Russia's National Defense Strategy issues

Vectors of military strategy development

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Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Army General Valery Gerasimov, spoke at the general meeting of the Academy of Military Sciences.

It was held in the format of a military-scientific conference dedicated to the development of military strategy in modern conditions. The meeting was opened by the President of the Academy of Military Sciences, Army General Makhmut Gareyev. The conference participants - members of the Academy of Military Sciences, senior officials of the Russian Defense Ministry, representatives of the Presidential Administration, the State Duma and the Federation Council, as well as leading scientists of the Russian Academy of Sciences, universities and research organizations of the military department - discussed the nature of future wars, armed conflicts and actual problems in the field of defense.

A report on the main directions of the development of military strategy and the tasks of military science was made by the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - First Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia, Army General Valery Gerasimov. His report, we bring to the attention of readers.


In modern conditions was the development of the principle of waging war on the basis of the coordinated use of military and non-military measures, with the decisive role of the Armed Forces

Transformation military threats

- Traditionally, the annual conference of the Academy of Military Sciences, is a platform for exchange of views of military experts on the most pressing and topical issues of military science. The results of the conference essentially determine the future directions of its development, as a result of which they are always widely discussed both in Russia and abroad.

This year we are considering the development of military strategy in modern conditions.

Military strategy as a science "... the art of driving troops" originated at the beginning of the last century and developed based on the study of the experience of wars. In general, the strategy is "... a system of knowledge and action for the prevention, preparation and conduct of war."

At present, wars are expanding and their contents are significantly changing. The number of subjects involved in the armed struggle is increasing. Along with the armed forces of sovereign states, various gangs, private military companies and self-proclaimed "quasi-states" are fighting.

The means of economic, political, diplomatic, informational pressure, as well as the demonstration of military power in the interests of enhancing the effectiveness of non-military measures are being actively used. Military force is used when it is not possible to achieve the goals set by non-military methods.

Meanwhile, Russia's geopolitical rivals do not hide the fact that they are going to achieve political goals not only during local conflicts. They are preparing to wage wars against a “high-tech adversary” using high-precision weapons from the air, sea and from space, with active information warfare.

Under these conditions, our Armed Forces must be ready to conduct wars and armed conflicts of a new type using classical and asymmetric methods of action. Therefore, the search for rational strategies for waging war with various adversaries is of paramount importance for the development of the theory and practice of military strategy.

We need to clarify the essence and content of military strategy, the principles of preventing war, preparing for war and its conduct. It is necessary to further develop the forms and methods of using the Armed Forces, primarily in strategic deterrence, as well as improve the organization of state defense.

The evolution of the main strategic concepts

In the course of its development, the military strategy went through several stages of evolution - from the "strategy of crushing" and the "strategy of dying" to the strategies of "global war", "nuclear deterrence" and "indirect actions".

The United States and its allies have defined the aggressive vector of their foreign policy. They are developing offensive military actions, such as “global strike”, “multi-sphere battle”, using the technology of “color revolutions” and “soft power”.

Their goal is the elimination of the statehood of unwanted countries, the undermining of sovereignty, the change of lawfully elected bodies of state power. So it was in Iraq, in Libya and in Ukraine. Currently, similar actions are observed in Venezuela.

The Pentagon has begun to develop a fundamentally new strategy of warfare, which has already been dubbed the "Trojan Horse".

Its essence lies in the active use of the “protest potential of the fifth column” in the interests of destabilizing the situation while simultaneously attacking the WTO on the most important objects.

I would like to note that the Russian Federation is ready to oppose any of these strategies. In recent years, military scientists, together with the General Staff, have developed conceptual approaches to neutralize the aggressive actions of potential adversaries.

The basis of "our response" is the "active defense strategy", which, given the defensive nature of the Russian Military Doctrine, provides for a set of measures to proactively neutralize threats to the security of the state.

It is the justification of the measures being developed that should constitute the scientific activities of military scientists. This is one of the priority areas of state security. We must be ahead of the enemy in the development of military strategy, go "one step ahead".

In Syria, for the first time, a new form of the use of formations of the Armed Forces was developed and tested in practice - a humanitarian operation.

Unity of theory and practice

The development of strategy as a science should cover two areas. This is the development of a system of knowledge about war and the improvement of practical activities for the prevention of war, preparation for it and its conduct.

