Russian Military Reform

11th Army Corps formed to command ground troops in the Kaliningrad region.

franco wrote:28th Motor Rifle Brigade starts transferring to Bryansk region from Yekaterinburg. Rumors have been that the 4 new divisions being formed are all being built around 4 regular brigades already in service.

- 28th Brigade in Bryansk and Smolensk regions to make some unnamed as of yet division.
- 9th Brigade in Voronezh and Belgorod regions to form either the 10th or 1st Division
- 136th Motor Rifle or 33rd Mountain brigade to Rostov region to form the 150th Division. If it is the 136th, the 33rd transfers to Buynaksk to replace it in Dagestan.
- 7th Tank brigade to form unnamed division in Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk regions. The 201st Military base in Tajikistan will be downsized to a Motor Rifle brigade so that would free up a Motor Rifle Regiment for this force.

Further rumors out there in regards to these changes;
- talk was between the 28th or the 23rd brigade transferring west from the Central Military District. Apparently the 23rd may also still come West, either for the 10th or perhaps the 150th division.
- yet to be named division in Smolensk / Bryansk may be the 144th division.
- the 32nd brigade may transfer from Western Siberia to the Ural / Volga area to replace the missing 23rd / 28th brigades. Of course, then why transfer 2 brigades when you only need to transfer 1 brigade.

EDIT: 10,000 new military contract personnel are scheduled to be added in the Western Military District this year. Suspect most will be utilized in forming the new divisions.

Last was reported that there were 535 military bases. Take it from this article that total may be up to 602.

http://function.mil.ru/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12088903@egNews

I just saw photos on sdelanounas of a new base being built:
http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&ie=UTF8&rurl=translate.google.com&tl=en&u=http://sdelanounas.ru/blogs/79718/&usg=ALkJrhicWXZ_Caoo3dm53zZfb4JLw6K3NQ

New division to be deployed near Russia's Smolensk by mid-2017 — source

The new motorized rifle division that is being created in the Smolensk region will be part of the 1st Guards Tank Army

MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/. Russia’s motorized rifle division that is being created in the Smolensk region and that will be part of the 1st Guards Tank Army will be finally deployed by the middle of 2017, a source in the Russian General Staff told TASS on Tuesday.

"The General Staff with the approval of the defense minister has made the final decision that the new Yelnya Motorized Rifle Division along with the Tamanskaya Motorized Rifle and Kantemirovskaya Tank Division will be part of the 1st Guards Tank Army," the source said.

"The formation of the division in the Smolensk region began much later than the formation of similar forces in the Voronezh and Rostov regions, so the completion of its recruitment and construction of infrastructure facilities is planned not for December this year, but for the end of the first half of next year", he said.

The source said that the number of personnel of the division with the headquarters in Yelnya will be around 10,000 men. According to him, the new formation will comprise three motorized rifle regimens and one armored regiment, a self-propelled artillery regiment and an anti-aircraft missile regiment, as well as support units.

The division in the Smolensk region is one of three new bodies of troops the formation of which was previously announced by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. This spring, chief of the Main Operations Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff Sergei Rudskoy said that that the military had not yet decided to which force the Yelnya division will be assigned.


More:
http://tass.ru/en/defense/886421

Elements of the new 10th Tank division engaged in field maneuvers, these ones appear to be the 9th motor rifle brigade;

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2036248.html

Second Wind "Black Knife"

