Russia has always been famous for its military’s numbers,
raw strength, and terrifying hardware. This can be said for both the old Red Army, and the forces of
the modern Russian Federation. But while the Red Army was certainly a force to be reckoned with,
how would they fare against the Russian forces of 2020? Previously, we’ve compared the Russian
Soldier to the American Soldier, but this time we’re pitting Russia against its own history.
We’re going to compare each army’s strengths and weaknesses – from combat history and equipment
to size and training – to find out. Let’s start in the past, with the army of the Soviet Union.
The development of the Soviet Union’s military was shaped by Russia’s loss in World War I.
After the Red Army was formed in 1918, it began to develop new strategies
that would help them reign victorious in future conflicts. They disregarded military tradition
in favor of innovation, and committed to mobile warfare that incorporated the use of tanks and
aircrafts that would break through enemy lines. The Soviet Military’s willingness to embrace the
novel handed them a number of key wins during World War II, particularly the Soviet victory
at the Battle of Stalingrad, which is known for changing the direction of the war in the favor
of the Allied Forces. It is important to note, however, that the USSR suffered around a million
casualties each in the battles for both Moscow and Stalingrad, in spite of their victories.
The Soviet Union maintained its military strength in the aftermath of World War
II, coming out of the war with an army of, according to some sources,
between 10 and 13 million men. After Germany’s surrender, the number was decreased to 5 million,
and an emphasis was placed, yet again, on modernizing and innovating the military’s methods.
In 1951, the legendary AK-47 was introduced as the Soviet infantry’s primary weapon. In 1967, the
Soviet Union commissioned the BMP-1, an innovative new infantry fighting vehicle. Soviet military
power only increased with the introduction of nuclear weapons, and, in 1986, the Soviet Union
had the largest number of nuclear weapons in the world, at approximately 45,000 warheads.
In addition to being a powerful global force, the Soviet Military
played an incredibly significant role in the economy of the Soviet Union. In the 1980s,
the Soviet Union’s military employed approximately one fifth of its adult citizens. By 1989,
the number of Soviet citizens working for the military in some shape or form
was up to one in four. This strong link between the economy and the military was both a blessing
and a curse. The emphasis on boosting military production rather than other domestic commerce
allowed for a great amount of resources to be afforded to the military. However,
it also meant that when the military suffered, the economy suffered, and vice versa.
As time went on, the Soviet Military encountered a number of difficulties.
A notable issue for the Soviet Military was its invasion of
Afghanistan. The military spent ten very expensive and deadly years in the region,
costing nearly 20 billion dollars annually, before Gorbachev pulled the troops out in 1989.
While the years passed and the collapse of the Soviet Union grew closer, the size and strength of
its military began to notably decrease. In 1985, the Soviet military had about 5.3 million men,
less than half of its numbers after World War II. By 1990, there were only about four
million men in the military’s ranks. When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, there were 2.7
million men in the Russian military. There were many reasons for this massive drop in soldiers.
The first was the economic decline of the Soviet Union. As the economy began to decline,
the military budget was reduced. There was also a degree of unrest in the Soviet population with
regard to the treatment of soldiers in the Soviet Army, who the public believed were living under
unacceptable conditions. As this information came to light, many began to resist conscription
and refused to join the ranks of the military. This is in stark contrast to modern Russia,
where, due to the increase in pay for soldiers as well as the improved conditions of military life,
the number of professional soldiers outnumbers the number of conscripts.
When comparing the Soviet military to the military of contemporary Russia,
it is important to note which era of the Soviet military is being discussed. In the 1940s,
the Soviet military had national resources, as well as resources provided by the United
States lend lease program, which allowed the Soviet Union access to more aircrafts, tanks,
and many other materials important to military success. By the 1990s,
however, the Soviet military was not the successful military force that it once was.
The modern Russian military is regarded as one of the strongest in the world,
often ranked alongside China and the United States. With numbers unofficially estimated
around almost 20,000, the Russian military has more tanks than any other country in the world.
In fact, that would be more tanks than all of the NATO countries put together.
While other countries reduced their tank capabilities after the end of the Cold War,
Russia did not follow this trend. For comparison, Germany currently only has around 300 tanks,
and France and Britain have around 250. However, it’s important to note that most of Russia’s
20,000 tanks are mothballed Soviet-era rustbuckets that would require weeks of
repair to get combat ready, and even then would fare poorly against modern tanks.
Russia also trounces many other countries with its air force. Russian military analyst Aleksandr
Golts said on the subject, “Russia's air force is much stronger than the Chinese for now”,
though he may be a little biased for the home team. However, even with a stronger air force than
China, the amount of Russian combat aircraft is a small fraction of the Soviet Union’s. In 1986,
the Soviet Union had approximately 11,400 combat aircraft, while Russia, as of 2014, has only
around 1,571. The total amount of armed forces has decreased significantly as well, with around 5.1
million Soviet Armed Forces in 1986 dwarfing the modern Russian count of around 800,000.