The area of ​​military strategy research is the armed struggle, its strategic level. With the emergence of new areas of confrontation in modern conflicts, the methods of struggle are increasingly shifting towards the integrated use of political, economic, informational and other non-military measures implemented with reliance on military force.

Still, the main content of military strategy is made up of the issues of preparation for war and its conduct, primarily by the Armed Forces. Yes, we take into account all other non-military measures that affect the course and outcome of the war, provide and create the conditions for the effective use of military force. At the same time, it should be understood that the confrontation in other areas represents separate areas of activity with its “strategies”, ways of action and corresponding resources. In the interest of achieving a common goal, we must coordinate them, rather than direct them.

The strategy should be engaged in predicting the nature of future wars, developing new “strategies” for their conduct, preparing the state and the Armed Forces as a whole for war. In this regard, it is necessary to update the list of research tasks, complementing them with new areas of scientific activity.

Of course, the work in these areas of military strategy should be headed by the Military Academy of the General Staff, together with the Academy of Military Sciences.

For more effective study of issues, it is necessary to involve all scientific organizations of the Ministry of Defense, the scientific potential of interested federal executive bodies. As practice shows, problematic issues should be discussed at scientific conferences, considered during round tables.
Only in this case will they bring new results in the field of the theory and practice of military strategy.

Principles of prevention, preparation and conduct of war

With the changing nature of war and the conditions of its preparation and conduct, some principles of strategy cease to apply, others are filled with new content.

The principle of preventing war is to anticipate the development of the politico-military and strategic situation in the interests of the timely identification of military dangers and threats and the timely response to them.

The principles of advance preparation of the state for war are ensured by constant high combat and mobilization readiness of the armed forces, as well as the creation and maintenance of strategic reserves and reserves.

In modern conditions, the principle of warfare has evolved based on the coordinated use of military and non-military measures with the decisive role of the Armed Forces.

The principle of achieving surprise, decisiveness and continuity of strategic actions is still relevant.

Acting quickly, we must preempt the enemy with our preventive measures, promptly identify its vulnerabilities and create threats of unacceptable damage to it. This ensures that the strategic initiative is captured and held.

Work on clarifying the existing and justifying new principles should continue with the consolidation of the efforts of the entire scientific community. It is necessary to formulate principles of a general universal character and principles of action with reference to a concretely evolving situation.

Such are the main directions of development of the theoretical positions of military strategy. However, as the great Russian commander Alexander Vasilievich Suvorov said: “The theory without practice is dead ...”, which is why it is impossible to imagine the practical activity of a military strategy without its scientific substantiation.

Forecast Scenario System

The fundamental basis for the practical activity of the strategy is the creation of a system for the study of forecast scenarios for the unleashing and management of military conflicts. It is a reasonable forecast of scenarios of possible conflicts that serves as the initial data for the development of forms and methods of using the Armed Forces. At present, a rational system of forms for using the Armed Forces, in which strategic deterrence is an important part, has been theoretically worked out and practically confirmed.

Today, Washington continues the policy of expanding the system of military presence directly at the borders of Russia, the destruction of the system of contractual relations on arms limitation and reduction, which leads to a violation of strategic stability. So, in 2002, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Defense Systems.

Their next step after a demonstrative suspension of participation in the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles may be the refusal to extend the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty-3.

Recently, the Pentagon has repeatedly declared its intention to use outer space for military purposes. For this, a new branch of the military is being formed - space troops, which creates prerequisites for the militarization of outer space.

Ultimately, all these actions can lead to a sharp exacerbation of the military-political situation, the emergence of military threats, to which we will have to respond with mirror and asymmetric measures.

Military science needs to develop and justify a system of complex destruction of the enemy.

Strategic deterrence measures

As a result, the urgent task of developing a military strategy is to justify and improve nuclear and non-nuclear deterrence measures. Any potential aggressor must understand that any form of pressure on Russia and its allies is hopeless.

Our answer is not long in coming. For this purpose, modern models of weapons, including fundamentally new types of weapons, are being commissioned and deployed.

Began mass production of new types of weapons and equipment of the Armed Forces. Avangard, Sarmat, the newest weapon Peresvet and Dagger have shown their high efficiency, they successfully pass tests of the Poseidon and Burevestnik complexes. There is a planned work on the creation of a sea-based hypersonic zircon rocket.

