Arms of Russia and the United States: comparison. The Army of Russia and America: Modern Armament

Russia (USSR) has always been an enemy for the Western world. For six decades our military doctrines have been oriented towards conducting combat operations against each other. Accordingly, the arms of Russia and the United States were assessed. Comparison of defense capability and strike power was the driving force behind the development of science and economics. Russia is the only country in the world that can technically wipe the US off the face of the earth, and also has comparable military potential.

For decades, without entering into direct confrontation, countries in combat conditions experienced all types of weapons, except for ballistic missiles. Antagonism is not exhausted. The correlation between the US and Russian armies, unfortunately, is an indicator of political stability on the planet. Comparing the military machines of both countries, perhaps, is a thankless task. The two Powers have different doctrines. Americans want world domination, and Russia has always answered symmetrically in all ages.

Statistics are biased

Information relating to the defense sphere is always classified. If we turn to open sources, then it is possible to theoretically compare the weapons of the United States and Russia. The table provides dry figures, borrowed only in the Western media.

Based on these data, Russia has no chance of confronting America. However, the real picture is slightly different. A simple comparison does not give anything. It all depends on the training of personnel, as well as on how effective technology and weapons. Thus, in the southeast of Ukraine, the loss of military equipment is 1: 4 in favor of the militia, although the weapons are the same.

Number and mobilization reserve

The army of Russia and the United States are practically comparable in numbers. However, the US Armed Forces are 100% manned by professional soldiers. High level and logistics. The United States has much greater mobilization capacity. 120 million people are ready for military service overseas, we have only 46 million. Annually 4.2 million young people reach the States of draft age , and only 1.3 million in Russia. In the war of attrition, Americans will be able to make up for losses much more effectively. Nevertheless, experts of the Pentagon over the past decade have significantly lowered the bar of strategic capabilities of their armed forces. If previously they were designed for the simultaneous conduct of two full-scale warriors, then after 2012 the General Staff declares the possibility of confrontation in only one conflict.

Fighting spirit

Another thing is the quality of the fighters. Hollywood and the Western media have shaped the image of the invincible and invulnerable marines from the world community with unbending will. A very revealing moment is connected with the recent Crimean events. In the spring of 2014, NATO sent a detachment of ships to the Black Sea to intimidate Russia and demonstrate support for the suffering from the "aggressor" of Ukraine. Among the combat ships of the "friendly powers" was a destroyer with guided missile weapons Donald Cook. The ship maneuvered near the territorial waters of Russia. On April 12, the front-line bomber Su-24 without conventional weapons, but equipped with airborne (and not any special) electronic warfare equipment overflew the ship. As a result of this maneuver on the destroyer came out of standing all the electronic equipment. Result of the demarche: 27 sailors (one-tenth of the crew) applied for dismissal from the service because of the threat to their lives. Imagine the picture: on the morning of January 26, 1904, the crew of the cruiser Varyag in the face of the upcoming battle with the Japanese detachment of cruisers wrote to the commander a petition for resignation! The reason is a threat to life. This is inconceivable for any military unit.

Earlier this year, a similar situation occurred with the crew of the cruiser Vicksburg. Attack simulated the Su-34. Electronic impact on the vessel was not provided. The Americans did not even manage to use the air defense system. Result of flying over the ship: a petition for the resignation of two dozen sailors.

Our tanks are fast

During the Cold War, the doctrine of the land strategy of the Soviet Union provided for the achievement within four days of tank parts of the Atlantic coast. The reserve is preserved. Caterpillar fighting vehicles still remain the basis for the strike force of combat operations on land. The tanks of Russia and the United States are roughly equivalent in fighting qualities, but many experts agree that a direct confrontation will be in favor of Americans in the ratio of 1: 3. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that top-overseas samples are tens of times more expensive than Russian counterparts. In the American army in service there are 1970 tanks "Abrams" of the latest modifications - M1A2 and M1A2SEP. 4 800 units of earlier versions are in reserve. In Russia, until the new T-14 tanks enter the army, the most modern models will be the T-90 of various modifications, of which there are about five hundred in the combat units. 4 744 gas turbine T-80 are modernized in accordance with modern requirements and equipped with the latest protection and armament systems.

An alternative to the expensive T-90 is the latest version of the T-72B3. How many of these tanks are armed, there is no exact information. At the beginning of 2013 there were 1,100. Each year Uralvagonzavod modernizes at least three hundred units. In total, the defense department accounts for about 12,500 T-72 different versions. For combat units in our army there is a twofold advantage over the US Army and its NATO allies (!). The new tanks will anchor this superiority. Americans expect "Abrams" to remain in service until 2040.

