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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russia Gives Up Mass Army
2009-09-16
Leading Russian military expert Vitaly Shlykov spoke during one of the sessions of the Valdai Discussion Club last week about the sweeping reform of the country's armed forces, which begins in December and will cut the number of tanks from 20,000 to 2,000 and reduce the number or reservists to just 100,000.

The reform, which Shlykov described as nothing short of a revolution, will significantly affect the Kremlin's approach to the composition of and future cuts to the country's military arsenal.

Shlykov, who heads the Security Policy Commission of the Defense Ministry's Public Council, is a former deputy minister of defense and a retired colonel of the GRU military intelligence service.
Posted by:3dc

#11  I think I would rather have a demoralized Russia in control of excess armaments than the despots they are selling everything off to, though.
Posted by: Lumpy Elmoluck5091   2009-09-16 13:49  

#10  Buh-bye, Russia. It's been...well...interesting.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305   2009-09-16 12:08  

#9  As I understand it, the Russian conscript army is a hell of abuse, rape, corruption, and malnutrition. This couldn't come too early.
Posted by: Mitch H.   2009-09-16 10:28  

#8  Badanov,

That's why Russian tanks have autoloaders.

Very true - but the autoloaders have a bad habit of trying to load crewmembers instead of ammo.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2009-09-16 10:00  

#7  A GRU spokesman said.......?
Posted by: Besoeker   2009-09-16 07:39  

#6  Red Storm Rising Setting, for a while
Posted by: Oscar   2009-09-16 06:20  

#5  It's more like the Russians don't use half of this crap anyway. I mean, 20,000 tanks? If they gave the order now, how many of them could actually be crewed, drive out and fire a round?

They only need 20,000 tank commanders. The rest are fillers. That's why Russian tanks have autoloaders.
Posted by: badanov   2009-09-16 00:56  

#4  2000?
Posted by: tipover   2009-09-16 00:45  

#3  It's more like the Russians don't use half of this crap anyway. I mean, 20,000 tanks? If they gave the order now, how many of them could actually be crewed, drive out and fire a round?
Posted by: gromky   2009-09-16 00:35  

#2  Given demographic trends, it may not be wise for them to have too much in the way of armaments when they are overtaken.

What does this mean for the future as far as their influence on the world stage? It doesn't seem like they would be so quick to give this up. If so, it may come down to "nuke/not nuke" threats when it comes to influence.
Posted by: gorb   2009-09-16 00:13  

#1   Russia seems to have already given up the goal of a massive population. "One more generation, and it's over" - Russian demotivation poster.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2009-09-16 00:05  

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