The Day of the Ground Forces of Russia is celebrated annually on October 1 on the basis of the decree of the President of the Russian Federation “On the establishment of professional holidays and memorable days in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation” dated May 31, 2006.
The history of the Russian Land Forces began on October 1 (October 11, according to the new style), 1550. On this day, Tsar Ivan the Terrible issued a decree “On the placement in Moscow and the surrounding districts of a selected thousand servicemen”, in accordance with which archery regiments (“firearms infantry”) and a permanent guard service were created, and the “outfit” of artillery was separated into an independent genus troops. In addition, Ivan the Terrible streamlined the system of manning the local troops, established permanent service in peacetime and wartime, and organized centralized command and control of the army and its supply. Thus, the first permanent army of the Russian state was created, which had signs of a regular army.
The next important stage in the development of the ground forces was the period of the reign of Peter I. In November 1699, the tsar issued a decree “On the recruitment of soldiers from free people.” Since then, the recruiting principle of the formation of troops began to operate, and after the end of the Northern War of 1700-1721, a regular army appeared in Russia.
However, the Ministry of Land Forces was created only during the reign of Alexander I. On September 20 (September 8, Old Style), 1802, the Tsar issued a manifesto “On the Establishment of Ministries”, on the basis of which ministries were created instead of collegiums, including the Ministry of Military ground forces.
The reform of the army was continued by Alexander II, who reorganized its structure, recruitment methods, organization and armament of troops, as well as the system of training military personnel. In addition, instead of recruiting for the army, universal conscription was introduced.
From the second half of the 19th century, qualitative changes began to occur in the ground forces. The technical component has acquired great importance. The engineering, aeronautical and railway units of the ground forces were actively developing. In addition, new special troops appeared – chemical and biological protection. However, the wars and revolutions of the early 20th century led to the virtual destruction of the old Russian army.
After the October Revolution of 1917, a new Workers ‘and Peasants’ Red Army was created in Russia, which was also based on ground forces, which included various types of troops (rifle, cavalry, artillery, armored forces) and special troops (engineering, communications, automobile, chemical, etc. .). She was baptized by fire in the conditions of the Civil War (1917-1922) and military intervention.
The ground forces received further development in the course of the military reform of 1924-1925.
The ground forces played a decisive role in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, since the main battles took place on land. In the course of the war, their numbers almost doubled, and a flexible and sufficiently effective structure was formed that met the conditions for conducting an armed struggle against a technically well-equipped enemy army. The ground forces developed mainly in the direction of strengthening their striking and firepower, which was ensured primarily by the growth of armored and mechanized troops and artillery. During the war, the technical equipment of the ground forces changed radically. In general, their weapons have been updated by more than 80%.
After the end of the war, the Ground Forces were formalized as a branch of the USSR Armed Forces. On March 23, 1946, by order of the Chief of the General Staff of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Marshal of the Soviet Union Alexander Vasilevsky, issued on the basis of a resolution of the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR of February 25, 1946, a governing body was formed – the Main Command of the Ground Forces. The first Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces was Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov, who at the same time was Deputy People’s Commissar of the USSR Armed Forces for the Ground Forces.
Subsequently, the Ground Forces developed on the basis of the latest military equipment and the achievements of military science. They were armed with tactical and operational-tactical missiles, nuclear weapons, tanks, armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, new cannon and rocket artillery systems, anti-aircraft missile systems and self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery installations, effective controls. Complete motorization of the Ground Forces was carried out.
New large-scale changes took place in the Russian army after the collapse of the Soviet Union (1991). The process of reforming the Ground Forces has begun in order to bring it into line with the changed military-political conditions and the economic capabilities of the state. Moreover, at first, the military reform, in fact, was reduced to a simple reduction in the Armed Forces of the USSR and the Ground Forces, including.
Starting from 2009, as part of giving the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation a new look, significant structural changes have taken place in the Ground Forces. The main tactical unit of the Ground Forces was the brigades of constant readiness, formed instead of bulky and difficult to manage divisions.
The modern Ground Forces is the most numerous and diverse branch of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in terms of armament and methods of combat operations, designed to repel enemy aggression in continental theaters of military operations, protect the territorial integrity and national interests of the Russian Federation.
They include motorized rifle troops, tank troops, missile troops and artillery, air defense troops, reconnaissance formations and military units, engineering troops, troops of radiation, chemical and biological protection, and communications troops.
Organizationally, the Ground Forces consist of combined arms armies (operational commands), motorized rifle (including mountain), tank, air assault brigades, cover brigades, military bases, a machine gun and artillery division, training centers, formations and units of missile troops and artillery, troops air defense, special troops and some other organizations and institutions.
Formations and formations of the Ground Forces are part of four military districts (unified strategic commands) and form the basis of groupings of troops (forces) in strategic directions.
The Commander- in-Chief of the Ground Forces is General of the Army Oleg Salyukov.
At present, the Ground Forces are being systematically re-equipped with modern models of weapons and military equipment.
In 2021, the formations and military units of the Ground Forces received more than 2,500 new main types of weapons, military and special equipment. For tank and motorized rifle units, modern tanks T-72B3M, T-80BVM, infantry fighting vehicles BMP-3 and armored personnel carriers BTR-82A were purchased.
In 2021, for the first time, the delivery of modernized armored vehicles began: T-90M tanks and modernized BMP-2 combat vehicles with the Berezhok combat compartment.
The formations and military units of the missile forces and artillery received modern Tornado-G medium-caliber multiple launch rocket systems, modernized Msta-S self-propelled howitzers, Khrizantema-S self-propelled anti-tank missile systems.
The troops are supplied with S-300V4, Buk-M3, Tor-M2 anti-aircraft missile systems and complexes and its modification in the Arctic version Tor-M2DT, Verba portable anti-aircraft missile systems, Polyana-D4M1 automation systems ” and “Barnaul-T”, radar stations “Niobium-SV” and other types of weapons.
In 2022, the systematic re-equipment of modern equipment and weapons of the Ground Forces continues. In May, Uralvagonzavod sent a train of the latest T-90M “Breakthrough” tanks to the troops.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from Novosti and open sources