General Staff orders formation of reinforced battalions before late October
MOSCOW. Sept 19 (Interfax-AVN) - Reinforced battalions will be formed at constant combat readiness brigades in every military district of Russia, a knowledgeable source told Interfax-AVN on Wednesday.
"The General Staff has ordered the formation of reinforced battalion tactical groups in military districts. The battalions will be staffed at 100% with contract servicemen and soldiers with combat experience," he said.
The battalions will be formed at motorized infantry and combined arms constant combat readiness brigades, which has a big deficit of personnel and hardware, he said.
"The reason for forming the battalions is that motorized infantry and combined arms constant combat readiness brigades practically fail to correspond to their status - they have 30% to 50% deficit of personnel and a big deficit of new hardware and ammunition. The deficit of contract servicemen and soldiers with essential military skills - mechanics, drivers, gunners and grenade launcher operators - is particularly large," he said.
"The personnel deficit is the biggest, up to 50%, at the platoon-company level. That is characteristic of all military districts," the source noted.
Reinforced battalions, which are being formed on temporary terms, will come into existence before the end of this October, he said.
"Military district commanders personally control the formation of these units," he said.
In turn, former chief of the Army Combat Training Department Col. Gen. Yuri Bukreyev told Interfax-AVN, "the formation of the notorious battalion tactical groups at combined arms constant combat readiness brigades proves the actual failure of the mission to create a new image of the Armed Forces."
