Материал: Konrad Muzyka Russian Forces in the Western Military District

purpose radio engineering brigades (the 82nd and 146th), which provide electronic warfare capability for special forces units.

Since 2016 the land forces have also been growing their repair and evacuation capabilities. To this end, repair and evacuation battalions were set up in each of the military districts, and are now being converted into regiments. One such regiment was established in Mozhaysk, west of Moscow. The 5th Repair and Evacuation Regiment is composed of two battalions, one tasked with evacuation and one with equipment repair and restoration. Plans reportedly call for a reconnaissance company to be established within such regiments.35 The creation of MD-level regiments has increased the ability to evacuate and repair equipment by a factor of 1.4 (from 4.3 to 6.3 thousand units per day).36

In 2014, also in a response to the lessons learned in Ukraine, heavy artillery elements began to be reconstructed within artillery units. To this end, 24mm 2S4 Tulipan self-propelled mortars and 203mm 2S7 Pion self-propelled guns that were previously stored at armaments depots were delivered to the 45th Heavy Artillery Brigade in Tambov. By 2022 Russia plans to conclude a modernization effort that seeks to upgrade the capabilities of both the 2S4 and the 2S7.37 This upgrade likely includes co-operative capability between aircraft, UAVs, and forward observers and artillery systems. Both systems fill the gap that occurred after the Tochka-U SSMs were withdrawn from service (minimum range of 15 km (9 miles)) and will supplement future 152mm 2S35 Coalition self-propelled gun-howitzers in delivering high-accuracy, highpowered artillery rounds. In the meantime, it seems that the SPH squadrons (дивизионы) will

Ясинский, Направление деятельности 15-ой отдельной бригады радиоэлектронной борьбы (Верховного Главного командования) в области радиоэлектронной борьбы, Радиоэлектронная борьба в Вооруженных Силах Российской Федерации, 2015, p. 44.

35Кирилл Рябов, Ремонтно-эвакуационные полки в России. Формирование продолжается, July 26, 2019, topwar.ru, https://topwar.ru/160550-prodolzhaetsja-formirovanie-remontno-jevakuacionnyh-polkov.html.

36Дмитрий Витальевич Булгаков, Современное состояние и перспективы развития системы материально-технического обеспечения Вооруженных Сил Российской Федерации, Материальнотехническое обеспечение Вооруженных Сил Российской Федерации, Jan. 2020, p. 7.

37Тасс, Российская армия получила одну из самых мощных в мире самоходных пушек после модернизации, Тасс, Apr. 16, 2020, https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/8256869.

CNA Occasional Paper | 25

be expanded with the delivery of the new 2S35 Coalition and will feature 24 guns,38 compared to 18 now.39

Also at the Western MD commander’s disposal is the 79th Reactive Artillery Brigade (Tambov). It is equipped with the 9K515 300mm Tornado-S MLRS, which is designed to replace the BM-30 Smerch, and to conduct counterbattery fire or engage armored and infantry groupings, command posts, airbases, or other facilities of operational importance. It is equipped with GLONASS satellite navigation, automated fire control, and 9M542 long-range precision-guided munitions with a range of up to 120 km. With one volley, the Tornado-S can cover 67 hectares.40

The 202nd Air Defense Brigade deployed at Naro-Fominsk provides army-level air defense coverage of army groupings against aircraft and cruise and ballistic missiles. The unit is equipped with the self-propelled S-300V4 theater air defense system, which can engage targets at ranges of up to 350 km and altitudes of 40 km (24 miles).41 The system’s engagement umbrella was increased twofold over that of its predecessor through the introduction of “new technologies and hardware” and implementation of an automated battle management system.42

Lastly, the 27th NCB Defense Brigade, which provides theater-level NCB defense protection and camouflage capability, is in Kursk.

Figure 8 shows the locations of the units subordinated directly to the Western MD commander.

38Полковник Аристархов А.Н, Взгляды На Организационно-Штатную Структуру Артиллерийских Формирований, Имеющих В Своем Составе Робототехнические Комплексы Военного Назначения https://en.ppt-online.org/361074.

39Dr. Lester W. Grau, Charles K. Bartles, The Russian Way of War, Foreign Military Studies Office, 2016, https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/Hot%20Spots/Documents/Russia/2017-07-The-Russian-Way-of- War-Grau-Bartles.pdf, p. 234.

40Алексей Савелов, «Торнадо-Г» и «Торнадо-С» значительно расширили возможности артиллерии РФ,

Телеканал «ЗВЕЗДА», Jan. 19, 2019, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/opk/content/201901190009-2s8b.htm.