I'll start with history. 10th Guards Tank Ural-Lvov Order of the October Revolution, Red Banner, Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov volunteer division named after Marshal Malinovsky.
Ural (Ural-Lvov) Guards Volunteer Tank Corps was formed in 1943 and is equipped with weapons and equipment, made the workers of the Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk and Perm regions unpaid work over the plan and on voluntary contributions.
It is this body received the Germans nickname "Black knives." Knives HP 40 black workers Zlatoust plant of armed fighters from general to private.
The first fight of the housing adopted July 27, 1943 in the second phase of the Battle of Kursk. Almost three months after entering into the battle order of the People's Commissar of Defence of the USSR № 306 from October 26, 1943 30th Urals Volunteer Tank Corps was transformed into the 10th Guards Ural Volunteer Tank Corps. All parts of the body has been given the name of the Guards. November 18, 1943 housing units and formations in a solemn atmosphere handed Guards banners.
Panzer Corps included in the 4th (from March 1945 Guards Tank Army). He finished the war in Prague. In autumn 1945, the building was renamed the 10th Guards Ural-Lvov armored division.
After the Great Patriotic War, the division is a member of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSVG, WGF). Included in the 3rd Field of the Red Army.
Then there was the withdrawal of the division of Germany back to their homeland. And then it began the process of the collapse of the division, almost thrown into the field Bogucharsky area. It was a lot of material about the conditions in which people were after Germany. But, nevertheless, the division continued to perform any task assigned to it.
In 2001 she took part in the fighting in the North Caucasus.
And in 2009, the division was disbanded and its base was formed by 226 Guards weapons storage base and technology (Tank).
In fact, from a tank division remained regiment guarding and maintenance techniques - both imported from Germany and available at the time of withdrawal in Boguchar.
In general, sadly, when disbanded so famous and glorious part.

But in 2015 an event occurred which caused a rather strong response in many places, including outside our country. The division has been restored as a separate tank brigade of the 20th Army. And in 2016 it was added to the 9th Vislenskaya Red Banner Order of Alexander Suvorov and Mikhail Kutuzov II Degree separate motorized rifle brigade.
I have long wanted to visit in Boguchar, specifically, it was there, behind the fence part. And see how the situation is today, and that in the "Black Knife". And now, thanks to the assistance of the press service ZVO, happened.
I must say against those who will look carefully at the photo and video. It was not the teachings, which are a kind of a final stage of preparation. It was absolutely planned field studies. They teach children who have been called 3 months ago. And, a month they were in the MPC and then relocated out of Nizhny Novgorod in Boguchar.

To be honest, at first, by looking at how motopehi fulfill the job, I shrugged. And never known better, to be honest. But then, including soobrazhalku, came up with a question to the battalion commander, and asked, and how much, in fact, the life-then men? And everything fell into place.
80% of staff - recruits. The rest - contractors. By the way, according to the observations, a very strong non-commissioned officers. Senior officers also believe so. But the contract sergeants great. I liked the level of training, and the ability to work with young. I am sure that no one in my team did not argue when I say that the non-commissioned officers are much more junior officers. I asked.
Senior officers (from the major and above) - the real freaks. Of course, after hitting the "merchant capital" of Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, in Boguchar is, of course, the more intelligent shock. Boguchar, he is such a peculiar-looking. Still, the regional center, and tiny. But then, how the senior officers to subordinates, I really enjoyed it. This is especially noticeable when the muzzle correspondent in camouflage disappears from sight, oshivayas in the bushes. But to hear it.

Classes consist of several parts. First, the drivers ran in the new landfill site. Really new, a training teams have identified 50 square kilometers. However, after a night of rain, these kilometers from the landfill turned into a swamp, we are quite experienced in my own skin. More specifically, the legs.

What is there to sum up what conclusions? Conclusion In principle, only one. In the not very pleasant direction (up to 60 km in Ukraine), really reborn Division. Yes, it is two brigades, tank and motorized infantry, but ... It's two teams. Instead regiment guarding the corn and served as a scarecrow for local recruits.
And with such a glorious past, with the officers and sergeants, believes the division will be able to become one of the best in the county. I'd like that.

We hope that after a while will be able to visit again Boguchar and become more familiar with everything happening in the brigades.

Article with many photos at Topwar.ru

So basically appears the 10th Tank division is into it's last training stages and will be fully operational soon. It appears to be a two brigade / regiment force, one Tank (probably the 1st) and one Motor Rifle (the 9th). If the structure continues as the 2nd and 4th Divisions will also include an artillery regiment with other support units.