There is no doubt that we are confidently leading in this area compared to the technologically advanced countries of the world.

Thus, it was decided to conduct scientific and design work on the development of ground-based complexes of hypersonic medium and shorter-range missiles.

The creation of new types of weapons will not drag Russia into a new arms race. A sufficient number of new complexes to contain will be created within the framework of the planned military budget.

The policy pursued by our western partners forces us to “respond to the threat of creating a threat”, plan in the future for strikes against decision-making centers, as well as launchers that allow for the operational use of cruise missiles at facilities in Russia.

Military scientists should step up research on the search for and introduction of new methods of using advanced weapons, as well as substantiating the forms of counteraction to possible military actions of a potential enemy in space and from space.

"Strategy for limited action" outside of Russia

Syrian experience has an important role in the development of the strategy. Its generalization and implementation allowed us to single out a new practical area - the fulfillment of tasks for the protection and promotion of national interests outside the territory of Russia within the framework of the “strategy of limited actions”.

The basis for the implementation of this strategy is the creation of a self-sufficient group of troops (forces) based on the formations of one of the branches of the Armed Forces, which has high mobility and is able to make the greatest contribution to the solution of the tasks. In Syria, this role is assigned to the formations of the Aerospace Forces.

The most important conditions for the implementation of this strategy is the conquest and retention of information superiority, which is ahead of the readiness of management systems and all-round support, as well as the covert deployment of the necessary grouping.

We got a rationale for new methods of action of troops during the operation. The role of the military strategy was to plan and coordinate joint military and non-military actions of the Russian group of troops (forces) and formations of the armed forces of the interested states, militarized structures of the countries participating in the conflict.

Received post-conflict settlement. In Syria, for the first time, a new form of the use of formations of the Armed Forces was developed and tested in practice - a humanitarian operation. In Aleppo and East Guta, in a short time, it was necessary to plan and carry out measures to remove the civilian population from the conflict zone simultaneously with the execution of combat tasks to defeat the terrorists.

The results achieved in Syria made it possible to identify relevant areas of research on the use of the Armed Forces in the course of fulfilling the tasks of protecting and advancing national interests outside the national territory.

Forms of use of groups of troops (forces) in the framework of the "strategy of limited action"

One of the directions of strategy development is associated with the creation and development of a unified system of integrated forces and means of reconnaissance, destruction and command of troops and weapons on the basis of modern information and telecommunication technologies.

It is designed to detect, issue target designation and deliver selective strikes on critical objects in a time scale close to real, strategic and operational-tactical non-nuclear weapons. In the future, military science must develop and justify a system of complex destruction of the enemy.

The next direction is connected with the large-scale use of military robotic complexes, primarily unmanned aerial vehicles, to increase the efficiency of solving a wide range of tasks.

Another direction was the creation of a system to counter the use of unmanned aerial vehicles and precision weapons. Here the decisive role was played by the forces and means of electronic warfare, which provided the opportunity for selective influence, based on the type of object, its structure, time criticality.

The task of military science in this area consists primarily in the scientific elaboration of the issues of creating a strategic system for countering unmanned aerial vehicles in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and substantiating promising strategic electronic warfare systems and integrating them into a single system.

I would stress that digital technologies, robotization, unmanned systems, EW - all this should be on the agenda of the development of military science, including military strategy.

Interaction of the components of the state’s military organization

One of the characteristic features of modern military conflicts is the destabilization of the internal security of the state by the conduct of sabotage and terrorist activities by the enemy.

That is why the elaboration and improvement of the territorial defense system, its structure, ways of building, substantiating the complex of measures for its constant readiness is an important direction in the development of military strategy and the task of military science.

At present, we have a lot to do to implement measures of a military and non-military nature carried out by ministries and departments in the interests of state defense. At the same time, it is necessary to continue the elaboration of issues of coordination of actions of the federal executive bodies, the distribution of their powers, and the management of territorial defense tasks during an escalation of the military threat and in the event of crisis situations.

Particularly relevant is the rationale for creating an integrated system to protect critical infrastructure of the state from exposure in all areas during the immediate threat of aggression, when the enemy will seek to destabilize the situation, create an atmosphere of chaos and uncontrollability.

This question is new in the theory and practice of military strategy and is subject to comprehensive scientific study. The result of the work should be theoretical positions, and in practice the developed system of joint use of multi-departmental forces and means to ensure integrated security.

