http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080624/111915879.html
Russia prepares for future combat in the Arctic
MOSCOW, June 24 (RIA Novosti) -Russia must be ready to fight wars in the Arctic
to protect its national interests in a region that contains large and untapped
deposits of natural resources, a high-ranking military official said in an
interview published Tuesday.
"After several countries contested Russia's rights for the resource-rich
continental shelf in the Arctic, we have immediately started the revision of
our combat training programs for military units that may be deployed in the
Arctic in case of a potential conflict," Lt. Gen. Vladimir Shamanov, who heads
the Defense Ministry's combat training directorate, told the Krasnaya Zvezda
(Red Star) newspaper.
Under the Law of the Sea, coastal states can declare an Exclusive Economic Zone
stretching 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the shore, but this area can be
extended if it is a part of the country's continental shelf or shallower
waters. Some Arctic shelves extend for hundreds of miles, creating the
possibility of overlapping territorial claims.
Last August, as part of a scientific expedition, two Russian mini-subs made a
symbolic eight-hour dive beneath the North Pole to bolster the country's claim
that the Arctic's Lomonosov Ridge lies in the country's economic zone. A
titanium Russian flag was also planted on the seabed. Russia first claimed the
territory in 2001, but the UN demanded more evidence.
The expedition irritated a number of Western countries, particularly the U.S.
and Canada.
The general said wars "are won or lost long before they start" and combat
training was crucial for the success of any future military operations.
"The Americans, for example, recently conducted the Northern Edge 12-day
large-scale exercise in Alaska, involving about 5,000 personnel, 120 aircraft
and several warships," Shamanov said, adding that Russia could not ignore such
a show of military force near vital Arctic regions.
He said the Defense Ministry would drastically change its approach to the
combat training of highly-professional military units in the Leningrad,
Siberian and Far Eastern military districts, which could participate in
potential conflicts in the Arctic.
He also said two expert groups in his directorate were closely studying combat
training models based on computer-assisted combat simulations that have been
adopted by some foreign militaries.
"We may propose to the defense minister setting up a company-level fully
computerized training center at one of the former testing sites," the general
said.
Russia's General Staff is planning to determine the new composition and size of
the Armed Forces by the beginning of July.
Meanwhile, the Defense Ministry has already announced plans to expand the
presence of the Russian Navy in the world's oceans, including the Arctic, and
extend the operational range of submarines deployed in the northern latitudes.
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