Gennady Emelyanovich Kotenko was born on January 24, 1948.

He graduated from the Baku Higher Combined Arms Command School named after the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR (with a gold medal), the Military Academy named after M. V. Frunze (with a diploma with honors), the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR named after K. E. Voroshilov.

He served in various positions from platoon commander to deputy army commander. Since 1995 - First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Ground Forces. Since 1998 - First Deputy Head of the Main Directorate of the Ground Forces of the Russian Federation.

The recent military-political situation in the world is characterized by dynamic development, instability and tension in nature, the presence of prerequisites for the escalation of already occurring armed conflicts and the emergence of new hotbeds of crises.

The analysis of the military-political situation and the study of trends allow us to conclude that the most dangerous threat to Russia's security in the near future may be the following::

- possible escalation of armed conflicts in the south-west of the Russian Federation and in the Central Asian region;

- strengthening the position of Islamic extremism in the Caucasus and Central Asia, as well as separatist and religious-nationalist movements within Russia;

- implementation of NATO's Eastward expansion plans;

- unsettled interstate relations within the CIS and with the Baltic Republics;

- the course of the US military and political leadership aimed at maintaining world leadership and increasing the economic presence of the United States and its allies in the regions of Russia's traditional influence.

Thus, in the XXI century, Russia is entering an extremely unfavorable geopolitical situation, approaching the risk zone for its own statehood.

Under these conditions, military force is more clearly becoming a guarantor in matters of protection from aggression, ensuring national security and territorial integrity of the country. The main task of our state and society in the military sphere is to bring the military policy and organization in line with the changed conditions and capabilities of the country, that is, in other words, to carry out military reform.

Today, the reform of the Armed Forces is carried out in accordance with the "Fundamentals (Concept) of state policy on military construction of Russia for the period up to 2005" approved by the President of the Russian Federation and is carried out in stages.

At the first stage (until 2000), the transition to a four-species structure is being implemented: Strategic Missile Forces, Ground Forces, Air Force and Navy;

the central bodies of military administration, the systems of military education and military science are being transformed.

At the second stage (until 2005), it is planned to switch to a three-type structure by application areas: land, air and space, and sea.

As part of the reform of the Armed Forces, the Land Forces are also naturally reorganized. Its goal is to create combat-ready, balanced, mobile and compact formations, units and subunits that have sufficient combat potential, a modern level of professional and moral and psychological training.

They should form the basis of military groupings in strategic directions (continental theaters) and provide a guaranteed solution to the tasks of repelling aggression and defeating any enemy in cooperation with other types of armed forces.

The process of reorganization is difficult, but unfortunately it does not always lead to the desired results. Among the many reasons that determine this state of affairs, not the least role is played by the residual principle of financing, manning and providing the Ground Forces. As a result, combat training is curtailed, the equipment and condition of weapons and military equipment is deteriorating, and material reserves are decreasing.

In this connection, the question naturally arises: what is the actual role and significance of the Ground Forces in the structure of the country's Armed Forces? Answering it, it is necessary first of all to comprehend the domestic and advanced foreign experience, to analyze briefly the history of the Russian State, the ways of building armies of the leading states of the world, trends in the development of means of armed struggle, forecasting the nature of possible wars in the future and the tasks facing the Ground Forces. And all this should be considered taking into account the economic and geopolitical interests and capabilities of our country, its likely allies and opponents.

It is enough to recall the years of the Great Patriotic War, when they were the most powerful and diverse type of Armed Forces in terms of composition and methods of combat, and played a major role in the defeat of the fascist army.

In the first post-war years, the Land Forces continued to be the main and most numerous type, accounting for over 80% of the total number of Armed Forces and included rifle, armored and mechanized troops, artillery, cavalry and special forces: engineering, communications, chemical, automobile, road and others. The main type of combined-arms formations of the Ground Forces were rifle, mechanized and tank divisions.

Until the end of the 50s, the Land Forces were considered the main branch of the Armed Forces of the USSR. After the creation of a new type of Strategic Missile Forces in 1960, the role of the Ground Forces changed: they gave up the dominant position to a new type of Strategic Missile Forces. But they retained the importance of one of the main types, which in the event of war was assigned a decisive role in the final defeat of the enemy in the continental Theater of Operations and in mastering important land areas.

