Print this page
Thursday, 02 October 2003

PUTIN UNVEILS RUSSIAN MILITARY-MODERNIZATION DOCTRINE

Published in News Digest

By empty (10/2/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

President Vladimir Putin told Defense Ministry officials at a 2 October conference that the military faces no more radical cuts. \"Since 1992 the armed forces have been cut by more than half,\" he said. \"This is enough.
President Vladimir Putin told Defense Ministry officials at a 2 October conference that the military faces no more radical cuts. \"Since 1992 the armed forces have been cut by more than half,\" he said. \"This is enough. This painful and difficult process is for the most part completed, the period of radical reform is finished,\" he said. The conference was dedicated to the publication of a doctrine for military reform that was drafted by the General Staff. According to the doctrine, by 2007 the military will have established a rapid-reaction force, completed its transformation into a contract-based army, and cut service terms by half, Putin noted. He added that he supports the idea of allowing CIS citizens to serve in the Russian military. Putin also said that Russia will develop its strategic missile forces and re-deploy mothballed UR-100 NU heavy strategic nuclear missiles (classified by NATO as the SS-19), which will enable the country to reduce its Strategic Missile Forces. He said the country has a significant supply of the Soviet-era ICBMs and that \"their capabilities to defeat any missile-defense systems are unmatched.\" (Interfax)
Read 2169 times