2008 Russian military reform Significant reforms of the Russian Armed Forces were announced in October 2008 under Defence Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov , and major structural reorganisation began in 2009 . The stated aims of the reform are to reorganize the structure and the chain of command in the Russian army , and to reduce it in size . Key elements of the reforms announced in October 2008 included : There had previously been several reform attempts such as the 1997 plan under defence minister Igor Sergeyev and the 2003 programme of President Putin ( ‘ Urgent Tasks for the Development of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation ’ ) , the latter of which was very similar to the 2008 programme , as it emphasized already the need for reductions in personnel strength , a gradual decrease in the use of conscripts in favour of professional soldiers , the creation of a professional NCO corps and drastic changes to officer training and education . The 2003 program however moved at a very slow pace , mainly due to the unwillingness of the military to reform . Personnel strength . An essential part of the military reform is its down - sizing . By the beginning of the reform , there were about 1 . 13 million active personnel in the Russian Armed Forces . The planned reduction to 1 million servicemen will be advanced from 2016 to 2012 . Largely , the reductions falls within the officers . They used to account for about one third of the total strength of the Armed Forces : this will be reduced to 15 % . The enlisted men are to be reduced according to the table : On April 4 , 2011 General - Colonel Vasily Smirnov , Deputy Chief of the General Staff , said that the reformed forces would consist of 220 , 000 officers , 425 , 000 contract servicemen and 300 , 000 conscript soldiers . NCO Corps . An important element of the reforms is the creation of a professional NCO corps . Such a corps would serve as the basis for soldier training and military discipline . The NCO corps will consist of specialists with almost 3 years ( 2 years and 10 months ) of training . The first new NCO Training Center was established in December 2009 at the Ryazan Institute for Airborne Troops . The future NCOs will occupy the posts of commanders and deputy commanders of motor rifle , reconnaissance , airborne , and motor transport platoons , as well as company and battery first sergeants . It is planned to have 2 , 000 candidates annually . However , the introduction of sergeants into the system will take not 3 – 4 years as envisaged , but at least 10 - 15 . This delay could undermine reform by creating problems with management and the manning of those combat arms where a relatively high percentage of officers are involved in the direct operation of military equipment , such as the submarine fleet , air - defense forces , etc . Military Districts . From 1992 to 2010 , the Russian Ground Forces were divided into six military district s : In mid 2010 , a reorganisation was announced which would consolidate military districts and the navy ' s fleets into four Joint Strategic Commands ( OSK ) . Geographically divided , the four commands will be : " Serdyukov ' s Defense Ministry will also be putting some soon - to - be - vacant real estate up for sale , e . g . Moscow MD headquarters ( Polina Osipenko Street , Moscow ) , Far East MD headquarters ( Seryshev Street , Khabarovsk ) . The initial asking prices for these buildings and land will be several billion U . S . dollars . As long planned , proceeds from these sales , along with the sale of the Navy Main Staff , military educational institutions , and other military establishments in Moscow , are supposed to fund construction of housing for servicemen as well as military garrison infrastructure in new army deployment locations . " Ground Forces . Before the 2008 reform , the Russian Ground Forces ( SV ) had 24 divisions , namely 3 tank divisions , 16 motorized rifle divisions and 5 machine gun artillery divisions , as well as two division - strength military bases in Armenia and Tajikistan , and 12 independent brigades . Out of those 24 divisions , only 5 motorised rifle - divisions were at full strength in 2008 . Only about 13 % of the army units could be deemed permanently combat - ready . It was announced that every tank or motorized - rifle division will be split , as a rule , into two brigades . This process began in October 2008 with the splitting of the 2nd Guards Tamanskaya Motor Rifle Division near Moscow . By the end of 2009 , 23 of the 24 divisions had been disbanded and their elements were used to create 4 tank brigades , 35 motorized rifle brigades ( 10 of which were pre - existing ) and one " fortifications " brigade . All the brigades are permanent - readiness forces . Almost all brigades are now designated " otdelnaya " ( separate ) , with several units retaining the " Guards " honorific . The only remaining division is the 18th Machine Gun Artillery Division on the Kuril Islands . The number of military units and formations in the Ground Forces will be reduced from 1 , 890 to 172 within three years . The original four - link command and control system ( military district - army - division - regiment ) has been replaced by a three - link system ( military district - operational command - brigade ) . Air Forces . The number of units in the Russian Air Force ( VVS ) will be