Important to note is what is in this article:

Russian defense minister hails improvement of air defense system

Russia forms 13 divisions and brigades

According to the minister, Russia formed 13 divisions and brigades and 22 regiments in Southern Military District over 3 years.

"Over 200 organizational structure measures have been carried out in the Southern Military District since 2013 to boost the troops’ combat capabilities," Shoigu said at the ministry’s board meeting.

"Four divisions, nine brigades and 22 regiments have been established, including two missile brigades armed with Iskander-M tactical missile systems that have helped build up the firepower capabilities for destroying a notional enemy, the minister said.

The number of contract servicemen has increased almost twofold. The Southern Military District has received over 4,000 new and modernized pieces of the armor, including Bastion and Bal coastal defense missile systems, as well as submarines and combat ships armed with Kalibr missiles, the defense minister said.

A self-sufficient grouping has been established on the Crimean peninsula, Shoigu said.

According to the Russian defense minister, the reinforcements have been prompted by the aggravation of the military and political situation in the south-western strategic direction.

"This is linked with the build-up of NATO’s military presence in Eastern Europe, the situation in Ukraine and the activity of international terrorist groupings, including in the North Caucasus," the defense minister said, adding that in these conditions Russia was forced "to take adequate measures."

The Russian defense minister said earlier that the Defense Ministry was compelled to respond to the build-up of NATO’s military potential in Europe, including through the formation of three new divisions in the Western and Southern Military Districts.

According to Shoigu, more than 2,000 items of new and modernized combat hardware will arrive for the Western Military District in 2016 alone.

With the operational arrival of the 10th Division, this makes half of the planned deployment of six divisions for the Russian Ground Forces. These divisions so far are just a double brigade or half what an old Red Army division was. In fact there is only 1 SP artillery battalion more then the present Russian SV brigades for artillery support and 2 companies each of reconnaissance and engineers along with other service troops. The major increase is in combat battalions over the present brigade structure of 3 + 1 battalions (ratio depending on motor rifle or tank). The new 2-regiment divisions are so far equipped with:

2nd Motor Rifle division - 6 Motor Rifle and 3 Tank battalions

4th Tank division - 6 Tank and 2 Motor Rifle battalions

10th Tank division - 4 Tank and 4 Motor Rifle battalions

Would suspect the two new Motor Rifle divisions at Yelnya and Novocherkassk will resemble the 2nd Motor Rifle and the new Tank division at Chebarkul that of the 10th Tank division.

franco wrote:With the operational arrival of the 10th Division, this makes half of the planned deployment of six divisions for the Russian Ground Forces. These divisions so far are just a double brigade or half what an old Red Army division was. In fact there is only 1 SP artillery battalion more then the present Russian SV brigades for artillery support and 2 companies each of reconnaissance and engineers along with other service troops. The major increase is in combat battalions over the present brigade structure of 3 + 1 battalions (ratio depending on motor rifle or tank). The new 2-regiment divisions are so far equipped with:

2nd Motor Rifle division - 6 Motor Rifle and 3 Tank battalions

4th Tank division - 6 Tank and 2 Motor Rifle battalions

10th Tank division - 4 Tank and 4 Motor Rifle battalions

Would suspect the two new Motor Rifle divisions at Yelnya and Novocherkassk will resemble the 2nd Motor Rifle and the new Tank division at Chebarkul that of the 10th Tank division.

Just a simple question, where is the 10th Tank Division stationed at?

HQ in Boguchar

sepheronx wrote:Important to note is what is in this article:

Russian defense minister hails improvement of air defense system

Russia forms 13 divisions and brigades

According to the minister, Russia formed 13 divisions and brigades and 22 regiments in Southern Military District over 3 years.

"Over 200 organizational structure measures have been carried out in the Southern Military District since 2013 to boost the troops’ combat capabilities," Shoigu said at the ministry’s board meeting.

