Skip to main content

Russian military reform: Command and Communications

Russian military reform: Command and Communications

R-149MA1
Anyone who has followed the military and security affairs during the last decade knows that Russia is investing heavily on the modernization of its armed forces. While the flagship equipment projects such as the T-14 Armata main battle tank and the PAK-FA 5th generation fighter have grabbed the headlines, the true revolution has been in the structure of Russian fighting force and the professionalism allowed by the replacement of the conscripts by contract soldiers.
These self-sustaining formations may be grouped together or used to reinforce the heavy mechanized divisions that act as the spearhead of any future offensive by the Kremlin. This level of flexibility is far more demanding to both the headquarters and the unit commanders than the old rigid order of battle ever was.
The bulk of the tank BTGs will eventually have theT-72B3
In this light it’s hardly surprising that the Russian armed forces are investing heavily on modern, digital and secure communications. Earlier this spring the Western Military District established a fully digitized broadband communications network. This network allows regional headquarters and the central command to share situational awareness in real-time.
The motorized and tank battalions are now receiving the new P-149MA1Unified Command and staff vehicles that allow units to communicate and share tactical data to the front line forces, HQ:s and even aircraft in the operational area. Reported communication ranges are up to 350 km for ground stations and 450 km for aircraft. Naturally these are manufacturer values at optimal conditions.
The new communications equipment has also been integrated to the latest VDV airborne vehicles, such as the BMD-4M and the systems were tested with a live exercise that had participants from all major VDV formations. VDV claims that their troops are able to share data through jamming from up to 300 km behind enemy lines.
If the Russian armed forces succeed in integrating a shared, live situational awareness from the Kremlin down to the platoon / squad level, it would be a force multiplier. Combined with the flexible BTG:s Russia will be significantly more dangerous opponent in a large-scale peer-level war.
The communications capabilities are not uniquely Russian. Many western nations have similar or somewhat more advanced systems. But the advantage west has over Russian C2 is rapidly shrinking.

Comments

  1. Nice post! This is a very nice that I will definitively come back to more times this year! Thanks for informative post.jogos friv gratis 2019
    Jogos 2019
    jogos friv

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Quick guide to identifying the Russian tanks Part 1: Updated Dec. 2021

  As most of the western nations have reduced their inventories to a few or mostly one type of main battle tank model in their active inventories, the myriad of tank platforms and distinct versions employed by the Russian armed forces may feel overwhelming. Here is a quick guide to identifying Russian MBTs. When you come across an image (or the actual thing), follow the steps to identify it properly. Updated 15.12.2021: T-90 modifications Family of the tank Russian Armed Forces currently operates, or at least storage, the following tank platforms/families: -            T-55 (<2000 in storage) -            T-62 (2000 in storage) -            T-64 (2000 in storage) -            T-72 (2000 active duty, 8000 in storage) -            T-80 (2000 active duty, 5000 in storage) -            T-90 (350 active duty, 600  in storage) -            T-14 (20 in field testing) So how can you identify what type of a tank are you looking at? There are two features that can be used to distinguishing th

The Russian ”Tank Circus”

The Russian media has published several articles about the latest round of live fire drills by the Russian tank forces. The first brief mentions caught my attention as they described a new tank tactic based on the experiences of the Russian expeditionary force in Syria.  T-72B1 at Pogonovo (Photo: © RIA Novosti / Andrey Stanavov) The details about the new tactic were scarce but there were mentions of continuous movement and a steady barrage of main gun fire. On 4th of July, the RIA published an in depth article about the 20th combined Arms Army’s field training of the new tactics (Translated to English by Sputnik ) The “Tank Carousel” is simply a drill in which a tanks of a formation, be it a platoon or a company, move around a set perimeter firing the from vantage points or openings in a berm and then move off to safety while another one moves in to the same spot to fire.  This does allow the unit to maintain sustained 125 mm tank gun fire at a target area. Another

Russian Tanks 2022: Thicker and Blinder

  Since the all out invasion of Ukraine the Russian army has lost at least 1700 tanks. This has caused the Russian army some supply problems, when they are re-forming their mauled units. Fighting has also revealed the need for upgrades on most of the Russian tank designs. The most obvious issues with the existing Russian tank fleet are the insufficient armor protection, the lack of reverse mobility and the vulnerability of the automatic loaders and their ammunition carousels. Although the last one has gifted us the sport of Turret Throwing. T-72B obr 2022 tanks Very little can be done for the mobility with the limitations of the existing transmissions and the autoloaders can’t really be replaced with better designs or human loaders either. The armor part on the other hand can be improved during the activation and refurbishment of the deep stored Soviet-era tanks. The first new design that appeared in the battlefield was an upgraded T-72B3 with additional armo,r mimicking the T-90M layo