41Сергей Линник, Зенитная ракетная система С-300В: против самолётов, крылатых и баллистических ракет , topwar.ru, 15 Mar. 2020, https://topwar.ru/168997-zenitnaja-raketnaja-sistema-s-300v-protiv- samoletov-krylatyh-i-ballisticheskih-raket.html and Александр Храмчихин, На страже сердца России, Независимая газета, Jan. 11, 2019, http://nvo.ng.ru/concepts/2019-01-11/7_1029_army.html.

42Сергей Линник, Зенитная ракетная система С-300В: против самолётов, крылатых и баллистических ракет , topwar.ru, Mar. 15, 2020, https://topwar.ru/168997-zenitnaja-raketnaja-sistema-s-300v-protiv- samoletov-krylatyh-i-ballisticheskih-raket.html.

CNA Occasional Paper | 26

Figure 8. Units subordinated directly to the Western MD commander

Source: Author’s findings.

CNA Occasional Paper | 27

Airborne Forces

Out of four airborne divisions in the Russian armed forces, three (one air assault, two parachute) are based in the Western MD, and an additional one is in the Southern MD. This confirms the priority given to maintaining a heavy VDV presence in the western and southern operational directions. Figure 9 shows the units under the command of the Airborne Forces Command.

Figure 9. Units under the command of the Airborne Forces Command

Source: Author’s findings.

For unconventional operations, the VDV deploys the 45th Guards Spetsnaz Brigade, which is stationed in Kubinka. Its separate reconnaissance detachment was deployed to Crimea in early

CNA Occasional Paper | 28

2014 to support the seizure of the peninsula,43 and its combat elements “forced Georgia to peace” in 2008.44 However, it was not until after the operations in Ukraine, at the end of 2014, that a decision was made to expand the regiment into a brigade; this also allows the unit to operate in three different operational areas.45 The unit is predominantly tasked with conducting deep reconnaissance behind the enemy’s lines against strategic-value targets. The brigade’s officers have a saying: “When the shooting starts, reconnaissance ends.”46 Even so, the unit’s role can also be kinetic, and can include the destruction of C2 posts and headquarters, and the assassination of political or military figures.

In Tula, 170 km (105 miles) south of Moscow, the VDV fields the 106th Airborne Division (parachute). It is composed of two parachute regiments, and organic air defense and artillery regiments, and is supported by reconnaissance, engineer, and logistics battalions. In 2016, tank companies started appearing across VDV formations to increase the firepower of ground components in maneuver operations. These were subsequently expanded to battalion-level formations by 2020.47 When explaining the move to expand VDV’s TO&E, the former VDV commander, Colonel-General Georgy Ivanovich Shpak, gave Soviet experience in Afghanistan as a reason to add more firepower to divisions, claiming that not a single VDV operation in Afghanistan had been conducted without tanks and that tanks should be subordinated to the unit that is conducting ground operations (in this case, the airborne forces). Consequently, the VDV command sees divisions as quick-reaction forces that can conduct quick ground operations across different theaters, and believes that even though the division’s mobility will be partly sacrificed, the inclusion of some thirty-five T-72B3 MBTs48 is a worthy expense.

43Олег Грозный, Кого возьмут в спецназ?, Красная Звезда, Oct. 22, 2017, http://archive.redstar.ru/index.php/component/k2/item/34859-kogo-vozmut-v-spetsnaz.

44Олег Грозный, Кого возьмут в спецназ?, Красная Звезда, Oct. 22, 2017, http://archive.redstar.ru/index.php/component/k2/item/34859-kogo-vozmut-v-spetsnaz.

45Igor Sutyagin and Justin Bronk, Russia’s New Ground Forces: Capabilities, Limitations and Implications for

International Security (Routledge Journals, 2017), p. 51.

46Александр Тихонов, Бригада глубинной разведки, Красная Звезда, Oct. 22, 2015, http://archive.redstar.ru/index.php/newspaper/item/26253-brigada-glubinnoj-razvedki.

47Интерфакс АВН, Военные сообщили об учении недавно созданного в Псковской дивизии ВДВ танкового батальона, Sept. 24, 2019 https://www.militarynews.ru/story.asp?rid=1&nid=517997&lang=RU and plnpskov.ru, Танковый батальон создан в псковской десантной дивизии, pln-pskov.ru, 17.04.2019, https://plnpskov.ru/society/342461.html.

48Two companies are manned by contract personnel, and the third is composed of draftees. Владимир Сосницкий, Десантные тельняшки танкистам впору, Красная Звезда, Mar. 25, 2019, http://redstar.ru/desantnye-telnyashki-tankistam-vporu/.

CNA Occasional Paper | 29