More on Obsolete Russian Army Problems

The post-mortem on the disastrous Russian invasion and ethnic cleansing of Georgia has just begun, but the Russian army is starting to look sicker and sicker as more is learned.

It turns out that Russian electronic countermeasures systems are unable to jam and suppress enemy surface-to-air missiles and reconnaissance systems, radars and UHV communications and troop-control networks.

This is rather disturbing, especially as the Georgian army lacked modern systems. As a result, the 58th Army sustained unnecessary casualties and also lost more combat equipment than it should have.

The Russian tank force has been suffering from major problems for a long time. The North Caucasian Military District, for instance, still operates T-72 Main Battle Tanks without night sights. But not even the more sophisticated T-80-U and T-90 have such sights, either.

Moreover, their explosive-reactive armor was not filled with explosives and therefore could not deflect high-explosive anti-tank weapons.

....Russian officers and soldiers have to compensate for the current lag in combat-support systems with their selfless heroism and bravery. But this costs the country and its armed forces dearly.

It is high time we learned modern fighting skills. The system for awarding state defense contracts must also be modified accordingly.

Unfortunately, the Russian army is unlikely to receive new weapons and combat-support systems after the South Ossetian conflict. Although Russia once again has paid a high price for victory, its generals and politicians often prefer empty talk to candid and sober-minded assessments.

(Nikita Petrov is a Russian military analyst. This article is reprinted by permission of RIA Novosti. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.) _Source

Russia concocted fictitious stories of "genocide" in order to trigger a long-planned invasion and ethnic cleansing of large portions of Georgia. This is in line with the Sudetenland "lebensraum" tactics copied from Hitler's war in the mid 20th century. Russia's military is not prepared for outright war with the more technologically/militarily adept western forces, on many levels. Certainly the Russian economy's one-trick-pony dependency on energy and energy blackmail can not provide the type of broad based technological support a modern military would need. And it is absolutely certain that the demographic implosion taking place among Russia's population (other than Muslims) will not be able to support an expansive and prolonged military campaign.

Putin is blowing it big time. Making enemies when he should be making friends, making Russia's economy even more dependent on fossil fuels when it should be diversifying, sucking the marrow out of Russia's bones and putting it in his own private marrow bank. Putin may be ruthless and single-minded, but wisdom is the least of his traits.