Rob Lee

However, he noted that the situation in the world remains unstable, and developments have become more unpredictable “This is largely due to the desire of individual countries to force their principles on other sovereign states, including with the use of force." 2/

"Unprecedented political, economic and informational pressure is being exerted on countries that try to carry out independent policies, including Russia...we can't rule out that crises could emerge that may get out of control and develop into a large-scale military conflict.” 3/

"It all depends on the features and conditions of their application (employment). In one case, divisions will be more effective, in the other - brigades. Therefore, it is necessary to have both brigades and divisions within the Armed Forces.” 9/

These systems include aircraft and aviation weapons, ISR, C2, EW, and UAVs that received their baptism of fire. He added that lessons learned from Syria have been included in training manuals, training plans, and in training exercises. 12/

He noted that 3 RVSN regiments have been reequipped with Yars ICBMs, that the the 1st regiment armed with an Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle will go combat duty this month, the Knyaz Vladimir SSBN will be commissioned this month, and 4 other Borei-A are under construction. 14/

He said the experience of recent armed conflicts, and in particular Syria, has given new impetus to improving fires, in particular, special attention is being paid to the development of high-precision long-range air, sea, and land-based weapons. 19/

He said the Ground Forces and VDV received >3.3k new and upgraded weapons, including armored vehicles, high-precision missiles, AD missile systems, EW, and C2 equipment. He said the Navy would receive 25 ships and boats of various classes, including 5 equipped with Kalibrs. 20/

The total Russian Armed Forces' share of modern equipment is greater than 68% and is supposed to reach 70% by the end of 2020. Gerasimov said that combat training remains an MoD priority. 21/ http://redstar.ru/ministerstvo-oborony-rf-otkryto-k-ravnopravnomu-dialogu-po-voprosam-obespecheniya-voennoj-bezopasnosti/ …

He blamed increased tensions in countries of the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia on the interference of Washington and its allies in their internal affairs, and he said a similar scenario was occurring in certain Latin American countries. 22/

"Military activities are increasing in the Baltic States and Poland, in the Black and Baltic Seas. The intensity of the bloc's military exercises is growing. The scenario [of the drills] signals that NATO is deliberately training its troops for a major military conflict." 23/

"Reducing the risks of dangerous incidents in the military sphere should remain the most important part of the dialogue between Russia and the US/NATO. It is necessary to resume cooperation between Russia and NATO in order to resolve the accumulated problematic issues." 25/

"It is necessary to improve mechanisms of preventing dangerous military activities, including clarifying the protocol for exchanging signals and determining the minimally acceptable distance between military ships and aircraft." 26/

He said that Russia's shipbuilding priority is SSBNs with modern ballistic missiles, and that special attention is being paid to building multipurpose/functional submarines and surface ships equipped with Kalibr, Tsirkon, and other precision missiles. 30/

He said new ships would have increased combat capabilities, including the ability to operate in a single information space. Lastly, Gerasimov said Russia has no plans on increasing its military contingent in Syria. 31/