faced no opposition. Russia has been able to turn the tide in Syria — and the politics of that war — with its bombers.
But in order to keep up the tempo of operations in Syria, Moscow has had to send its best pilots, and even buy old Turkish ships to supply them. Besides, bombing a disorganized rebel force with no meaningful air defense is hardly much of a test of the new Russian air force.
In Ukraine, where Russia has had units deployed since summer , Moscow has had to send improvised "battalion tactical groups" patched together from the best companies of soldiers across the country. Russian officers speaking off the record admit that between their training and their final demobilization month, the majority are only usable for maybe three months of that year. In order to send naval squadrons flying the flag across the globe, Moscow has not only to accompany them with tugs for when they break down, it then has to put the ships in dock for months after fixing them.
In other words, so far, we have seen the very best of the Russian military in the ideal conditions but not the rest of the force, or how they would cope facing a real threat. It is a little bit like assuming you can judge all of US education by visiting Harvard, or its health care from the Mayo Clinic.
The Russian Navy has only limited capabilities in traditional power projection and expeditionary naval warfare platforms. Most of the new and modern surface combatants are relatively small vessels. Since the Russian intervention in Syria began in , the Mediterranean has witnessed an intensive submarine presence.
In the same year, Russian submarine activities in the Mediterranean reached an unprecedented tempo. Open-source military publications noted in December that the U. At least one of these submarines was probably a Project A Antey. Equipped with P Granit supersonic sea-skimming antiship missiles, this formidable platform is known as a carrier-killer sub, whose primary mission is to hunt down aircraft carrier battle groups.
What is more, the Russian carrier-killer submarine identified in was thought to be in close proximity to at least two Western aircraft carriers , the U. In this respect, it is important to note that the Russians are believed to be regularly rotating at least two Varshavyanka-class submarines from the Black Sea Fleet to the Tartus base in Syria. The U. Navy has historically sustained its combat posture through a geopolitical perspective consisting of two hubs.
In the past decade, Moscow has smartly capitalized on developments in the Eastern Mediterranean to enhance its overall military posture in three ways. First, since the annexation of Crimea, the Russian Black Sea Fleet has been more active in projecting power into the Mediterranean. Taking advantage of free passage through the Turkish Straits, Moscow has established a strategic naval bridge between the Black Sea Fleet and the enhanced naval base in Tartus. This bridge now extends to Libya.
Second, the experiences gained in the Syrian theater and, more recently, in Libya have allowed the Russian military to train its personnel and test a range of new capabilities that can easily be transposed to other, more strategically critical geographies, like Eastern Europe. Russia has pursued a gradual and multidimensional expansion of its military capabilities in a conflict zone where, with the exception of Turkey in Libya, it has not encountered any resistance from NATO allies.
This publication is funded by a grant from the United States Department of State.
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