Question by Big Spender (OBAMA): Why do people think Russia has a good military?
People (even the people from the U.S.) think that Russia has a strong military. A lot of it comes down to numbers of people in my opinion and that’s why China has a good military. Russia has about 141 million people while America has about 330 million people and we have better weapons and are more technologically advanced than Russia. So why do people think Russia has a good military or fears Russia (from a non-biased standpoint)? Is it because they also have nukes?
Answers and Views:
Answer by I Know More Than You
…they do?
Add your own answer in the comments!
John says
You will never get a straight answer to this question, why? because the 2 countries have never fought each other, sure there has been indirect conflicts like the Vietnam & Korean war but please. Stop asking who would win its all down to who strikes first and how hard they strike and a conventional war ? Russia would win because of her sheer size there is no way that NATO could capture her and now NATO has joined in Russia will call for reinforcements China, India which will bring there man power to 2 Billion 7 Million give or take each way, nukes would only be called in as a last resort from the losing side which cannot be determined as both sides would not be trained for a conflict of this size. and don't worry in the unlikely event of this war neither side would be hasty on the nuke launch.
grigory says
Russians are very strong inside and out…it has NOTHING to do with equipment supply..at all.
US loosing in Afganistan and everywere else….not Russian, they are NEVER loosing!
Russians have a strong core , as a nation…you cannot mess with them at all: one on one combat- no chance! For Mother Russia they will ripp you apart…
Mark says
To fight Russia is pure suicide Russiawill never be conquered by any military not even America history proves it.
fligby3 says
Because Russia is spending a lot of money for their military and they also have the best nukes in the world. I heard that they are going to spend about 200 billion dollars for their army in the future (maybe in 2012-2015) and also they have T-95 tanks work in progress which going to be the best tank in the world because it can even shoot down helicopters (more info about T-95: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-95 ) + they have the best plane in the world called Su-47 (more info about Su-47: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhoi_Su-47 ) and they have a lot of more new powerful technology.
You can see some "Modern" Russian army photos here if you are interested: http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.p…
veritas says
They have more man/woman power drafted for the military…like Israel no choice all have to join.
More of the budget goes to the military, also lots of nukes..same amount as the U.S.
Antswer says
From personal experience living and working with Russians in Bosnia and Kosovo, I can tell you they are largely ineffective except in matters of organized crime and thuggery. It's a conscript military, weak NCO corps, and corrupt officer corps. They live very dirty, cheat and steal from locals around their deployed locations, and engage in black marketing and smuggling. Note that my impressions were formed by interacting with one of their Airborne Brigades, supposedly an elite unit.
As for their equipment, I have worked extensively with their small arms and vehicles and I am not impressed. I have visited numerous former Soviet and Soviet Block military bases spanning from Germany and Eastern Europe, to the Baltics and Caucuses as far east as Azerbaijan. The construction was of poor quality. The country remains largely incapable of projecting credible force on sea, land, or by air.
Russia's military was and is a third-world organization in personnel, equipment, tactics, and mind-set. Not likely to change soon – it's a reflection of Russia at-large. Study the country, it's aspirations and reality and form your own opinion. A fight on Russian soil would be a brutal war of attrition, much like Nazi Germany faced on the Eastern Front during WWII. I'm not convinced they would be effective very far outside their own borders, lacking robust support and supply mechanisms.
Good Luck!
Smudgeward says
Because there is no limit to what their leaders are prepared to do in all out war, 20 million dead in WW2 compared to a couple of hundred thousand US troops that came in at the end w. Hollywood. Technically they were pretty poor really losing 5 men to every 1 of the infinitely more efficient Germans.
The democratic limit on lives spent in Vietnam by the US was about half of 100,000 after that it was lost because the N. Vietnamese were prepared to lose all their troops, millions.
Brandon says
The T-90 is just as good as our M1A2 SEP
Their APC's are not as good as the Bradley nor the LAV-25
They are just as motorized as the USA… Basically all Mechanized Divisions
Russian Navy is now just trash and is falling apart
Su-34 is good but Russia compares it to our F-15 and F-16 which are over 30 years old. Their SU-34 should be compared to the F-22 in which it gets waxed.
Their Alligator is nothing compared to our Apache Longbow… The Hind is outdated..
