The Chief of Staff of the Russian Armies, General Valery Gerasimov, presented the articulation of Russian military doctrine for the years to come. Well known for the "Gerasimov doctrine" based on the extension of the perimeter of conflict to the digital, communication and media aspects, the Russian general, this time, presented a high conflict doctrine, with the massive use of combat drones. , cruise missiles and space devices, always associated with propaganda, political pressure and cyber operations.
General Gerasimov's intervention is interesting in more than one way. On the one hand, it marks the return of strategic conflicts, states against states, with the objective of destroying the adversary's infrastructures. Although it is not relayed in the article, he described Russian “new weapons” like hypersonic missiles or the Avangard glider, asstrategic deterrent weapons not requiring a nuclear charge. We therefore understand that the objective of this equipment is, indeed, to carry out deep strikes for economic, political or industrial purposes, without crossing the threshold of conflict requiring the use of nuclear weapons.
This is for example the case of the Status-6 Poseidon submarine drone, presented as capable of crossing the Atlantic to carry out attacks on the adversary's coasts. Such a device could effectively block military and civilian ports on the Atlantic coast of the American and European coasts, again without using a nuclear charge.
On the other hand, the “hybrid” dimension of the doctrine has taken a back seat, appearing only as complementary tools to prepare for entering or exiting a crisis. It must be said that, if the hybrid war doctrine has met with real success in Georgia, Moldova but especially in Crimea, it has also shown its limits in the Donbass.
We will note from this intervention that Russia now anticipates major, high-intensity conflicts extending over time. Like the United States, and like China...