Russian defence policy to 2030

Russian Defence Policy till 2030

In Russia, the General Staff of the Armed Forces are developing the latest document for the future of the Armed Forces entitled The New Face of the Russian Armed Forces to be published in the autumn of this year. Although not yet in print, several key points about future Russian defence policy have been revealed early.

The first part of the doctrine is an assessment of Russia's geopolitical role in the world and the variety of external global, regional and local threats to its national security, including military ones. The second part covers the development and restructuring of the Russian armed forces with emphasis given to information technologies and warfare, space technologies and even nanotechnologies.

Nanotechnologies are currently used for special alloys in armour, 'stealth' technology and explosives but Russian technicians are working to expand their application-to create miniaturized and highly effective weapons on the battlefield including remote-controlled aerial vehicles, mini-submarines, mini-boats and robots.

A key overall point is that the nuclear triad of ballistic missiles, nuclear-powered submarines and strategic bombers will remain the core of the Russian armed forces in the near future. In the meantime, Russia will continue to maintain a strong nuclear potential as a reliable deterrent to potential threats with an arsenal that currently totals about 4,147 warheads on 848 delivery vehicles. Russia's Strategic Missile Forces will continue the deployment of new ballistic missile systems, the development of command-and-control networks and the improvement of enhanced warheads and their delivery vehicles. Additionally, the new scheme will expand the fleet of strategic bombers and establish a national air-and-space network.