US Bid to ‘Strategically Weaken’ Russia Backfired, Creating Army Adapted for Postindustrial Warfare
© AP Photo / Alexander Zemlianichenko
Tuesday is the 32nd anniversary of Russia’s modern Armed Forces. NATO may have planned otherwise, but the crisis has served to forge an effective, battle-tested fighting force – one uniquely prepared for the postindustrial warfare of the future, US and Russian military experts have told Sputnik.
May 7 marks Russian Armed Forces Day, with the holiday sandwiched in among a busy schedule of major events and holidays which Russians have been celebrating since last week, from May Day and Easter to the presidential inauguration and Victory Day.
A quote once attributed to 19th century Russian Czar Alexander III holds that “Russia has only two allies: its army and its fleet.”
Whether or not the czar actually uttered these words is a matter of historical debate, but what is clear is that the sentiments expressed in the quote remain as relevant today as they did 130+ years ago, with one important addendum.
“The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation benefit from both a massive military-industrial base capable of producing large quantities of arms and ammunition including highly capable advanced weapons, and a large professional fighting force. Backed by a significant nuclear deterrent, the Russian military is designed and demonstrably capable of defending what is the largest nation by land area in the world,” says military and international affairs analyst and US Marine Corps vet Brian Berletic.
“Russia’s political leadership has ensured that the military-industrial base and the fighting forces it arms and equips exists to underwrite the nation’s national defense rather than serve as an opportunity for private enterprise to enrich itself either through the procurement process and/or through military-backed expansionism overseas. These are the key factors that distinguish the Russian military from its Western counterparts and is why amid Washington’s proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, Russia has so far successfully outmatched the collective wealth, resources, and military power of the West,” Berletic told Sputnik.
The correctness of Russia’s strategy has been demonstrated over the course of the proxy war in Ukraine, the observer believes, noting that while Washington and its allies spent the post-Cold War period optimizing themselves for “small wars” against weaker countries, Russia “continued preparing for large scale, protracted, intense warfare against either NATO itself or potential proxies along its peripheries.”
Berletic stressed that throughout the Ukrainian conflict, Russia’s defense sector has proven able to expand and adapt more quickly than its Western counterparts to the needs of the front, and to produce weapons in greater quantities and at lower cost. The same can be said of Russia’s focus on electronic warfare and air defenses, according to the observer, with NATO “neglecting” these capabilities for decades and ending up “years behind Russia in both quality and quantity.”
“Artillery, air defenses, drones, glide bombs, armor, cruise and ballistic missiles and electronic warfare have been decisive throughout the Special Military Operation and provide Russian forces with a significant advantage over US-NATO forces,” Berletic said, noting that the NATO systems delivered to Ukraine have proven insufficient to overwhelm Russian defenses, and that it’s been impossible to adequately protect them against Russia’s quantitative advantage in weaponry and munitions.
Berletic recalled that during the Second World War, the USSR was able to achieve victory over Nazi Germany in large measure due to its ability to out produce the Nazis “across every metric.” And although the scale, circumstances and conditions of today’s conflict with NATO may differ, Russia is once again “confronting foreign aggression along its borders with a massive military industrial base able to out produce its adversaries,” the American soldier said.
