MILNET: The Former Soviet Union

NOTE: Because of the breakup of the former Soviet Union, many of the facts and analysis are obsolete. New sections are being compiled based upon the new, emerging states of the former Soviet Union. Late in 1993 to early 1994 timeframe, the former USSR was thought to be likely reformed into a New Union known as the Commwealth of Independent States (CIS). This loose organization does not seem to have much power and it appears the former states of the Soviet Union have gone their separate ways, many applying to become members of NATO. The former Yugoslavia has splintered into a number of pieces, typially along pre-Soviet ethnic lines, and ancient pre-Soviet predjudices and grudges have resulted in ethnic cleansing which required U.S., Russian, and European intervention to save entire ethnic groups from annihilation.

Update: June 1, 2008:

According to the Strategy Page, the Russian fleet has the following ships:

Current Russian Operational Fleet

Type	Status	Approximate Count
Nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarines	SWINR	12
Nuclear Attack Submarines	SWINR	24
Diesel Attack Submarines (may also be used for special ops)	SWINR	50
Aircraft Carrier	SWINR	1
Heavy Cruiser	SWINR	5
Destroyer	SWINR	17
Frigate	SWINR	11
Corvette (mostly coastal patrol, equivalent to a U.S. Coast Guard Cutter)	SWINR	50
Amphibious Ships	SWINR	20
SWINR = Sea Worthy, In Need of Repair (most suffering neglect since the 1990s) Some are in need of SERIOUS repair, or dangerously close to not being sea worthy (MILNET Sources)

Table compiled from data from "Russia's Phantom Fleet Buildup", The Strategy Page, 6/1/2008.

Russian Naval Construction

Type	Class	Status	Approximate Count
Nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarines	Borei	Construction *1	3
Nuclear Attack Submarines	?	Construction *2	1
Diesel Attack Submarines (may also be used for special ops)	Amur	Construction	2 building, 1 done
Heavy Cruiser	Gorshkov	Construction *3	1
Corvette (mostly coastal patrol, equivalent to a U.S. Coast Guard Cutter)	Stereguschyy	Construction *4	3 building, 1 done
1 = Currently the missile to load these SSBNs is not yet ready for flight 2 = Been building for 15 years, still not finished 3 = Scheduled to be completed in 2010, miitary has requested approximately a dozen, the one under constuction is all that has been funded 4 = Navy has requested approximately 50 total to replace the aging Corvettes currently in service, not funded beyond current single launched and 3 building

Table compiled from data from "Russia's Phantom Fleet Buildup", The Strategy Page, 6/1/2008.

Russian Air Force

According to the Wikipedia article on the Russian Air Force, the following table summarizes the Russian Air Force Equipment situation:

Aircraft	Type	Versions	Counts	Comments
Trainer Aircraft
Yakovlev Yak-130	Training	Yak-130	0	60 ordered, to be commissioned from 2015
Fighter Aircraft
Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker	Air Superiority Fighter	Su-27	Differs by source	Warfare.ru: 350 + 52 trng a/c, inc 5 -27SM IISS Mil Bal 07: 281, inc 18 -27SM Globalsecurity.org: 32
Sukhoi Su-30 Flanker-C	Air Superiority Fighter	Su-30	10	Only 10 in service due to budgetary problems
Sukhoi Su-33 Flanker-D	Air Superiority Fighter	Su-33	23	Designed for service on the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov
Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker-E	Air Superiority Fighter	Su-35	15 built, 5 inservice.
Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrum	Multirole Aircraft	MiG-29	Differs by source	Warfare.ru: 380 +150 reserve + 50 trng Globalsecurity.org: 266
Sukhoi T-50	Air Superiority Fighter	2 (Testbeds)	Planned 2012	Fifth Generation multirole/Air Superiority fighter.
Mikoyan MiG-31 Foxhound	Interceptor	MiG-31	Differs by source	Warfare.ru: 256 active, ~100 reserve^[15] GS.org/IISS MilBal 07: 188 ^[16]
Bomber Aircraft
Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer	Tactical Bomber	Su-24M	450	400 Frontal Air Force; 50 Navy, planned modernization to reach Su-24M2 level
Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot	Attacker	Su-25	241	231 Frontal Air Force; 10 Navy, planned modernization to reach Su-25SM level.
Sukhoi Su-34 Fullback	Fighter-bomber	Su-34	Differs by source	GS.org: 4,^[17] Flight Intl: 2 on hand, plus 6 more in 2007, IISS MilBal 07: 2 on hand, plus 7 more in 2007
Tupolev Tu-22M Backfire	Strategic bomber	Tu-22M3	158	158 (37th Air Army), planned modernization to reach Tu-22M5
Tupolev Tu-95 Bear	Strategic bomber	Tu-95MS	64	64 (37th Air Army), planned modernization of 35 to reach Tu-95MSM
Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack	Strategic bomber	Tu-160	16	16 (37th Air Army), planned modernization to reach Tu-160M
Transport Aircraft
Ilyushin Il-76 Candid	Transport	IL-76MD	220	Planned modernization to reach Il-76MD-90
Ilyushin Il-112	Light Transport	Il-112V	0	18 to be delivered until 2015
Antonov An-22 'Antey' Cock	Transport	An-22	3 flying + stored
Antonov An-72 Coaler	Transport	An-72	20	IISS does not list any in service
Antonov An-124 'Ruslan' Condor	Transport	An-124	25	14 says IISS
Command Post
Ilyushin Il-80 Maxdome	Command Post	Il-80	4
Tupolev Tu-214	Command Post / VIP	Tu-214-100	6(ordered)	1 in final stages and 5 in construction
Aerial refueling
Ilyushin Il-78 Midas	Refueling Tanker	IL-78	20
Reconnaissance
Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer	Reconnaissance	Su-24MR	79	79 Frontal Air Force
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25RB Foxbat	Reconnaissance	MiG-25RB	70	30 MiG-25 fighter versions and 40 Mig-25RB Reccon. aircraft.
Beriev A-50 'Shmel' Mainstay	AWACS-Reconnaissance	Beriev A-50	19	currently being modernized to A-50M standard
Attack Helicopter
Kamov Ka-50 'Black Shark' Hokum A	Attack Helicopter	Ka-50	16	3 more to be commissioned this year
Kamov Ka-52 'Alligator' Hokum B	Attack Helicopter	Ka-52	9	Special Forces - 12 more to be commissioned by 2015
Mil Mi-24 Hind	Attack helicopter	Mi-24	260	240 Air Force, 20 Navy - All to be replaced within 2015 by Mi-28s
Mil Mi-28 Havoc	Attack Helicopter	Mi-28	10	300 to be delivered by 2015
Transport Helicopter
Mil Mi-8 Hip	Transport Helicopter	Mi-8	195	160 Air Force, 35 Navy
Mil Mi-26 Halo	Transport Helicopter	Mil Mi-26	45
Kamov Ka-60 Orca	Transport Helicopter	Ka-60	8	200 ordered
ASW Helicopter
Kamov Ka-27 Helix	ASW Helicopter	Ka-27	88	Navy
Mil Mi-14 Haze	ASW Helicopter	Mi-14	9

