Shift in the Russian Armed forces :: Nauka ~ Tehnika ~ Military

Shift in the Russian Armed forces
With in the last few months, other then the well known issue of ABM mess in Poland and Czechoslovakia, unprecedented event have been taking place in Russian military, all with out even a mention in the Western media.

Most importantly, the entire Russian Navy headquarters is being relocated from Moscow to St. Petersburg.

In spite of controversy with in the Russian Navy the move will go ahead as planned starting from April 2008 and is to be completed in 2009.

As much as $1.2 billion of US dollars is budgeted for relocation alone, not including infrastructure, cnc, comms, security, etc.

Opponents of the relocation reason that the funds would be better spent on as many as 6 of the newest nuclear type submarines (type 955), 15 to 20 type 677 diesel subs, or a few dozen of modernized TU-22M3 strategic bombers.

Other major issue is the inevitable loss of staff which will chose to simply retire rather then relocate to a different city, and many are speculating that this is exactly what proponents of the relocation want in order to revitalize Russian Navy from ground up.

Such a drastic move by Russian Navy has puzzled military analysts around the world, because it would be the same as USN entirely relocating from Pentagon back to Norfolk, thus going against the very concept of centralized Pentagon concept.

All branches of Russian armed forces have been going through dramatic changes and massive exercises; http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/week/040224.htm

After SS-N-23 missile launch failures fleet admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov was dismissed.

Could the move to St. Petersburg be related to the assessment of the Russian Navy after those failures?

Other then the well known plans of the new Russian navy for their own fleet of nuclear super carriers another key element is being entirely overlooked.

As reported on 31.10.2007, Russian Navy in cooperation with FSB requested concept and design development for two militarized icebreakers capable of operating in ice as thick as 5 feet. The main difference between the two models will be in displacement and operating range.

The task of conceptualizing and design is supposed to be completed with in a “few months”, after which FSB will officially announce tender for a contract.

In another unprecedented move, Russian constitutional court which is located in Moscow is also being relocated to St. Petersburg in spite protests of its members!

While the move was proposed back in 2006, only recently it gained enough publicity to raise questions about the reasons for relocation.

Another article quietly mentions that system wide implementation of Russian “Battlespace” program is entering mass production, while some units are already receiving equipment!

Russian “Battlespace” is a counter to American NCO concept (network-centric operations), JV2010, Full Spectrum Dominance, and other projects that are still in the works or in testing stages.

Apparently the Russian system was developed by “Sozvezdie” (Constellation) concern, and was fully tested last year. Currently mass production is in preparation stage, while few elements are already being equipped all the way down to individual soldiers which are equipped with wrist wearable displays with integrated comm/gps capability.

Open architecture of the system is designed to accommodate easy future upgrades and integration of new technologies.

http://pix.lenta.ru/news/2007/10/31/asu/picture.jpg

As unreal as it seems, all of this neatly falls into place with seemingly small scale Russian UAV programs like tactical stealth Skat;

http://pix.lenta.ru/news/2007/10/31/asu/picture.jpg

short range (25 miles) “Tipchak”;

http://pix.lenta.ru/news/2007/11/01/tipchak/picture.jpg

all while delivery of large, new generation long range UAVs is slated for no later then 2011.

Unique hypersonic cruise missiles such as X-90 (AS 19 Koala ) are already capable of being delivered by TU-142s, while TU-160s are being actively modernized and upgraded.

http://www.sergib.agava.ru/russia/raduga/gela/images/gela.jpg

This is where we simply can not ignore recent reactivation of Russian strategic bomber forces, most importantly the TU-160 Blackjack.

VOLGA-DNEPR GROUP has delivered on what it has promised, and modernization of IL-76 fleet is going as planned;

http://www.volga-dnepr.com/eng/presscentre/releases/?id=359

While the modernization program is a natural step, there have been rumors of multiple banks of rotary launchers being tested in the IL-76 airframe.

Rotary launchers vary in size, and while it is unknown what weapons they are designed to accommodate, some concerning speculations indicate that Russians are planning to take TOR-M2 and S-400 airborne as a part of their already existing “Battlespace” system.

The idea is the creation of the ultimate are-denial system, utilizing air-refueling capable IL-76 airframe to create a multilayered, airborne launching platform in order to counter the threat of attack by waves of stealth UAVs, as it is envisioned by USAF.

Air launched TOR-M2/S-400 missiles will have unmatched range, and with over-the-horizon radar coverage it will seriously compromise AWACS deployment, not to mention other basic functions.