reduced from 340 to 180 , the number of air bases from 245 to 52 . It was announced that the Air Force plans to eliminate the reduced , two - squadron aviation regiments ( those with 24 combat aircraft per regiment ) . The new organization of the VVS establishes the Air Base as the basic structural element . Each air base will include an HQ , 1 - 7 air squadrons ( or aviation groups ) , an airfield service battalion and communication units . The Belarusian Air Force currently uses the same structure . All Air Division HQs have been disbanded and the Air Bases receive their orders from the seven new Aviation Commands : All the air defence divisions and corps of the Air Defence Forces ( PVO ) , which are part of the Air Force since 1998 , have been disbanded and replaced by 13 aerospace defence brigades . These new brigades have been distributed among the seven commands , and consist of fighter aviation air bases , SAM regiments and radar regiments . The Gagarin and Zhukovskiy air force academies have been merged into the new Zhukovskiy - Gagarin Air Force Academy in Monino . Navy . The Russian Navy ( VMF ) will be cut almost by half , from 240 to 123 units . On the other hand , its fighting capability will be bolstered by bringing various units to 100 % of their full wartime strength . Other planned changes are the offloading of non - military assets such as housing , the outsourcing of some jobs to civilian contractors and a reduction of the number of non - combat officers . The Fleets have been subordinated to the new Operational Strategic Commands : the Northern and Baltic Fleet s are part of the Western Military District , the Black Sea Fleet and Caspian Flotilla are part of the Southern Military District , and the Pacific Fleet is part of the Eastern Military District . Under the State Armament Program , 100 warships will be procured by 2020 . The purchase of 20 submarines , 35 corvettes and 15 frigates is planned for example 6 - 8 Project 885 SSNs and 6 Project 636 . The Navy ' s schools and research institutes have been merged into a territorially distributed Naval Academy Research and Training Center which consists of the Naval Academy , the Higher Special Officer Courses , five naval research institutes , three MOD research institutes , the Nakhimov Naval School in St . Petersburg and the Naval Cadet Corps . The Naval Aviation and the support units were reorganized into 13 air bases which were in a second stage merged into territorially integrated structures . As is the case for the reformed Air Force , each new air base consists of an HQ , support units and one or more aviation groups ( the former air bases ) . Several units of the Naval Infantry have changed their status . The 61st Separate Naval Infantry Brigade of the Northern Fleet has become a regiment , the 810th Regiment of the Black Sea Fleet has become a brigade , the 55th Division of the Pacific Fleet has been disbanded and replaced by the 155th Separate Naval Infantry Brigade , and the 77th Brigade of the Caspian Flotilla was disbanded too . Airborne Troops . Initially it was planned to transform the four existing divisions of the Airborne Troops ( VDV ) into 7 to 8 air - assault brigades , among a number of other cuts and changes which drew of lot of protest of reserve and active airborne troopers who fear a loss of status . However general Shamanov , who was appointed as new CinC of the VDV in May 2009 and who generally supports the reform programme , cancelled all cuts and changes in the VDV and announced that the airborne troops would be reinforced . MOD Serdyukov announced that he does not see the need to create independent rapid - reaction forces . " The Armed Forces already have such units in the VDV . They will be strengthened , and each military district will have an Airborne brigade to carry out urgent missions and operations under unpredictable circumstances . " The divisions have been beefed up and there are now four independent airborne / air - assault brigades . Strategic Missile Troops . The Strategic Missile Troops ( RVSN ) will retain 8 in place of twelve missile divisions . Space Troops . The number of units / formations of the Russian Space Forces ( KV ) will be reduced from 7 to 6 . Reform of Military Education . The centralization and downsizing of the military education system is closely related to planned reductions to the officer corps . The Russian military education system had been based upon the previous set of Soviet military academies . Serdyukov announced that the 65 military institutions of higher learning ( 15 academies , four universities , 46 colleges – including Suvorov and Nakhimov schools – and institutes ) will be reduced by 2012 to just ten " systemic institutions " : three research and teaching centers , six academies and one university . The new institutions will not only serve to train officers , but also to conduct research . They will be established according to territory , not combat arm . For now , all existing facilities will become affiliates of these ten centers ; decisions regarding potential closures will be taken later . Serdyukov affirmed that the entire faculty of existing military institutes will be preserved and absorbed into the new system , and that only the managerial layer will be reduced . He also said that many formerly military specializations , such as lawyers , will now be educated at civilian facilities .