Russia Military Power
Building a Military to Support Great Power Aspirations
I decided to include the June 2015 report by Keir Giles of the U.S. Army War College (Russian Ballistic Missile Defense: Rhetoric and Reality) at the end of this book to contrast the thinking prevalent in 2015 with the information found in the DIA publication of 2017. Certainly, the landscape will continue to evolve as we enter 2019, so it remains to be seen how this will all play out on the world stage – especially in the post-Putin era.
That’s not to say that Mr. Putin is going anywhere anytime soon, but scholars that take the long view will no doubt begin speculating what we can expect when that time comes.
Dictionary of Basic Military Terms: A Soviet View
Additional Information
This is a PRINT REPLICA of A Dictionary of Basic Military Terms that was released by the Ministry of Defense of the USSR in April 1965. This dictionary provides the definition of military words and is a translation and transliteration of the Russian words used by the military.
Due to the age of the document, some of today’s terminology is noticeably lacking (drones, internet, cyber and informatization), but the rest is pretty familiar. Unfortunately, I was only able to find a copy that was in poor condition so some of the pages are smudged or have some words obscured, but there is enough to make out most of it. If anyone has a good copy, I would be glad to borrow it, scan the missing information and release an update. Otherwise, this is the best anyone can do with this material. When searching for the Russian word or phrase for an English military concept, I recommend the Index at the back of the book as the place to start.
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Book is a full 8 1/2 by 11 inches so the text is enlarged, making it easier to read.
Spetsnaz
Additional Information
Spetsnaz is one of those books you can’t put down till you have read the entire thing. Written by the Department of Defense (actually the Marine Corps), it gives unique insight into how the Russians train and fight. The examples in the book where Spetsnaz carried out actual clandestine operations is amazing. Looking at what they were doing back in the 1990’s, it’s no wonder folks are concerned.
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Book is a full 8 1/2 by 11 inches so the text is enlarged, making it easier to read.