Russia
An Operational to Strategic analysis of Russia, its capabilities and the prevailing mindset…
Russian Capabilities & Tactics
This 2025 update on Russia includes a geo-political perspective with a strategic to operational overview of their military and what’s new in terms of strategy and approach. My sources include the US DNI Annual Threat Assessment, released a couple of months ago and the DC based think tank – the Center for European Policy Analysis or CEPA’s recent paper titled “Russia’s Strategy and Military Thinking: Evolving Discourse by 2025”. Also, the US Army’s ATP 7-100.1. Much of the content follows the US military operational environment framework of PMESII-PT in order to fully capture the Russian operational environment in 2025.
Russia launched the Oreshnik IRBM at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, this Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) marks the first use of a hypersonic ballistic missile with MIRV warheads and a nuclear payload capability in a direct combat engagement. The Oreshnik is an experimental IRBM based on Russia’s RS-26 Rubezh ICBM, the Oreshnik has a reported range of 3,410 miles, giving it access to most of Europe.
Russia continually seeks to develop technologies that increase capabilities that achieve overmatch using both developments from the civilian sector as well as direct military advances. This discussion focuses on currently employed Russian EM capabilities as well as the force structure that supports the deployment of EM capabilities. Russian Electromagnetic Battle (REB) is discussed along with it's four functional areas: 1) Electromagnetic Attack, 2) Electromagnetic Protection, 3) Comprehensive Technical Control, 4) Radio-electromagnetic information support measures.
Russian forces are are now employing the tactic of "envelopment" more and more in Ukraine successfully and have used this tactic for centuries. To be clear, it’s not a Russian tactic, Alexander the great used it successfully against the Persians in the Battle of Guagamela. Most notably, the Soviet Union used this tactic against the invading German forces in the battle of Stalingrad. When conducting a tactical, operational mission or strategic campaign it is important to emphasize the importance of knowing the basic tenets of military operational design that have been employed throughout ancient and modern military history.
Russians execute attritional warfare, they play the long game and that’s what we seem to be seeing in the War in Ukraine. There are countless historical examples of this Russian military ideology, even Napoleon commented on the Russian military mindset, that they have “European discipline with Asian tyranny”, that quote is more than 200 years old but it still applies. Unfortunately, Russia seems to be capable of absorbing the losses it is seeing, I hope that Ukraine can keep pace, but I am concerned for Ukraine as we approach the third year of this horrific War.
As Ukraine (with the support of the collective West) contemplates ballistic missiles strikes deep inside Russia, it's important to understand Russian IADS using the snow dome as a framework to understand the principal capabilities of the Russian layered defense network.