"Four divisions, nine brigades and 22 regiments have been established, including two missile brigades armed with Iskander-M tactical missile systems that have helped build up the firepower capabilities for destroying a notional enemy, the minister said.

The number of contract servicemen has increased almost twofold. The Southern Military District has received over 4,000 new and modernized pieces of the armor, including Bastion and Bal coastal defense missile systems, as well as submarines and combat ships armed with Kalibr missiles, the defense minister said.

A self-sufficient grouping has been established on the Crimean peninsula, Shoigu said.

According to the Russian defense minister, the reinforcements have been prompted by the aggravation of the military and political situation in the south-western strategic direction.

"This is linked with the build-up of NATO’s military presence in Eastern Europe, the situation in Ukraine and the activity of international terrorist groupings, including in the North Caucasus," the defense minister said, adding that in these conditions Russia was forced "to take adequate measures."

The Russian defense minister said earlier that the Defense Ministry was compelled to respond to the build-up of NATO’s military potential in Europe, including through the formation of three new divisions in the Western and Southern Military Districts.

According to Shoigu, more than 2,000 items of new and modernized combat hardware will arrive for the Western Military District in 2016 alone.

Have found the 4 divisions and the 9 brigades but only 20 of the 22 regiments. Perhaps the 100th Air Defense regiment in Abkhazia and maybe the Airbase in Erbuni has been changed to a Regiment?

EDIT: got it. The last two would be the 2 Black Sea Naval Aviation Regiments reverting to their previous separate status instead of the joint airbase command created under Serdyukov.

Serviceability

On August 1, Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu conducted a teleconference during which he addressed the serviceability (исправность) of Russia’s weapons and military equipment. Serviceability is pretty synonymous with “in service,” “good condition,” “operability,” or “equipment operational readiness.”

Shoygu reported that the Russian military has achieved the following serviceability rates:

63 percent for Aerospace Forces (VKS) aircraft;
96 percent for air and missile defense systems;
98 percent for space systems;
76 percent for the Navy;
94 percent for armored units;
93 percent for artillery units.

Shoygu claimed that the military has devoted attention to obtaining higher quality weapons systems and to supporting their serviceability in the future. He attributed high equipment availability to the shift to “full life cycle” maintenance contracts. He said the MOD has worked with producers and developers to find problems that occur during use and work out measures to prevent them in the future.

In 2014, Shoygu reported that the overall serviceability of Russian arms and equipment improved from 80 to 85 percent.

In late 2013, Kommersant reported that the serviceability rate of aircraft in the air forces (VVS) was below 50 percent. “Permanent readiness” requires 80 percent operational availability.

The MOD Action Plan (2013) specifies that equipment in-service rates for the ground troops and navy should be 85 percent and 80 percent for aircraft by 2020.

The U.S. military goal is 90 percent for all equipment except aircraft, which is 75 percent. But actual serviceability varies widely depending on a unit’s training and operational tempo. Recovery time might actually be more critical.

The Canadian Army recently assessed its major vehicle and equipment fleet serviceability at 60 percent, which apparently didn’t make it too happy.

I take it the VKS serviceability being low due to MiG-29's and older transporters?

sepheronx wrote:I take it the VKS serviceability being low due to MiG-29's and older transporters?

Aircraft would always be lower due to high maintenance. Note the US strives for 75%.

This rate is up from about 50% a few years ago and comparable at USAF rate of about 65-70%.

franco wrote:Serviceability

On August 1, Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu conducted a teleconference during which he addressed the serviceability (исправность) of Russia’s weapons and military equipment. Serviceability is pretty synonymous with “in service,” “good condition,” “operability,” or “equipment operational readiness.”

Shoygu reported that the Russian military has achieved the following serviceability rates:

   63 percent for Aerospace Forces (VKS) aircraft;
   96 percent for air and missile defense systems;
   98 percent for space systems;
   76 percent for the Navy;
   94 percent for armored units;
   93 percent for artillery units.