Confrontation in the Information Sphere

Until recently, military science investigated the use of the Armed Forces in the traditional areas of warfare - on land, in the air and at sea.
An analysis of the nature of modern wars has shown a significant increase in the importance of such an area of ​​confrontation as the information one. A new reality of future wars will consist in the transfer of military actions in this particular sphere. At the same time, information technologies are becoming, in fact, one of the most promising types of weapons.

The information sphere, without having clearly defined national borders, provides opportunities for remote, covert influence not only on critical information infrastructures, but also on the population of the country, directly affecting the state’s national security.

That is why the study of issues of preparation and conduct of informational actions is the most important task of military science.

Digital technologies, robotization, unmanned systems, electronic warfare - all this should be on the agenda of military science development, including military strategy

Increasing the combat power of the Armed Forces of the Russian

Federation It is determined by the size and composition of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, their staffing and technical equipment, moral and psychological condition, level of training, combat readiness and combat capability of troops and forces.

At present, a program is being planned for the recruitment of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to contract servicemen. By the end of 2025, their number will reach 475,000 troops. At the same time the need for conscription of citizens for military service will be reduced.

Today the officer corps of the Armed Forces is staffed with trained professional personnel. All military commanders of military districts, combined arms, air force and air defense units, as well as 96 percent of the commanders of combined-arms units and formations, have combat experience.

All types and types of troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are developing in a balanced manner, being timely equipped with modern types of weapons. The nuclear triad, which plays a key role in preserving strategic parity, has noticeably strengthened. The share of modern weapons of our nuclear component has reached 82 percent.

The level of operational and combat training of troops and military command bodies has noticeably increased. Their capabilities change dramatically.

Sudden readiness checks confirmed the ability of troops and forces to promptly redeploy formations and units over long distances, to reinforce groups in strategic areas.

Traditionally, an important direction is the improvement of the system of ideological, moral and psychological stability of the population, and first of all, the military. It was for this purpose that the system of military-political work was recreated in the Armed Forces.

The interaction of the Ministry of Defense with the defense industry

An important direction in the development of military strategy and the task of military science is the search for new approaches to the development of links between military strategy and the economy. In the interests of preparing the country's economy for solving defense tasks, the strategy is designed to answer the following questions. For what possible war and in what directions to prepare the economy? How to ensure its vitality, stability? How is it more expedient to place the objects of the economy taking into account their protection?

The thesis of the classic of the national military strategy of the brigade commander Alexander Svechin “The economy will be able to subjugate the nature of military actions”, expressed by him almost 100 years ago, became an objective reality.

I will note that at present, much has been done by the joint efforts of the Ministry of Defense and the military-industrial complex. First of all, an effective interaction system was built.

Based on the analysis of the experience of military operations, research organizations participate in the formation of requirements for armaments and control their implementation at all stages of development, from the draft to the state tests.

Thus, military science on the basis of the forecast vision of future wars determines what should be the promising models of weapons and military equipment. At the same time, military scientists are proactively conducting research to justify the forms and methods for their use.

The complexity of modern weapons is such that it is unlikely to be able to adjust its production in a short time with the start of hostilities. Therefore, everything necessary must be issued in the required quantity and enter the troops in peacetime. We must by all means ensure technical, technological, and organizational superiority over any potential adversary.

This requirement should be the key when setting targets and before the defense industry to develop new types of weapons. This will allow enterprises to conduct long-term planning, and scientific organizations will receive guidelines for the development of basic and applied research in military science.

The main tasks of military science and their solutions

The main thing today for military science is that it is ahead of time in practice, continuous, purposeful research to determine the possible nature of military conflicts, to develop a system of forms and methods of actions, both military and non-military, to determine the development directions of weapons systems and military equipment.

It is extremely important to promptly introduce the results of fundamental and applied research into the practice of the troops.

The solution of these tasks is entrusted primarily to the military-scientific complex of the Armed Forces. In recent years, the military-scientific complex has achieved some success. Thus, as part of the research work assigned by the General Staff, an initial data system was prepared for military planning for the next medium term period (for 2021-2025). It is the basis for the refinement and development of documents of the National Defense Plan for the new period.

Our military science has always been distinguished by the ability to see and reveal problems at the stage of their appearance, the ability to quickly work them out and find solutions.


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