By Gene Ogorodov
Several years ago shortly after the South Ossetian War I read a monograph from the Strategic Studies Institute on this conflict focusing on the Lessons Learned for the Russian Military. Although it was a short war that didn't settle much more than forcing Georgia to remain a clandestine partner of NATO rather than opening joining the Western Powers, it was quite telling about the balance of military power in the world.
The troubles the Russian Military faced were predictable given the chaos of the 1990s but, nonetheless, forced a re-evaluation of Russia's military strength. There were a significant number of units the Russian High Command deemed incapable of engaging in combat after Putin's reforms and years of COIN in Chechnya which forced Moscow to hobble together a strike force from all over the country. Furthermore, the Russian Air Force lost fighters to a country that had no air force. "The question," said the Russian Defense Minister, "is not whether Russia can penetrate the NATO air defense system, but an air defense system [sic]."
Several years ago shortly after the South Ossetian War I read a monograph from the Strategic Studies Institute on this conflict focusing on the Lessons Learned for the Russian Military. Although it was a short war that didn't settle much more than forcing Georgia to remain a clandestine partner of NATO rather than opening joining the Western Powers, it was quite telling about the balance of military power in the world.
The troubles the Russian Military faced were predictable given the chaos of the 1990s but, nonetheless, forced a re-evaluation of Russia's military strength. There were a significant number of units the Russian High Command deemed incapable of engaging in combat after Putin's reforms and years of COIN in Chechnya which forced Moscow to hobble together a strike force from all over the country. Furthermore, the Russian Air Force lost fighters to a country that had no air force. "The question," said the Russian Defense Minister, "is not whether Russia can penetrate the NATO air defense system, but an air defense system [sic]."