Shoygu claimed that the military has devoted attention to obtaining higher quality weapons systems and to supporting their serviceability in the future.  He attributed high equipment availability to the shift to “full life cycle” maintenance contracts.  He said the MOD has worked with producers and developers to find problems that occur during use and work out measures to prevent them in the future.

In 2014, Shoygu reported that the overall serviceability of Russian arms and equipment improved from 80 to 85 percent.

In late 2013, Kommersant reported that the serviceability rate of aircraft in the air forces (VVS) was below 50 percent.  “Permanent readiness” requires 80 percent operational availability.

The MOD Action Plan (2013) specifies that equipment in-service rates for the ground troops and navy should be 85 percent and 80 percent for aircraft by 2020.

The U.S. military goal is 90 percent for all equipment except aircraft, which is 75 percent. But actual serviceability varies widely depending on a unit’s training and operational tempo.  Recovery time might actually be more critical.

The Canadian Army recently assessed its major vehicle and equipment fleet serviceability at 60 percent, which apparently didn’t make it too happy.

Also these data reflect clearly the recent process of decommissions in armoured vehicles and artillery. With these numbers it is obvious that Russia cleaned almost all (if not all) the oldest stuff.

EDIT: Moved to Politics of Russia Thread

I take it the VKS serviceability being low due to MiG-29's

There are few MiG-29's in service nowadays actually. It seems strange, but most part of VVS fighter forces are equipped with "heavy" Su-27/30/35 rather than 'light' MiG-29, which is intended to be a cost-effective mass-produced aircraft. Currently waiting for MiG-35 purchases

But how many are actually still supposed to be in service?

The new Motor Rifle Regiment at Klintsy will be the 488th and more claims the new division will indeed be the 144th Motor Rifle Division. No word yet of what the second regiment stationed at Yelnya will be called. The division is being formed on present units from the 28th Motor Rifle Brigade (being transferred from Yekaterinburg) and newly formed ones. Operational status is scheduled for mid 2017.

Some changes to the Rear Services announced recently.

- 100th Logistic Regiment operational just outside Moscow. A highly mobile unit able to provide logistic support to both civilians and military under emergency conditions across the country.
- banner issued to the 10th Repair and Recovery Regiment in the Southern Military Region. One of 4 (1 per Military Region) being formed to provide field maintenance.

MOSCOW, Aug. 27 -. RIA Novosti Division territorial forces will be formed for the first time in Russia during a sudden inspection of the Armed Forces, said the Department of Information and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation Ministry of Defense.

"In the event of sudden inspection of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the framework of an experiment to create a new mobilization of human resources training and accumulation system of several units of the territorial forces will be formed for the first time", - said in a statement.

Training is conducted on the reserve military training camp where they improve their military knowledge and skills in the practical performance of official duties, the application of standard weapons and military equipment in modern combat, as well as actions in the composition department. The officers will enhance their skills in leadership personnel in the course of combat training missions. The Defense Ministry stressed that military training has already started in a number of associations, formations and organizations of the Armed Forces.

After military training units of the territorial forces, staffed by reservists will take part in practical activities of the strategic exercises "Caucasus-2016", added the press service of the Defense Ministry.

In accordance with the presidential decree carried out an experiment to introduce a new system of training and accumulation of mobilization of human resources. The new system provides a part of the stock selection mobilization manpower. This includes in the reserve Citizens who have signed a contract to stay in reserve in a particular military unit for a particular military post. During the stay of citizens in the mobilization of manpower and military training they provided appropriate payments.

NOTE: Finally some active reserve units  

The new Tank Division being formed at Chebarkul will be called the 90th Guards Tank Division. It will include the units of the present 7th Tank brigade plus others possibly from the 201st Military base which is being converted into a standard Motor Rifle brigade. Effective date is December 1st.

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2121487.html

The new base at Boguchar for the 10th Guards Tank division.

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2121825.html