ABSTRACT
Reinforcing the combat potential of Russia’s land forces is a central component of Moscow’s military reform programme. The equipment, organisational structures and doctrine of the various unit types that make up Russia’s land forces are being upgraded to better meet the requirements of modern warfare and to provide the muscle behind Russian foreign policy. Russia’s airborne troops — the separate branch of the armed forces directly subordinated to the General Staff — are the Supreme Commander’s ultimate reserve for decisive response in rapidly changing operational situations. Russian reconnaissance units are, better understood as a crossbreed between the US Army’s reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition and long-range surveillance elements in doctrinal terms. The conflict in eastern Ukraine, and Russia’s intervention in the Syrian civil war, have proved to the Russian military leadership the vital role of artillery in modern warfare.
