Well lets see.
The Russian military is divided into the following branches: Ground Forces, Navy, and Air Force. There are also three independent arms of service : Strategic Missile Troops,
Military Space Forces, and the Airborne Troops.
The Ground Forces are divided into six military districts: Moscow, Leningrad (not St Petersburg), North Caucausian, Privolzhsk-Ural, Siberian and Far Eastern.
The Navy consists of four fleets:
Baltic Fleet (HQ at Baltiysk in the enclave of Kaliningrad Oblast).
Pacific Fleet (HQ at Vladivostok).
Northern Fleet (HQ at Severomorsk).
Black Sea Fleet (HQ at Sevastopol, Ukraine.
Now, signs that Russia could IN FACT be planning to invade Europe, or even the USA (except we might meet missiles instead of warships).
While noting that Purchasing power parity methods have significant limitations, using the World Bank PPP rate the IISS estimates that Russia's total military-related expenditure would measure US $61.5 billion in 2004.
According to Russian reports, in FY 2002, there was about a 40% increase in arms procurement spending. However, even this increase is not enough to make up for the budget shortfalls of the previous decade. Russia's struggling arms producers will therefore intensify their efforts to seek sales to foreign governments.
About 70% of the former Soviet Union's defense industries are located in the Russian Federation. A large number of state-owned defense enterprises are on the brink of collapse as a result of cuts in weapon orders and insufficient funding to shift to production of civilian goods, while at the same time trying to meet payrolls. Many defence firms have been privatized; some have developed significant partnerships with firms in other countries.
In 2006, Russia announced plan to spend about $200 billion in development and production of military equipment (what equals to about $400 billion in PPP dollars).
Russian military doctrine has called for the reliance on the country's strategic nuclear forces as the primary deterrent against attack by a major power (such as NATO forces or the People's Republic of China). I don't agree with that, whatsoever, to me it is just another excuse. In keeping with this, the country's nuclear forces received adequate funding throughout the late 1990s. Meanwhile the rest of the military was cash-starved and decaying. Russia currently, with around 16,000 warheads possesses the largest stockpile of nuclear warheads.
Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia has discussed rebuilding a viable, cohesive fighting force out of the remaining parts of the former Soviet armed forces. A new Russian military doctrine, promulgated in November 1993, acknowledges the contraction of the old Soviet military into a regional military power without global imperial ambitions. In keeping with its emphasis on the threat of regional conflicts, the doctrine calls for a Russian military that is smaller, lighter, and more mobile, with a higher degree of professionalism and with greater rapid deployment capability. Such a transformation has proven difficult, not least because - even shorn of worldwide ambitions - the sheer scale of Russia's land borders makes even a defensive military posture an immense undertaking. In 2005 Russia's spendings on new military weapons surpassed overseas sales, which were about US$6.5 billion. For 2006, there is about $9 billion budget for military equipment purchases. Cost of production of comparable weapons in Russia is three to five times less than in the United States.
Last edited by ~[_-=*Hanma*=-_]~ (2007-06-04 11:38:30)