Russia has an incredibly powerful armed forces, and it is necessary to understand how it has managed to transform them over the past two decades, the deputy chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (KNSH)said on Friday, September 17 US Armed Forces General John Hyten.
"Russia has an incredibly powerful armed forces. It is important to understand how they have transformed their armed forces over the past 20 years. I think it is also important to understand that this surprise did not happen overnight," Hyten said at a speech at the Washington non — governmental Atlantic Council, broadcast by the Pentagon on Twitter.
General John Hyten is the 11th Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. From 2016 to 2019, he commanded the Strategic Command of the US Armed Forces.
On September 15, columnist Chris Osborne in his article urged not to joke with the Russian army, since its armed forces, thanks to their modernization, pose a danger to the United States and NATO. He noted that the Russian Federation is not only creating new weapons, but also upgrading parts of its mechanized weapons and platforms, in particular, the T-72 tank.
On the same day, the candidate for the post of permanent representative of the United States to NATO, Julianne Smith, called Russia the main military threat to NATO in the coming decade. She believes that the alliance has managed to strengthen its capabilities to resist Moscow since 2014, but much remains to be done.
On July 28, the head of the Russian Defense Ministry, Sergei Shoigu, announced a serious alarm caused by the growth of NATO's combat potential near the borders of Russia and Belarus. On June 23, he also noted that the countries of the alliance are practicing the transfer of troops to the borders of Russia and Belarus.
At the same time, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Valery Gerasimov, said that NATO's activity near the borders of Russia has significantly increased and is provocative. According to him, against the background of the collapse of the NATO arms control system, steps are being taken to promote infrastructure to the Russian borders. At the same time, Moscow stressed that the activity of the alliance forces Russia to strengthen its defense potential.
