With weapons modernization, Russia’s military ups its game as West watches closely - The Washington Post: Russia, the birthplace of the AK-47, announced last week that it had selected two new assault rifles for integration into its front-line units. For the Russian military, the introduction of those rifles marks a key moment in its attempts to modernize — but also highlights broader weaknesses plaguing Russian forces, experts say.
The strength of the Russian military is being watched closely in the West, with growing concerns not only about its intervention in Ukraine but also its posture elsewhere in Eastern Europe. Russia is five years into a modernization plan that envisages spending more than $700 billion on rebuilding over the course of a decade.
The new rifles — the AK-12 and the AK-103-4, manufactured by Kalashnikov Concern — are a part of the Russian Army’s Ratnik program: a suite of equipment that is meant to increase the effectiveness of the Russian soldier. Besides the new AKs, the Ratnik program includes the introduction of more modern communications and navigational equipment, some of which was on display when Russian troops entered Crimea in early 2014.
The Ratnik program “should provide a significant improvement of the individual Russian soldier that uses these systems,” said Nick de Larrinaga, the Europe editor of IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly.
Russia is trying to overhaul a force whose troop readiness and discipline were in steep decline in the early 1990s and early 2000s, and despite some advances, many experts remain skeptical about its ability to do so. Alexander Golts, an expert on Russian military affairs and current deputy editor in chief of Yezhenedelnyi Zhurnal, said President Vladimir Putin is attempting a “do-it-all” approach that has overextended his country’s manufacturing capabilities.
