"Infantry: Russian Paratroopers Survive" Topic

"In early 2016 Russia announced that it was abandoning plans to increase its airborne force. The main problem was obtaining sufficient new recruits. It would cost more in additional pay (to attract suitable recruits), training, bases and equipment than Russia could afford. Moreover Russia has been rebuilding its airborne force since the late 1990s and Russian military planners believe the current force is sufficient and the cost of maintaining these airborne units at a high state of readiness and combat capability remains expensive. The generals with combat experience advised that it was better to keep current airborne troops well equipped and trained than to cut back on that just to add more paratroopers.

Largely unnoticed by the rest of the world, since 2006 the Russian army has gone through a series of reforms, trying to transform the force that lost the Cold War into one that could win the next one. One element of the army, the airborne force has remained largely unchanged. Despite a recent reorganization that made the brigade, not the division the main combat unit, the airborne force still has divisions. The paratroopers are still all volunteers although money shortages have led to the use of more conscript volunteers in the last few years. Only about a third of airborne troops are career professionals ("contract soldiers"), yet the allure of the airborne is such that there are always qualified conscript volunteers. Alas, the conscripts leave after a year, so by the time you train them to a useful level they are gone. Still, if there is a national emergency that requires loyal, stalwart troops, the paratroopers are the ones you call. The airborne troops are one of the few bright spots in Russian military developments since the 1980s…"
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