Pavel Bučka – Ján Marek – Rudolf Pástor
Modernization of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation after the Russian-Georgian Conflict
(Modernizácia ozbrojených síl Ruskej federácie po rusko-gruzínskom konflikte)
Politické vedy, Volume 24, Number 2/2021, pages 62-86
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24040/politickevedy.2021.24.2.62-86
Recommended form for quotation of the article / Odporúčaná forma citácie článku:
Bučka. P. – Marek. J. – Pástor. R. 2021.Modernization of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation after the Russian-Georgian Conflict. In Politické Vedy. [online]. Vol. 24, No. 2, 2021. ISSN 1335 – 2741, pp. 62-86. Available at: DOI: https://doi.org/10.24040/politickevedy.2021.24.2.62-86
ABSTRACT
Russia was implementing massive military equipment modernization programs in order to bring all Russian branches of the Federation Armed Forces from Soviet era robust as well as obsolete massive forces to new modern military force. This article analyses significant military armament modernisation projects implemented and ongoing in the Russian Federation conventional forces in Ground Forces, Aerospace Forces and Naval Forces in order to reduce technological gaps between Russia and other world military powers. The objective of the research is to find out, based on available open sources information analysis, how Russia introduced lessons learned from the latest conflicts, gradually developing its Armed Forces in such specific areas like personnel, command and control reform, and unmanned and robotic vehicles’ introduction into Russian Federation Armed Forces. The major results are that wide scale military modernization projects have been adopted in all Russian Federation Armed Forces including major branches Ground Forces, Aerospace Forces and Naval Forces. The Russian Federation defence industrial complex is highly involved in modernisation programs and based on its strategic position in the Russian economy coming from the Soviet era legacy, playing crucial role in it. The practical implications of the research point to the fact that, despite inherited outdated technology, Russia, thanks to new armaments projects, is levelling out the differences between the great powers and is once again becoming a major strategic player.
Key words: Modernization, personnel, command and control, Ground Forces, Aerospace Forces, Naval Forces.