Structural and qualitative changes in the Ground Forces did not occur suddenly, not immediately, but were the result of a complex, long process of development and improvement of weapons and organizational structure, which in turn led to a change in views on their role and significance in solving strategic and operational tasks and combat use.

Today, Russia still occupies a strategically important geopolitical position, and without its participation, modern security problems of both global and regional nature cannot be solved: in Europe, in Asia, and within the territory of the CIS. This is especially important at a time when some states are trying to get certain benefits at the expense of the difficulties that Russia is experiencing today.

The experience of building the armed forces of developed countries shows that geographical location has a significant impact on their composition and structure:

in the United States and Great Britain, traditionally more attention is paid to aviation and the Navy, in Germany and China-to the ground forces. Nevertheless, it is clear that even the maritime Powers prefer land forces. Thus, the share of ground forces in the armies of the leading countries of the world in relation to the total number of armed forces ranges from 45% to 68%. Apparently, this trend will continue, as in the foreseeable future, according to experts, the probability of a large-scale war is extremely low. It is most obvious that the ground forces will be used to solve the tasks of localizing and suppressing regional conflicts, providing humanitarian assistance, participating in peacekeeping operations, and fighting terrorism and illegal armed groups.

Today, there is really no real danger of a large-scale war. But in the medium term (10 - 15 years) and especially in the long term (20 - 25 years), the prerequisites for it may begin to increase, especially in the South and East. If Russia remains weak economically, politically, and militarily, then strong neighbors and their allies will have the opportunity to realize any claims they may have against it.

As for the nature of a possible war, it is unlikely to be possible to unequivocally answer what it will become. Everything will depend on the economic capabilities of the state, on what kind of enemy it will have to fight: what goals the parties to the conflict will pursue and what price they are willing to pay for victory, as well as a number of other factors.

In our opinion, in a possible war, the actions of various types of armed forces and branches of the armed forces will be compressed, which must perform a huge number of the most complex tasks. One thing is indisputable-the tasks of the final defeat of the enemy will remain the prerogative of the Ground forces group.

The forms and methods of using Ground Forces in the new conditions will obviously remain traditional in appearance: operations, battles, battles; simultaneous or sequential defeat of the enemy. However, their content will be significantly updated. They will be exceptionally diverse. This is primarily determined by the functioning of real-time reconnaissance and strike capabilities, as well as the ratio of information potentials of the opposing sides.

It seems that the following trends will determine the development of forms and methods of military operations, taking into account the prospects for further construction of Ground Forces, and the nature of future operations involving them in the near future.

The first is due to the growing desire of the international community to ban the combat use of nuclear weapons. Therefore, the tasks of defeating the main groups of troops (forces) and the most important objects of the warring parties will be solved by conventional weapons, the destructive effect of which approaches the effectiveness of low-power nuclear weapons.

The second is that success in an operation (battle) will be determined by the presence of state-of-the-art intelligence and control systems, and the achievement of information superiority over the enemy.

The third is determined by the effectiveness of high-precision weapons, their ability to radically change the course and outcome of an operation (combat operations), which re-prioritizes the achievement of its goal. If earlier the goal of the operation was achieved by a combined-arms strike, then with the advent of new highly effective means of reconnaissance and destruction, it became possible to initially inflict irreparable damage to the enemy using high-precision weapons, and then achieve the final goal of the operation with a ground strike.

This technology of conducting military operations in the Persian Gulf ensured the victory of the MNF (1991) in the shortest possible time with minimal losses in personnel and military equipment.

The development of new types of weapons and military equipment of the Ground Forces determines the main trend - the integrated integration of weapons of destruction, intelligence, electronic warfare, command and control of troops and weapons into unified systems of suppression and destruction of ground and air echelons. Thus, the role and significance of the Ground Forces in modern operations acquire completely new forms and qualitative state.

Analysis of the main trends shows that future operations can be based on technological indicators of new weapons and military equipment that can largely determine the final result of military operations. A characteristic feature of future operations, based on the trends considered, we believe, will be a new redistribution of "spheres of influence" between operational art and tactics.

Achieving information superiority over a potential enemy, conducting a preemptive maneuver and anticipating possible retaliatory actions of the enemy by information-electronic, shock-fire and special operations (actions), which, in our opinion, will decide the outcome of the operation even before the direct armed contact of the groups of troops (forces), acquire a special role and significance.