One reason for this notable decrease in size is simply the change in population since the
decline of the Soviet Union. In 1990, the Soviet Union’s population was over 287 million people,
whereas the current Russian population sits at around 145,929,171.
With a population almost halved in size, it makes sense that the number of Russian
soldiers would also have significantly decreased over the last several decades.
An additional problem facing the modern Russian military that other
modern military powers are not dealing with is the lack of modern technology.
Russia is behind on the development of drones, radar, and surveillance. During the Soviet Union,
the purpose of the economy was largely to produce resources for the military,
and to be prepared for war at any time. When the Soviet Union dissolved, those resources fell away.
However, even though the modern Russian military is behind the United States and China when it
comes to technology, they have still made improvements on classic Soviet military
technology. One example is the Su-25 attack plane, an iconic Soviet aircraft that the
Russian military has continued to develop new versions of to this day. The Su-25 is
a ground attack aircraft made for bombing raids and low-altitude attacks, earning it the imposing
nickname “flying tank”. As the saying goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, and the modern Russian
military seems to be adhering to that mentality when it comes to many of its military vehicles.
While the modern Russian military has made improvements on Soviet technology,
the issue of manpower and lack of resources remains significant.
When the military is stretched too thin, it is not only a weakness but the potential cause of
dangerous – even disastrous – consequences. According to researcher Igor Sutyagin,
several recent Russian military failures,including air force crashes,
are the result of a limited amount of resources being pushed to their absolute limits.
Sutyagin said regarding three Russian air force crashes in 2015,
“This could be an interesting sign of the overstretching of Russian armed capabilities,
because the maintenance template for these vehicles does not take into account the much
higher operational tempo they have been operating under lately,” Essentially, there had been an
increase in modern Russian military operations without an increase in the resources available
to the Russian military. However, there has been a decrease in this kind of report since 2016,
suggesting that the issue of overstretch has been at least somewhat dealt with.
Russia has implemented a great deal of programs to improve its military in recent years,
but will this give it a potential edge over its Soviet forerunners?
Chief of the General Staff Valeriy Gerasimov said that “the Armed Forces are now arriving
at a fundamentally new level of combat readiness”, and, in many ways, this appears
to be the case. Beginning in 2011, Russia increased military funding. Richard Connolly,
director of the Center for Russian, European and Eurasian Studies at the University of Birmingham,
evaluated Russia’s commitment to financially boosting its military,
saying, “The share assigned to procurement of new equipment and modernized equipment and
research and development is significantly higher than for any other major power.”
Over the last several years, Russia has acquired more than 250 long-range ballistic missiles,
and upgraded nearly 1,000 military helicopters. They also added more than 1,000 new combat planes
over the course of eight years. Connolly pointed out Russia’s historic commitment
to funding its military, and said “Even when their economy is not doing well, they still
make sure they allocate a large proportion of output to military spending”. This holds true
when looking back at the Soviet military, just as it holds true for the Russian military today.
So, back to the initial question: How does the Soviet Military compare to the modern Russian
Military? On one hand, the Soviet Military had massive numbers and an incredible military record,
as well as vast collections of military vehicles and equipment. On the other hand,
the modern Russian Military has had time to rebuild from the fall of the Soviet Union,
learn from its mistakes, and bolster Soviet military technology with modern
improvements. It comes down to an issue of manpower vs. technological advancement.
While the modern Russian Military has certainly made a great deal of strides, it does not seem to
be as strong as the military in the Soviet Union was, even as the USSR approached its decline.
While the success of the Soviet military is often attributed to its sheer volume and its ability to
outnumber its opponents, that was not always the case. While there were claims from German
forces in World War II that they lost to the Soviet army because they were outnumbered in
overwhelming quantities, it appears that was – at least in a few significant cases – not true.
While the Soviet army outnumbered the Germans 4:1 in 1945, many historians argue that the
ratio of Soviet to German soldiers was often much more even. In fact, it has been claimed that,
at the famous Battle of Stalingrad, the Soviet army was outnumbered by the German forces with
a ratio of 1.6:1. In spite of this, the Germans were still defeated in this conflict. Therefore,
it is impossible to entirely attribute the success of the Soviet military to its numbers alone.
It is clear that innovation and growth are important to the Russian military now,
just as they were to the Soviet military back in the days of its inception. However,
Russia does not approach all of its conflicts from a place of direct military action
the way that the Soviet Union did. Now, the country employs other methods,
including cyber warfare and digital espionage, in order to get an advantage over its opponents.
Analyst Timothy Thomas says that Russia as a modern force often uses “indirect,
asymmetric, and non-military measures” rather than direct military force.
While the strategies are different, and the population numbers have significantly decreased,
it is clear that the military is a massive priority for modern Russia, just as it was for
the Soviet Union, and the country is fighting to maintain its status as a top military
power – even if it couldn’t quite recapture the raw military strength of its Soviet glory days...
Hungry for more military comparisons? Check out “NATO vs Soviet Union - Who Would Win?
Military / Army Comparison” for more like this! Or Click this other video instead!