Table from Wikipedia which in turn bases the information on several sources that include IISS Military Balance 2007, Air Forces Monthly 2007, Globalsecurity.org, and Warfare.ru

According to Wikipedia's article on Russian Ground Forces, "The Ground Forces included an estimated total 395,000 including est. 190,000 conscripts and 35,000 personnel of the Airborne Forces (VDV) in 2006. This can be compared to an estimated 670,000, with 210,000 conscripts, in 1995–96 (also an IISS estimate). These numbers should be treated with caution, however, due to the difficulty for those outside Russia to make accurate assessments, and confusion even within the General Staff on the numbers of conscripts within the force". The main ground force calculates out to some 48% conscripted (two years, men only, of which this number reflects, according to Wiki, 10% of those actually called up for service), 52% "volunteers". There were some 178,000 contracted servicemen serving in ground forceds and the Russian Navy. Wiki paints a horrible picture of morale, professionalism and readiness for the Russian military.

Russian Ground Forces Equipment

Equipment	Approximate Count
Main Battle Tanks	22,800+
Light Tanks	150 (PT-76)
Armored Infantry Fighting Vehicles	15,000+
Armored Personnel Carriers	9,900+
Towed Artillery	12,765
Self Propelled Artillery	6,000
Multiple Rocket Launchers	4,500
Mortars	6,000
Self-Propelled Surface to Air Missiles	2,500

Russian Strategic Rocket Forces

Equipment	Approximate Count
27th Guards Missile Army (HQ: Vladmir) 7th Guards 14th Missile Division 28th Guards 54th Guards 60th Missile Division	18 Topol 27 Topol 60 UR-100 36 Topol 69 UR-100, 40 Topol-M
31st Missile Army (HQ: Rostoshi) 8th Missile Division 13th Missile Division 42nd Missile Division	27 Topol 46 R-36M 36 Topol
33rd Guards Missile Division (HQ: Omsk) 23rd Guards 35th Missile Division 39th Guards 51st Guards 62nd Missile Division	45 Topol 36 Topol 45 Topol 36 Topol 40 R-36M

According to Carey Sublette's Nuclear FAQ, the Russian's nuclear warhead count (as of 1998) stands at:

Summary of Russian Nuclear Delivery Systems

Designation (NATO)	Year	Range (km)	Payload	Warhead Cnt	Yield (Kt)	CEP (m)
ICBMs
SS-18 Satan	1979	11,000	8000	1800	10 - 550KT, 10-750KT MIRV, or 1 - 25 MT	250
SS-19 Stiletto	1979	9,000	4350	1008	6 - 550KT. MIRV	300
SS-24 Scalpel (M1/M2)	1987	10,000	4050	360/100	10 - 550KT MIRV	200
SS-25 Sickle	1985	10,500	1000	360	1 - 55KT	200
SS-27 Topol-M	1998	10,500	1000	1000	Unknown for certain, perhaps as much as 1MT	200
SLBM Submarine
SS-N-18 Stingray	1978	6,500	1650	576	3 - 50KT MIRV x 12 subs	400
SS-N-20 Sturgeon	1983	8,300	2550	800	10 - 20KT x 4 subs	500
SS-N-23 Skiff	1986	9,000	2800	448	4 - 10KT x 7 subs	500
Aircraft
Bear H6	1984	13,000	13000	174	6 - 250 KT x 29 bombers	-
Bear H16	-	13,000	13000	560	16 - 250 KT x 35 bombers	-
Blackjack	1987	13,000	12500	72	12 - 250 KT x 6 bombers	-
Total warheads				7258

According to Rense.com, Robert S. Norris of the Natural Resources Defense Council and Hans M. Kristensen of the Nautilus Institute estimated for the Bulletin of American Scientists that in 2002, the U.S. has some 10,000+ warheads and the Russians had 8,600 (includes spares which do not have specific vehicles to deliver). The table in the article does not list warheads in the hands of India and China. See Carey Sublette's Nuclear FAQ for an estimation of all nuclear nations nuclear weapons stockpiles.