Conscription or processional army the case of the Russian Federation

Abstract

The main purpose of this article is to examine the current situation of the Russian Armed Forces for possible transition from the conscription army to professional one. Having a conscript army is justified in the states, where is a high risk of external conflict. The peace guarantee for Russia seems to be hers nuclear weapons, which reduces the risk of international conflict. In this case, the rational approach would be to resign from a conscript army. Despite this, specialists claim that over the next few years, the Russian Armed Forces will not become fully professional. It is caused not only by financial reasons and the need to maintain parity of military force with the United States, but also because of the opposition of strong lobby groups associated with the army, which exist in Russia. The generals will not allowed to resign from conscription, because it could harm their individual interests. However, due to the reluctance for military service, the negative demographic processes and the growing demands on soldiers associated with maintaining high-tech equipment, the number of professional soldiers will grow rapidly. On the other hand, in next few years Russian army continues to based on consumption soldiers. The main reason for this is the constant fear, which russian decision-makers have, about the possibility of a conflict that will require the use of reserve service.