Russian Military

Factual Questions
1

Hey out there,

Does anyone know good resources to look for info on current Russian Military details? Especially such things as their organization and / or equipment?

Or hey, does anyone have first-hand knowledge of such things? I’m looking for a general overview for some RPG stuff I’m doing.

2

Organization: none.

Equipment: shoddy and getting shoddier all the time.

It’s actually pretty remarkable to see a nuclear superpower slide so much so fast. I just hope the rate of submarine disasters doesn’t increase.

3

Increase? Didn’t they figure that the Russians lost about a dozen nuclear subs at sea during the Cold War?

4

Heck, even the Americans lost a couple during the cold war (Scorpion and Thresher), but to lose them in peacetime (like the Kursk) suggests a serious rusting-out problem, and I’m concerned that more of those will happen.

5

The Federation of American Scientists website is a great resource:

http://www.fas.org/man/index.html

For Russia, click on the ROW/OPFOR links.

6

The Cold War WAS peacetime. That’s why it was cold.

The Kursk disaster was supposedly an accidental detonation of a torpedo, something that suggests a problem with training and competence as much as anything else.

7

IIRC, they’ve lost another nuclear sub since the Kursk. I believe it was being towed somewhere to be scrapped when it went down with several crew.

8

Well in that case, why don’t you and I hold a nice picnic on the 39th parallel on the Korean pennisula?

A lack of shooting doesn’t exactly equal peace. The major nations were on a constant war footing with hair-triggers. During such an advanced state of preparedness, accidents can and will happen. For accidents to continue even after standing down, though… that takes talent.

9

Whoops, I meant the 38th, of course.

10

It’s not just the Russian military – the military establishments of nearly all the former Soviet republics have far-reduced effectiveness and quality. For example, the Ukrainian Army just had a major disaster at a ammunition storage area caused by two soldiers smoking while stocking artillery shells.