Sunday, January 31, 2016

Are Russian Marines the unit of choice instead of Paratroopers?


If you had to list the units of choice for Russia, Paratroopers would be number 1 and Russian Marines a distant 2 (I've noticed that they're going by Marine now instead of Naval Infantry as in the past).  That seems to be changing.  The recent Russian intervention in Syria saw Marines deployed instead of Paratroopers and now we have this news via Sputnik...
Some 200 Russian marines have begun training for anti-terror action aboard Russian warships that will be deployed overseas, a spokesman for the Russian Navy said Sunday.
"The training program is based on the experience that has been accumulated over the past years by marines serving as part of anti-terror units aboard every warship and support vessel on missions away from their home ports," Сapt. Igor Dygalo said.
Marines will study all sorts of devices and military equipment that can be found on Russian warships of every rank and class, as well as the Law of the Sea, a UN convention on the use of the world's oceans. They will also drill boarding vessels under pirate control.
A part of the program is devoted to arms training. Marines will be taught how to effectively use firearms in tight space, such as inside ship compartments. The training is held at a marine center in St. Petersburg.
Without knowing Russian rotation schedules (note that this is pure speculation on my part), but if it's anything like the way the USMC does business then the first group should be rotating out late spring early summer and the units set to deploy should be in workups now...sorta like what we're seeing in this story.

Russian Marines are moving to the vanguard of their rapid deployment forces and we need to change how we view their order of battle.  They're emphasizing Marine forces now.  For the Airborne happy Russians that's a big change. 

No comments :

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.