Armor for infantry

Russia has 15,700 BTRs (9,700 of them in service), 15,860 BMPs and BMDs (7,360 in service) and 2,200 reconnaissance armored vehicles. The Americans have more than 16,000 armored personnel carriers. The combat-capable Bradley BMP has about six and a half thousand. American technology is better protected.

Heavy weapons

Artillery still remains the queen of the fields. Russia has a fourfold superiority in self-propelled artillery and in salvo fire systems, twice in towed artillery systems. Experts say about the higher professional training of servicemen of the American army. Indeed, heavy weapons require competent specialists. On the other hand, the domestic armed forces have weapons that have no analogs in the West and are not expected in the near future. This, for example, a heavy flamethrower system "Solntsepik" or a system of volley fire "Tornado".

First of all - planes

Nominally, the US Air Force has an overwhelming (more than fourfold) superiority over the Russian one. However, American technology becomes obsolete, and the replacement is late. The US Air Force combat aircraft in service have twice the superiority. One of the arguments is the fact that in Russia there are only a few 4 ++ planes and there is no fifth generation, and the United States already has hundreds of them, more precisely, F-22 - 195 units, F-35 - about seventy. The Russian Air Force can oppose them only 60 Su-35S. It should be borne in mind that the F-22s were removed from production because of the high cost of manufacture and operation. The tail attachment and the fire control system are provoked. F-35, despite the colossal PR campaign, is far from the fifth generation. This machine is quite crude. It is possible that the advertised invisibility for radar is another myth. Manufacturers do not allow to measure the effective dispersion surface.

The production of new aircraft in Russia is growing at an unprecedented pace. In 2014, more than 100 combat aircraft were built, not counting export copies. There are no such indicators anywhere in the world. In the United States, combat aircraft are produced annually:

• F-16 - no more than 18 units (all for export);
• F-18 - about 45 units.

The Russian Air Force annually replenishes with the following modern aircraft systems:

• MiG-29k / KUB to 8 units;
• Su-30M2 up to 6 pieces;
• Su-30SM not less than 20;
• Su-35C up to 15 units
• Su-34 is not less than 20.

It should be remembered that information about the number of cars produced is classified. The actual production volumes can be much higher. Su-35, Su-27 and MiG-31BM, armed with powerful radars and R-37 missiles with a launch range of 300 km, allow these samples to significantly reduce their lag behind the F-22 Raptor fighter. With the F-15, F-16 and F-18 they can handle without any problems.

Guarding distant borders

The presence of long-range strike aircraft is distinguished by the armament of Russia and the United States. Comparison of the power of heavy bombers and missile-carrying aircraft standing on alert duty causes nervous shivers among Western generals. And for good reason. Figures, perhaps, do not impress. American long-range aviation is represented by three types of bombers:

• В-52Н: 44 in service, 78 in reserve;
• B-2A: 16 units in the ranks, 19 in storage;
• В-1ВА: 35 in the ranks, 65 in reserve.

Russia's strategic aviation is worthy, not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively superior to the "partner", despite the fact that it does not have machines like the B-2 in its ranks. The subsonic "stealth" bomber is complicated in management and inefficient in combat use. Domestic long-range aviation is represented by the following machines:

• Tu-160: all 16 aircraft in the ranks, it is planned to resume production;
• Tu-95MS: 32 are on permanent alert duty, 92 on storage;
• Tu-22M3: 40 in formation, 213 in reserve.

Particularly disturbing is the placement of the Tu-22 on the Crimean sites. Armed with high-precision missiles x-32 range up to 1000 km the aircraft is able to hit any object in the North of Africa and throughout Europe. Without weapons, the aircraft will land at the Libertador airbase in Venezuela in nine hours. In another half an hour, it will be equipped with ammunition and ready to take off.

Helicopters

The armada of rotorcraft for various purposes complements the armament of Russia and the United States. Comparison of the number of this type of technical equipment is also far from our advantage. True, about half of the declared list of American cars are currently operational. The Pentagon, in order to ensure its activities in Afghanistan and Iraq, over the past ten years has paid for the supply of about three hundred Mi-17. The best recognition of the quality of the product and can not be desired. These machines can be added to our asset. Concern "Helicopters of Russia" for the domestic market annually produces more than 300 cars. Two thirds are intended for the armed forces.