Other then that, Russians did modernize their GPS system GLONASS, and are in the process of extending satellite life span to over 10 years.

With in the last few months, other then the well known issue of ABM mess in Poland and Czechoslovakia, unprecedented event have been taking place in Russian military, all with out even a mention in the Western media.

Most importantly, the entire Russian Navy headquarters is being relocated from Moscow to St. Petersburg.

In spite of controversy with in the Russian Navy the move will go ahead as planned starting from April 2008 and is to be completed in 2009.

As much as $1.2 billion of US dollars is budgeted for relocation alone, not including infrastructure, cnc, comms, security, etc.

Opponents of the relocation reason that the funds would be better spent on as many as 6 of the newest nuclear type submarines (type 955), 15 to 20 type 677 diesel subs, or a few dozen of modernized tu-22m3 strategic bombers.

Other major issue is the inevitable loss of staff which will chose to simply retire rather then relocate to a different city, and many are speculating that this is exactly what proponents of the relocation want in order to revitalize Russian Navy from ground up.

Such a drastic move by Russian Navy has puzzled military analysts around the world, because it would be the same as USN entirely relocating from Pentagon back to Norfolk, thus going against the very concept of centralized Pentagon concept.

All branches of Russian armed forces have been going through dramatic changes and massive exercises; http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/week/040224.htm

After SS-N-23 missile launch failures fleet admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov was dismissed.

Could the move to St. Petersburg be related to the assessment of the Russian Navy after those failures?

Other then the well known plans of the new Russian navy for their own fleet of nuclear super carriers another key element is being entirely overlooked.

As reported on 31.10.2007, Russian Navy in cooperation with FSB requested concept and design development for two militarized icebreakers capable of operating in ice as thick as 5 feet. The main difference between the two models will be in displacement and operating range.

The task of conceptualizing and design is supposed to be completed with in a “few months”, after which FSB will officially announce tender for a contract.

In another unprecedented move, Russian constitutional court which is located in Moscow is also being relocated to St. Petersburg in spite protests of its members!

While the move was proposed back in 2006, only recently it gained enough publicity to raise questions about the reasons for relocation.

Another article quietly mentions that system wide implementation of Russian “Battlespace” program is entering mass production, while some units are already receiving equipment!

Russian “Battlespace” is a counter to American NCO concept (network-centric operations), JV2010, Full Spectrum Dominance, and other projects that are still in the works or in testing stages.

Apparently the Russian system was developed by “Sozvezdie” (Constellation) concern, and was fully tested last year. Currently mass production is in preparation stage, while few elements are already being equipped all the way down to individual soldiers which are equipped with wrist wearable displays with integrated comm/gps capability.

Open architecture of the system is designed to accommodate easy future upgrades and integration of new technologies.

http://pix.lenta.ru/news/2007/10/31/asu/picture.jpg

As unreal as it seems, all of this neatly falls into place with seemingly small scale Russian UAV programs like tactical stealth Skat;

http://pix.lenta.ru/news/2007/10/31/asu/picture.jpg

short range (25 miles) “Tipchak”;

http://pix.lenta.ru/news/2007/11/01/tipchak/picture.jpg

all while delivery of large, new generation long range UAVs is slated for no later then 2011.

Unique hypersonic cruise missiles such as X-90 (AS 19 Koala ) are already capable of being delivered by TU-142s, while TU-160s are being actively modernized and upgraded.

http://www.sergib.agava.ru/russia/raduga/gela/images/gela.jpg

This is where we simply can not ignore recent reactivation of Russian strategic bomber forces, most importantly the TU-160 Blackjack.

VOLGA-DNEPR GROUP has delivered on what it has promised, and modernization of IL-76 fleet is going as planned;

http://www.volga-dnepr.com/eng/presscentre/releases/?id=359

While the modernization program is a natural step, there have been rumors of multiple banks of rotary launchers being tested in the IL-76 airframe.

Rotary launchers vary in size, and while it is unknown what weapons they are designed to accommodate, some concerning speculations indicate that Russians are planning to take TOR-M2 and S-400 airborne as a part of their already existing “Battlespace” system.

The idea is the creation of the ultimate are-denial system, utilizing air-refueling capable IL-76 airframe to create a multilayered, airborne launching platform in order to counter the threat of attack by waves of stealth UAVs, as it is envisioned by USAF.

Air launched TOR-M2/S-400 missiles will have unmatched range, and with over-the-horizon radar coverage it will seriously compromise AWACS deployment, not to mention other basic functions.

Other then that, Russians did modernize their GPS system GLONASS, and are in the process of extending satellite life span to over 10 years.