Russia – USA
T-90 = M1A2
BMD-3 < M2A3
BMP-3 < LAV-25
Navy < Navy
Su-34 < F-22
SU-34 > F-15
SU-30 < F-15
KA-52 Alligator < AH-64 Apache
Mobility = Mobility
John says
because it does. russia is a big arms manufacturer and has a large population, making it (i think) the 4th most powerful military in the world. it also has the second biggest nuke stockpile, making it more potent.
and btw SOMEBODY has to clean up in the pro-bush era.
Micah L says
I didn't know that people thought the Russian military is so good. I know during the 80's, the Soviet military was comparable to ours in terms of technology, but then came the collapse and the unfortunate financial struggles of the 90's. I don't think that the Russian military will ever be quite as good as ours, (we'll have to wait and see what Obama does to our military) but I do think that they are recovering technologically.
obamasbro says
dude,allow me to put it into perspective.russia can roll over all of europe in 2 days..get the picture.yep,the USA was king till obama started to gut our military…….yes,we can still stand up to putin until the messiah completes the gutting.
Doodle says
Due to their overwhelming destructive power, nuclear bombs have become a political tool rather than military weapons in this era. Continuing the Soviet legacy, Russia continues to be the leader in the size of nuclear warhead stockpile and delivery capabilities. United States of America comes at a close second, followed at a distance by the People’s Republic of China. Although this triad share close trade ties with each other, they are considered military rivals, mainly due to their political alignment and spheres of influences.
g says
I think it's still a holdover from 1980s paranoia… of Russia being the strong bear that can crush us if we look away for one second…
truth be told… they probably would struggle… they could do some things, but they are not the threat that many seem to think they are…
Man says
Technology doesn't matter that much nowadays. Look how badly Israel got damaged by Hezbollah.
Political Floss. says
Because they used to be the Soviet Union, and they have many allies.
And people believe just because a country is huge, means that they are better.
A lot of propaganda, biased at that.
Galactic Emperor says
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (UTC) (Russian: Вооружё́нные Си́лы Росси́йской Федера́ции; transliteration: Voruzhonnije Síly Rossíyskoj Federátsii) is the Ministry of Defense subordinated military of Russia, established after the break-up of the Soviet Union. On 7 May 1992 Boris Yeltsin signed a decree establishing the Russian Ministry of Defence and placing all Soviet Armed Forces troops on the territory of the RSFSR under Russian Federation control. The Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces is the President of the Russian Federation (currently Dmitry Medvedev).
The Russian Ground Forces (Russian: Сухопутные войска Российской Федерации, tr.: Suhopútnyje vojská Rossíjskoj Federácii) are the land forces of the Russian Federation, formed from parts of the collapsing Soviet Army in 1992. This in turn posed many economic challenges coupled with reforms to professionalize the force during the transitional phase that Russia had to endure due to the collapse of the Soviet Union. While the Russian Ground Forces in their present form are only 15 years old, Russian officials trace their antecedents' history through the Imperial Russian era back to the time of Kievan Rus. Since 1992 the Ground Forces have had to withdraw many thousands of troops from former Soviet garrisons abroad, while being extensively committed to the Chechen wars, and peacekeeping and other operations in the Soviet successor states (what is known in Russia as the "near abroad"). Most recently they clashed with Georgian forces in August 2008.
skii_tyme says
As long as they have nukes pointed at us and the capability to destroy hundreds of U.S. cities, they have a good military. Even if it's one guy with his finger on the button.
Joe Z says
It doesnt matter, Russia may have less number of people than usa or china but what the next war will come down to, isnt a combat war, it will be a nuclear war. Even if it was a combat war, Russia and China have much stronger individuals in the army than the usa does. Russian men in the army are much stronger physically and mentally than the usa. Of course I am not talking about every single soldiers.
Mater says
Weather help maybe.
◘ màtt&yacu says
1) Nukes
2) Propaganda
3) Size
4) Population
5) Past
All could be potential views by people, they simply don't know what they're talking about.
SamuraiSpencer says
They do have a good military?
masterjack_98 says
if you knew what you were talking about you might be interesting.
Frosty says
Yea dude we have more but it's the same with Japan and China lots of people and nukes but we have more
Anthony says
russians dont phuk around