MOSCOW, July 12 (AVN) The Defence Ministry is continuing a board meeting devoted to the development of the Russian Armed Forces for the period until 2016, the Military News Agency learned.
The meeting is chaired by Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev.
The participants are focusing on the report prepared by Chief-of-Staff Anatoly Kvashnin on the current state of the Army and Navy and the plan of their reform for the next few years, a source in the ministry told the Agency.
According to the source, the core of the proposals put forward by Kvashnin is based upon a radical reduction of the Strategic Missile Forces (SMF), their liquidation as an independent armed service, and the redistribution of freed assets in the interests of the land forces.
As it has already been forecasted, these proposals are causing a controversial reaction on behalf of the other participants of the meeting, and first of all the defence minister and SMF Commander Vladimir Yakovlev. The rejection is caused by the fact that Kvashnin is persistently pushing forward the most severe restructuring variant that envisages the reduction of the SMF to two divisions (out of the current 22), transferring them into the Air Force and restoring the Land Forces as an armed service of the country.
Many of those present at the meeting fail to see the economic advantages of such a reform. According to them, most of the money that is allegedly supposed to be directed to the restoration of the Land Forces, would have been spent on paying the reduced and retiring servicemen of the SMF, mothballing part of the bases and stationing points, as well as other expenditures envisaged by the reorganisation.
The greater part of meeting also disagrees with Kvashnin's point and thinks that the radical reduction of the SMF would considerably weaken the strategic nuclear potential of the country. In that case Russia will not be able to provide the nuclear containment and will fail in case of direct military conflict.