Air Defense Forces

Conducting a large-scale ground operation is unthinkable without air support. In this case, the air defense system plays a leading role. The air defense system of Russia is recognized as the most effective in the world. The basis of combat power of antiaircraft guns is the S-300 complexes of various modifications and the S-400 system. To cover the connections from attacks from the air in the near zone mobile units "Pantsir-C1" are intended. NATO experts unequivocally agree that in the case of an air attack on Russia, the air defense system will destroy up to 80% of enemy aircraft, including the latest cruise missiles flying to the target with a circumventing terrain. American system Patriot such indicators can not boast. The estimates of our specialists are more modest, they call the figure 65%. In any case, the enemy will be inflicted irreparable damage. There are no analogues in the world of complexes based on Mig-31BM. The aircraft are armed with air-to-air missiles with a range of 300 km. According to the latest report of the analytical agency Air Power Australia, in the event of a large-scale military conflict between Russia and the United States, the likelihood of the survival of US aviation is completely ruled out. High evaluation of opponents is worth a lot.

Rocket umbrella

It's no secret that in a hypothetical war with Russia, the Americans expect to inflict the first rapid global strike with precision non-nuclear weapons. From a possible aggression in the future, Russia is already quite reliably protected. Under cover of an anti-missile umbrella, a comprehensive rearmament of the armed forces is planned until 2020. The latest technology and armaments are coming to the troops at an increasing pace. By this time, new generation models will appear, which will reduce the possibility of a direct armed confrontation between the two superpowers practically to zero.

And here we have something

At the same time, domestic aviation is capable of practically attacking enemy ground targets with impunity. This is facilitated by the latest systems of electronic warfare. Electronics can not approach the aircraft at a dangerous distance: the missile either goes to the side, changing the flight path, or is eliminated at a safe distance. The prototype system was first tested in combat conditions even during the conflict in South Ossetia in 2008. Our armed forces lost 5 aircraft, although the opposite side took out containers from under the Buk missile launchers with trucks.

On the ocean expanses

What is unambiguously inferior to Russia overseas partner, so it is in the power of the navy. By the power of the surface component of the US Navy have overwhelming superiority. The renewal of the domestic fleet mainly concerns ships of the near sea zone. The Americans are also superior in terms of the number of nuclear submarines (they do not build others): a US submarine with a nuclear power plant, and Russia - 48. US submarines with ballistic missiles have 14, and Russia has one more.

In fairness, it should be noted that the Americans do not have underwater ships armed with anti-ship cruise missiles, similar to our 949A Antey. For this purpose, they re-equip strategic missile carriers of the Ohio type. A positive moment is the adoption of domestic multi-purpose and strategic submarines of the 4th generation. A significant trump card is the deployment of strategic missile carriers under the ice of the Arctic. On these positions for the enemy they are inaccessible.

Forces of nuclear deterrence

This item is subject to strict compliance with the treaty on the limitation of strategic arms. The nuclear shield, and it's also a nuclear club, consists of three components:

• Strategic Missile Forces.
• Submarines with intercontinental ballistic missiles.
• Strategic aviation.

The nuclear weapons of the United States and Russia are roughly equivalent. Americans have more charges on long-term storage. But the basis of our inviolability is not only new samples of ballistic missiles capable of breaking through any ABM system, but also practically invulnerable ground-based complexes, as well as the railway systems being developed. Undoubtedly, the most appalling argument for military superiority over other powers is the nuclear weapons of Russia and the United States. Comparison of one appearance of ballistic missiles can cool hotheads. The terrible sleep of the American warriors is the system of autonomous retaliatory strike "Perimeter", or, as they call it, "The Dead Hand". The name of the updated version is classified.

Quite recently, by the number of deployed charges, we have reached parity and even a small advantage. According to experts, at the end of 2014, the numerical strength of the nuclear weapons of the two countries is expressed in the following figures:

• The deployed carriers in Russia - 528, the US - 794.
• On deployed carriers there are warheads: Russia - 1643, the United States - 1642.
• The carriers of all (deployed and nerazvernutyh) from Russia - 911, the United States - 912.

By the end of 2017, both sides of deployed carriers should be no more than 700, and warheads - no more than 1550. In addition, not more than one hundred carriers can be in reserve. Analysts on the other side of the ocean admit that in the conditions of peacetime at the existing levels of operationally deployed nuclear charges, US offensive forces do not have the possibility of causing a surprise strike against the forces of Russia's nuclear deterrence. This provision will continue in the coming decades.

The Russian navy and the army are being intensively updated. Naturally, the same processes take place in the American armed forces. The priority of our strategy is the defense of the borders, and this gives us significant advantages.