Modern views on the further development of the Ground Forces and their role and place in operations are based on the fact that the build-up of combat power should occur primarily not at the expense of a quantitative increase in the forces and means used, but at the expense of the maximum possible awareness of the enemy, the integrated use of effective control systems, communications, means of suppressing and defeating the enemy.

In accordance with the realities of the present time and the current military-political situation, the Ground Forces will continue to play a crucial role both in peacetime and during war. In peacetime, they are charged with comprehensive training of government bodies and troops to conduct combat operations, maintain stocks of weapons, military equipment and materiel, assist border troops in protecting the state border and assist military formations of other ministries and departments in the fight against terrorism and illegal armed formations; they can take part in peacekeeping operations. operations in accordance with the international obligations of the Russian Federation, in the elimination of the consequences of accidents, catastrophes and natural disasters.

With the outbreak of war, the main burden falls on the Ground Forces to repel enemy aggression by peacetime combat-ready groups of troops, ensure the strategic deployment of the Armed Forces and conduct operations to defeat the aggressor in cooperation with other types of the Russian Armed Forces. In addition, in wartime, the Ground Forces must solve the tasks of territorial defense, the formation, training and dispatch of strategic reserves for their intended purpose, and the replenishment of troop losses.

Currently, the Ground Forces include motorized rifle, tank forces, rocket forces and artillery, air defense forces, army aviation, airborne troops that are branches of the armed forces, and special forces (formations and units of intelligence, communications, electronic warfare, engineering, NBC protection, nuclear technology, technical support, automobile and rear protection), as well as military educational institutions, military units and institutions.

Organizationally, the Ground Forces consist of combined-arms armies, army corps, motorized rifle (tank), artillery, machine-gun and artillery divisions, motorized rifle, airborne and amphibious assault brigades, weapons and equipment storage bases, military property storage bases, district training centers, and fortified areas individual military units, institutions, enterprises, and organizations. In addition, the Ground Forces include military bases stationed outside the Russian Federation.

In the course of performing tasks related to the reorganization of the Ground Forces, priority in the development of the branches of the armed forces will be given to combined-arms formations and military units of constant readiness, rocket troops and artillery, intelligence and electronic warfare bodies and units.

Ground forces are structurally represented by three components.

The first is connections and parts of constant readiness. They provide for covering the state border in the event of a military threat or localizing the conflict that has arisen in cooperation with the internal troops.

The second is the connections and parts of the reduced composition and frame. They provide short-term and long-term storage of weapons and military equipment and conduct mobilization work. In the event of a military threat, they move from peaceful to martial law within the established time frame, increasing the efforts of formations and units of constant readiness.

The third is strategic reserves. They are designed to increase efforts in the event of a threat of aggression to repel and defeat the enemy.

Such a structure, provided that it is fully functioning, makes it possible to manage in peacetime with a small number of formations and units of constant readiness, which reduces the cost of maintaining troops. At the same time, when a real military threat arises, the State has the opportunity to quickly deploy troops and increase efforts in the threatened areas. However, in any state, including Russia, there is an objectively justified minimum limit on the number of regular troops, which guarantees the replenishment of the necessary trained resources. Therefore, further reduction of Ground Forces is fraught with the risk of losing such resources.

The conducted research shows that both at the present stage and in the future, the role and place of the Ground Forces will not change in principle. They should still be the main type of the Russian Armed Forces, the most important component of general-purpose forces. This is an objective pattern, since the main sphere of human life (including military) is the Earth's surface. While paying tribute to the importance of sea, air and outer space, it is still necessary to agree that these are areas of temporary habitation, so the leading role of the land element in the armed forces is obvious.

The role and significance of the Ground Forces was clearly demonstrated by the Chechen events. Not the air force, not the navy, not the border and internal troops, but the formations and units of the Ground Forces bore the brunt of the armed struggle and performed the main tasks.

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize once again that in the near future the Ground Forces should appear as mobile, having the necessary minimum of combat-ready formations and units, fully staffed, professionally trained, with high moral and psychological potential and equipped with modern equipment and weapons, capable of solving any tasks to ensure defense and security our country, fend off any threats to Russia's national interests. And such, I am convinced, the Ground Forces will certainly become.