Russian Anti-Terror troops deployed to Syria

[The Mad Monk]

I don't know, I can call you an idiot pretty fast.

[Sava]

I don't know, I can call you an idiot pretty fast.

Well yeah. And *snap* NUCLEAR DEATH

[The Mad Monk]

The warheads need to get there first.

[regexcellent]

It will all depend on the war you want to fight. A deployment of a small force, like this one, is done using the other part of the force, and a large scale war, with general mobilisation, solves the problem of pay and motivation, and the officers are replaced with better ones when they die in the first month. It's the wars in between that are problematic.

I agree with this, but the war I was talking about was one of force projection. Let's be honest, from an American perspective I'm not really concerned with Russia's ability to defend itself, which I'm sure is perfectly adequate. Americans should only really be thinking about what kind of capabilities Russia can put in play in external operations.

[Aeson]

I don't know, I can call you an idiot pretty fast.

It took you 15 minutes... the nukes were probably already there.

[regexcellent]

Maybe if they were launched from submarines right off the coast.

[kentonio]

They're probably feeling a little put out, considering America spent decades supporting middle eastern dictators who commited atrocities too.

[onodera]

I agree with this, but the war I was talking about was one of force projection. Let's be honest, from an American perspective I'm not really concerned with Russia's ability to defend itself, which I'm sure is perfectly adequate. Americans should only really be thinking about what kind of capabilities Russia can put in play in external operations.

We're a land power, this limits our force projection capabilities.

[regexcellent]

True. I'm not sure your government wants to keep things that way, though. The purchase of French Mistral-class ships for amphibious assault is out of a stated desire for greater capability at force projection (and really, what else would they be used for?).

[PLATO]

Putin understands what the US has done with force projection and, I believe, has made the decision to try and provide a counter balance. The coziness of the US and Georgia hit a little to close to home for the Russian appetite and then they realized that the US was active on many former Soviet boarders. The idea of "sphere of influence" is a pretty important one to the Russians and a critical part of their defense thinking. I believe that they have come to realize that you must have force projection to maintain that spere of influence in today's world.

[regexcellent]

As I understand the decision to buy Mistrals was made out of experience gained during the war with Georgia.

[PLATO]

As I understand the decision to buy Mistrals was made out of experience gained during the war with Georgia.

Yes, having a US command and control ship in the Black Sea with no available counterpart for the Russians was attention getting to say the least. Russia quickly realized that it needed Littoral capability that they simply did not have or even have the ability to create. It would not suprise me to see a Russian built Mistral in the future as they rebuild their shipbuilding capacity. The French version is a little lightly armed for Russian tastes imho.

[regexcellent]

Yes; the deal with France is two built in France with options for two built in Russia.

I think the Russians have gotten over their obsession with aircraft ships armed with ship-to-ship missiles; the Kuznetsov is having them removed in the next refit.

[onodera]

Yes; the deal with France is two built in France with options for two built in Russia.

I think the Russians have gotten over their obsession with aircraft ships armed with ship-to-ship missiles; the Kuznetsov is having them removed in the next refit.

Kuzya is a diesel-guzzling piece of junk. For ship-to-ship warfare we need submarines with lots of cruise missiles, Mistrals will help us with patrolling the neighboring coasts.

[Dinner]

"Russia is never as strong as it looks, Russia is never as weak as it looks."

BTW the Russian military is perfectly adequate for what the Russian government wants it to do. Sure, they need to modernize their equipment and changing the force structure to a professionalized volunteer force from a conscript force would improve things but they have plenty of time to achieve that before there are any major threats. There is literally nothing on the horizon to threaten them in any way. Personally, I'd concentrate on professionalizing the officer corp first as the leadership will be most important, after that try to make sure the NCO corp is all volunteer, then start modernizing the equipment. The conscripts would be the last thing changed.