This paper uses current and historical Russian and English-language sources to examine the military importance of Russia’s railway network and the specialised unit of military engineers that service them. The Railway Troops (zheleznodorozhniye voiska - ZhV) have played a supporting role in most of Russia’s major conflicts over the past century and have grown in size and importance since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. The ZhV’s prominent roles in Russia’s wars in Chechnya, and ability to lay the groundwork for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine indicate the enduring importance of rail in for Russia’s ability to mobilize troops and sustain war theatre operations. The ZhV are illustrative of the way in which Russian modes of warfare adjust and attempt to improve, as changes to their structure and operations have significant impact on the Russian army’s ability to move troops and hardware across the country at pace.
This study provides an in-depth examination of the performance of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) over Ukraine, and an analysis of where and why this performance differed from Western civilian and military pre-war expectations. It draws on fieldwork in Ukraine by the author, including interviews with senior Ukrainian Air Force commanders, military scientists, and inspection of captured and recovered Russian weapons and aircraft systems. The primary purpose of the study is to provide an open-source assessment of the enduring threat posed by the VKS to Ukraine in the short term, and to NATO nations in the medium and long term. To that end, the final section of the study looks specifically at the nature of that threat; particularly in the context of Russia’s highly effective ground-based air defence network and long-range precision fires capabilities.
As the space domain becomes increasingly important to the US and Marine Corps forces, the service has made several changes, but big questions remain to ensure it is prepared for the future operating environment and possible new roles and responsibilities in the space domain. To that end, we examined the following questions: What are the Marine Corps’ space equities? What are the Corps’ organizations and billets to address its equities and develop its strategy for the space domain? And what are the bigger issues (challenges and opportunities) for the Corps at its current stage of space development? We provide a brief discussion of these questions in this information memorandum.
