Of course, this test of combat is to a certain extent local. But if to take into account that during this operation, issues of transferring people and equipment over long distances were tied up to the long-range transport of people and equipment, organization of control and communications, logistics of the group, use of air and space reconnaissance equipment, and direct actions of the crews of the VKS and Navy to destroy goals, there is - a comprehensive test of the combat capabilities of our Armed Forces.
Here the level of professionalism of military personnel of various specialties and rank comes to the fore.
Today, the times when other officers managed to grow to the posts of regimental commanders, and even higher, without having the practice of conducting exercises even battalion level, seem not so far away. And the knowledge of some did not translate into the skills of others.
Between what was and what became now is a gigantic distance. Moreover, the Russian army has gone through most of this path in recent years, during which there has been a steady growth in such indicators of practical training for servicemen, such as the number of exercises at various levels, the consumption of ammunition, flying hours from pilots, etc.
So recently, the head of the National Center for Defense Management of Russia, Lieutenant General Mikhail Mizintsev, reported that in 2015, the number of trained flight crews increased by 38% and the total flight time by 20% compared to last year. During the same period, the number of exits of submarines and surface ships doubled, while crews built up by 117%.
But an increase in these indicators is by no means always an indisputable evidence of the actual combat capability of the troops. Therefore, the creation of interspecific groupings of troops has recently become one of the "attributes" of sudden inspections and large-scale exercises, which makes it possible in the complex to work out the whole range of issues of preparing and conducting combat operations in strategic areas. At the same time, the number of interspecific maneuvers in the troops in 2015 increased by 30%.
Moreover, the training of combat training tasks by the troops takes place with the use of new forms and methods of warfare. As, for example, during the strategic exercise "Center-2015", which actively used the latest automation tools, including drones.
But high-quality implementation of these combat training activities would hardly have been possible without the creation of a modern training and training base. And it is quite clearly seen that this important task is being solved not by the principle of “replacing the old with the new”, but with an eye to the future, with the introduction of innovative technical means of training and training of military personnel, the creation in the combat training centers of a unified system for modeling tactical situations constituents.
In addition, professional skill contests for military personnel that have grown to the scale of spectacular international competitions have become a powerful factor for cultivating the spirit of professionalism in the military. And who, after the recent events in Syria, will call the Aviadarts flight skills competition just a military “fun”?
As they say, one thing follows another. All this professional background is used today by the Russian army in the Middle East. And nobody hides the results of his contribution to the fight against ISIS in the military department, and certainly not ashamed of it.
Well, a vivid reflection of the perception in society of work to improve the combat capability of the Armed Forces of Russia were the results of a survey conducted by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center on 10 – 11 in October. According to them, while in 1990, 34% of respondents believed that the Soviet army was lagging behind the best armies in the world, today 32% call the Russian army the most effective and efficient in the world, and 49% are confident that it is among the best.
And, more importantly, those wishing to challenge this are becoming less and less abroad.