Russia deploys naval infantry aboard warships

Russia recently announced that it plans to deploy small detachments of naval infantry on board of its warships. These small detachments are called anti-terrorist group by the Russian media and are expected to join warships deploying in conflict zones in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa. Though the deployment of naval infantry on board of warships is nothing new, for Russia it marks a change o policy. The previous policy dates back from the Soviet Union when naval infantry was deployed on warships between the 1960s and 1991.

Russian naval infantry during exercise

The deployment of the anti-terrorist groups makes sense and Russia is actually following the standard practices of naval infantry forces in western Europe. Just as their western counterparts embarked aboard, the anti-terrorist groups are expected to be able to combat on board of ships, provide harbor protection in conflict zones and be able to board and search ships. These practices are not strange to the Russian armed forces who in the past have already intervened against terrorist units hijacking Russian merchant vessels.

The deployment is however a new mark in the further professionalization of the Russian armed forces. Armed forces deployed on warships require a different skill set as well as equipment compared to other armed forces. It should come as no surprise that the Russian naval infantry was selected to undertake this new task as they are the best available force at hand in large enough numbers to crew the Russian warships.

Combat operations on board of warships is one of the more difficult tasks for armed forces to conduct. A ships is characterized by small and confined spaces with a large amounts of dead angles for adversaries to hide and ambush an attacking force. These cramped spaces, often with cables and pipelines attached to walls and ceilings, prevents the use of assault rifles. As such, combat on board of ships are usually conducted with pistols and submachine guns which have a small range. At the same time, the forces fighting on board of a ship need to able to adapt quickly to the rolling and pitching of the ship and not allow the ships movement involve with their aiming.

The deployment of the anti-terrorist groups seems to be a defensive measure as their first task is to protect the ship and crew in hostile regions and in conflict zones. The anti-terrorist groups also have a small offensive capability in the form of board and searching ships. Their small numbers of around 20 persons per group restricts their amphibious assault capabilities but these small groups could be used for small scale reconnaissance and raids should the need arise.


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