"How wrecked was the Russian Army before the war?" Topic

It seems to me the Russian army was wrecked before the Ukraine war even started.

In the 1980's the Russians demonstrated the ARENA defense system deigned to protect Tanks from Incoming missiles. Now to be fair it would not protect from Drones as they move too slow for ARENA discrimination but they were designed to hit Javelin. So looks like they were no longer available for the war.

Mine rollers Russia was supposed to have loads but virtually none have shown up till very late and very few then. That implies they were all scrap before the war.

Now doing a bit of work on GSR (see my thread on GSR) it would appear the BRM-1K's are being converted to APC's. That implies the systems, not just the GS,R were not working else you would have used then for reconnaissance especially once the AN 50's were eliminated. They apparently had loads of BRM-1K' in store, again presumably so poorly stored the electronics were scrap.

What else had given up the ghost before the war even started.

Not enough, unfortunately.

Watch Tank Biathalon…

"Wrecked" can be viewed many ways. Functional technology isn't always required to win a modern war, given some situations, but it sure helps. They had in total, at the onset of the drive on Kiev, plenty of troops and equipment in various states and conditions spread across Russia which they could have massed up and steamrolled Ukraine at that moment in time.

Wrecked might be a better description of their military planning and command capabilities at the beginning of the war. They thought they massed enough, but were incorrect. They also thought they had sufficient training, morale, supplies, and everything else required available for the invasion, but nope! Had one or more of these been more plentiful, there may have been a different outcome.

From the Russian's performance since Day 1 of this war. It appears they were poorly trained and lead at all levels. They understood little about fighting a modern war of maneuver. Their Log support was 2d rate[at best] like the rest their military. With a tech heavy modern military that has poor Log capabilities their success will be in question. Only made worse by "marginal" troops and leaders …

E.g. like we saw and still see with the Russian military … they don't have the right stuff. And that must have been going on for some time …

Plus, as always, a weapon system is only as good as its crew and leaders …

How many donkeys remain there…?

Armand

+1 Legion 4

UshCha, this means that Russia was not preparing for a major war and was not going to seize Ukraine and, especially, Europe.
Russia was cutting its army, cutting military schools and spending money, as has already been noted here, on military shows.
The only thing that Russia was actively developing was the nuclear component of the armed forces.

BRM-1K has lost its relevance in modern conditions. Now these problems are solved by a huge number of reconnaissance drones.

Decrees on the number of servicemen in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation:

- On July 16, 1997, Russian President Boris Yeltsin issued a decree "On priority measures to reform the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and improve their structure" establishing the authorized number of servicemen in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation at 1.2 million people as of January 1, 1999.
- On March 24, 2001, the authorized number of servicemen in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was further reduced. By the decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin "On ensuring the construction and development of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, improving their structure", the authorized number of servicemen in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was reduced by 16.7% – to 1 million – as of January 1, 2006.
- -On November 28, 2005, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree "On the authorized number of servicemen in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation", which increased the number of servicemen for the first time since the collapse of the USSR. Since January 1, 2006, it was increased by 13% – from 1 million to 1,134,800 people. The same decree for the first time established the authorized strength of the RF Armed Forces (including civilian personnel) – 2,020,500 people.
- On January 1, 2008, the decree of the President of the Russian Federation "On the authorized strength of the RF Armed Forces" was signed, according to which the number of servicemen remained unchanged. Only the total authorized strength of the RF Armed Forces was slightly reduced – to 2,019,629 people.
- On December 29, 2008, by the decree "On certain issues of the RF Armed Forces" the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev again reduced the total authorized strength of servicemen – by 12%, to 1 million, also reducing the authorized strength of the RF Armed Forces by 6.7% – to 1,884,829 people. At the same time, within the framework of the military reform launched by Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, it was announced that the institution of warrant officers and ensigns would be liquidated, as well as the central apparatus and management of the Defense Ministry would be reduced by 2.5 times – from 22 thousand to 8.5 thousand people. In the same 2008, Serdyukov promised to reduce the officer corps of the RF Armed Forces by 2.3 times – from 355 thousand to 150 thousand. However, already in 2011, the scale of the reduction in the officer corps was reduced. The institution of warrant officers and ensigns was returned to the RF Armed Forces by the new Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. In April 2015, Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov reported that the number of officers in Russia was about 200 thousand people. – On July 8, 2016, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree "On the staffing level of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation", which left the number of servicemen unchanged (1 million), but increased the total number of the RF Armed Forces by 542 people – to 1,885,371 people. On March 28, 2017, the President of the Russian Federation, by his decree, for the first time since 2005, increased the staffing level of the RF Armed Forces by 1.3% – from 1 million to 1,013,628 people. By the same decree, the total staffing level of the RF Armed Forces (including civilian personnel) was increased from January 1, 2017 by 0.6% – to 1,897,694 people, and from July 1, 2017 – by another 0.3% – to 1,903,051 people. – On November 17, 2017, Vladimir Putin slightly reduced the staffing level of the Russian Armed Forces from January 1, 2018 – by 293 people, or 0.016% (from 1,903,051 people to 1,902,758 people). At the same time, the staffing level of military personnel remained the same – 1,013,628 people.
- On August 25, 2022, the President of the Russian Federation signed a decree increasing the staffing level of the Russian Armed Forces from January 1, 2023 by 137 thousand people, or 7.2% – from 1,902,758 to 2,039,758 people. The same decree increased the staffing level of military personnel by 12.5% ​​- from 1,013,628 to 1,150,628 people.
- On December 1, 2023, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, the authorized number of servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces was increased by 169,372 thousand people, or by 8.3% – from 2,039,758 to 2,209,130 ​​people. The number of servicemen increased by 14.7% – from 1,150,628 to 1,320,000 people. – On September 16, 2024, the head of state signed a decree according to which the authorized number of servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces will be increased by 180 thousand people from December 1, 2024. According to the document, the authorized number of the armed forces is set at 2,389,130 ​​people (an increase of 8.1%), including 1,500,000 servicemen (an increase of 13.6%).

tass.ru/info/19436809

The Russian Army was sh1te before the war. I don't know how much better it is now, but it is better. Kind of a theme with Russia -- their wars tend to start with a lot of crap equipment and "yes men" politically connected leaders, and the flames of war burn all that off resulting in a more capable, effective military.